This is why @dcrainmakerblog is the best: dcrainmaker.com/2013/06/garmin…

— Sara J (@sarajacobson) June 11, 2013

Intrigued, I followed the link and my world changed. The skies cleared up, birds started singing, and my 3 year old told me he really wanted to take a long, long nap later today. Really.

If you’re not familiar with DC Rainmaker, he writes the most comprehensive reviews of fitness electronics on the web. If you think my shoe reviews are long and detailed, read one of his GPS watch reviews and you’ll see that I pale in comparison.

Anyway, in his post Ray shows us how to upload workout data directly from an ANT+ enabled GPS device (mostly Garmin) to various tablets/mobile devices. Android, iOS devices, and Microsoft Surface are featured.

I was under the impression that I could only download my Garmin data to a computer. So, suppose I worked out away from home. I’d have to wait till I got back to my desktop computer before I could look at the data in detail and post it to dailymile. I could do it manually, but what fun is that when a solution that involves gadgets is available??? (yes, I am a gadget geek in addition to being a shoe geek…) Enter DC Rainmaker with a solution. And it just so happens that I have all the equipment needed to accomplish this little trick, so I decided to give it a go and report on my results here.

So here’s what I required to make this work:

1. An ANT+ enabled GPS watch. Check! I happen to use the Garmin FR610 as my regular workout watch, and it’s the same watch Ray used in his post. Watches that require a USB cable for data download will not work with iOS devices.

2. A Wahoo ANT+ sensor for iPhone/iPad. Check! The sensor is a little plug that allows the watch to communicate wirelessly with your iOS device. They sell for $48 at Amazon. I’ve had one of these for a long time, and used to use it to view my cadence data recorded by a stride sensor. I stopped using it once I realized I could get the cadence data from the stride sensor directly on my Garmin. Ray reports that the 30-pin Wahoo sensor works with a lightning adapter for newer iOS devices. I don’t have an adapter, so can’t try it.

3. The Wahoo Fitness app, already have it on my phone. Free download at iTunes.

4. My iPhone (I have an iPhone 4). Also works with iPads.

I miraculously managed to locate my Wahoo sensor in the depths of my desk drawer, plugged it in, and fired up the Wahoo Fitness app. All of the images that follow are direct screen captures from my iPhone.

Following Ray’s instructions I pressed the history button, clicked “Import from Garmin Watch,” and waited while the app searched for my FR610.

I waited quite awhile, and nothing was happening. I then looked at the screen again and noticed that the message at the bottom had changed:

Ray mentioned this step in his post, but I’m not good at following directions. Maybe a little voice alert in the app that says “Read Me You Idiot” would be a helpful addition… On the 610 I went to Menu—>Setup—>System—>Data Transfer and turned initial pairing on. That did the trick and my data transferred over. Not sure why there are so many iterations of a workout on June 8 at 11:02 AM…

I chose the first workout in the list and it started to upload the data.

Voila! The workout appeared on the app interface, and clicking on it I was able to view data from my run yesterday as well as a map and mile lap splits. Very cool!!!

Next, I tapped the little “Mail” button on the upper right and it brought up an option to configure sharing of workout data. Looks like there are 10 possible upload destinations:

Since I use dailymile, I clicked that and was greeted by my dailymile login screen. I filled in my info and arrived here:

A click of “Allow” and I was set to go. I returned to my workout page, clicked the “Mail” button on the upper right again, and clicked “Upload to dailymile.”

The app started to talk to dailymile, and in a few seconds the workout was uploaded.

Here’s what it looks like on dailymile.com:

Now, all this does is upload the GPS track and run data to dailymile. You can’t describe your workout, plug in shoe type, or participate in any of the social functions that dailymile allows. But, if your goal is simply to get the data uploaded, this little trick works really well. It does require that I have the ANT+ iPhone sensor nearby, which might be problematic unless I leave it in my car or tuck it in my wallet. My bet is I’d lose it before long, but that’s just me.

From a practical standpoint, how often will I use this method of data upload? Probably not very often since I’m now mostly working from home, but I could see using it while traveling. When I was working at the college I’d often run after work and manually input my data in the car before heading home so I wouldn’t forget. There’s another situation where it might come in handy.

Anyway, hope this helps those of you who are Garmin and dailymile users. And a huge thanks to DC Rainmaker for putting up the initial tutorial – love finding tricks like this!

