Weekly Mailbag–May 15th, 2010

Here’s this week’s edition of the weekly mailbag.  This is a weekly series where I feature a handful of the e-mailed questions I received from the previous week or so.  I try and pick a wide variety of questions. Some are technical in nature, some sport related, and sometimes all sorts of other randomness – as you’ll see below.

This week’s mailbag covers the following topics:

1) How I’m feeling post car-bike tango
2) Camera gear during training/racing
3) Using Garmin Connects player feature
4) Garmin Edge 500 recording options

Question #1: How am I feeling post car-bike tango
I’m just going to quickly summarize a ton of e-mails I’ve received (which I’m working through answering individually btw) – but a lot of folks are asking how I’m doing since getting hit by the car.

The good news is things are improving rapidly!  My knee no longer hurts just sitting/standing around.  In fact, for the most part the pain is gone.  I was able to get in a short 40 minute easy bike ride on Wednesday without any pain at all.  On Thursday I tackled the pool and did 4,000y without any problems – though I did actually avoid pushing off during flip-turns with the knee that was causing pain (as I find the twisting action seems less joyous).  On Friday, I tackled the run for the first time since Sunday’s race.  It was just easy 20-40 minutes or until pain occurred (in line with the Doc’s recommendations). The first mile hurt a bit, but after that things loosened up and I felt fine.  Today (Saturday) I was able to swim again without any issue, and this time returning my flip turns back to normal.

So all in all, I’m feeling pretty good – and more than anything – incredibly lucky to be recovering so fast and that so little damage seems to have been done to me.  As for my bike…well, that’s another post.

Thanks again for all the e-mails and thoughts, I really do appreciate it!

Question #2: Camera gear during training/racing
From Mr. T-

“I signed up for a 2.4 mile swim with a friend of mine, and I want to carry a camera. The swim is in Charleston,SC in June, so I won’t be wearing a wetsuit. How do you carry a camera when you race, run, swim, ride? Followed by what camera do you find the best for stills and video when racing? Thanks much for all of your posts, photos, reviews, and generally letting all of us into a slice of your life. You are a great resource and inspiration for me as a noob tri-guy. Thanks for everything!”

Thanks T!  Funny, I was just in Charleston this morning for a few hours.  That said, for me, I use the Pentax Optio W90.  I used to use the Optio W60, but a few months ago got the latest model (W90) as it’s designed to be dropped (shockproof) as well as waterproof.  I’ve been using their models of waterproof cameras for years and love them.  You sacrifice some camera features compared to a standard point and shoot, but being able to put it in a beer glass if you want to has its benefits.  Both the Optio’s have video modes (underwater and regular), but the W90 also has HD video (720p).

During openwater swims I simply slide it in the top of my wetsuit near the neckline.  But I also just slide it in my swim suit between my leg and the suit, and it sticks pretty well.  I haven’t done it in any races though yet (that I can remember offhand I think).  The issue with all the Optio in general is just how long you can keep them exposed underwater, so keep that in mind depending on your swim times.  On the bike it’s easy – just a back jersey pocket.  And on the run I usually just hold it on my hand.  It bugs some folks to run and hold something, but it doesn’t bug me too much at all.  Sometimes I find it a bit calming to have it in my hand.  Relaxes me somehow.

As an aside, I’ve put all my photography information in one handy little place – including all the details of all the cameras I use, and lenses, tools, etc…

Question #3: Using Garmin Connect’s Player Feature
From Bob-

“I just started using it again after using WKO+ and Sport Tacks for a long time.  I would like to drop Sport Tracks\, but it has a feature I like.  You can click on the map in Sport Tracks  showing the ride you took, and it will tell you that was mile 22.56/time 1:10 mins or whatever.  This would be nice when you are in Connect and see the elevation profile or hr chart go way up, and want to see where on the course that was.  I don’t see an easy way to do this in Connect.  Is there?”

Hi Bob!  Yup, it’s there – just a bit hidden.  In Garmin Connect you can do the same thing by clicking on ‘Player’ mode, but just don’t actually play it – instead, just hold tight.  It’ll allow you to click anywhere on the graphs and then show you on the map above it where your exact location is.  For example, see the below quick screenshot:

And, because I’m a friendly guy who’s all about sharing – you can go ahead and use my Knoxville Rev3 Race Run (10K) if you want to check it out a bit and play with it.  It’s one of the cool things about Garmin Connect – the ability to share out a given workout (just click here to use the player).  This run was recorded on the Garmin 310XT.

Question #4: Edge 500 Recording Options
From Jarno in Belgium-

“I have a question concerning the Edge 500.

Does the unit always record the data?  I mean, if you just want to go for a ride, without the need to process the data afterwards, how do you do that?  You don’t want to go and upload every ride you do to Garmin Connect, do you?”

Hi Jarno!  By default the Garmin Edge 500 (my review here) will record data when you press the start button.  Otherwise it’ll just display current speed/cadence/HR/etc… on the screen without recording.  For me though, I record everything – but don’t always upload it to my computer.  The Edge 500 has a significant internal memory capacity that realistically I’ll be able to do a LOT of rides before I ever get close to filling it up – and that’s at 1-second recording using virtually every ANT+ accessory currently available (Speed/Cadence/Heart Rate/Power).  The files simply sit on the unit in a folder and are easily deleted if you need more space.

If I want to further analyze a given workout, then I’ll actually upload that specific file/workout to my computer.  Most of the times I do analyze the files, but sometimes I won’t.  For example, Garmin sent out the Garmin Forerunner 110 watch last week.  I’ve been doing tons of tests where I’ll have a FR-110 (My first look here) next to an Edge 500 or Garmin 310XT to see how it compares.  In those cases not all the files I’ll analyze from a workout perspective, but rather just from a technical perspective.  Hope this helps!

Thanks all!

Recent Mailbags:

Weekly Mailbag – May 8th, 2010

– Swimming Metronome Legality
– Makeshift Swim Buoys
– Coaching
– GPS Survey
– Garmin 310XT and Garmin 405 rebates

Weekly Mailbag – May 1st, 2010

– Open water swimming options in DC
– Why I will not ‘Share the Damn Road’…Part II
– Modifying the Garmin Auto-Pause Speed
– Training Peaks and the Mac Device agent

All past mailbags here.

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