ASICS Runkeeper is a GPS based mobile app used to track fitness activities – primarily running. Originally released as Runkeeper by FitnessKeeper in 2008, it was purchased by ASICS in 2016.
ASICS Runkeeper has emoji?
ASICS Runkeeper started adding a distance based symbol next to a users Total distance on the Me page of the app as a fun way to celebrate each distance achievement with the user.
What are the emojis on Runkeeper?
The emoji are linked to the total distance tracked within the app. It is not linked to the unit of measurement, just the distance value.
As an example, if you have run 150 miles; you will have the 💯 next to your Total (mi). If you change your unit of measure to metric, the distance will update to 241 km and you would get the 🙌 next to your Total (km) tracking.
Here is the complete list of Runkeeper emoji and their respective distance:
0 – 🐣 Hatched chick 10 – 👏 Two hands clapping 50 – 🔥 Fire 100 – 💯 Hundred percent 200 – 🙌 Raising hands 300 – ⚡ High voltage / Lightning 400 – ❤️ Red heart 500 – 🏅 Sports medal 600 – 🎉 Party popper 700 – 😎 Face with sunglasses 800 – 🚀 Rocket 900 – ☄️ Comet 1000 – ⛰️ Mountain 2000 – ✌️ Victory hand / Peace sign 3000 – 🦅 Eagle in flight 4000 – 🐬 Dolphin 5000 – 🐴 Horse face 6000 – 🐺 Wolf face 7000 – 🐯 Tiger face 8000 – 🦁 Lion face 9000 – 🐲 Dragon face >10 000 – 🦄 Unicorn face
ASICS Runkeeper has stated that once you get to your unicorn (more than 10 000 km or mi) – that is it! No more emoji after that.
Emoji differences between devices
Finally, each emoji symbol will display differently on different devices, web browsers and operating system versions. For example the 🦄 unicorn face emoji will render differently on an Apple device vs on an Android device in the ASICS Runkeeper app and the app will display a different version of the emoji to the example emoji on the above web based list.
Apple vs Android vs Web unicorn emoji rendering
[Update 18 June 2024 – New App UI]
ASICS Runkeeper updated the Me page with the June Android update and now the Emoji are placed front and centre on a new My Stats section. This new section includes a progress bar indicating your progress to the next level:
The taper is a period of reduced training before a race to improve performance. The taper is intended to reduce the negative effects of fatigue from the full training block while preserving the training adaptations that have been gained.
Sunday was my longest run in this training plan and my longest run ever! 32 km (~20mi)!
The 32km run was a good run. The training for the next three weeks starts to reduce distances (for most workouts) with my next long run being 23km and the following long run being only 13km before race day. The Wednesday interval workouts are still hard this week and next.
I was not feeling great about the event after the 28km and 30km long run days – but I am trusting the process and am looking forward to slightly more ‘restful’ run days before the big event.
Travel plans
My first marathon is in Cape Town on the 20th of October 2024. I do not live in Cape Town, so there is an added stress for the race in planning and organizing travel to my race destination.
Fortunately, Cape Town is a short 4-hour flight, and I have family to assist with accommodation and pickup at the destination. The main planning is what and how to pack for a ‘destination’ marathon – great practice for future international marathon trips.
I was going to focus on the training app that I chose for my marathon training plan in this post, but after having this post sit in draft hell for a few months I have started this post anew.
Welcome to my 100th blog post on my blog 🎉
Current training status
I am 6 weeks and 6 days away from participating in my first marathon. Yesterday’s run day @ 28.5 km (17.7 mi) was my longest run to date and my legs felt every single step of that entire distance.
Plan overview
My plan consists of 6 runs per week broadly broken down as such:
Sunday – Long run
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Easy run
Wednesday – Speed session
Thursday – Easy run
Friday – Easy run
Saturday – Easy run
The plan is based on pace (I set the time I want to finish my marathon and from that the required pace is set, guiding all my training in the plan)
Variations are primarily in the distance of the runs (long, easy and speed sessions all gradually increase distance over the plan – with a taper near race day)
A typical easy run day at the start of the pan is 3km @ 6:00m/km, that same easy run is 6km at the end of the plan.
A typical speed session is 4 X 1min @ 4:00m/km with a 1 min rest between each rep, this increases to 4 X 1.5 km (around 7 min) @ 4:00m/km with 1 min rest between near the end of the plan. I find it interesting during these runs, especially with the cool down run after the session, at how running speed is perceived after running at the faster pace for a period, running at perceived ‘easy pace’ during cool down is generally 30s to 1 min faster per km than on days when I am not doing the speed session.
My long runs started at 10km and gradually increased to 19km easy pace, after 19 km the plan alternates between longer runs (21km, 23km, 25km etc) and shorter runs (19km) each week. The plan also adds ‘race pace’ efforts to the longer long runs as the plan progresses.
Overall, the plan covers all the bases when it comes to a balanced running plan. What I do lack is strength sessions (gym weight sessions) and cross training sessions which are very important to in preventing injury, especially when increasing distance and pace as I have decided to do in this plan.
