there are many ways to get some estimation (or wild guesses) one’s marathon time. a simple google search on “marathon time prediction” provides ample of web pages where you can use past results of shorter run distances to get a feel what this would mean for your marathon time. however, it’s obvious, there’s a plethora of error sources with these guesstimations, e.g. individual performance, the shorter distances you enter, the bigger the error propability, inherit assumptions in the conversion doesn’t fit to your profile, etc. but it’s great fun to just see what this time could be without actually running it!
a couple of years back the guys at runner’s world came up with an interesting finding, the yasso 800s. you run 10 times 800m with an equal resting time in-between as the effort just was. the average time of those efforts in minutes is supposed to be a decent prediction of your marathon time in hours. this scheme was tested and proofed to be true with a sample of 100 runners, from 2:09 to well over 4 hours marathoners. so there might be some value in it. especially you can turn it around and say that you want to run a let’s say 3:10h marathon and can prepare for it by tuning your 800m intervals to 3:10mins.
of course there’s opposition saying that both the prediction and the training method is not worth doing. hillrunner.com points out that yasso 800s are overrated. they wouldn’t work well for marathon time predictions due to runners being better prepared for shorter than for longer distances and before using them as a regular training method, one should think about how this session could be made to better use.
when looking at this in further detail, both sides have reasonable arguments. when running around 4 hours or above, it most probably might be more beneficial to do longer aerobic runs. but i’m convinced that for sub 3h ambitions, speedwork is required, the better the time of your (current) marathon dream, the more interval training is needed. the coach of my former track and field club mentioned about 15 years ago about the then marathon elite, things will change when those 5000m and 10000m elite runners will shift to the marathon distance, the world best times will considerably improve because of the higher speeds those runners are used to. and so it happened, paul tergat and haile gebreselassie dominate the 42.129km since they appeard on the scene. haile g just improved his own world record in berlin last sunday.
hence, there should be definitely value in regularly (e.g. every second week) running yassos. my plan is to use the yasaos in the beginning more as a progress tracking tool, perhaps once a month. later in the spring next year, i’d use them as a training tool.
today i went out to do a first set. thought to do them on the track in espoo close to the university of technology, started there with the first ones but because of a kids walking race, i was kicked of the sports field. finished them of in the streets of espoo. on average 2:54mins. that would translate to a 2:54h marathon, but to account for some impresicions, let’s say we’re currently roughly on a 3 hour level. there’s still a bit of work in front of us…
Tags: yasso 800s
the nokia n85 was just released and we wanted to find out how well it works as a running companion. with the sports tracker application installed it records the route you run and you can upload each training session to the sports tracker service on the web where you find the route displayed on a google map. but this post is about the device, the sports tracker review will follow.
due to its physical size, the n85 is narrower than e.g. the nokia e71 and thinner than an n95, it fits well into a standard armband (the armband was covered earlier here). the weight is acceptable, you feel it while running but it’s not disturbing, it might train your upper arm - well, perhaps a bit of a one sided training…
the actual usage scenarios while running - pretty much sports tracker, music and taking pictures. of those three two are in regular use with me, sports tracker and taking pictures, all the outdoor pictures on this blog are taken while running. the music case got a slight deviation from the mainstream due to the apparently funny shape of my ears. have to admit that i haven’t come across a decent looking pair of small headphones that would not have fallen out of my ears on the first 10 meters. but yes, i was using only those headphones that come with the mobile device, me being a bit of a stingy bastard. so my usage reminds more of the boom-box scenario, music on, screw up the volume and let the in-built speakers do the job. some more on this social experiement here.
the good
the mechanical features and their integration. that’s something very basic to which alternatives haven’t really yet be seen: while on the move especially on the run you need quick and clear controls. going through a menu structure to do something is not really an option. here very good the lock/unlock slide-button on the side and the camera lens cover. the lock/unlock slide button disables/enables the keypad and other buttons, everytime before putting it back into the armband you want to quickly lock the device. the camera lens cover is well integrated in a way, even when the buttons are locked, as soon as you slide open the lens the camera application activates and the buttons become active as well. with the decent shutter speed you can even take pictures while running, for good shots it makes sense to take a couple of deep breaths and try to stand for some seconds with a still hand. the carl zeiss lens and the 5mpix do a really good job.
the speakers do a relatively good job while the device is in the armband, i guess headphones would bring it closer to the hifi standard, but well, with some songs, e.g. don johnsson big band’s “busy relaxin’” you can run in the songs rythm, that’s enough fun for the runner. music is on shuffle, so not much interaction there.
