5 things you should be doing with your running watch on race day
5 things you should be doing with your running watch on race solar day
Permit me set the scene: I'm 18 miles into the Berlin Marathon and my trusty Garmin Forerunner 645 has lost the plot. It'southward telling me I'thousand miles ahead of my actual location and my existent-time footstep is fluctuating so wildly you lot'd think I was jumping on and off a bike. Past mile 20, I was using my phone every bit a stopwatch to work out my boilerplate 5K pace (yes, that was equally annoying and complicated as it sounds). Tech disasters aside, I crossed the terminate line with a new personal record and had run a negative split, but Berlin taught me one very of import lesson: I needed to learn to use my running sentinel on race mean solar day.
Now that we're (finally) seeing a return to mass-participation races following the Covid-19 pandemic, whatever distance you're gearing up for, getting your tech prepare up is an important part of your race day prep. Here's how to make certain you're fix.
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Connect to GPS as before long as you go far at the race village
If you've always stood waiting for the race gun, you'll have been witness to one of the stranger traditions of race day — hundreds of runners raising their wrists into the air, desperately trying to help their watch detect GPS. Of course, GPS is never 100% accurate, just chuck in hundreds of people and buildings surrounding the start at large city races, and it's no wonder it can take a few minutes longer than it does at domicile.
Luckily, this is an piece of cake i to ready. Get your watch continued to GPS as shortly as you lot get to the race village, or a good ten to 15 minutes earlier your wave is called. This reduces that awful will-it-or-won't-it-connect-in-fourth dimension panic on the first line and lets y'all focus.
Manually lap each mile or kilometer
Every bit well as gels, blister plasters, and jelly babies, your smartwatch's lap push button is your best friend on race day. Your sentry volition automatically auto-lap when its GPS calculates a mile or kilometer, simply if it's non actually buzzing as you attain the grade markers, those actress few seconds departure can brand a difference on the end line. Switch your watch from motorcar-lap to transmission, and manually lap your watch at every mile or even every 5K marker, depending on preference. This sounds fiddly only volition be then much more than accurate when it comes to working out your bodily stride.
A give-and-take of warning here — it'south a expert idea to cheque the markers on the course beforehand. European races are normally in kilometers, and so information technology might be handy to convert your pace if you lot're used to training in miles.
Your sentry is accurate, but not that accurate
No thing how authentic your love Garmin running watch might seem when running around the rails, on race solar day information technology'll virtually definitely buzz to say y'all've completed the race earlier y'all can see the stop line.
Non only is the GPS not 100% accurate, race courses are measured along a racing line, which y'all'll frequently see the aristocracy runners sticking to. Unless you're running a very quiet route race, it's unlikely yous'll exist able to stick to this blueish line, meaning you'll run further than the distance according to your watch.
Don't try new watches or scout settings on race twenty-four hours
Running coaches and veteran runners volition ever tell you 1 thing — nothing new on race day. The same applies to your tech. No matter how tempting it might exist to catch a new running watch in the sales the week before the race, sticking to the 1 y'all've trained with and know your way around is definitely the better selection.
This communication also applies to your watch set up — for some long training runs, I split my run into 10K blocks to assistance myself mentally focus on the adjacent few miles, rather than the altitude as a whole, simply on race 24-hour interval, your watch moving on to the side by side "block" can experience demoralizing if information technology happens too before long. Keep things simple - you've got enough to focus on.
Again, let me beginning by stressing that if you lot've not used your watch's pacing tools during training, race day probably isn't the best time to experiment. That said, if you're focused on running a negative split or getting a Atomic number 82, some higher-terminate running watches will requite you the option to set pace alerts, so you tin proceed an center on whether you're heading off likewise quick, or demand to choice up a scrap.
For some runners, these little buzzes are extremely motivating, for others, the constant reminders would brand them want to lob their tech into the crowd — it's a skilful idea to work out which side you're on before reaching the beginning line.
Remember: it's non about your lookout man
Finally, remember that your race is nearly far more than the running watch. When they're working, running watches can be a brilliant tool to help yous see improvements in your running, alert your loved ones of your rubber, or even tell y'all the right route. At their worst, a running watch telling y'all you're running slower than you are because of sketchy GPS has the take chances to completely sabotage your run. Should the worst happen on race day, turn the watch around on your wrist so you can't run across it, or take it off and tuck it in your running belt.
Remember, your legs and your lungs have trained for the race, your watch has just come along for the ride.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/5-things-you-should-be-doing-with-your-running-watch-on-race-day
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