Long Term Review: O-Synce Ant+ Footpod

Disclosures: nothing to disclose. No freebies, no hidden payment, no fancy marketing tricks.
Price paid: 10 Pounds Sterling (about 13 US Dollars, about 12 euros) + 3 pounds 50 shipping
Model: O-Synce Ant+ Footpod
Bought online from Planet X, on sale as a clearance item, about 6 months ago (I think!)
Normal retail price on footpods is 30 to 60 pounds (40 to 80 dollars,  35 to 70 euros), so, although I bought the footpod as a "regular" customer, I haven't seen this sort of offer anywhere since.

Footpod on my running shoes.
If you are not used to them, beware that these are size 11 (US size 12) Men's running shoes
so the footpod would look a bit bigger if you have small feet!

Long Term Review: Tacx Blue Matic Trainer

This post has now been migrated to my other, "sports", blog.
Updates will apppear there.

Disclosures: nothing to disclose. No freebies, no hidden payment, no fancy marketing tricks.
Price paid: 129 Pounds Sterling (about 170 US Dollars, about 155 euros)
Model: Tacx Blue Matic Smart T2650
I bought the trainer (with my own money) on 19th September 2016, using "click and collect" from my local Halfords, at the "regular" retail price.

What's in the box?
I got the so-called "Smart" variant.
All that means is that the Tacx T2015 Speed and Cadence sensor comes bundled in the box.

Bad back and a bright future

I'm off work with a bad back.
Worked Monday.
Doctor's visit on Tuesday - doctor promptly signed me off for a fortnight, gave me some codeine tablets, and booked me for physiotherapy.

To be honest, my back has been getting worse for about a month.
Now I can't even lift modest amounts of weight without pain, and my painkillers usage was becoming both continual and heavy. That and I was sleeping on a sheet of thick plywood for comfort. Think about it. When plywood is comfortable, it is time to get things sorted out properly.
So the doc signed me off.

On the bright side, though, my knee injury that had been troubling me for the last 2 1/2 months is feeling much better.

So, thinking about a bit of rehab, I'll be getting a turbo trainer in the next few days. Of course, I have to take my wife to the shop with me, because the state I'm in, I can't pick the box up without further injury to myself.

Never had a turbo trainer before - peddling away looking at my garage door never appealed to me. Give me the "real" road anytime!

However, the trainer will allow me to do short sessions as required, and I can stop and come indoors for a lie down on my plywood if I need to.

Of course, with the "wet and dark" part of the year coming up, I'm sure I will find a use for the trainer, even when I'm feeling better. 

Bound to help, if properly used, my training for next Summer's local charity sportive (yes, I really do plan 6+ months ahead - 10 months ahead in this case). 

Looks like I'll be getting a trainer with an Ant+ sensor on it, so it should sync up alright to my trusty Garmin 310xt watch, and the data from my trainer use will trickle through the normal chain to Garmin Connect, then onwards to Strava and Training Peaks.

In one way I am sad not to be training at the moment.

But in another way, despite discussing the issue several times in this blog, I probably just don't give myself enough time off.

Train smarter, not just harder, I tell all of you.
Then I train harder, not smarter myself (!)

So, I find myself on an enforced "rest" at the moment, but planning for the future!

Case Study: Tour de Vale Analysis with Strava Private Segments

Using Strava private segments to compare two rides of the same route.
The green line is cumulative difference between the times I took for the two rides.
My official time was 1 hour and 28 seconds faster,
while on the segments analysed it was 1 hour and 14 seconds.
Small, non-overlapping bits between the segments are probably the cause!
Anyway, if one is an hour quicker, who cares about 14 seconds!

I rode the Tour de Vale last year (2015) and this year (2016).
I was quicker this year.

Timing was done both times with timing chips on the back of the rider number, so is likely to be pretty reliable. Of course, the timing is "total time", not any of that "moving time" rubbish that wannabes like to use to pretend they are much faster than they actually are.
We can all go faster if we keep stopping for a break every now and then!


But there are no "split" or intermediate times.
For training, it is handy to know where time is being gained, and where it is being lost.
Enter Strava, the wannabe racers' favourite.

The Water Cooler Coach

Are you a Water Cooler Coach?

You know what I mean. Folks gather by the water cooler, and discuss things - life, the universe, and everything, so as to speak.

I didn't choose to be a water cooler coach. Debbie chose me.
Debbie is one of my colleagues, a lady about my age, who, in a moment of madness signed up for the Great North Run (Debbie is from the "North", and supports "the Toon" at football).

Anyway, we have a few very keen runners at work. I have tapped into their skills myself.
So Debbie spoke to some of them, and came away with a running plan.

All good, except ...

Weight and Seasonable Variation

How do my attempts to lose a bit of weight tie in with the Seasons?
A bit of a rise in early June seems to be a feature!
(it involves a holiday and takeaway food!)
2015 data shown in blue, with 2016 data overlaid on the same graph.
The 2016 line starts at the weight where the 2015 data stops (obviously!)

We all tend to go up and down a bit in weight over the year.
It may be that we "go a bit mad" at Christmas, or it maybe that we run less in the Summer because it is too hot (or run less in the Winter because of snowfall!).
By noticing these year-on-year patterns, we can reassure ourselves that the extra weight we gain on holiday isn't a problem as long as it comes off later in the year.

Trying to stay just a little below "last year's line" can be a target/incentive too.
Looking at the graph above, I should maybe aim for about 80kg (176 lbs) by Christmas 2016.

The big picture is that I am already at a more "sensible" weight than I have been for some years, and the red line on the graph is very much a measure of how well I am doing at keeping the weight off.

As I have mentioned before, my data is never a straight line (!), and it is often a case of 2 steps forwards, 1 step back. Sometimes 2 steps forwards, 2 steps back for a while.

But, we all have to try and just stick to it.
Because we know the results will be worth it!