another great thing is the screen, it’s very bright with very good contrast and the device looks great when lit up. sometimes i find myself unlocking the device just to see all lights go on… (should find something better to do in my spare time, i know)
the not so good
the sports tracker application in it’s current version (1.75) is still rough around the edges regarding easy-to-use. apart from the fact that it’s quite a starting sequence when getting going (music on, start sports tracker, let it find a GPS fix, start the timer on it, start running, start the heart rate monitor on my other arm, try to squeeze the mobile device into thearmband while already running), the most obvious thing, i.e. to stop the time counter, at the end of the run, is in an option menu and not directly assigned to a button on the device, e.g. the left or middle soft-key. more about the sports tracker app in a separate blog entry.
also to get the device easier out of the armband it could have a little fabric loop or backstrap where you could simply pull the device out. also the lower end of the cover could be shaped in a way that it would help getting the device with one hand easier into the armband while running.
a final tricky thing is - without a headset - to adjust the volume, the buttons are locked and the device in the armband, you pretty much need a headset with easy volume control.
overall this is an experience device
i.e. the real value of it doesn’t become evident just by looking at it, you need to use it and you’ll see.
Tags: boom-box, carl zeiss lens, nokia n85, sports tracker
some preparation in advance, in addition to flight and accomodation you want to look after one or the other thing beforehand. a runner’s weekend should be versatile with touristy, cultural, culinary and of course running elements. edinburgh provides this all in one great package. a city that has seen it’s first buidlings in the 12th century, having a history well intertwined with the monarchies in the UK and all over Europe, having developed local culinary highlights such as scones, whiskys, haggis and deep fried mars bars and great running trails all over around the city. 3 to 4 days are sufficient to get to know the place and enjoy it.
touristy
- royal mile, real name is high street, lots of stuff: shops, pubs, cafes (good for breakfast), places to eat, accomodation; hit the link or just go there, it’s a must anyway
- the castle, another must, well prepared for tourists with good audio guides, short plays of court characters telling about their life in the castle, the one o’clock gun (a must! stay as close as you can get to it); it’s adviced to go there in the mornings - after breakfast on the royal mile - to avoid the crowds at the ticket booth
- princess street gardens, take a stroll or a jog in the park, nice view on the castle and a lot of benches for a rest, where you can relax and e.g. read.
cultural
- theatre shows, there’s a list of venues, two venues that show more popular plays are the playhouse and the lyceum theatre, you want to reserve tickets in advance, tickets are relatively inexpensive, so called restricted view tickets are perfectly fine at the lyceum.
- walking tours, although slightly murder, ghost and death biased, quite entertaining and informative in a light way. the city is really old and you understand it best through all those stories from medieval times. the earlier “murder and mystery walking tour” in the day is more suitable for children.
- stand-up comedy, free on sundays at 1pm, great fun and food is alright, too. don’t miss it.
culinary
- loads of great restaurants, we tried and liked the maison bleue and howies
- loads of great cafes, e.g. on the royal mile, have the healthy option breakfast with juice, cereals, jogurt and toasts
- haggis, better than it’s reputation, it’s the spices, in ball form and fried even ok to look at (in the maison bleue), no visit to scotland without it
- deep fried mars bar, well try it once and make up your mind yourself…
running
- around and up arthur’s seat, as described in saturday’s post a must for the running visitor, challenging trail and best view
- the south loop around edinburgh, along larger streets, through residential areas, forests, along rivers and canals and though parks, you want to get in touch with the portobello runners, who meet on sundays to do this run.
- run and become in edinburgh, the friendly running shop who help you with everything regarding running in edinburgh, pop in and say hello to manager adrian stott.
Tags: arthur's seat, edinburgh, run and become, running vacation, tourist guide
saturday’s “battle of arthur’s hill” was still in the legs, although on its way to disappear, thanks to a couple of magnesium pills from the boots store around the corner. they were sold as menopause diet supplements. whatever pause was intended, there’s no pause for the running visitor in edinburgh and they helped to get back walking again. everything that walks can run as well. peter, who took me on a run yesterday and one of the portobello runners, the local club to be in, said that his club mates would meet at 9am on sundays on the north end of holyrood park road. and there they were. jonny and jacky, willie, his twin brother scott and some more, john joined on his bike, he wasn’t quite up for a run after an eye surgery, yet. when we got going, i asked, “what’s the route today”, the answer was “11″, …… “km, right?”, “naa miles”… oh yes, here we go.