Gaps in the plan
This plan does not have an option for perceived effort or heartrate-based runs – relying solely on pace – this can lead to over-exertion on easy run days or injury if you have set too high a pace as your baseline. I have skipped some Thursday runs or scrapped the pace-based workout in favour of a slower (but more comfortable perceived effort) run on some days.
No matter what plan you choose – listen to your own body and don’t ignore pain.
Strength training and cross training are important. This plan does not have any strength training or guidelines for such, so I try and do at least one gym session a week as I can.
But not on Mondays – that rest day is a true rest day.
So how is it going?
Running is hard – always. Some days the really long runs are easier, and I feel confident in my ability to complete the race in my goal time. other long run days I just plod along with aches and pains, wondering how I am ever going to get through the distance on race day. Getting stronger and better at running allows you to go further than before but doesn’t make it any less ‘hard’ to go that distance.
I think I am good for now; race day is coming up fast, and I will be ready. Eat well, sleep well, train well and I should be okay.
Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.
Allen Saunders – 1957
The Wings for Life World Run 2024 happened this past Sunday (5 May 2024) – The local start time for South Africa runners was 1pm (A hot clear day in Johannesburg made for a tougher run)
Some improvement
I did improve on my 2023 distance by more than a km, but did not remotely achieve my planned goal of 25km:
I did highlight some personal concerns when I set my goal of over 20km for my run, but at the time I was still confident in my ability to push on the day and achieve a reasonable result.
Circumstances
I went for my annual health checkup on the Tuesday prior to the run, and without thought got my annual flu vaccination – this year’s shot put me, unexpectedly, on my back with flu symptoms for the next two days and on Saturday I was still feeling the effects.
My dad was checked into hospital on the Friday morning – while he was okay enough to be checked out on the Sunday – this added stress to the run and changed the planned location of the run – it also made the start of the run very tight.
Two of my four huskies had a serious altercation with a porcupine on Saturday afternoon, requiring an urgent and costly vet visit.
The alternative route used on the day turned out to be a lot hillier than the original planned route, making for a much tougher loop for the day.
High work stress and lack of sleep in the weeks leading up to the run also contributed to a lacklustre result.
Excuses aside
I still had a satisfactory (if very hot) run on Sunday and I am happy that I improved some over my previous years result. Maybe by next year I will have a better understanding of my own abilities and will be able to put together a more reasonable plan for the 2025 Wings for Life run and stick to it.
I initially was looking for a marathon close to Johannesburg but far enough away (time wise) to provide me enough time to train up for the additional distance. Unfortunately, it appears that marathon season in South Africa is from January to May and then again (but fewer) from September to December – the winter months, although very mild in most of South Africa, appear to be the off-season for road marathons.
Based on the timeline after my first half-marathon – I couldn’t comfortably complete a marathon training plan before that last available race in May. The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon appears to be the best option, and with it being a candidate as one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors I thought this would be a great way to experience a world class race event.
The A goal is your aggressive time goal for the race, what is your ideal time on race day.
The B goal is your fall back, if you cannot achieve your A goal on the day – this could be finishing the race in 5 hours if your A goal was to finish in 4 hours.
Finally, the C goal is your final fallback, everything has gone wrong on race day, this is usually just finishing the race.
What are my A, B and C goals for my first marathon?
A Goal: Finish the race in under 4 hours (this is a proper push considering I only just made under 2 hours in my half)
B Goal: Finish in sub 4:30:00 (Hopefully another 3o minutes is enough)
C Goal: Finish the race.
I believe that with enough training and my current fitness level, that the A goal is achievable.
Decide on a training plan
Garmin Coach (which I used to train for my half-marathon) only has 5km, 10km and half-marathon training plans. As an alternative I have been a user of Asics Runkeeper since I started running, and I am comfortable with the platform and when I was reviewing the half-marathon options how it aligned to the Garmin plan so I decided to stick to a platform I know and use them for the marathon training.
Only one problem – the plan (based on the race date as an end date) only starts in June! What am I going to do until then?
Decide on a pre-marathon training plan
I am doing the Wings for Life run at the start of May – planning to do a half-marathon distance, at a faster pace for that run is not only a good stopgap between now and my Marathon plan but also gives me a chance to see if I can get a faster time in the half-marathon to better align my A Goal above.
Deciding on Pace
There are a number of calculators available to try and workout your race pace based on pervious performance (VDOT, Riegel Formula or Vickers Formula are some).
I just looked at my half-marathon run statistics and my perceived effort levels doing that distance at that pace, and I went with a thumb-suck based on that Setting my training plan accordingly.
Looking at the results of the calculators, I’m close, but likely asking a lot of myself for race day:
So how did you decide on your race pace? Do you have your own coach helping you through your training?
What’s next?
This is the first post in what I hope will be a series of three or four posts on my progress to completing my first marathon race. Thank you for reading and leave a comment or question below if you want me to cover something specific in my progress updates.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the measure of the variation in the time interval between heartbeats. It is governed by the same system in the body that automatically regulates your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and digestive system among others.
HRV is different for every person in the same way blood pressure is different for every person. There are expectations on what an average HRV level should be depending on your age (a normal HRV at rest for someone in their 20s is 55 to 105 and for someone in their 60s, it’s 25 to 45) – higher is better for HRV.
