Running Weather Arrives in Sarasota - 10 miles - 1/15/2012 by addickens at Garmin Connect - Details

Running Weather Arrives in Sarasota - 10 miles - 1/15/2012 by addickens at Garmin Connect - Details

I knew that running weather was on its way when Deb and I went shopping at Publix yesterday afternoon and I saw other shoppers with long winter coats and boots on. (It was still in the 60's) The temperature was 45 degrees when I got up this morning and I believe still below 50 when I headed out for my run. This 10 miler was the same route that I ran last week and this week I even have a map to display the route. The temperature was still below 60 when I got home.

I was asked this week how accurate my GPS watch is. I paid fairly close attention to exactly where I ran on a few spots on this run so I could compare to the map route when I got home. The first spot was the turn from Northridge Rd. onto Sawyer Loop Rd. The map shows a pretty good resemblance to what I believe I actually ran.

The next spot was the northbound turn off Markridge Rd. on to Lockwood Ridge Rd. This turn is in the SW portion of the route. If you zoom in on this turn and switch to satellite view you will see the red route line angling across Markridge Rd. and up a driveway. I did in fact run up that driveway. I believe the GPS has kind of "rounded" a bit in the path taken to cross Markridge. The route line is also a few feet west of the sidewalk I was running on after making the turn to Lockwood Ridge however is pretty much back over the sidewalk within a 100 or so feet.

The final spot was farther north when I entered Red Bug Slough for the little cross country section. Again in satellite view if you zoom in you will see where I left the white brick sidewalk and headed north on the grassy section. I believe the red route line is very accurate in showing where I made this turn. When I headed north I made an effort to run about 5 feet east of the overgrowth on the west side of the park which is accurately represented. As I neared the north end of this section I had to veer east to avoid, lets just say a dog walker and leave it at that, and the route line is pretty much right on. The route line is also right on top of the foot bridge over the waterway as I leave the park to cut through an apartment complex and head to Austin St.

To sum this up, I think the GPS has a degree of accuracy that is really better than what I need. One of the things I have enjoyed about this 2nd running period in my life is the advancement of the gadgets over the past 25 to 30 years. I could certainly run for fitness and pleasure without the toys but the toys do add to the fun. Ok, now the stats, today's run was 10.13 miles at 9:54 pace with an average heart rate of 135. The good news is that I burned 1,114 calories in the process.:)