km and miles, there is a difference, obviously 1 landmile as we know is 1.609km, so not quite negligible. but the conversion is managable. it becomes more challenging with running pace, when mentioning that 3:35min/km is a really tough speed, the reaction of my scottish running mates was rather blank, same question marks arise on my side when confronted with sub-6 min miles. ultimate global references such as marathon pace provided some remedy and it quickly turned out that a 3 hour marathon is approximately a 6:50 minute mile or almost 4:20 min kilometer. equally is a 2:30h marathon run in just above 5:40 minute miles and 3:33 minute kilometers.
having sorted out this difference of crucial running language, there was an 90% understanding between my scottish running friends and me, 10% being the scottish accent…
naa, it wasn’t that bad, only to a few sentences i nodded in apprehension, while having not much of a clue what was said. willie and scott, the 50+ year old twin brothers still do their 10k’s in 36 mins and jacky, a genetic scientist thinking about doing a phd, just had her personal best reduced to 40 mins on the last weekend. she explained whereabout in edinburgh we ran, since i pretty much had lost my sense of orientation. the main part of the run was in the blackford forest (i think) south of edinburgh leading to some river and a canal back towards and finally along the meadows. very nice trail and compared to the previous day rather flat.
running with the portobello runners in ediburgh was a great experience and a good way to better get to know the town, the surroundings and the runners. thanks guys. altogether with running from the hotel to the meeting point and in the end the same little stretch back again it made 26km on that day. not bad at all. enough to take a taxi for the healthy beakfast option in cafe Giles Street half way up castle rock.
Tags: blackford forest, portobello runners, running in edinburgh
with this fourth week of similar training - except of the hill session in edinburgh - the first part of episode one concludes. episode one is in the first place building up the required stamina to train 5-6 times a week with a regular pensum of approximately 80 to 90 km per week. secondly it intends to improve speed for the longer distances, hence the training program is a modified “sub-35mins on a 10k” program (german). the longer 2000m intervals weren’t yet possible in the required times (in 7:10min) hence i kept to the shorter 1000m runs. with 93.5km total distance in the last week, objective #1 seems to get fulfilled. we’ll see on behalf of the second aim. relative progress in comparison with the previous week(s) is visible, but where do we stand in relation to the overall goal? How could that be measured or estimated?
peter, the hill running expert of the portobello runners suggested the yasso 800s. you apparently can predict your marathon time by running 10×800m, the average time in minutes of your efforts equals your marathon time in hours. we’ll try it out.
Further, there are a numerous web pages where you can enter current 1000m, 5k, 10k or half marathon times and get an estimate based on a variety of theories. let’s dive into this world of speculation and false hopes 
… more to come.
the coming weeks, the second part of episode 1, will see more intensity with shorter and faster intervals, but first a week of rest. good for traveling, celebrating a birthday, having mom coming over for a couple of days and seeing others run the berlin marathon on sunday 28.09.2008.
Tags: berlin-marathon, sub-35 10k, yasso 800s
running in edinburgh is an experience! everything’s a bit narrow and all - trucks, cars, bicycles, runners, walkers, mums with strollers, tourists, drunks, dogs, all have to fit and find their way along the streets. for a continental runner, some additional spice of course, cars constantly coming from the wrong side when crossing any road. but more importantly you need to be aware of your classification in the traffic hierarchy. it’s perfectly acceptable to be drunk and jump onto the street, but as soon as you wear some shorts and cross the streets while cars approaching - still a distance away - everyone thinks you’re out of your mind, so peter told me.
peter is an artist, a painter, who for good pounds sterling or even euros also refurbishes your living room or other parts of your house. but most importantly, he can show you the real good running trails around this town. and those are many. although, first you need to find your way out and and not get caught in traffic (see above).
peter chose a special route today, well suited for all those flatland rats who constantly fuss about their economic running and can go a 3:xx min/km on a 5km straight, but as soon as an uphill stretch appears, they would only see the scottish highland snails’ rear red-lights. arthur’s seat is the saddle shaped hill on edinburgh’s south, south-east side. running up the street that goes almost to the top would be a sporty 3-4 km uphill stretch. however the police
arthur's seat - 251m (823 feet)
stopped us halfway, the road was closed, perhaps rocks of the cliffy walls falling down, perhaps a drunk having done the same. anyway, peter quick on his feet (and in his mind) altered the route to be more direct to the top. literally…
the altitude over time (or especally distance) curve that the polar heart rate monitor produces are normally not anything of special interest, but in this case they are… (pretty much all that counts for a flatland runner like us here). we literally climbed up, first stairs later along the rock itself. not much running anymore, but plain concentration on lifing legs and finding a next place to put the foot down on again, while bursting lungs and lactic acid told us that this is not our natural habitat. doubts appeared that our own training grounds in the north might not be the ultimate truth for the project that lies - still largely - ahead. real hills are missing.