The first step in improving anything is understanding the baseline (what is my current HRV?) before trying anything to change it. If you don’t have a base to start from, how will you know if it is improving or getting worse?
In my case my new sport watch can monitor and track HRV status, providing me with a baseline metric to track.
Increase fitness
This fits in with my overall journey to lose weight and becoming a runner. Seeing my HRV generally increase as my ability to run further and faster, doing my best to not getting ill or overworking my body in the process, brings a great feeling of achievement.
Reduce caffeine intake
Research1 on caffeine intake (particularly with coffee) appears to indicate that while coffee is generally good for your health, restricting intake to only the mornings allows your body to metabolise the caffeine sufficiently that it will not adversely affect sleep, which is very important to HRV and overall health.
Improve sleep
Getting to bed at a regular time each night and getting a full night’s rest of at least 8 hours is important for overall health and a great way to improve HRV levels. I am fortunate that I have seldom had issues with sleep, so just by making sure I go to bed a reasonable hour every night is helping to maintain a good sleep schedule and improve my nightly sleep and HRV numbers.
What other options are available to me?
Improve diet
Eating a diet with more leafy greens and less high fat foods is a win in general for achieving a healthy life. I believe improving my heart health in general should help improve my overall HRV status too.
Reduce stress /over-working
Focus on taking more personal time outside and away from the keyboard during the day. Having my meals away from the work desk and keeping to my work hours (avoiding working late into the evenings) could help with reducing my overall stress and improving my HRV.
Improve mindfulness
Adding focuses breathing exercises to my daily routing – or trying meditation exercises may help with improving my HRV. It should also help me focus a bit more where it matters too.
What are you doing to improve your own HRV status? Do you know what your HRV is?
When my parents moved home, they cleared out some of my old boxes I had left in the storage cellar. Boxes that contained items from my childhood, including some of my personal journals from my teenage years.
One journal contained a page listing what teenage me in the mid-to-late nineties thought was ideal life goals (or material objects that I felt were important to obtain at the time)
My teenage life goal list – Date achieved if applicable:
Purchase a rock-climbing harness (figure-eight & screw gate carabiner) 1999-10-20
Purchase a scuba diving wetsuit (fins & booties) 2009-10-30
Purchase a Digital amplifier/receiver (AC-3) 2002-11-27
Purchase 3 speakers (Centre & Rear) 2008-10-01
Have my own space (renting or purchased an apartment) 2002-10-31
Design a living space to my ‘standards’. 2010-04-01
Have a large bookshelf with an array of books. 2002-11-05
Go on a skydiving course. 2012-01-10 (Bungee Jump first) 2011-04-25
Get a tattoo. 1999-03-06
Go on an advanced scuba diving course. 2002-10-10
Buy a fancy car (BMW, Audi, Volvo, Jaguar, Merc, etc) 2006-04-14
Go on an advanced driving course. 2000-06-06
Purchase a rock-climbing rope. 2007-03-01
Have nice clothing for all occasions (Formal suits, smart shoes) 2007-01-01
Purchase a motorbike.
Own a horse or still be horseback riding.
Travelled overseas. 2001-06-01 – 2002-10-31and many times since
Have a wife 2016-06-11 or long-term girlfriend. 2004-05-05
Accomplished things to be proud of (donating blood) 2009-01-23
Run the Comrades ultra marathon.
Completed studies. 2005-11-30
Have a career I am happy with and settled in – 2005-11-01 & 2007-12-01
Have prospects of a family
Learnt how to play a musical instrument.
Own a mobile phone. 2000-11-19
Own a computer. 2000-06-25
Have some creature comforts (living comfortably) 2007-03-01
These two items were listed separately:
Have a few close/good friends.
Have my share of problems to deal with
These were added on the back of the original list at some point:
Have some money (Wealth) 2020-01-01
Have a nice car sound system. 2003-10-20
Learnt how to speak another language.
Have a large compact Disc (CD) collection. 2008-01-01
Did my best to reach my dreams.
Some of the items in the list highlight the era in which they were created – in 1999 owning a mobile phone was a much bigger deal than what it is in 2024. The same goes for owning CD’s (I still have them, but I’m not sure when last I listened to music from one, I’m actually not sure if you can easily get new players for them anymore – like VHS and DVD’s I guess).
One item raises an eyebrow… “Run the Comrades ultra marathon.”
Run the Comrades ultra marathon.
I highlighted in my journey to becoming a runner post that I have never really been a runner, even in school sports I was never a long distance runner. Listing the world’s largest and oldest ultra marathon as a goal nearly 30 years before I even became a runner is surprising.
I guess you are never too old to try and achieve your childhood goals.
The Wings for Life World Run is a global charity running event that takes place annually on the first weekend of May. The race is the world’s largest simultaneous running event using a mobile app to align all participants worldwide on the race day. The race raises funds for the Wings for Life foundation, a not-for-profit organization that supports spinal cord research.
Sometimes called the race without a finish line, the Wings for Life run has a “catcher car” that pursues and passes the participants, either physically at one of the Flagship Runs or virtually with the app, once the car passes you, your race is over. That makes it the only race worldwide where everyone finishes.