Recently I’ve been getting hounded a bit by some company that sets up paid content subscriptions for bloggers. I have not responded to any of these emails, because I have no desire to make any of my content paid. Everything that I write here on Runblogger is freely accessible, and people can comment however they choose to comment (I rarely ever delete a comment unless it is blatant self-linkage that is of no relevance to the post on which the comment was made). I have had advertising on this site since day one, and that is the sole means by which this site is currently monetized – I do so because I need to be able to justify the amount of hours I put in writing, answering emails, etc. (it adds up!). There are also costs associated with some of the services I use to support this blog. This blog is a one man show – I started it from nothing, I essentially taught myself HTML so that I could develop it in the way that I wanted, and I have no staff. It’s independent and though it does bring in income, it is largely a labor of love, and it will remain that way going forward.

My reason for writing this post is really not so much about me, but rather about another site with which I am involved. dailymile.com is a social training website on which I have been logging my workouts since early 2009. I have been involved as a member of the dailymile Team for the past 1.5 years, and have given a lot of my time to helping the site grow. I have never received a penny from dailymile, nor have I expected any form of payment from then. I give my time to them because they have given so much to me. I have made innumerable friends via dailymile, and many have gone on to become great friends in the real world. I have run races with them, I have shared their ups and downs, and they are among the most supportive and encouraging people that I know.

One of the amazing things about dailymile is that it is completely free. What’s more, it is run by a staff of 2 – Ben Weiner and Kelly Korevec essentially run the site out of their apartment in San Francisco. They run the site on a shoestring budget, and have never asked for anything in return from their user base. This week they will be releasing what is being called the dailymile PRO service. It is essentially a “pay for added features” option, and existing users will see no change in what they currently can do, nor will anyone be forced to pay. It’s simply a case of “if you want more stuff from the site, pay a bit of money and you can have it.”

What spurred me to write this is the resistance I have seen on the part of some users to this entire idea. For some reason, people seem to have this sense that anything on-line should be free. But, running a site like dailymile costs money, and Ben and Kelly are looking to continue to grow the site, and hopefully hire an additional developer, hence the move to a PRO service. They do not want the site to follow in the footsteps of many other running sites and become so pasted with ads and popups that the user interface gets compromised. I support their model fully, and I pay a lot more in annual subscriptions for many services that support this blog than they are asking for their upgrade. Heck, I’d even pay the price if they asked for it in donation form.

I think of it like this – every time we go to a restaurant, we pay for our dinner and we tip the server. We give the server more if we think the service was good. However, in the on-line world people so often expect frequently used services to be free, and they balk at any though of tipping those who provide the services that they use. I, for one, would be first in line to pony up and chip in some cash to support a site like dailymile that I use every day. Same goes for Twitter. Facebook would require a bit of thought….

Anyway, my point here is that maybe it’s time we recognize the hard work of those who don’t ask for any recognition for what they do, and stop complaining when a site that we use daily decides to add a paid option like dailymile has (especially when it will remain free in its current form). I may have a biased opinion here as I do have some sense of how much effort it takes to keep a website running. However, if Ben and Kelly’s track record is any indication, good things are ahead for dailymile, and I will continue to be there to support them.

One of the great things about the sport of running is that I get to repeatedly witness good people accomplish truly amazing things. I’ve written a lot on this blog about the power of the internet to bring like-minded people together, and so it was last year that I met a guy named Andy O’Brien on the social training site dailymile. Andy O., along with a small group of other fellow runners (you all know who you are!), was an early adopter on dailymile, and we have since become members of the dailymile Team. Andy stands out due to his wry, self-deprecating sense of humor, his colorful clothes and trademark du-rag, and his love of good beer. It’s easy to tell that he has fun when he runs, and it rubs off on the rest of us. He’s also pretty handy with Photoshop, much to my frequent dismay.

Anyway, Andy decided earlier this year to train for and run the Burning River 100 Mile Ultramarathon in NE Ohio. His initial intention was to do a 50 miler, but unable to find one in the right place at the right time, he opted to make the big jump to the 100 (his previous long race was the 50K HAT run earlier this year). Andy managed to put in his miles early in the morning and late at night while juggling the demands of job and family, and yesterday he toed the starting line at the BR100. I woke up this morning to find a tweet from my buddy Steve Speirs saying that Andy had finished the BR100 in a time of 26:36:05. I am awed and inspired, and wanted to take a moment to congratulate Andy on this amazing accomplishment. Andy, you’ve most certainly earned a beer – enjoy it!

