Garmin Activity Explorer

Do you own a Garmin GPS watch or like pretty graphs? If so then read on!

I have the Garmin ForeRunner 410 GPS watch which I use for all of my running adventures, it is a very fun toy. All the data from Garmin ForeRunner watches automatically get uploaded to the Garmin Connect website which does quite a nice job of displaying the activities - showing a map of the route, and showing the elevation, pace, and heart rate graphs.

But I'm a web developer so I decided to take it one step further! I've designed a web application which I call Garmin Activity Explorer that lets you analyse public/shared Garmin activities in more detail than you might want.

The main reason why I developed this tool is because I was training for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon, and I wanted to be able to get a good feel of the route since I'd never run the course before. I found a few other people who had run that marathon in previous years and shared their Garmin Connect activities. This allowed me to see the elevation profiles, but I wanted a better sense of how steep the hills were (up and down) and exactly where they were.

The main feature of the Garmin Activity Explorer is that instead of drawing a solid red line on a map to show the route, it divides the line into many tiny segments which get color coded based on one of four properties:

1. elevation
2. slope
3. heart rate
4. pace/speed

This way you can easily see the route, but you can also see where the difficult or easy sections of a course lie.

Here are some screenshots of it in action. The green S marker is the start of the route, and the red F marker is the finish.

Elevation Line Renderer
The first screenshot shows the Times Colonist (TC) 10K route that goes around downtown Victoria. In this example the route is color coded based on the elevation above sea level. Blue and green represent low lying areas, and orange red represent higher elevations (although this route is pretty flat).

Pace/Speed Line Renderer
Similarly, here is the same route but this time it is color coded based on running speed or pace. Red represents slower running, and blue represents faster speeds. By default the line is coloured using the pace at each point, but you can change the segment distance to something like 1000 m to see your kilometer splits. In this example I actually used 2000 m (divided the 10 km race into 5 segments).

Heart Rate Line Renderer
A route can also be color coded based on the user's heart rate, but in the example above it makes for a very boring screenshot because the heart rate was between 90-100% the whole race, so the route ended up just being a solid red line! So instead here is a screenshot of a route running and down up a nearby mountain (Stewart Mtn). The line is coloured based the user's heart rate.

Slope Line Renderer
The fourth line renderer option is the slope renderer. It divides the route into small segments (defaults to 100 m) and calculates the slope (how much elevation is gained over the 100 m) for each segment. The line is coloured based on how steep the slope is - green for downhill, red for uphill. I find this to be a very useful choice because it gives you a good sense of how steep the hills are.

The above screenshot also shows red markers at the 5 steepest uphill slopes, and green markers at the 5 steepest downhill slopes. You can click on the markers to get more details.

Here are a few other features:

	Kilometer markers - markers at each kilometer and halfway
	Minimum/Maximum value markers - at the extreme values for the current line
	Charts - elevation/pace/heart rate line charts (like Garmin Connect), heart rate pie chart
	Data - data table of the raw data points, lap data (splits), and activity details.

* The Data window details tab shows your final 100m time! This is not necessarily very accurate, it finds the closest data point to being 100m from the finish line, and estimates what your actual 100m time would be. So if you didn't stop your watch right at the finish it might be off by a bit. You can also double click on any data point or lap and it will show you that location on the map. For the laps, it shows the start of the lap.

Here is a screenshot of the charts. Each item in the legend on the right hand side can be unchecked to not display a certain line.


Getting Started
When the application loads, you will be presented with a window asking you to load an activity. There are 3 tabs on this window that let you import an activity in different ways:

1. Directly from the Garmin Connect website - all you need is to enter the 8-10 digit id of the public/shared activity (copy and paste from your browser's address bar). These ids are saved for you when you next come back, so enter a title for the activity to help remember.
2. From a specific user - if you know the Garmin Connect username, then enter it and click Load. This will load the user's 10 most recent public activities.
3. From a local file on your computer - you can export any Garmin activities as a TCX file and save to your computer. These files can be loaded into the application from the 3rd tab.