Third time doing the run
I participated in my first Wings for Life run in May 2021, completing a planned 10km route and ending my run before the catch car even caught me.
I did not participate in 2022.
In 2023 I had improved my general running fitness and decided to run the race as intended – go as far as I could before the catcher car caught me and ended my race. I was very pleased to achieve my fastest 12km run at the time.
Setting a 25KM goal, with a required pace of 5:09 min/km (8:17 min/mil) before the catcher car gets me!
Could this be out of my reach, and I fail completely?
I have decided to set a pace almost 30 seconds per KM faster than my current half-marathon best!
Could this be too large a jump in pace?
Could this be out of my reach, and I fail completely?
Am I too old to still be getting faster?
These are valid questions I ask myself regularly, especially during my current training plan runs. I guess I will find out if I have the physical and mental ability to reach these lofty goals on the 5th of May 2024.
Training for my first marathon
I have decided to enter the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in October 2024.
This will be my first marathon and is currently the furthest distance I would ever have run in a single activity. Setting a new PB during this year’s Wings for Life run will put me an great position to better plan my pacing and setting my goals for the marathon. The planning and training for the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is a post in the making, so keep your eyes out for that.
Gathering and analysing data from Azure DevOps and presenting it in different, visual, ways within Power BI can assist scrum masters, project managers and development teams in planning and monitoring project progress.
What are some of the tools available to analyse and visualise Azure DevOps data in Power BI?
Built-in Power BI connector
Power BI offers two built-in connectors for Azure DevOps: Azure DevOps (Boards Only) and Azure DevOps Server (Boards Only). These services, formerly called Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) and Team Foundation Server (TFS) respectively offer the simplest method to import data into Power BI for reporting.
This connector requires the Organization name and Team project name to connect to the correct boards for import. The data returned is dependent on the default analytics views built into Azure DevOps, so there may be some pre-work required.
The default Analytics data returned is high-level per Bug, Story, Task or Work item, so while this approach is the quickest and easiest to get Azure DevOps data into Power BI, it may not be the beast approach to develop rich analytical reports on your project as is.
More information on connecting and importing the data using this approach can be found on these Microsoft learn pages:
Azure DevOps contains a built-in reporting platform called Analytics, providing fast read-access and server based integrations to answer questions about your project data. This is the same tool providing the data to the Built-in Power BI connector mentioned above.
To import this data into Power BI you use the OData Feed connector. Have the name of your organization and project as they appear in DevOps on hand to connect to your DevOps boards, Pipelines, Test plans, Repos and Artifacts.
The query is slightly different between the cloud-based Azure DevOps and the on-premises (Azure DevOps Server) instances. Below is the breakdown of the Azure DevOps Service (cloud) structure.
While this data does use the same Analytics views as the built-in Power BI connector, it does offer a more customizability in the initial URL query to get a finer grain of data to develop your DevOps report in Power BI. This added customisability does come with a slight drawback in the slightly more technical skill required in data extraction.
Additional information on connecting and importing the data using the OData connector can be found on these Microsoft learn pages:
As a brief introduction, an API is an intermediate software agent that allows two applications to communicate with each other. APIs provide a set of protocols, rules, and developer tools that enable software developers to extract and share information and create applications that can interact with each other.
Using the Azure DevOps REST API in Power BI is the most technical of the approaches to extract data out of Azure DevOps, but it can provide a level of detail not available through other methods.
The Azure DevOps API supports Microsoft Authentication Library, OAuth, and Session tokens as ways of authentication to accommodate various developer languages and scenarios. The simplest approach for Power BI is to create a Personal Access Token (PAT) in Azure DevOps to use for your report authentication.
Customising the query and making it more dynamic for your requirements can be done once an initial connection has been made and you have confirmed that you can get data. The authentication method in Power BI to the REST API will be Basic, using the PAT you have created as the username and password for the connection.
Additional information on REST API can be found on these Microsoft learn pages:
The approaches to connect to your DevOps board data in this article has been listed from simplest to most complex.
For most requirements (and for general Power BI development sanity) using the built in connector or OData feed connector are ideal. Although the API can possibly provide a smidgen more information over the other two approaches, using API’s in Power BI Desktop (and the Power BI service) adds large levels of complexity to your project. Only you can decide if the extra data you can pull is worth the additional effort.
If you search the internet for “How to stay motivated when running” you will get loads of similar results on how to keep yourself motivated on your running journey. While you will find loads of different and sometimes rather unique and fun ideas, most lists include the following ideas:
Set Goals/ Commit to a race.
Run with friends/ Join a running club.
Reward yourself.
Try new routes/ Add variety.
Log Everything/ Track your runs.
Listen to music.
Set out clothes the day before.
Personally, one of my regular enjoyments is a good cup of coffee. I have found that taking a new route to a local coffee shop and having a quality cup of my favourite caffeinated beverage handed to me for my effort (and some coin) adds to said enjoyment. A big bonus about my coffee runs is that the tick two of the above items:
Reward yourself
Who doesn’t love getting a nice warm coffee hug on a run. This is a lovely reward for me personally – and can be a great energy boost if the coffee is consumed mid-run.