after enjoying a breath taking view (or was it the wind that was breath taking…) from the top of arthur’s seat, downhill was faster, at some spots quite acrobatic, not twisting an ankle first priority. peter said, his personal best from home to the top of the hill is something just above 17 minutes, this much it took us to get back down and to the hotel.
hill racing is quite popular in scotland (surprise, surprise), in a couple of weeks there’s a two-run race with a 10 mile (16km) leg in the borders and a 17 miles (27km) cross country stretch in the pentlands right the next day (btw check out these amazing shots done in the pentlands!). i bet every man and woman can feel their own private william wallace scream inside them, just like in “braveheart“.
Tags: arthur's seat, portobellorunners, running in edinburgh
the week’s program was re-defined. the original 10k plan sees a slow fifth week, the training program was started two weeks earlier than this blog. but since next week includes traveling to Edinburgh - on the weekend actually, let’s see after the scottish running scene - and a birthday (no age reminders required, thanks) coming up, the slow week is next week, not this. hence a brisk start with two crispy sessions both mon and tue. normally you’d plan the week with intervals on tuesday and a fast run on friday or saturday. but latest training recommendations suggest to combine the tough parts, even into one training. the african gazelles such as tergat, gebrselassie & co put a fast run together with a hillytrail profile or bekele the world record holder over 5000 and 10000m ends his intervals with accelerations up to a 100m sprint speed.
since we’re not quite there to do the same, it doesn’t make sense to brag about it, … yet. we went for the toned down version, a fartlek on mon and intervals on tue.
the 16.6km fartlek went really well, found a new path along the laajalah
ti shores starting from the student bunkers in otaniemi to the crossing of ring one with the motorway to turku. great path, only that part is about 5km, the whole loop around laajalahti something like 15km or above depending on where you start and stop. not many runners out there anymore, the temperatures tanked in september now up here, around 8-10 degrees celsius (somewhere around 45 degrees farenheit), but dry, that’s good.
today again the 30+ lap head spinning exersize on the track, nicely portioned into 8 x 1000m efforts in 3:29 (yeah!) to 3:36 (not so yeah!), still eight, not ten as the training program (aka torture plan) says. not much progress on this front, each run feels the same, fast acceleration on the first meters, alright for the first 200m, some heavier panting between 300 and 400. at 500 you swear that it’s just half the distance yet. 500 - 700 is a fight, you try to stay with your rythm but breathing is really heavy now. a look at 800m at the intermediate time tells you that slowing down is not an option, but rather a sprint to the finish line is required. so you steam ahead gracious as a locomotive to the end of the effort.
Tags: fartlek, interval training
as introduced on the weekend, the Griffin armband fits to the majority of mobile devices. the narrower the better since getting them in or out while running is easier if the device is a bit narrower. with the majority of well-designed music devices having the head phones jack at the top, that one is also well accessible, when sitting in the armband. further, the transparent plastic window allows you to use the device, which is useful as long as you carry the armband in your hands, once it’s on the arm, you still could but you don’t want to fiddle around with it one-handed anyway. while running it stays well attached to your e.g. just above the elbow, carrying comfort is ok, but depends on the thickness of your arm. most probably this armband was designed with some good looking californian body builders in mind, because the long backstrap is way oversized for a bony marathon upper arm. i guess some tuning will do the trick, some velcro fastener 
patches at the right places should fix that. regarding moisture, the device is sufficiently protected, a bit - mostly coming from your own sweat - goes through the back of the pouch, but not to extents that one would assume your device sweating with you.
a big bummer is when you need to take the device out while on the run, e.g. to capture a quick snapshot or something else, which is quite common if you use a multimedia computer instead of an iThingy. putting it back in requires too much focus, often to take the armband off and come to a complete standstill. here are some improvements required as well. first, an extension to the back of the pouch, so that it’s easier to slide the device into the pouch and not completely behind it. secondly a hook needs to be attached to the strap that prevents the strap from sliding open completely when using a bit of force.
all in all this thingy is an improvement over carrying the mobilde device in your hands. It could be better with the mentioned improvements and most probably i’ll do them myself. so the verdict:it works.
but, hell no, i won’t take any calls while out there running!