Keep an eye out on Andy’s dailymile feed for reports on his experience at the BR100: http://www.dailymile.com/people/everyruncounts

Follow Andy on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/andyo22

Look for a race report on Andy’s blog: http://blog.andyobrien.com/

I spent the past 3 day in Boston on a short vacation with my family, and surprisingly, the one thing that I didn’t do at all was run. This trip was about having fun with my wife and kids, and exploring a city that has been a part of my life since I was a little kid cheering on the Red Sox at Fenway. Although I may not have hit the running paths along the Charles on this trip, there certainly were some running related moments worth mentioning. Here goes:

1. Runners are awesome people – there’s no other way to say it. Over the past year and a half since I started this blog and got involved in the running communities on dailymile and Twitter, I have had the good fortune to meet some truly amazing people from all over the world. The common bond that we all share is that we love to run. I don’t know that this is unique to runners, but something tells me that there are few other sports that have such a tightly knit community of practitioners who go out of their way to support and help one another.

What does this have to do with my Boston trip? Well, a fellow runner who found me via this blog and who I subsequently became friends with on dailymile and Twitter offered to meet my family and I and show us around her part of the city on basically a day’s notice. Alett (better known as @petfxr on Twitter) and I had never met in person, but I felt like I knew her already via our on-line interactions, and we had a nice afternoon walking around the Quincy Market area and alongside the harbor by the aquarium. Other runners I know have related similar stories of runnerly (is that a word?) hospitality, and this is a great example of how the internet has served to strengthen real world relationships rather than weaken them. If you read this blog and don’t interact with other runners on either dailymile or Twitter, I highly recommend that you do – both are fantastic resources in so many ways.

2. I paid my first ever visit to the famed Bill Rodgers Running Center and was both impressed and disappointed at the same time. I was impressed by the collection of shoes they had on the wall, many of which are included in my Guide to Minimalist Running Shoes (I finally got to check out the Mizuno Wave Universe and Asics Piranha in person – both are ridiculously light!). After visiting the store, I was curious so I searched Google for any comments Bill Rodgers has made about choosing shoes, and came across the following from the NY Times:

“Everything to me is the fit, the feel of the shoe. Do you feel biomechanically like you’re moving barefoot? That’s what you want. There is a trend now for simpler shoes. For 30 years I’ve thought they’ve had too many gimmicks on the running shoes. Various companies copying each other and trying to outdo each other and adding roll bars and computers on the shoes. It was unnecessary and made things more complicated than it should be.” 

Needless to say, I think he’s right on the money.

My disappointment at the store was due to all of the official Boston Marathon gear that they carried. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to buy one of those blue and yellow Adidas shirts or jackets, but I resisted the urge. You won’t see me sporting any Boston Marathon gear until I officially qualify, which probably means that I should be outside running instead of writing this post. Will it happen this Fall? I have no idea, but I’m a bit worried about my mileage being insufficient with all of the baby-related adjustments that I’ve had to make. I’m also playing around a lot with shoes and stride of late, but I’m having too much fun with that to stop now. I will get to Boston eventually, of that I’m certain, the question right now is when?

3. Just an observation, but I saw a lot of those ridiculous toning shoes around the city – they’re not very common yet where I live in New Hampshire. My thoughts on those shoes could fill a whole separate post, but I’m not sure I want to go there. Suffice it to say, people would be a heckuva lot better off just going for a run (or even a nice long walk), but everyone wants an easy solution. Any excuse people can find to avoid sweat and hard work is going to win out in the long run with a lot of our population. It’s sad, but those shoes are selling like hotcakes right now – something like 5 of the top 10 selling shoes in the US right now are toning shoes, whereas the Nike Free (I assume the Run+?) is the only running shoe in the Top 10. My only hope is that they are at least encouraging people to get out and walk a bit more.

That’s all for now, hopefully my next trip to to the Bill Rodgers Running Center will coincide with my running of the big 26.2!

I’ll let Greg tell his story in his own words, but I’ll add that if you want to read more about his running adventures, you can check out his blog, Predawn Runner.

Through maybe eight years total of cumulative running experience, and now seven marathons, I have actually never put much thought into my shoe selections. I’ve been lucky to be either blessed with mechanics that don’t care about shoe characteristics or to stumble upon shoes that worked with my gait and foot strike. Oh sure, I’d tried the wet-footprint approach to determine whether I needed neutral, control, or stability shoes and frankly found that I could make the answer whatever I wanted it to be. However, as I seek to up the intensity of my workouts in striving for a 3:00 Boston Marathon next year, I thought the time was right to finally let the experts weigh in. And, as with any new experience, I learned some things in the process.

First some history – I’d relied strictly on Asics Gel-1060’s (and its successors) and a couple of Nike models to get me to this point. I started my running with Asics – I mean who hasn’t heard about the Gel technology, and the 1060’s seemed like the “entry point” for the line. I didn’t think about the fact they are designed for stability, and whether I needed such stability or not. They worked fine, but were a little heavy. So, when I planned my first marathon (and the next several after that), I wanted a lighter shoe to provide a little boost, even if only mentally. I think they offered less stability than the Asics but with decent cushioning – but who knows. They worked, and I reached my first BQ in 2002 at Chicago using them.