After you've chosen the activity then choose which line renderer you want to use (this can be changed at any time later) and click the yellow Download button.

When a route has been loaded and is displayed on the map, you may click at any point along the line to get the details - what was the distance from the start, the elevation, pace, etc. It is linked with the Charts view, so you can click on the chart and see where it is in the map, or click on the map to see where it is in the chart.

Another easily missed feature is the Kilometer markers. If you click on any of the markers you will get lots of information about that location: what was the running time, elevation, pace, etc. The halfway point is marked with a blue marker which lets you easily determine your halfway split!


Comparing Routes
I've recently added a new feature for comparing two or more routes. Once you've loaded one activity, you can click the Load New Activity button and the top and choose a different activity. Before you click the download button - check the Compare against current route checkbox. This will draw both routes on the map. The first route can be coloured and displayed in the charts view. The second (third, fourth, etc) route is coloured in a different solid color. Why would you use this feature? It's great at comparing the same course from two different watches, or for comparing two different but similar courses (e.g. when a race changes the route slightly).
For example, here is this years Gunnar Shaw Race. If you then go and Load New Activity and enter in this activity id 58258801 and check the compare checkbox, you'll see how the route changed from last year (no puddle!) to this year.


A few more things to note - in the top right corner of the map are 5 map type choices - the default Google Map, Satellite, and Hybrid. And then there's two other neat ones - Terrain and OSM (Open Street Map). The OSM map type is very good for showing trails.

When you load a public Garmin Activity your browser address bar URL will change to include the activity id, line renderer, and km markers like this:
.../GarminMaps.html#gid=82783960&km=on&rid=elevation
This means that you can bookmark and share any public activity.

Anyway, this is much too long for anyone to have actually read. But I welcome feedback and suggestions. Please feel free to tell your friends who use a Garmin GPS watch (or any other one that supports the TCX file standard) about this site if you thinks it's useful.

Here is the link to the application:
Garmin Activity Explorer

Boston!

After my last marathon (the North Olympic Discover Marathon, or NODM for short) I did what most runners do - I said I'm done with marathons, never again! But a few months later I realized that I had qualified for the Boston Marathon and since the qualification times are getting harder I decided this was my best opportunity to run Boston. So I've now registered and been accepted to run Boston on April 16th, 2012!

As usual my first order of business was to start looking at the route and comparing the elevation profile to Victoria and NODM. Here is the graph I made showing the elevation profiles for the 3 marathons:

As you can see it has a lot of downhill to start the race, and then a tough section from 25km - 33km, and a nice downhill to finish. Anyway, that's all I have to share so far, more later.

Marathon comparisons

I've now run three marathons - the Royal Victoria Marathon in 2007, the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in 2011, and most recently the Boston Marathon in 2012. I kept very detailed logs about my training for each one, so here is the comparison. In each case I did 5 months of focused training. So a lot of the numbers displayed below are the totals for the 5 months leading up to the race.

Stat	RVM 2007	NODM 2011	Boston 2012
Total distance	1288 km (* no GPS)	1243 km	1424 km
Total time	111 hours	115 hours	134 hours
Races	7 (4 km, 6 km, 8 km, 10 km, half)	4 (800m, 5 km, 10 km, half)	10 races (5 km, 8km, 10km, 15 km, half)
Runs > 20 km	8	11	14
Runs > 30 km	4	6	8
Longest run	~34 km	36 km	37 km
Highest weekly km	92 km	120 km	122 km
Tempos (<4:30)	1	18	21
Yasoo 800s (10x800m)	2:58, 2:58, 2:57, 2:57, 2:55, 2:52, 2:55, 2:53, 2:47, 2:55 (Avg 2:55)	2:51, 2:47, 2:45, 2:41, 2:42, 2:39, 2:40, 2:41, 2:44, 2:22 (Avg 2:41)	2:49, 2:51, 2:47, 2:46, 2:45, 2:40, 2:41, 2:44, 2:41, 2:30 (Avg 2:43)
Goal	Sub 3 hours	Sub 3 hours	2:55
Race day weather	Mild, ~12 °C, rainy in 2nd half	Sunny and hot - ~20 °C (sunburn on back)	~29 °C, brutally hot
Marathon result	3:02:56 (1:29/1:34)	2:59:45 (1:29/1:31)	3:13:30 (1:31/1:42)

* I have a feeling that my 2007 distances were slightly inflated since I didn't have a GPS watch, and so I could only guess how far I ran based on how hard I was running and how long it took.