Try new routes
I am fortunate to have a loads of independent and franchise coffee stores within 20km (12mi) of my home and many more available from my office, so finding new routes (some with more hills, some closer to do speed repeats, some with a hill at the start, others with the hills at the end) all help keep the run interesting, fun and help with keeping the training interesting.
Log Everything
The last item I highlighted on the list is to Log Everything. This last part started with me running to a nearby place that serves great coffee, recommended by a lovely friend. After the run and the welcomed cup of caffeinatedjoy, my sports watch automatically logged the run on Garmin and Strava, but I renamed the activity to the destination coffee shop and appended this name with the words coffee run and on a final whim I also added the words (Coffee days 1).
This is definitely how traditions start.
I need to be clear, not every run is a coffee run. I do not have the budget to get barista made coffee every single day. That is what makes these coffee runs so special too, they are a personal treat – sometimes for getting out the door on a cold day, sometimes for going that extra mile on a wet day, and sometimes just getting out on the road on a Monday.
Progress – many coffee runs later
To date I have completed 65 coffee runs and continue to use them as fun ways to explore a new area and, if the run is a little longer, I will also likely have my favourite podcast or music playlist keeping my company.
My last note on logging activities is the attached GPS route images in this post – I just love how interesting some of the shapes are that develop from my route choices without actively planning specific Strava art for the destination – although that may be something to do in future, just another mini goal to add to the list to keep motivated.
Do you have any good coffee place suggestions, anywhere in the world – I may visit one day? Do you have any other rewards for your runs? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading, have fun and be safe out there.
I have been an avid book reader my entire life, my parents having instilled a love of reading from a very young age, saying that I have never been a particularly fast reader.
Last week Saturday (10th February 2024) I ran the Joburg North City Half-Marathon. This was my longest race to ever run. I completed it in my goal time of 1:58:09, this was 25 minutes and 2 seconds faster than I have ever done that distance.
Starting Point
I first started running more seriously in 2020, getting stronger and working slowly through the 5k and 10k training plans to build up my running ability. I would occasionally attempt longer runs, including some of the Garmin 15K monthly challenges.
Some of the Garmin 15K Challenge badges I achieved.
This slow, but steady, progression in training continued through 2021, 2022 the start of 2023 and I was averaging around 10km (~6mi) a week and 50km (~31mi) a month. Looking at the stats, I took 7 months to complete the first 5k plan and over 13 months to finally get through the 10K plan…
Thinking back as I write this, I cannot recall what changed in my life that pushed me from a 42km (26mi) total distance in March, to do 81km (50mi) total distance in April, to 134km (83mi) in May and beyond. My current average is now 35km (21mi) a week and 150km (93mi) a month total running distance!
Even with these increases in total running distance I was still only running for fun (occasionally coffee, but that is another post) there was no race goal or training plan target being followed, just miles on feet.
Garmin Coach
I finally decided that a race would be a worthwhile goal to focus my running and in October 2023 decided to leverage all the fancy features of my Garmin sport watch and try out the Garmin Coach feature – specifically their 12 to 26 week half-marathon program to get me to my first race finish.
Having months of consistent running without a race in mind really did help build my required aerobic base and made doing longer distances easier; I had even done a 21km (31mi) run/walk as a personal challenge on a cool day in July 2023 (completed in 2:24:43). I believed I had enough personal benchmarks on hand to select my first half-marathon plan with a realistic target of completing the race in under two hours.
Garmin Coach setup questions
Overview of the questions asked to setup the Garmin Coach plan:
Weekly Distance: Options from ‘I don’t run’ to ’40 kilometres or more’ are available.
Average Running Pace: Options from 9:30/km to 3.45/km available, sorry for those really, really fast peeps. (I am guessing that pace/mi is available if your watch settings are as such)
Half Marathon Goal: Options being just ‘complete the race’ or complete the race in a specific time from 1:32:00 to 2:40:00.
Choose a coach: Options are from Jeff Galloway, Amy Parkerson-Mitchell, and Greg McMillan – each has their own style of coaching which is reflected in the plan activities and approach.
Available Days: Which days a week are you able to run – the plans will still allocate rest days even if you select every day of the week.
Long Run days: Which day would you prefer to do you long runs.
Race Event: The plans align their training to a specific race date; the app encourages you to select an event in your area to run (the app contains most official road races events worldwide)
With the above information locked in for my goal and a race date set, I’m ready to train.
Training
My training plan started with a very short “Benchmark Run”.
Garmin Coach training plans are only pace based, as this is the easiest metric to use for an automated plan, so do not expect any zone 2 easy runs or any heart rate based workout with the Garmin Coach plans.
My training plan started with a very short ”Benchmark Run” to get the metrics in order and the next 18 weeks went by faster than expected – with a steady increase in distance.