When I returned to running last year after a 5 year hiatus, I owned the Nike+ system for the iPod so I naturally looked for a Nike shoe (and yes, I know you can get the Nike+ pod to work with other shoes, but who wants to go to that trouble). The first I tried were the Air Max Moto 6, and they felt fine, so I went with them. I wasn’t planning to get back to marathons at that time, but this ended up being a pretty good choice when I did – I gained my second BQ this spring in Cleveland using these sorta-neutral cushioned shoes. I did do a lot of damage to my pinky toenails though, so I had some concerns. And at 11.5 ozs., this is a pretty heavy shoe when every minute will matter. I also reverted to form and picked up some Asics GEL-1150’s as my second pair, and frankly found them uninspiring and thus limited to runs of 10 miles or less.

So that’s where I decided it was time to bring in the big guns. To do that, I went to Vertical Runner, a renowned running store in Hudson, Ohio (a suburb of Akron or Cleveland, depending on who you believe) whose employees always make a strong showing at local races. I wisely brought my Nike’s with me so they could see the wear patterns. I was lucky enough (I hope?) to work with Vince Rucci, the owner. His immediate impression on looking at my wear patterns and the way I stood was “this is too much shoe for you – you are extremely neutral.” Ignoring the fact that “extremely neutral” is a bit of an oxymoron, I was excited to learn this, because I heard “you can wear lighter shoes!” When he learned that I also wore the Asics Gel-1150’s, I feared he might slap me. “Way too much shoe” he said, “you don’t need that type of control because you most definitely don’t overpronate – I can also tell by your bowleggedness.”

I immediately began to think, “yes, Brooks Launch it is!” but he did restrain me a bit by steering me towards a few options that at least offered some cushioning. We started with the new Brooks Ghost 3. I liked them, but they were a bit heavy (weighing in at 11 ozs.) and a bit snug. We then tried the Mizuno Wave Rider 13. Definitely lighter, and I could particularly notice the reduced height of the heel. I had a similar impression with the Asics DS-Trainers. However, things still felt a bit snug, and when I mentioned my concerns about my toenails, Vince asked “was it your pinky?” Upon my “yes” answer, he responded, “well, then you need a wide shoe. “ If the shoes were too short, you’d have issues in your big toe. I had never considered this before. Wow, what a V8 moment (and you’d think my podiatrist would have pointed that out to me)!

So he brought out the Mizunos and Asics in 2E’s, and I gave them both another try. Now let me state my minor beef with Asics shoes – they don’t make the shoelaces long enough to double-knot, so I was constantly retying my Gel-1150’s. And yes, I know I could put in new laces, but see paragraph 3. When they both felt similar on a trial run, I went with the Mizunos. And, I’ll be honest, I liked the way they looked.

So, here are the impressions after around 30 miles on the Mizunos – what a contrast to my previous shoes. You can absolutely feel the road in these – in fact, I feel like I’m gripping the road as I run. Like many things in life however, this strength may be also be their greatest weakness – I’m concerned how they will feel at the marathon distance. So I’m going to build up the distance slowly, using them for only stepback long runs, speedwork, and easy runs initially (still mixing in with the Nike’s).

I also noticed some changes in how my muscles felt during training – there was more soreness on the first run in my inner shins and hamstrings, which I presume is due to getting used to a slight change in my gait (but may have been from the tail end of a tough running week). The shin issues have disappeared, but the hamstrings still fell a little tighter than normal. The lower heel compared to the Nike’s seems to be forcing (allowing?) me to be less of a heel striker (and honestly I was already surprised as to how little wear the Nike’s had on the heel (see below), compared to the two pairs I owned last year) and I’m sure that’s forcing some adjustments in my motion.

So time will tell. It is difficult to run “controlled experiments” in running as there are too many variables we can’t control (fatigue and weather, most notably). If the soreness continues, I will go back and try the Brooks Ghost 3’s (which I may do anyway). But now I know (a) I need wide shoes, and (b) I don’t need much stability and it is in fact counter-productive, so I will be making wiser shoe choices from this point forward. And I still foresee a performance trainer in my future, at least for shorter races.

