Fitness

Boot camp had to do without me on Monday morning (Labor Day).  Instead, I headed out to Woodinville for the Super Jock n Jill half marathon.  It was the first time I ran this particular race.  It was also the first time I ran a half marathon since last years' Seattle half (November 25th).  So,...expectations were low.  The important thing was that I was out with running shoes on at the start of a race.  The weather was perfect.  The course wasn't bad.  My time (2:34:42) wasn't even horrible, considering how little training there was under my belt when the gun fired.

There now just over a month before the next half marathon: the Royal Victorian.

The second week of boot camp finished last Friday with a big sigh of relief.  I felt much more capable than I did during the first week, but it's definitely not an activity where you should expect to plateau.  I'm still near the tail of the pack, struggling.  There's quite a bit of head room for me to improve.  We met at Discovery Park on Wednesday and ran the 2.8 mile loop trail.   Halfway through -- near the sand bluff -- we stopped and did an exercise circuit.  Walking lunges in sand.  Push-ups that involve pivoting to one arm at the top of the push.  Side steps when your ankles are rubber-banded together.  Bench dips.  We did a little bit of everything before completing the loop trail.

Two weeks down.  Two weeks to go! (At least for the first camp.)

Taking the 2007 - 2008 winter off from training -- following a very active summer and fall -- was, in hindsight, a very bad idea.  Thanksgiving and Christmas took their toll, and the short days of January and February kept me mostly indoors.  But the upcoming races (Super Jock n Jill, Royal Victorian, and the Goofy Challenge) were not getting any shorter as time passed.  So I joined a fitness boot camp, hoping that it would kick my training into high gear.  Now that the first week is under my belt, I can tell you that it is some of the best money I've ever spent on fitness.  You cannot fail to dramatically improve your fitness in this sort of program (as long as you don't drop out).  Some of the highlights I've identified are:

• Participants meet five, three, or two days per week.  (I'm in the five day program.)
• Sessions are a full 60 minutes long (i.e., the sessions start and end on time).
• Cross-training, as opposed to just strength or just endurance.
• Motivation through group interdependence.
• Substantially less expensive than one-on-one training.

It wouldn't be fair if I didn't mention that you will be sore from the boot camp activities.  You'll just have to deal with that.

As mentioned in my previous Garmin Forerunner 405 post, I was skeptical of the "upgrade" a Forerunner 405 represented when compared to a Forerunner 305.  As I suspected, the 405 should not be considered much of an evolution in the product line.  Most of the enhancements are superficial, and fail to make the product more functional.  Unlike the giant leap between the 205 and 305, the 405 is simply a disappointment.  Melissa has had one since its release, and posts her Garmin Forerunner 405 review on her blog.  Needless to say, I'm sticking with my tried and true 305.

After almost two years since the release of the Forerunner 305, Garmin has finally announced the release of an upgrade in their line of personal fitness computers. A comparison of the two models makes me think that the main difference between the 305 and new 405 is the form factor. The 405 does sport a new, wireless sync capability (using an included USB ANT™ stick), but I never felt that the older USB cradle represented an inconvenience. In fact, the combination of sync and charge in the older USB cradle was really great for traveling. The 405 will require carrying the "stick" and a separate charger. Is that an upgrade?

In all honesty, it is unfair to make an assessment by comparing manufacturer specs -- especially if the products are from the same manufacturer. For whatever reason most manufacturers have an uncanny inability to convey their products' key value propositions. Take, for example, almost any PC laptop maker (e.g., Dell, HP, and Sony). Can you tell the difference between a Dell Vostro™, Latitude™ or Precision™? It's like a exercise in graph theory every time you want to make a purchasing decision. But I digress.

The Garmin Forerunner 405 could be a quantum leap in the Forerunner evolution, as the 305 was to the 205. I won't know until I actually own one and can make a "real world" judgement. The catch is that I'm not compelled to upgrade, yet. Somebody else needs to be the first penguin in the water this time. Unless, that is, Garmin wants to send me an evaluation unit.

Both times I've run the Capital City Half Marathon (2005, 2007) it has rained. The nice thing about the rain (in both cases) was that it only rained hard enough to provide a bit of cooling.

Melissa kicked me out of bed at 5:00 AM, and we drove from Seattle to Olympia. Parking and getting to the start was no problem. I'm also happy to report that this year's shirt was gray, long-sleeve, technical, and printed with an appealing logo design. Very nice! Worth keeping. I can toss another cotton race shirt.

There was only a moment to stay warm inside a Starbucks before our group was called to the start line. A cannon -- not a pistol or air horn -- signaled that the race was on. The quintessential Western Washington scenery of Puget Sound vistas and Douglas Fir trees lined the race course. The dome of the State Capital Building would appear and disappear in the trees as we made our way around the city. Melissa pulled ahead, and finished a full 15 minutes before me. She was grinning ear-to-ear when I saw her near the finish (where Chuck took the above photo of me) because she knew that they were handing out finisher metals -- something they didn't do in 2005, and something I'm still sore about.

We rewarded ourselves with a breakfast at McMenamin's Spar Cafe.