Setting Up Alerts on a Garmin Device

Did you know that you know you can set up a variety of alerts on your Garmin? I have used this mostly as a time based alert to remind me to eat. You can use the alerts to monitor your pace, heart rate, distance, and even a run/walk interval. The directions below are based off my Garmin 230 Forerunner watch but it should be similar for other Garmins.

To access the Alerts on the watch follow this path.

Menu–>
Activity Settings–>
Alerts–>

If you haven’t set any up the next choice you will see is “Add New”. Choose the type of alert you want to create; custom, heart rate, run/walk, pace, time, distance, or calories.

Custom has some cool choices like drink, eat, turnaround, go home, or you can even make a custom custom one!

After you have created your alert (based on whatever you need your watch to alert you about) you must turn it on for that activity. To do this follow this path.

Menu–>
Activity Settings–>
Alerts –>
Find the Alert you created and make sure the status is “On”

Be prepared to be alerted!

Creating a Custom Workout with Garmin Connect

One of the most useful functions of a Garmin device is the ability to create custom workouts that the watch can guide you through. Not all Garmins have this capability so you should review the specs of your device to see if your device supports this. I have used this function with a 910, 920, and 230. You can create a workout on the device directly but I have found that using Garmin Connect online makes it MUCH easier.

In Garmin Connect, open the Workouts menu item.

From there you will want to create a new workout. You can choose the type of workout. I mostly make run workouts but I have made a bike one.

Once in the new workout, you can choose the type of interval, the duration of the interval (I often use Lap Button Press for my warm up and cool downs just so I can start and stop the workout when I am ready), you can add more steps, or add repeats (much easier than adding them over and over again)

I have added a set of repeats that will be 6 X 0.25 miles with 2:00 min rest. If you select the “Add More…” function you can specify a goal pace or HR zone for the interval. Be sure to name your workout.

When you are done you must SAVE the workout and then you can send it to a device.

If you have more than one device you must choose which device to send it to.

Next time your device syncs, it SHOULD pick up the new workout. This can be a bit clunky at times. You may have better luck sending it to your device through your phone if you use Garmin Connect Mobile. Give yourself some time to play with this step.

Once it has synced to your device you should be able to find it in a Training menu under Workouts. This will vary by device as well. Once you locate the workout you just have to start it! If your last interval called for pressing the lap button to end it, be sure to do that to hear your finishing music!

Happy training!

Argon 18 E-118: It goes to 11!

I am very excited to announce that I got a new (to me) bike!!! I am now the proud owner of a 2014 Argon 18 E-118 Tri bike. This bike has all the bells and whistles I could have imagined. Full Dura-Ace, Di2, and it has highly integrated components to make it more aero. I never could have imagined owning a bike this nice!

I have only been able to ride it a little so far while I am recovering from my collarbone but here are my thoughts so far:

• D12 is the best thing ever! I love being able to shift while riding on the hoods/brakes. It feel really safe and makes for much better riding.
• The bike is highly responsive. I can accelerate quickly off the line.
• It is a well balanced bike. It feel very stable when riding out of the saddle or in aero.
• It will allow for a more aggressive fit. You can see below how much more compact I am on this bike compared to my Slice.

• And since it is an 11-speed, it goes to 11!

Next stop Dialed In Bike Fitting to get everything dialed in!

 

Secrets to Everesting

If you aren’t a coffee drinker, go and have a good hard look in the mirror. Consider selling your bike too.

Source: Secrets to Everesting

Head Up Running

It is time to run with my head up, looking ahead. No more looking down on myself or looking behind for answers. Forward is the only way to reach my goals. 

Sherpa for Everesting

Stuart decided months ago that he wanted to do a particularly difficult cycling challenge called Everesting. The idea of the challenge is to ride up and down a segment of road until you accumulate 29,029 feet of elevation gain. He was training and preparing to do the challenge in October but when I broke my collarbone in early October, we immediately realized I would not be able to help  on the original date. We pushed it back one month to try and use a night with decent moonlight.

When Stuart writes up his report I will link back to it but I wanted to get my thoughts out on support such a massive undertaking. When we first stated planing for this we thought it would take somewhere between 17-20 hours. We were WAY off on our estimate. Total elapsed time was close to 29 hours. Link for ride on Strava can be found here and his report on the event can be found here.

The day was harder than I ever could have imagined and I wasn’t the one riding over 200 miles! Here is the whole challenge played out:

Saturday

• Cooked and prepped all day Saturday so that everything was packed up before we went to bed.
• 8:00 PM bed time
• 11:30 PM alarm to get up and go. The segment, Mulholland Highway, was a good 45 min drive from our house.

Sunday

• 1:50 AM wheels down starting first loop

This was my view for most of  the night

• 5:00 AM wonderful friends showed up and followed Stuart in the dark while I went home to feed the dogs and take a 30 min nap. We always had someone following whenever he was descending to give him extra light on the road.
• 9:00 AM I got back with hot chocolate and a morning bun

• 10:00 AM we realized this was going to take much longer than we had originally anticipated. Stuart sent me home to nap and rest so that I could help again once it got dark. We had left a van parked in the middle full of food and supplies so Stuart could be self supported during the daylight hours
• 3:30 PM I came back with soup and more snack. Nick had joined him for a couple laps which was awesome. It took his mind off the task.

• 5:00 PM the sun went down

• 7:30 PM in the middle of his 9th lap we started to do some math. We still had 6 1/2 laps to go and we were barely making it in less than 2 hours per lap. We had 12 hours to go (my math won’t be perfect through this section, my brain was fried)!
• 9:00 PM after lots of waffling and being very close to quitting we both (it took me longer) finally committed to finishing the challenge. I reached out to Pam and Mark (who had come out at 5:00AM already) to come back and bring coffee and help. We seriously would not have finished safely with out them. They drove up and down for 4 more loops!

Monday

• 6:45 AM FINISHED!!!

Advice for supporting such a challenge – Know your limits

1. Ask for help! I could not have safely supported Stuart on my own. I don’t do well with sleep deprivation so I really needed the help.
2. Organize your gear wisely in the car/support vehicle. Things started getting mixed up as the day went on and it got pretty frustrating for Stuart. Make sure you as the support person know where everything is before the event starts.
3. Reduce your stress by covering all NON-RELATED items ahead of time. I had to worry about feeding our dogs during the day. I ended up driving back and forth 3 times! Don’t make that mistake.
4. Bring lots of food and just make decisions for your athlete. They get to a point where they can’t make their own decisions. Once we got in a groove I had the food and beverages planned out well before he would see me.
5. Savory before sweet. Feed in that order!
6. Don’t be the reason the challenge fails. This almost was the case for us. If you commit to supporting this type of challenge, stick with it. You don’t want to be the reason they quit. This goes back to #1, ASK FOR HELP.

We were very lucky to have a lot of people, as well as sponsors, supporting us. We couldn’t have done this with out them!