My Garmin Connect activities are public and can be viewed here: NODM, Boston.

I didn't have a GPS watch for the 2007 marathon, but I found a lot of other people who have run the Victoria course, and I combined the elevation profiles for the three marathons here. You can see that the NODM course has a lot more elevation drop, but it also has some very steep uphills too. The RVM course is flatter in general, but has lots of undulation. And Boston is mostly downhill except for the Newton hills from 25 km - 33 km.

North Olympic Discovery Marathon Race Report

Intro

This is going to be a long entry, be warned. I'll be discussing my motivation for running a marathon, why I chose the one I did, my training schedule, and a long winded blow-by-blow of the race. This is mainly just a way for me to record my thoughts before I forget them. In a later blog post I plan to include a comparison of my training stats for my 2007 marathon with this 2011 marathon.

Decision

In December 2010 I decided that I wanted to do another marathon. It was a very spontaneous decision as they often are. It is rather easy to forget all the hard work that usually goes into training for a marathon!

My only other marathon experience was the Royal Victoria Marathon in 2007 when I ran 3:02:56. My goal for that race was to break 3 hours, and because I only just missed it I knew I would run another marathon one day and break the 3 hour mark. So naturally when I decided to do the North Olympic Discovery Marathon (or NODM for short) I had the same goal.

My main reasons for choosing NODM were: close proximity to Victoria and small race (usually ~300 in the full marathon). NODM is a point-to-point marathon that starts in Sequim and finishes in downtown Port Angeles which is a short ferry ride away from Victoria. There is a good website called marathonguide.com that has user comments about the marathon and previous results. I found it a useful guide for helping me make my decision.

Training

By registering in mid december I had a full 5 months of training from January through May. Each month I wanted to increase my mileage and gradually incorporate more long runs and tempo runs, and ending with a 3 week taper at the end of May leading up to the race on June 5th. I also planned on incorporating a few local races into my training plan - Bazan Bay 5K, Comox Half, and the TC 10K.

The training went pretty smoothly with no real set backs except for one nasty cold in early March and a brief vacation in Hawaii. January, February and March were decent months, but not as consistent as I wanted (probably partly due to the less than ideal weather!). But luckily April and May were really solid training months where I was able to log some really high mileage (for me) and lots of tough long runs and tempos. Each of my 3 pre-marathon races went well too with a road PB of 17:57 at Bazan Bay 5K, a steady 1:25 Comox Half, and a really great 10K PB of 36:09 at the TC 10K.

All in all I was feeling pretty confident going into Sunday's marathon. But I knew that a marathon will always be tough and not something to take lightly.

The Race

We stayed at a nice hotel 5 mins from the starting line which was a great way to do it. I jogged the 5 mins to the start line, stretched a little gently, and then did 1km at race pace.

I had a pretty clear strategy in mind - push the downhills, don't slow up much on the uphills, aim for about 1:27 at the half way, and most importantly - stay positive. The toughest part of the marathon is from 25-33km so I wanted to make sure I was well under 1:30 at half to make up that. I also wore a fuel belt with 2x10oz bottles which I filled with water and one nuun tablet in each, and carried 6 gels (I love the Vanilla Clif Shots) in the belt's pouch. The plan was to take one gel every 25-30 mins (or roughly every 6-7km) which I calculated would give me enough energy to last the marathon. And I also planned on alternating between taking water and gatorade at each aid station which were well spaced out at about one every 2 miles.

Below is a screenshot of my Garmin Activity showing the elevation, pace, and route.