My typical week was:
Sunday: Long Run Day (Set pace)
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: Tired Run (Any pace)
Wednesday: Speed session (Fast interval pace)
Thursday: Rest Day (I did swimming or a short run on these days)
Friday: Easy Run (Set pace)
Saturday: Easy Run (Set pace)
To keep things interesting on my runs (short or long) I tried my best to find different routes around my neighbourhood (or around my work neighbourhood on the days I travelled into the office). This not only provided good variations in elevation, but it also provided an abundance of new sites and scenery for me to enjoy on each run (I love looking at interesting houses and gardens).
Videos and coach notes
The training plan included short videos from the coach and blog type posts with additional information on strength training, gear selection, running form, what to expect on race day and more.
Concerns
The only real concern I had during the entire process was believing the phrase “Run slow to go fast” and trusting the plan on that. With my race day approaching, I had never run my race pace for any distance over 10km (6mi) never mind the required 21km (13 mi).
Race Day
During training I had come across the concept of A B C Goals for a race, these are:
A Goal: Get an aggressive, ideal time goal. For me, this was finishing in 1:58:03
B Goal: Get a more realistic time goal. For me, this was finishing in sub 2:30:00 (as there were specific medals for finishing in this time and faster and it was a time I had achieved in the past outside of a race)
C Goal: Finish the race.
On the day I set my alarm for 4 AM but got up at around 3:30 AM due to nerves. This gave me enough time to eat my pre-race toast and peanut butter, snack on some mixed nuts, have my morning coffee, and drive to the start line at Mark Park Sports Club. I did all my running training on my own (I do not run with a club) so having the vibe of other runners and the race day ambiance at the start filled me with energy.
Garmin PacePro
I had pre-loaded the race route on my watch, so I quickly added a Garmin PacePro plan on the start line, hopefully giving me an idea on how my actual pace would align to my goal pace over the course. The first 6km (4mi) I was slower than I needed to be, but this is something every runner doing their first race must accept – you are now running with thousands of other people on roads that are only so wide, you are going to be slowed down by the mass of other people on the route, particularly around the start.
You are now running with thousands of other people on roads that are only so wide, you are going to be slowed down by the mass of other people on the route.
I was concerned about going to fast, over-exerting myself early, hitting the wall and possibly needing to walk to finish, or worse, not finishing at all. Passing a water point and hearing a spectator shout that we are nearly over the halfway mark (it was just after the 10km (6mi) point) was a great surprise, I was in a good rhythm, still felt strong and I was slowly gaining back some of the minutes I had lost in the chaos of the start.
The last stretch
The rest of the race was a mental game, me taking chunks and completing those (“If I complete this km, I only have 2 X 4KM sections to do”. “If I complete this 2km I only have 5KM to go”). Taking on a little fluid at each water point and keeping to my fuel schedule with gels.
My watch buzzed at me – my 21km was done! What!? I’m not at the finish line yet!
Finally, my watch buzzed at me – my 21km was done! What!? I’m not at the finish line yet! Thank goodness I was less than 600m away from the finish line, I pushed a little bit more, finishing my first race, more than happy with the result!
Disclaimer: I am not sponsored or affiliated with Garmin, I am just a user that is very happy with the products and wanted to share my enthusiasm for the sport of running.
Had you asked me if I was a runner in 2019 or earlier – I would have said something along the lines of “I am more of a swimmer or cyclist if I need to do something for fitness – I don’t think I have run further than 3km since high school”.
I don’t think I have run further than 3km since high school.
Looking back at my activity records from my old Polar watches, I mostly did 30 minute activities at my local gym maybe twice a month to maintain my status on rewards programs. The activities were usually stationary bike or treadmill runs/walks (I did not have the stamina to run, even at a slow pace, for the entire 30-minute period)
I start out strong, but quickly slow down to a walk, with some occasional short jogging periods. My heart rate was generally high, even with the walking included in the activity.
Weight gain
Over the last 15 years I have slowly become less & less active, lazier in food preparation (very little healthy or whole food) ordering takeout for many meals or eating junk in my car on my way to and from work. This resulted in me going from 70 odd kg in my middle twenties to over 90 kg before my fortieth birthday.
Just looking at those numbers didn’t mean much to me – I was not one to regularly climb on a scale – but photos taken of me when I was over 90 kg made me realise how much I had gained (on the face, neck, and stomach), I was not happy with what I saw in those photos or in the mirror.
At the end of 2019 I was beginning to look at my eating habits, I was staring to change direction.
Covid
The great pandemic gave me a very long period where I no longer needed to get in a car and drive to the office; giving me at least 40 minutes each morning and between 1 and 2 hours each afternoon; time usually spent in traffic. Being restricted to home during this period (the gyms were closed for much of 2020) the only real option for me for any sort of exercise was jogging around my suburb.
Garmin Badges
Switching from my basic Polar watch to my spouse’s old Garmin Fenix when she upgraded turned out to offer one of the best motivators I could have ever needed; Garmin Badges, awards for completing specific goals, was a great self-motivator for me. I just wanted to get all the badges I could.
Asics Runkeeper
Progress was starting to be made, I was getting out of the house, walking and jogging to get my Garmin reward badges and I began to use the additional time I previously spent in traffic to do these activities. I was starting to enjoy my time outside and just needed a little direction.
