Training on the Road

I know many Team ZIP members are on the road a lot. And believe me, I know it can be tough to get into a training routine when traveling. This past week I was in Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Austin and Manhattan (KS -- the "Little Apple"). My plan was to run Saturday afternoon in Phoenix, Monday morning in OKC and Wednesday morning in Austin. Of those three, I was actually able to get in one run. But that's not too bad. I can't tell you how many times I have packed my running gear and never got it out of the suitcase!

But the run in Austin was enjoyable. Not fast. When I'm in a city like Austin I like to go "sightrunning" - a combination of sightseeing and exercise. So I planned a route that took me down Austin's infamous 6th Street, around the Capitol Building, and through the University of Texas-Austin campus.

Check out the interactive map below, recorded using my Garmin Forerunner 305 and uploaded to MotionBased.com.


View Larger Map

For anyone who travels, I highly recommend getting a Garmin Forerunner. It's a great tool for planning and even improvising routes in a strange city. I love the "return to start" feature that actually leads you back to your hotel if you get lost! And when you upload your runs to Motionbased, you can see all the details you need to track your progress.You can even retrace your run on Google Earth. Pretty cool stuff.

For example, the MotionBased log of my run in Austin shows that I ran 3.54 miles at an average pace of 10:09/mile and average heart rate of 135 bpm (as I said, I wasn't pushing it!). It also tells me the average temp was 60.8F and the wind was blowing from the North at 1.2 mph. The elevation gain/loss was +/- 220 ft (I ended where I began so it was a wash).

So what does this really tell me? It tells me I have a long way to go before I am ready to reach my goal at the Boilermaker (1 hr, 20 mins, or 8.5 mins/mile). After a long winter's nap, it's time to wake up and get moving!

Daren