About three weeks ago, just a few days after my son (third child) was born, I posed the following question to my friends on dailymile:

“Help a new parent!!! As a father of a newborn, I’m looking for suggestions of how to handle training with a baby in the house from those who have been through it (mom advice wanted too!). I’d love to hear ideas from all of you about this. If you have suggestions (for both mom and dad), you can leave them as a comment here, or send me a message.“

Clearly, this was a subject that people were interested in, and I received a number of great suggestions from my fellow dailymilers. I’ve already posted an extensive list of exercise tips from Christina H. as its own post, but thought that I’d post the other responses that I received as well. Here they are:

• Paul S. – I trained for my first marathon with a newborn in the house and just had to get up before anyone else was awake and put in the miles; this meant some really early mornings.
• Humberto R. – The most important thing is coordination with your wife – create a schedule and stick to it. And early mornings are better to train because less things are happening. In my case, I didn’t have enough energy in the evening to train.
• Linda A. – As a mom of five children (who at one time were all under ten), and with a husband who was always deployed, I had to get out before everyone got up. Also, as soon as you are able to, get the baby out in a jogging stroller. When we were in Germany, I used to push the two little boys (who are now 18 and 19) in a running stroller. Rain or shine (used the rain guard), I was out. I would pack a snack in a baggie (cheerios, Life), a water bottle each (with sipper lids), small toys (like bubbles), etc.
• Teri S. – I didn’t train like I do now, but I would get up about 5AM, put a run in, come back and shower, and then go back to bed while my husband got up and got ready for work. The jogging stroller helped too. And sometimes I would have to leave for a run while one of them was crying – that was tough, but my husband would always say that they were fine once I was gone. It gave them an opportunity to bond. I was home with them all day, and I needed the break. I think it helped me to be much more patient and balanced.
• Israel R. – It will require lots of dedication. Sit down with your wife and map your day, and find those spare times and decide when it will be the best time for you to train without causing anyone any inconvenience. You have to make the best out of that free hour. Or, like Paul said, suck it up and get up extra early so you’ll have time for your training and the rest of the day for the most important thing in your life…family. We have a 3 year old who goes to daycare. Last year and part of this year I was the only driver so I had to drive everyone, leaving me very little time to do much. The day was all rush rush… so I opted for running during my lunch hour. On occasion, I would coordinate a night run with my wife. Now my wife drives us to daycare and work leaving me with no car, and waiting for her for an hour after work to be picked up, so rather than sit and wait, I run during that hour. Like I said,. you have to make the best out of every single spare moment you get during the day.. and having an understanding wife also helps, but remember, the understanding part works both ways.. ;-)
• Justin T. – Open dialogue with your wife that running is still important to you and that you need to find some time here and there, but recognition on your part that running is low priority and you’ll be able to train more seriously again in the years ahead.
• Greg S. – Flexibility is paramount – nothing is predictable about a newborn’s schedule, so you have to take advantage of free time when it comes (and not count on it lasting). Just make sure that you communicate with each other on what you plan to do, so you continue to support each other’s goals.
• Chris – My wife and I communicate our time commitments through synced calendars on outlook and blackberry. This helps us know what our expectations are when we don’t have time to discuss them in detail. This can also be accomplished through google calendar and Iphones if you so choose. I think communication is huge. As is Greg’s note about flexibility.
• Ultrastevep – It’s been 30 years since I went through this, but I got up real early and ran….or ran to and from work. I also ran sleepy tired a lot ;-) Good luck!
• Sean L. – for me it was letting go of the idea that you have to be rested to get a run in – I always run in the morning.
• Tom W. – All these posts have one thing in common… lack of sleep! It’s a challenge, but it can be done. Running at night when everyone is in bed helped me a lot. Good luck.
• Jeff C. – Only way for me, is first thing in the morning…. I have 3 girls 6 and under… The Youngest just turned 2… If you try at the end of the day, between older kids, wife, and the desire to see your new born, it will be impossible … at least it is for me. I feel like I’m taking time away from my family if I do it after I get home from work. My long run on Saturday is my only compromise, but I’m still out the door at the latest by 6…. (5 mostly during the week)….
• Brad B. – I don’t want to be the negative one of the bunch here, but you need to be realistic with your training goals and timeline as well. You’re going to miss a lot of workouts, can’t be helped, so don’t expect to PR any races or try on any new distances for the next 6 – 10 months. Your fitness will probably fall off a bit, you might gain a little weight. Get the workouts in when you can and don’t lose any sleep over the missed ones.
• David H. – I ran a half marathon a little more than four months after my son was born — it was the most rewarding experience ever to prove so many people wrong. All I have ever heard are some things I’m seeing on here that you’ll miss this or that and don’t do this or that. As your baby gets on a schedule, you make your schedule around the baby. As we got a fairly regular routine going with my baby, he would go down around 7 p.m. So I made the switch to becoming an evening runner and ran/worked out after 7.
• Juryduty – The best thing you can do is communicate with your spouse about when you want to run (preferably before everyone’s up) so they can get on board with you. But then realize there will be mornings she’s had only a couple hours of sleep and she just needs you to stay there and take the kids. And if there is any way you can take a child or two with you (jogging stroller, etc), that should really help make it smooth too. Just don’t forget, the first year is ALWAYS the hardest. It will get easier! :P
  PS – Don’t forget that mom will probably be wanting to exercise, too. If you can make a specific time for her to get her exercise time in, it’ll me motivation for her to do the same for you!
• Nick P. – I had to do this all winter as my son was born in January. I ran very early in the mornings or very late at night or whenever he napped. The sleep deprivation doesn’t help, but the running reduces the stress. Overall, my best advice is when your baby is napping, it’s the ideal time to squeak a run in
• Susan D. – I have 3 children and was best able to get in the runs in the early morning hours, before anyone got up…and I was definitely half asleep during lots of those runs!
• Kmc – I’m 6 months pregnant with my 3rd, I have been thinking about this same question myself – thanks for asking it! I’m so amazed at all the responses. My cavaet will be nursing the baby. Fortunately for the baby and my husband, I won’t be able to run after the c-section until 5? weeks postpartum. But, then, I am off and running. I never ran with the other two, but after talking with my husband a lot, we agreed to ask family to buy us a BOB stroller. I’ve been working 2 jobs for 4 years, so he and I agree that compromising on a schedule that works for both of you is best. On the days that I cannot find time to run, I get up at 5AM while everyone is sleeping…my fear with the new baby is waking it up by accident when I leave and then the whole house will be up at 5am :-). Best of luck working it out. ALL families are different, and you will figure it out!
• John K. – I’ve been getting up at 4:30 since my second was born. Not easy, but neither is going without a run.
• Curt F. – I fit my runs in commuting to work. 4 miles each way got me on my way to doing a 50 miler. Not for everyone’s situation but it sure helped me.
• Dan R. – I agree with many others here. schedule, routine and the expectation from your spouse as to when your run will occur is huge. Of course, it won’t be perfect. Maybe a slight perspective change as well that your #1 goal right now is not running, it’s that little bundle.
  I always run at night the moment after I put my boys to bed. My weekend long run is the only time I sacrifice family time.
• Jacky C. – Sorry this is late but ORGANIZATION is the key. Get a huge calendar and just plan your runs. Obviously if baby or mommy are not “well” it might have to be postponed but planning ahead should help fit your runs in! Good luck and congrats on the new baby!