I have previously tried following those free 12-week running training plans (printed out sheets of paper) but either I lost motivation or the increase in running volume within the program was too much too soon, causing some sort of shin pain or other overuse injury.
Asics Runkeeper … got me from an occasional jogger to runner – I am a runner!
Googling running and training apps, I came across Asics Runkeeper and their My First 5K training plan. Having an app, with an actual person coaching me through each activity, motivating and guiding me- coupled with no enforced time limit (I completed the 12-week program in a little over 7 months, repeating workouts or having longer breaks between run activities) got me from an occasional jogger to runner – I am a runner!
Two years later
I have competed the My First 5K training plan as well as the My First 10K training plans within the Asics Runkeeper app (thank you Erin!). As of November 2023 I am in the 7th week of my first half-marathon training plan, with my first race in February 2024.
I can run continuously for 15km distances and further (no longer requiring walking sections during my runs, even on steep hills) and my 30-minute run now looks something like this:
I maintain an easy warmup pace, moving into a period of surges (sprints), ending with an easy cooldown pace – reaching 5km in 30 minutes. No need to walk to recover.
As it turns out you do not have to be athletic or in shape to become a runner. All I needed was the motivation to get out the door and the time to get into the running groove. No matter what your motivation; lose a bit of weight, prove to that you can do anything you set your mind to, or just to get to see more around your local community, you too can become a runner if you are willing to take that first step.
Do you want to get more active? Do you have any stories on how you became a runner? Please let me know in the comments. Have fun and be safe out there.
Disclaimer: I am not sponsored or affiliated with Garmin or Asics Runkeeper, I am just a user that is very happy with the products and wanted to share my enthusiasm for the sport of running.
Installing a 50l auxiliary diesel fuel tank above the spare wheel, between the chassis legs, of my 2012 Toyota Fortuner 4X4 SUV.
This post is an overview of my experience and the issues and difficulties in the installation process. This may help others in deciding whether to perform a similar DIY installation on their own 4X4 or to purchase a professional installation. This post has taken me over two years to complete, so some of the issues I experienced have been excluded.
Front Runner recently discontinued their 42l auxiliary fuel tank that fitted the 2005 – 2015 Toyota Fortuner and replaced it with the above pictured 50l auxiliary fuel tank that fits the older models and the current model Toyota Fortuner.
An update to the Front Runner website now shows that the new fuel tank is manufactured by Gerber 4X4:
Screen capture 07 December 20232012 – 2015 Toyota Fortuner 2015 – Current Toyota Fortuner
The kit comes with installation instructions – but these are rather basic and appear to miss steps (or sufficient images) to understand how to perform parts of the install.
Issues experienced
Towbar
The towbar that was fitted to my vehicle was incompatible with the auxiliary fuel tank – there was insufficient clearance between the towbar square tubing behind the bumper and the tank. Luckily, I was able to source a different style of towbar that also fitted my vehicle – tolerances were very close, but the shape and round tubing of the new towbar allowed the fitment to continue after some minor persuasion with a large hammer.
Incompatible style of towbar – does not have sufficient clearances for new fuel tankTube style towbar – only just clears the new fuel tank.
Brake lines
There does not appear to be any tolerance or space between the new tank and the rear brake line pipe. A spacer is required to keep the two parts from rubbing.
The arrow indicates where the brake line touches the tank
Spare wheel lock
Although a large space is placed in the tank to allow the spare wheel chain to still function and carry the spare wheel – the space is insufficient to utilize most under vehicle spare wheel lock systems. I had to permanently remove my spare wheel lock to fit the new fuel tank.
Exhaust Pipe
There is no space between the exhaust pipe and the fuel tank. When you turn on the vehicle the exhaust vibrates loudly against the new tank. a visit to an exhaust specialist was required to re-route the last 1m section of exhaust pipe after the muffler away from the tank.
The exhaust pipe rests against the new tank
Provided instructions
The instructions and images provided are limited – with assumptions and guesses needing to be made on where to cut or remove existing fuel hoses (both for the filling line to the fuel tanks and for joining the new tank with the existing tank)
Insufficient fuel hose
Maybe this is related to the instructions issue above, but I was supplied with around two meters to little fuel hose length than I required to connect all the components as per the instructions.
Conclusion
I regret not completing this post during the installation processes or shortly after as I would have a more complete overview of all the issues and concerns I had with performing this installation as a DIY task.
Although I have listed many issues with the DIY installation above, the install was still successful, and it has now been in use for over three years without issue.
Would I purchase the same auxiliaryfuel tank again?
Yes.
Would I perform the installation myself again?
Even with my knowledge on the process, I would not – I would budget the extra amount required and have it installed by the professionals.
I still love the feel of a physical book in my hands and throughout my life I have collected many, many books.
At the end of 2021 I started to track the books I read, mostly because I started to read a ‘new’ book and realise shortly into the story that I had read it before (sometimes rather recently too). I also didn’t want to start duplicating books on my shelves because I wasn’t tracking them properly.