0 - 5km (20:38, 4:07 pace)

The first part of a marathon is always the best feeling: the pace is so slow feeling, and I'm also so excited. I started off the race in about 6th place, but by the 3rd kilometer I had overtaken two guys were who already breathing heavily, including one guy wearing a long sleeve heavy running shirt... not a good choice for the 20+ Celsius weather! Ahead of me in 3rd place was the lead female runner (wearing the distinctive pink top) who would stay in front of me for most of the race. As I finished the first 5km I had closed the gap on her to about 50m.

5 - 10km (21:08, 4:13 pace)

The first 8km of the course is a big loop that took us back to the start line before we started heading away from Sequim towards Port Angeles. The course was mostly on roads with a short segment on a paved trail through the park near the starting line. During this 5km section it is a gradual uphill, and I made myself slow down as I didn't want to blow up early going out too fast in the heat (plus my heart rate was still too high and I wanted to drop it below 85%). So although the pace dropped a bit, I was still feeling confident, high-fiving the volunteers at each aid station and generally feeling okay. During this section the girl in pink had pulled away and I could only just see her on some of the long straightaways. It was at about 7km when I first saw my wife and mother-in-law, who were both taking photos of me just as I had started sucking back my first gel, probably made for some great photos!

10 - 15km (21:02, 4:12)

This section was probably the flattest part of the course, and flew by uneventfully. The first river crossing was at about 9.5 miles (15km) where we crossed the Dungeness River. It was very scenic, and not a difficult river valley like some of the ones coming up. At this point I was getting more concerned with how high my heart rate was staying. My watch was telling me that it was hovering between 86-88%, which I know is a little on the high side for a marathon (75-85% is "safe"). I expected it to be high during the first 20 mins since this usually happens to me, but after an hour into the race it was still there and I was starting to feel the effects of the heat and my mind was already warning me to slow down. But I also have a theory that my max heart rate is higher than my age predicts, and so I told myself not to worry about my heart rate - if it's too high then my body will force me to slow down.

15 - 20km (21:01, 4:12)

It was around here when I had one nice moment when I passed a man and woman who were walking the full marathon. I ran by and yelled out "great job, keep it up!". They replied saying "Thanks! You're much nicer than the other 3 runners who ran by and didn't say anything. We hope you win. You're looking really strong too!". Definitely a confidence booster.
But just before the half way I was starting to really struggle. I had just taken my third gel (around 1:20), and already drank all the Nuun flavoured water in my fuel belt. I wasn't feeling great, and I knew my pace was starting to slip.

20 - 25km (21:07, 4:13)

I didn't know it at the time, but these last 20km were remarkably consistent. My pace varied from 4:00 to 4:23, but somehow each 5km was the same time. It sure didn't feel that way!
My plan had been to drop off the fuel belt as soon as I finished the water and carry the remaining 3 gels in my hand. As I approached the aid station at the half way point I was really unhappy. I felt like crap and was very disappointed that the time was already 1 hour and 29 minutes - a full 2 minutes slower than my game plan. The guys at the aid station were busy yelling at me to keep going "you're looking great, keep it up" etc. Ha. Yeah. Right. As I ran by I asked if I could drop off my belt and collect it at the finish line, and they said yes. So I stopped for 5 seconds as I dropped the belt, grabbed the remaining gels from the pouch, handed the belt to the volunteer and sprinted off yelling out my name and race number as I went on. I wondered if I'd ever see the belt again but didn't really care. I was just glad to be feeling a little lighter and less constricted around my waist. The next few kilometers were much better and I was able to get my pace back down under the magical 4:16 pace that I needed to break the 3 hour mark.