As you can see, dailymile is a great resource for getting helpful information like this, and if nothing else, it lets me know that others have gone through exactly what I am going through right now. I’ve found myself implementing many of these suggestions – for example, I’ve been mostly running at night lately right after I put my “big” kids to bed. I also try to not let it get to me if I miss a run – as was mentioned above, it’s important to put the needs of the family first, and although at times it can be hard to not have the freedom that I did just a few months ago, I’m managing the best I can. I’ll probably try to put either a post or podcast together in the next few months outlining more of my own approach to getting my runs in during these hectic times.

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Join dailymile – it’s free!

I was recently selected to be the editor of the new dailymile Community Blog (a big thank you goes to the dailymile Team for having faith in me!), and whereas this blog is written solely by yours truly, that blog is going to be a community effort in the truest sense of the phrase. The dailymile Community Blog is a place for active people to tell their stories of triumph and defeat, and for runners, cyclists, and swimmers (people participating in just about any form of activity, really) to share what they love most about their respective sports. If you haven’t yet checked it out, hop on over to the dialymile Community Blog and check out what we hope will be a vibrant mix of humor, inspiration, motivation, and information.

You can subscribe to the dailymile Community Blog RSS feed.

Here’s a selection of posts we have published to date:

Developing Self-Confidence Through Running: How I Found Myself Out on the Road
by Samantha G.

Running Barefoot and in Vibram Fivefingers: New Runner Starts Minimalist
by Michael B.

dailymile and Garmin Upload: Sync Your Miles
by John H.

Running the Boston Marathon: When Injuries and Bad Timing Mix
by Caleb M.

The dailymile Community and the Transformative Power of Exercise
by Peter L

Smart Goal Setting
by Caleb K.

The Better Music
by Chaz H.

I am both a longtime user of a Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS watch (2+ years) as well as an active member of the social training community on dailymile. Together, I’d count my Garmin and the dailymile community as two of the most essential parts of my running toolkit, and when I first joined dailymile about a year ago I was disappointed that the site didn’t support syncing/uploading of data from the Garmin devices. I’ve gotten along just fine entering data manually (I actually kind of enjoyed doing it that way), but after a lot of hard work on the part of the developers (thanks Kelly and Ben!!!), Garmin Sync on dailymile has finally arrived!

