Be your own high-tech coach! – Garmin Forerunner Training Programs
Do you have a Garmin Forerunner? Are you serious about running but have a demanding day job that you don’t have time to go to ULTRA oval to do speedwork or get advice from the country’s leading Running “Clinics”.
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these, well I’ve got great news for you. I’ve just stumbled in Runnersworld UK website and they have training programs that can tailor-fit your current fitness with your race goals. You just have to enter your race distance, goal time, and race date. You would then be prompted to download a *.wkt file that can be opened with Garmin Training Center software, then the program would then be scheduled into your calendar. You’ll just have to upload it unto your garmin, and viola! You have a personal coach in your Garmin Forerunner.
I will use this after the Condura half-marathon on March22 when I could use the 21Km data to predict my marathon time. Then I should know how fit I am and just use the program to coach myself better. I’ve tried uploading my own dummy *.wkt file, and it has speedwork programs in terms of Pace or Heart Rate, whichever one you choose! Isn’t technology great? I found myself crying with joy. Just imagine, these kind of running technology weren’t available 10years ago.
Of course having a real human coach is still best, they can observe your strength and weaknesses by observing your running form. And of course, the human mind is really the best intelligent coach there is. That’s why we have to thank baldrunner and nike clinics. But if you’re like me who never have the time in the evening to go to ULTRA, this is the best alternative. And these programs were formulated by UK’s top coaches (Whatever the formula is, I wanna learn it someday). I personally believe we only need real coaches once we find our PR’s aren’t improving anymore despite the years of volume and intensities we put into training.
Here’s the website:
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=3301
Comments (9)
uy, this is nice. will try this. salamats!
Wow, I see you’ve just received your blond GF405!
Great color! Just in time for this post. You can be your own coach right now.
I am not that techie…..or just lazy to read on….. Just teach me after our half at Condura…….
Thanks for the share.
Great find man! Thanks!
Doc Lyndon, sure why not. I owe you a lot already. By the way if you plan to sell your GF305, let me know.
Gleeman, you’re welcome. May you have more PR’s to come.
Hi, Interesting thread. I just completed one of these Garmin ready schedules for a Marathon 2 weeks ago. I found the program 7 weeks before the Marathon, simply entered the race dates and downloaded to my 405. The race times told me to follow the sub 3.45 prog but I adjusted this slightly as I only started training 7 weeks out. The downloadable programs are a great motivational tool and especially for me as I work abroad and train alone most of the time. A daily reminder even pops up on the watch to tell you which workout to do just like a training partner or coach. So, overall I would really recommend to anyone who trains alone but it might not suit someone who is a member of a running club, has a coach already or prefers running in groups. The times and paces once downloaded are not adjustable unless you delete the whole program and reset your prediction time. The vritual partner is used on all the workouts and you race against the pace given which is fun. Hope I can help anyone / advise if you thinking of doing this program. Good luck, great blog I2runner.
Hi DJ, thanks for the feedback because I haven’t used this yet. It sucks to know that you can’t modify the pace once you’ve downloaded it. When I do most of my runs, I hate using the virtual partner because I never run at a constant pace. It also won’t apply to hilly terrain, the pace would just be messy. Maybe I’ll use the Heart Rate option instead, where the real effort is actually being monitored. Have you tried this already?
Hi, no I just stuck with the pace settings. It was too much at first because I had been out of training and had to catch up on the pace 7 weeks out from the race on a 16 week program. I run in Bahrain, mostly flat desert so my running pace is fairly constant. The Heat Rate option must be worth a try but personally my working heart rate is a lot higher than all the prediction tables so I tend just to monitor my HR not follow programs based on it. The good thing is having your exact workout ready on the 405 when you wake up in the morning just like a coach telling you what to do. The Virtual Partner can be annoying but I refer to it at several times on a run, sometimes it’s ahead sometimes me but I make sure I beat it every time. Having said that sometimes I’ve worked harder than I know I should have done just to beat it. That’s where the HR option could benefit you ! It’s worth a try anyway but as I said the only drawback is the program is not very flexible once downloaded. Let me know how you get on. Cheers.
[...] World Smart Coach or the training program that can be downloaded to my Garmin, as reported by i2 Runner. I’ll have to figure this out this week [...]