25 - 30km (21:58, 4:23)

Right at 25km I had a short but painful calf cramp in my right leg. I stopped for 2 seconds and gave it a quick stretch fearing the worse. The prospect of running the last 17km with a cramp was scary.
I knew that the first really tough hill section was at the 17 mile mark (27km). So with that in mind I pushed the first few kilometers to try and gain a few seconds and hoping my calf would not be an issue. At 27km the trail dropped down into Sieberts Creek and back up again. I had jogged this section the day before to prepare myself, and boy was I glad I did! It is very steep, but also very short. And knowing that my wife and mother-in-law would be there cheering me at the top of the hill I flew down into the valley, and pushed really hard up the hill, making sure to give them a winning smile to give the illusion that I was still feeling strong and confident! Even though I knew at the point that it was going to be almost impossible to break 3 hours now. But still, having just seem some friendly faces my confidence grew, and I kept pushing through the tough undulating hills. At some point near the 30km marker my left calf had the same sharp cramping feeling, but it also didn't last and so I kept going without stopping.

30 - 35km (22:11, 4:26)

This was always going to be the toughest section because it is so far into the race and it features the hardest hills. It was exactly at this point when I knew my pace was slowing and my sub 3 hour goal gone that my mind started to try and trick me. I kept thinking thoughts like "if I just slow down here a little bit, then it will be impossible for me to break 3 hours, and then I won't have to keep pushing". This is what makes the marathon so tough. Of course the physical aspect is tough, but that is the "easy" part to train. I think it's the mental aspect that is what makes the marathon so tough. At this point I was already seeing myself slowing slightly and finishing in 3 hours and 2 minutes again. My mind trying to justify that it was still a good result.

But then I got lucky. Up ahead I suddenly saw the lead girl (pink shirt, called Tanaya Gallagher), who was obviously slowing. And even more of a surprise I saw the 2nd place guy (gray shirt, called Kurt Warwick who I later learned had ran an impressive 2:47 at Boston this year) who I hadn't seen since the start. Hmm. So maybe even if I can't break 3 hours I could pass them, and come in second! I was spurred on to catch them, and also knowing that the toughest hill section was right at 20 miles (32km), and after that it was all down hill! Almost.
Around 31km I easily passed the guy in gray who was hardly moving, and voiced some encouragement, and then flew up a short hill and passed the girl in pink. Saying something nice too. I made sure to keep pushing it for the next 500m to get away from them and leave them feeling a little disheartened by my pace even if I knew I couldn't keep it up for long!

Then came the famous Bagely Creek hill. I quickly inhaled my second to last gel (mmm Vanilla) and descended a nasty switchback downhill followed by a very steep 33m hill climb over 400m. I had also scoped out this section the day before so I knew it was steep. I do admit to stopping for a few seconds at the top here to catch my breath, but only for a couple seconds. A guy standing at the 20 mile marker yelled out my time of 2 hours and 17 minutes. This was again 2 minutes slower than the 2:15 I had hoped for, leaving me 43 minutes to run the last 10.2km. Still possible, but it was not going to be easy. After my slowest kilometer through Bagely Creek of 4:58 I reached the highest point of the marathon (77m, 250 feet). It was almost all downhill now. Yeah! I quickly sped up to a pace of 4:05 down the hill.

Here is where I got lucky again. I saw my wife at 33km and got a surge of energy after she yelled out "the lead runner is not far ahead, you're totally gaining on him!". What?!? No way. Well, maybe even if I don't break 3 hours I might be able to win this race. Inconceivable! Anyways, down I went and at each aid station and many walkers that I passed all said the same thing: "You can catch him!". I passed one couple on this section who yelled out "showoff!". Um, sorry?

35 - 40km (21:35, 4:19)

By now the route was taking me out to the coast, down to about 10m of elevation (having dropped over 60m in just over a kilometer). And what had I gained from that nice downhill? 11 seconds. Oh well, I was still gaining on the lead running (blue shirt, Adam Read). Ahead of him I could see the official cyclist who was keeping the trail clear for him. For the next 2km I slowly reeled him in despite putting up slow kms of 4:26. I gulped back my final gel. As I got closer and closer to him the walkers that I passed would yell like crazy for me to catch him. Part of me wanted them to be quiet so that the lead runner didn't hear them and start to speed up! But luckily for me he was toast. Nice. I came up along side him at around the 37km marker (3 miles/5km to go) and shouted some encouragement and again picked up my pace making sure to look really strong. The official cyclist pacer looked very surprised to see me, and we quickly left blue shirt guy behind. The cyclist then radio'd in: "Guess what, we had a new leader! Bib number 66, Chris Callendar". I envisioned hearing the announcer at the finish line saying just that. At this point I realized that unless something terrible happens, I was going to win this race! Passing the 3 runners had really taken my mind off the pain and allowed me to run at a really decent pace without my mind interfering.

