In the midst of Olympic fervour - I pressed a button on a website that booked me in for a 1.2 open water swim followed by a 55 mile cycle followed by a half marathon on some of the UK's hilliest terrain - Exmoor on June 16th 2013!
It's called the Ironman and it's going to be one of the most challenging experiences of my life and will demand real commitment in preparation..
No regrets for pressing that website button - follow my journey using Ironman icon in right margin of my blog - www. pilgrim.typepad.com
This watch replaced a G-shock as my priarmy workout and everyday watch. I bought it primarily because I am now doing mostly interval workouts, both for running and in the gym, and wanted an audible indicator so I did not have to keep checking my watch. PROS:Decent-looking watch, except for the BOLD white-wall lettering on the band, but a Sharpie takes care of that. Numbers easy to see, controls easy to figure out and manipulate. Rubber strap does not absorb sweat or grab wrist hairs. FLIX feature very handy for night work, not overly bright. Light-weight, lower profile than typical G-shock.CONS:1. Weak chime hard to hear over any noise.The roads I'm running are reasonably quiet, aside from the occasional UH-60 helo flying over or diesel honey-truck going by, so most of the time I can hear the multi-tone chime signaling end-of-interval, but have missed it when a vehicle is passing by. Fugedaboudit if you're in a typical loud gym with music, cardio machines, TVs, and the grunters and plate-slammers, or your own mp3 player, Creative Zen Stone Plus 2 GB MP3 Player (Black).2. Will NOT work for Tabata Intervals of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, repeat 8 times. I set INT 1 at 20 seconds, INT 2 at 10 seconds (REPEAT at end), then DONE. At end of first 20 sec interval the watch gives only the faintest pip before going into interval 2 practically impossible to hear if you're involved in any intense cardio exercise. After a little experimenting I discovered that if the second interval is set below 15 seconds you'll only get that pip,' otherwise you get a more noticeable ditty-dee, ditty-dee signaling the start of interval 2. DOES give a very noticeable 10-second chime at end of interval 2 as it recycles to 1 and repeats.3. Menu lag time. There's an annoying 3-4 second lag when switching to the CHRONO mode before you can press START. Does not seem to affect other modes. I'm impatient, and switching between CHRONO and INTERVAL modes while working out or running should not cost me time.I might buy this again for a running watch, but for my priarmy workouts (RossTraining.com) I now use the awesome $20 Gymboss Interval Timer clipped to the band of my Ironman watch, set to VIBRATE 1-second between intervals. GYMBOSS does Tabatas perfectly! Train Hard!
Posted by: Maicon | Monday, 17 September 2012 at 07:03 AM