Tags: armband, griffin, interval training, nokia n85
is it only this urban, rich, young, design worshipping herd that’s supposed to be healthy and running? or is it that just these folks have such socially deprived lives and that’s why they dragg their gadgets with them wherever they go? anyway, try to find an armband on the internet that doesn’t have the iThingy in it’s description… the good thing is, the majority of those (not the ones for the nanos, though!) carry well almost all nokia mobile devices as well. in the picture, it’s the nokia e71. will write about how running works out with the armband. some initial tests have revealed that holding the handset in the same hand where the polar heart rate monitor is wrapped around the wrist, might result in the heart rate monitor’s disruption in it’s connection to the footpod. so the armband most probably will go on the right hand side. the idea is to have the nokia sports tracker application open to record the location of the run and plot it on a map later on. many of the workout summary diagrams here in the daily entries of this blog are linked to the running route, click on them.
the third week was a close copy of the second week, both in its intended program and in its fulfillment. i.e. many runs went well, the interval training is still 2 runs short and the sunday training was left out again. monday saw a good 16.4km run in sub 4min with repeatedly longer stretches in the 3:45 - 3:50 area, that felt really good. tuesday was rainy and cold and the running distance was limited to the absolute must. on wed it stopped still 2 runs short of the program, those 1000m intervals are a psychologic thing, 30+ laps on the track… fortunately the next weeks foresee shorter runs on the track. thursday the long run, ok. and saturday, was way too tired from the week to run properly.
the fourth week is supposed to be slower to re-charge. about 60km altogether without the faster sessions. suits me.
Tags: armband, nokia e71, third week
ignore-the-environment-around-you machines are grabbing share at an alarming rate. way beyond more than half the runners that you see in the streets are wearing one. no highlights anymore for male runners to greet or beam over a big smile to a graciously running female co-runner and get a brief nod or perhaps a small smile in return. no, those times are over, all have those cables in their ears connected to their portable music players, music phones or similar gear, and stare straigh ahead without taking any note of you. tried a cautious friendly nod a couple of times before recognizing that the creature was attached to the ignore-machine, but i could have equally tried to convince sarah palin, the republican candidate for vice-president, that global warming has man-made causes, not a chance.
at the thought of this 20+k run, earlier in the afternoon, the idea to get a bit fired up through music to the ears was quite appealing and i thought to try it as well. the latest nokia handset equipped with a large enough memory card to carry a lot of music would provide it’s company on the run anyway, the sports tracker measuring and locating where we’d go. carefully were those wires installed below the shirt from the device in the right hand through the sleeve up tp the neck. however the micke-ear-anatomy threw a spanner in those plans. the earplugs that ship with the device only stay in the ear when not moving the head at all even when adding all pads a stuff to the plugs. 10 meters out of the door and a couple of running steps, both were hanging down already, several attempts to readjust or just press them harder in didn’t result in any success. what the heck, let’s pocket them.
later at about km 8 or 9, came the idea, why not combine the best of both worlds, listening to music and not ignoring but rather including the environment in the experience (whether they like it or not). mobile handsets have acceptable speakers nowadays. so, music player on and screwing up the volume. he, he, that earns you some surprised faces around you. and off we went into a nice little social experiement: in what area to get the best reactions. residential neighbourhoods feature mostly dog owners with their rovers in the streets, those stare at you in a way you wished they had the ignore-machine on. best results were achieved in forestry patches with the middle aged segments.
tightly pacing nordic walker(esses) look at you first surprised but quickly a couple of dynamically looking running steps, a beaming winner smile and a nod to greet, they earn you a smile in the end. not bad, the nordic walker race still looks up to us runners, the way it should be.
it was a double hammer training set, yesterday and today, first the 10×1000m on the track, of which again only 8 were reached, and then the long run, almost 23km today. added together both total running distances, that makes pretty much one marathon. that’s alright.
the 10×1000m are quite a psycholocical training. you are on the track and each 1000m bit is 2 and a half laps, taking the one and a half laps jog inbetween the efforts into account that makes 38,5 laps altogether. with only 8 efforts it’s still 30,5 laps. get your head around that, äsch, better not to think about it. the original training program suggests to alternate 1000m and 2000m runs every other week, and then reduce the amount of efforts when doing the longer ones as well, perhaps that’s the best way out of this. next week is slow, no interval runs at all, this is a way out as well …