At this point I remember looking at my watch and saw it read 37.2km, and 2 hours and 39 minutes flat - exactly 5km to go. I realized that if I wanted to break 3 hours I could still do it, but I had to run the last 5km in under 21 minutes. It was possible, but that meant I had to run my second fastest 5km of the day. It really helped having the bicyclist in front of me, he'd honk his bell and all the walkers would move aside and start cheering for me. It was great encouragement. About all I could do was put my thumb up as a way of saying thanks.

40 - 42.2km

Just before 40km there is a nasty little gravel hill around a sharp 150 degree turn. I flew up it anyway despite feeling rather unsteady. There is a less than pleasant horse-shoe shaped loop around an old mill that is all gravel. My pace slowed very slightly. My watch read exactly 2:51 at the 40km mark. 2.2km in 9 minutes. That meant I still had to run faster than the 4:15 pace and hope for enough energy to sprint the final 200m to squeak under 3 hours. Once I got back onto the seaside paved trail I knew I could do it, but didn't dare let myself think too far ahead or slow down. As I rounded the final curve and finally saw the finish line in the distance I knew I had done it. I sprinted the final 200m in 30 seconds and crossed the line in a time of 2:59:47. The clock unfortunately read 3:00:35 when I crossed, but it must have been started early for the other races.

After I crossed the line everything gets a little blurry, but I definitely remember doing a lot of screaming and fist pumps, and then gave my wife a big delirious hug. And there was an awesome woman there who helped keep me from falling over as I wobbled through the finishing area. She said "What took you so long? I've been waiting for you for ages!", but she was laughing so I replied "I did my best to get here sooner, sorry to have kept you waiting".
Then got "mobbed" by the media. One guy from a local newspaper and one from the local radio station interviewed me. It was great. I was on a huge high of course, and got to spurt out all the usual cliches that professional athletes say. I was amused that they both asked me how many marathons I've won. At first I said 2, and then realized that they asked how many I'd "won", not "run". Oops.

Anyway, it was a great day and remarkable race. Especially learning afterwards how many other runners suffered in the heat. I'm not sure if I can top this one. I was awarded a really nice piece of art (see photo on the right) for coming in first, and a plaque for being first in my 30-34 age group. Huge thanks to my wife and mother-in-law for the support along the course (and during my training), and to my father-in-law for the inspiration to run marathons. And also to Angela and Roger who were the only other Vancouver Island runners that I knew at the race.

My Garmin Connect Activity

TC10K, 2011

We got really lucky with the weather for the TC10K this year. May 1st was a gorgeous day, perfect weather for running, and hopefully for spectators too.

Overall I enjoyed the new course, it didn't seem to be any more difficult or any easier than the previous course, and I definitely preferred not having a turnaround. But as I said in my previous post it is not as fun when you don't get to see the lead runners and the mob of runners going the other way.

Anyway, I tried really hard to not going into this race with a specific goal. I find that if I set an easy goal for myself, then I don't always feel satisfied when I achieve it. And worse is when I set an unrealistic goal and fall short, then I really don't feel happy about it. So with that in mind I didn't have much of a goal for this race. My previous best 10K was Cobble Hill in January 09, in a time of 37:07. And my best TC time was 37:41 back in 2008. I thought with my current level of training that I was capable of a 37 minute 10km...