I know there are many library apps and book reading tracking apps out there, but I settled on the simple and elegant libib Library management web app. Using libib to track my reading in 2022 I can now say I completed 31 books in that year, and I can share that list here. The first of what will hopefully be an annual list of books read in the year:
Jan 2022
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse) – James S. a. Corey
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
Foundation – Isaac Asimov
Die Trying. A Jack Reacher Novel. – Lee Child
Tripwire – Lee Child
Feb 2022
Caliban’s War – James S. A. Corey
Mar 2022
Abaddon’s Gate – James S. A. Corey
Cibola Burn – James S. A. Corey
Apr 2022
Echo Burning – Lee Child
Without Fail – Lee Child
May 2022
Nemesis Games – James S. A. Corey
Babylon’s Ashes – James S. A. Corey
Visitor – Lee Child
Persuader – Lee Child
Jun 2022
Persepolis Rising -James S. A. Corey
Tiamat’s Wrath – James S. A. Corey
Jul 2022
Gone Tomorrow – Lee Child
Leviathan Falls – James S. A. Corey
Nos4r2 – Joe Hill
Aug 2022
61 Hours – Lee Child
Fragile Things – Neil Gaiman
Nov 2022
Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
Conspiracy of Bones – Kathy Reichs
Past Tense – Lee Child
No Middle Name: Jack Reacher Short Stories) – Lee Child
Blue Moon – Lee Child
Dec 2022
Better Off Dead – Lee Child
5th Horseman (Women’s Murder Club) – James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
6th Target (Women’s Murder Club) – James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4) – Robert Jordan
Fires of Heaven (The Wheel of Time, Book 5) – Robert Jordan
A while ago (over 9 years now!) I attended a short introduction course to arc welding (stick welding). During the last few years I have used the techniques gained on the course to in some DIY projects around the house.
Here are the items I have welded and fabricated over that time:
Braai (Weber BBQ) table
I was very pleased with the curve I managed to get in the steel rod using a hammer, a round steel block and some brute force (Project done in July 2012):
Measuring and marking table top to cutCut out area of table I no longer needAnvil, steel bar and hammerSome bending donechecking the fitWelding the bar onto the cut part of the tableWelding done, some cleanup requiredUndercoat doneFinal coats of green hammered paint being appliedFinal product – with new Webber BBQ in place
Front gate extension
With Siberian Huskies you need to make sure that there is never a gate open that they can run out into the street. To prevent this, we have a double gate ‘air-lock’ system when entering our property. The gate closer to the house was always a low gate – which was perfect for our pack of dogs. This was a perfect system until we got a new rescue ‘pup’ that liked to jump low fences.
This project was to add an extension onto the existing low gate (Project done in March 2015) :
Two side pillars extended and brick pillar built on the right to prevent a dog going around the side.Using the existing small gate as a template for the extensionThe patched up and completed pillars where the gate will fitThe frame for the extension welded togetherNew gate in place to confirm height and fitThe railings welded in place (this was slow work)Some of my ‘better’ weldsMore okay welds…New gate in place (paint still required)
New front gate
A new property with a long driveway required a new gate at one end to make it husky proof. I built the side pillars and the entire swing gate set from a pair of prefabricated fence sections (Completed September 2019):
Fence section completeFence section in progressFence section in progressNew pillars and gate in placeCompleted gate from two fence sections
Work from home desk
Bring on the year 2020; the COVID 19 Pandemic; working from home. The existing flat-pack desk was just not cutting it for two people, two laptops, two large secondary screens and all the accompanying notebooks and work documents.
This was a combined metal and woodworking project that I really enjoyed making (Project completed January 2021):
Initial frame welded togetherLegs addedWelds cleanedChecking table top fitFirst coat of black paint First coat of black paint Additional cross braces added for strengthCompleted product – with loads of space for two
Other projects
Carport roof extension
Just adding an extra covered bay to an existing carport
Small outdoor storage shed
Small steel and sheet metal storage shed
Shed exteriorShed interior detail
Alaskan Chainsaw Mill attachment
An attempt at a chainsaw attachment for my 18″ (50cm) petrol chainsaw
Portable Generator Storage
Brick and steel shed to protect my portable generator from the elements
200g packet Bakers Tennis Biscuits (crushed in their own packet) *
385g tin condensed milk
4 to 5 large eggs (yolk and whites seperated)
125ml lemon juice (+/- 5 fresh lemons cut in half and squeezed is best)
150g butter (melted slightly)
100g castor sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 140°C
Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter in a bowl (do not worry if slightly dry – too much butter and the base may be difficult to remove when serving). Once mixed through press into the base of a small pre-greased pie dish. Place in fridge while preparing the rest of the recipe.
Place the condensed milk and egg yolks into a mixing bowl and stir together until well blended. Add the lemon juice and fold in until completely incorporated and thickened. Pour over the biscuit crust and return to the fridge.
Combine the egg whites and the castor sugar and beat until firm and stiff (around 15 min with an electric mixer) – Using a spatula (or piping bag) and your own creativity – cover the lemon curd with your meringue.
Place in over on middle to top rack of oven for 30 to 35 min. Once time is reached, turn off oven and leave the pie in the oven with door slightly ajar to cool slowly (from 2 hours to overnight).
Place cooled pie in fridge until ready to serve.
* Replace Tennis biscuits with gluten free ginger biscuits if required
