Run Guinea Pig, Run!

I am a product tester / guinea pig for Garmin products in Cochrane. Since March 2009, I have been going 1-2 times per week to the Spray Lakes Sawmill Track to run laps and do what they need me to do. So today was my first day back to it after a few months break from it.

Today, the run involved 4 x 1 lap walks, 4 x 2 lap jogs & 4 x 1 lap runs. Run a lap, stop, push some buttons, repeat. It’s inconsistent intervals, but I don’t mind. I found out my 1 lap running pace is well below the 3:00/km (fastest was 2:44/km) and my average jogging pace is 4:30/km. If I can get that jogging pace under 4:00, I’ll be able to try for my sub 20 minute 5km run. 

Run data can be found here.

This is the track. The outer lane is 232m long per lap. Not sure what the inner lanes are cause I never use them. So it comes out to 4.3 laps per kilometre and 21.5 laps per 5 km.

It is a fantastic facility as it has a gymnasium…

…windows to the outside where I like to be…

  …an indoor soccer field, also used for lacrosse I believe…

…and a gymnastics center. Often there are young kids there being taught gymnastics and it is so cute to see.

So the payoff for all this running that I do for them? I get free Garmin gear. Anything that sports the Garmin logo I can get after certain amounts of running.

I have also spent time in the pool testing stuff there and much running outside. Sometimes, I’ve got 4 or 5 watches on while I run, plus foot pods duct taped to my feet and ankles. I do really enjoy it as it keeps me involved with running and gives me days where my focus shifts from getting through a run to gathering data. Right now, I’ve got a watch that I need to wear for the next week as it collects data all throughout the day. Maybe they’re spying on me, maybe not. I’ll never know.

There is one older gentleman who is always walking at the track when I am there. Today he looked at me and said “Wow, you sure are tall. You must be REALLY good at basketball.” I told him I am probably the worst basketball player ever. He replies, “Well, then you must run like hell.” The guy who conducts the testing then says: “He sure does.” Made me smile.

:-)