The first few kms went by very smoothly. I started near the front of the pack with many Harriers just in front of me - including Garth, Gary, Mike, Ian, and Jeremy. I knew my family would be cheering me on near the turn off onto Vancouver, so after the long gradual climb up Johnson I put an extra push as I went by them, high fives of course! The next few km are undulating, but more downhill than up. So with that in mind I picked up the pace down Vancouver, Richardson and especially on Moss Street. The first 4 kms were really solidly paced in 3:36, 3:31, 3:37, 3:30.

After that was the hilliest part of the course - it is mostly uphill from 4km until 6.5km. I let up a little bit, and climbed up through Beacon Hill Park. My half way split was 18:03, which is actually only a few seconds slower than my Bazan Bay time this year.

Over the next 3km my pace was expectedly slower in 3:49, 3:44, and 3:43. But it's always great once you reach mile zero and a nice downhill awaits heading towards Ogden Point. Once again pushing the downhills I got my pace back down to 3:30 and 3:36 from 7km - 9km. Amusingly my 8km time was 29:00, which would be a new PB.

During the last kilometer I was urged on by Bob Reid and Scott Simpson, and by the fact that Garth was just in front of me, maybe 50m ahead. Down the straight away I did my usual sprint and caught up to Garth and then spotted Ian just ahead of him, so I kept going, pipping him at the line in a time of 36:09.

Here is my Garmin Result if you like stats and maps like I do.

Overall it was a great race, and I'm very happy to finally have had a good TC10K. Next up I'm taking part in the Victoria Track Series, and then doing the North Olympic Discovery Marathon on June 5th.

TC10K New Route

It's been ages since I've posted, oops. Anyways, I'm excited about the TC10K this coming weekend. I jogged the course today after work with my new Garmin 410 (another blog post hopefully) to check out the course, the elevation, etc. Obviously the last 5km are the same as previous years, but the first 5km are different.

Here's a screenshot I made from the garmin workout:

The original garmin workout is also public if you want to see it:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81861120

I also superimposed the old route elevation profile on top of the new one for comparison:

The route is pretty good. The first 1.5km is a gradual uphill, but nothing noticeable, especially with all that adrenaline pumping. Then there is a nice downhill along Vancouver, and again on Moss. Then the usual uphill through Beacon Hill Park and then down to Ogden point.

I'll definitely miss the out and back course though. It was probably better for the fans too. I always enjoyed it because I could see where other runners were ahead and behind me, and to see the leaders. It was always great to have the cheering for/from runners ahead and behind as we passed on Dallas Road. Oh well.

Anyway, time to make a realistic goal for Sunday. I haven't had a good TC10K probably ever... maybe 3 years ago (37:42) is the only decent one. So I definitely want to beat that. Otherwise I just want to have fun, and not over do it since my real goal race is only 5 weeks away (the North Olympic Discovery Marathon).

Race Time Predictions

I was reading this interesting website called powerrunning.com and it talked about how the most accurate way to predict your race time is by using your results from other races at different (but similar) distances.

This got me thinking - what distance race have I performed best at? Because many people say that we each have a specific distance range that we excel at - e.g. short races (3-5K), middle distance (10K - Half Marathon) or long races (marathons and ultras).

So anyway, I made up this table which allows you to enter in your fastest times at each distance (or leave blank if you haven't done a distance). Then it will predict what you are theoretically capable of running those distances at. Keep in mind that this is all in theory, you still have to put in the appropriate training!

The calculations are done using a simple formula that I copied from this website:
runningtimes.com. It only allowed you to see the predicted time for one distance.

I've filled in the 10 km time as an example.

Run Time Predictor Enter in you best times for the various distances in the form [h:]mm:ss. You can edit the distance textboxes as well and the column(s) will be updated.
The fastest times will be in bold.

Distance	Time	200 m	400 m	800 m	1000 m	1500 m	1609 m	3 km	5 km	8 km	10 km	21.1 km	42.2 km

Conversion Chart
Metric (km)	Non-Metric (miles)
1.609	1
5	3.1
10	6.2
21.1 (Half Marathon)	13.1
42.2 (Marathon)	26.2

Another nice race time calculator is on the Harrier's website.