If you’re not familiar with the Garmin Forerunner line of watches or the dailymile website, here’s a quick overview:

Garmin Forerunner Fitness Watches

The Garmin Forerunners are a line of fitness watches that operate by tracking GPS signals while you run. They have highly customizable data screens, and allow you to track things like distance, pace, elevation, grade, your GPS route track, etc. in real-time and with great accuracy (far better than the Nike+ – you can read my Nike+ review here). You can use them to create workouts (for example, I’ve used mine to do interval workouts on the roads instead of a track since it measures distance), and the best part is that they store your data for later upload onto a computer. I’ve been using the free PC-based program SportTracks for uploading and storing my Garmin data, and it’s a program that I highly recommend (I’ve posted a detailed review of SportTracks, and a SportTracks plugin for dailymile is in the works!).

My Garmin has played a huge role in helping me to improve as a runner, and the accurate pacing data that it provides has now helped me survive through 5 marathons and numerous shorter races. In fact, my Garmin is probably the only thing that rises above the shoes on my feet in terms of its importance to my running, and if you know me, that’s saying a lot. There are a number of Garmin models out there, ranging from the top of the line Forerunner 310XT, to the more watch-like Forerunner 405CX, to my trusty Forerunner 205 (check out my review of the Garmin Forerunner 205/305) – I’ve heard good things about all of them, but if I had to make a choice right now I’d probably buy the Forerunner 305 – it has the perfect combination of features at a fairly reasonable price (it’s like the 205, but with the added ability to track heart rate and sync with a footpod for use indoors on a treadmill). Below are links to the Forerunner watches on Amazon.com (Amazon has consistently had among the best prices on these devices):

dailymile: Social Training Website for Logging Your Miles

dailymile is a social training site for posting workout data, and has an interface that is kind of similar to Facebook, except that it’s geared directly toward active people who value exercise as a part of their lives (runners, swimmers, cyclists, walkers, etc.). I can’t begin to explain how much this site has meant to me and my training, and through dailymile I’ve met some truly inspirational people, many of whom have become good friends. To get a feel for what dailymile is all about check out this post that I recently wrote on the dailymile Community Blog (in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’m now part of the dailymile Team and the editor of the dailymile Community Blog).

At its heart, dailymile is a place to post your workouts and share that data with a group of on-line (and often real-world) friends. The site is filled with a great group of very positive people who are always there to cheer you on when you when you run a great race, or give you a kick in the pants when you’re in need of a bit of extra motivation to hit the road/trail for a run. Now, with the ability to sync your Garmin, posting of data has gotten even easier. After a relatively painless setup process, uploading data from your Garmin is a snap, and dailymile currently pulls your distance, time, calories burned, and optionally can include a GPS map of your running route (this can be turned off if you have privacy concerns). With a simple syncing process, you simply click a button, fill in a journal entry on the workout and add a few other details if you’d like, and then publish your workout. Friends can then comment on what you’ve done, and you can do the same on their workouts, which appear in a news-stream similar to what you’d find on a Facebook home page. It’s a slick interface, and a beautifully designed site. Having gotten to know the developers a bit over the past few months, all I can say is that the site is in great hands, and there are lots more goodies to come!

So, if you have a Garmin and are looking for a site to log your workouts and meet some great people, I urge you to give dailymile a try – you won’t regret it. Sign-up is free, and you can click the banner below to head over to dailymile and start logging your miles!

I’ve talked quite a bit on this blog about a website that I belong to called dailymile. In a nutshell, dailymile is a social training site for posting workout data, and has an interface that is similar to Facebook, with the major exception being that it is geared directly toward active people who value exercise as a part of their lives. I can’t begin to explain how much this site has meant to me and my training, and through my membership I’ve met some truly inspirational people, many of whom have become good friends. To get a feel for what dailymile is all about and the type of people you’ll find there, I urge you to check out this blog post that I recently wrote documenting members’ weight loss resulting from adopting an active lifestyle.

It was with great pride, therefore, that I recently accepted an offer to be part of dailymile’s Team of ambassadors. The dailymile Team is a group of 36 site members (at the time of writing this post) who have contributed significantly to the life of the site and who enthusiastically share their passion for exercise and living an active life. Our Team mission is to “Grow the community of active dailymilers and promote the activities we love by inspiring and motivating others.” Inspiration and motivation are what dailymile is all about, and I’m excited to be part of the Team that will help to guide this rapidly growing site as it continues to develop into the future.

What I’d like to do here in this post is introduce you to some of my friends on the dailymile Team by re-posting a series of introduction videos that were recently posted on the dailymile blog (thanks to Kathy S. for putting these together!). Before I get to these, I’d like to again ask that if you haven’t tried dailymile yet, you should give it a shot – it’s free, easy, and there is no obligation to stay if you don’t find that it suits your needs. Simply click on the banner below to give it a try:

Now for the videos – I’ll start with the one that I’m in (you get to meet Jack!), and then follow with the videos for the rest of the Team:

And then there were more from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

Dailymile Team introductions Round 1 from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

dailymileteam | east coast too from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

Last but not least from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

So there you have it – not all of us are featured in these videos, but I think you can get a good feel from these for the type of people that we are.  We represent a cross-section of the dailymile community, and it is our hope that we can help motivate and inspire you as you strive to achieve your health and fitness goals. For more information about the dailymile Team, and to friend anyone that you met in the videos seen here, please visit the dailymile Team webpage.

And once again, if you’d like to give dailymile a try, click here and it will take you to the sign-up page – my suspicion is that you’ll love what you find on dailymile.

The above graph was compiled from my training on the website dailymile.  You can check out dailymile here.

Last October I wrote a post on this blog about my personal story of weight loss achieved through running. In that post I mentioned a controversial article that was published in Time Magazine in early August of 2009 that questioned the efficacy of exercising to lose weight (“Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin,” by John Cloud). The basic premise of the article can be summed up by the final paragraph, quoted below:

“In short, it’s what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain. I love how exercise makes me feel, but tomorrow I might skip the VersaClimber — and skip the blueberry bar that is my usual postexercise reward.”

Reading this article made me angry, and not just because it was contrary to my own experience. I have seen many people who have made dramatic changes to their bodies and health by starting an exercise program, and any article that makes even the slightest suggestion that people skip exercise is ridiculous, and even borderline dangerous. My goal in this post is to provide examples of those who have used exercise as a tool to get healthy, and if you are just beginning this journey yourself, inspiration that if they can do it, you can too.

Over the past year I’ve become a huge fan of the website dailymile – it has served as a phenomenal source of support, motivation, and most of all friendship. About a week ago the theme for the day was Before/After photos – people were posting “Before” pictures of themselves before they started exercising, and “After” pictures to show how exercise has changed their health for the better. I have to say, the pictures and stories that were posted were amazing, and they reaffirmed to me more than ever the power of exercise to not only allow people to lose weight, but to in many cases contribute to a bodily transformation that is nothing short of astonishing. The pictures below are a sample of those posted on dailymile that day, and I hope that looking at them will confirm to you the positive benefits of exercise and a healthier lifestyle. You can view the dailymile profile of any of these people by clicking on the link below their photo – I’m quite sure any of them would happily accept a friend request, and all are great role models for the power of exercise to change one’s life.

 

  

 

 

 

Adam B. – dailymile Profile

 Bharani S. – dailymile Profile

 

So there you have it – everyday people like you and I who have done some absolutely amazing things for themselves by getting off the couch adopting an active lifestyle. So when articles like the one in Time Magazine say that exercise won’t make you thin, I have but one response – look at these pictures, they speak for themselves.

I’ll finish with this – all of these people are members of dailymile, which is an amazingly supportive community of like-minded people (kind of like Facebook for active people). If you’d like to give dailymile a try, click on the banner below and sign up – it’s free!

Episode #12 of the Runblogger Runcast discusses the building of a running support network.  Having others to support you as you train and race is essential, particularly on those days when you just don’t feel like heading out the door. In this show I discuss some of the sources of support that have worked well for me, namely my local running club (Granite State Racing Team), and two on-line social networks that I use regularly for running related support and discussion (dailymile and Twitter). If you have other suggestions for sources of running motivation and support, feel free to send me an e-mail or leave a comment – feedback is always appreciated!

To listen or subscribe via RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RunbloggerRuncast

To listen or subscribe via Itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=80594539&id=348528478

Alternatively, you can listen directly here:

Links related to Runcast #12:

Road Runners Club of America – Site with a wealth of information about local running clubs, as well as a locator so that you can find one in your community.

dailymile.com – a fantastic social workout site for runners, cyclists, and traithletes. You can also read a previous post I wrote about Dailymile here: https://runblogger.com/2009/04/dailymile-new-social-training-log-for.html

Twitter – if you haven’t given a Twitter a try yet, I highly recommend it. You can view my list of Twitter runners here: http://twitter.com/Oblinkin/runners/members

My Dog Jack – If you’d like to read more about me and my favorite running partner, check out this post about my buddy Jack or this more general post about running with dogs.

Below is a video featuring Kelly and Ben, the founders of dailymile.com: