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Hey Newsletter friends! Happy New Year! I hope I am sliding into your inbox after you’ve had a great holiday! We are back again with another fun-filled sports-tech newsletter! While our little family had a pretty quiet holiday ourselves, there has still been tech talk since we last chatted. If you’re new to this newsletter feed, welcome! If you have some extra reading time, you can always check out the Newsletter Archives and catch up on what stories have been told in the past! As well, I’m going to continue to shamelessly plug the Quarantine Corner, where you get 2-3 episodes a month of the behind the scenes shenanigans of the DCR world, Ray chatting openly about stuff that didn’t make the in-depth review, and of course the bloopers. To access all that goodness, go ahead and sign up to be a DCR Supporter! So, what’s to come with today’s newsletter? As always, I’ll give you the latest update on what’s been happening on the website and YouTube, then, below the fold are the In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl section. The Website
First up we have the Garmin Bounce LTE Kids Activity Tracker In-Depth Review. If you haven’t seen this new Garmin product yet and you’re a parent, I think you’ll really be interested in the post. You might not want the product, but it’s really cool to see what’s coming down the pipe in the juniors' category. And then just today we've got a new announcement and details on a Garmin partnership with Qualcomm around satellite chipsets that could be super interesting for both Garmin and endurance athletes venturing beyond cell phone service. Will this be built into bike computers soon?
Also of note, we had an interesting post regarding TrainerRoad and optional price increases. I actually think it’s a cool approach they are taking to the price increase for legacy users. They’ve been super transparent in their financial situation, and laid out for their users all the cool updates and new features added over the years. All while still trying to honor a promise they made to users over a decade ago. I’ll leave it at that. They are in a tough spot, but I think they’ve really approached this in an overly fair way to their users. Bravo.
We continue to see the running world take interest in running power and thus, the industry keeps adding wrist-based Power wearables. As is the case with the Garmin Instinct 2 Series, where the Garmin Beta program just added Running Power, Grade Adjusted Pace, and more features. But if I tell you all of those features now, you won’t go to the website!
Lastly, for today’s newsletter, it’s a little throwback to December 20th, but in case you missed it, Amsterdam froze-over for one fun-filled weekend. Of course, Ray wouldn’t miss this opportunity to head out on the rowing basin and test sport profiles for ice skating. Check it out for a fun read. That’s it for this week on the site, keep scrolling down for the latest from YouTubes, and then the In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl. YouTube The YouTube channel hit a big milestone, over 400K subscribers!! Huge thank you to all of you supporters who have hit the like button on a YouTube video, or subscribed to our YouTube channel! If you haven’t done so, every “Like” and new Subscriber really makes a difference to content creators’ successes, so please, if there is anyone on YouTube that you find yourself going back to time and time again, go ahead and give them that thumbs up! · Apple Watch SE (2022) Review – 3 Months Later · Garmin Fenix 7/ Epix/ Enduro 2: December 2022 Beta Program Update · Garmin Instinct 2: December 2022 Beta Program Update · Garmin Bounce LTE Activity Tracker In-Depth Review: Two Months Later |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Hey Hey! Happy New Year. As always, thanks for making it down here past all that tech talk! I’m really trying my best to get 2 newsletters to you each month for 2023… so there you have it, my New Year’s resolution. That and drink more water! So, the last Newsletter I mentioned I am heading south to Bermuda for the running challenge. With this has come some challenges of its own. Namely, running shoes and running injuries. Now, most of you are completely out of the loop because I didn’t really write any newsletters in the last year and a half. But, a quick catch-up, over the past year or two, I’d build up some great training blocks and WHAM I started pulling these running injuries. I had a calf that just decided to retire (ruptured tibialis posterior), and then I ended up with a reoccurring metatarsalgia-esq injury. These two injuries were like the Dumb and Dumber characters playing off one another. They were frustrating and obnoxious, and just wouldn’t go away. After many many weeks and months of rest and physio, it was rinse and repeat with both injuries, and I was just done with it. Mentally and emotionally it’s just too much to get hyped for a race or a goal and then never get the chance to toe the line. Somehow my coach Brad from KIS coaching stuck with me throughout it all, and I was able to keep somewhat of a base fitness going, but I didn’t even attempt to put any goals out into the running-ecosphere. Annnnyways, a friend of mine here in Amsterdam is a mega shoe guru. I would say his interest and background in running shoe models and shoe “tech” is akin to Ray’s in the sports tech world. I hadn’t seen him in forever, but in November we were chatting prior to the DCR Open house, and he was disappointed to hear of my saga of injuries. He has long since known I have a long-term relationship with my Asics Gel DS Trainers, and he is also aware that runners can be very attached to a running shoe - religiously so. So with a very gentle approach he asked “Bobbie, with all the work you’ve put into your physio and recoveries, is it possible … deep breath… it’s not you, and it’s the shoes?”. He continued to (mindfully) explain to me that while I have ran in the same shoe model for 10+ years, both my body & feet have changed (3 pregnancies will do that), as well as the shoe tech has changed. As well, that shoe model really isn’t made for running more than 5-10km. It's more of a track/tempo shoe and racing flat. Hmmmm. That sounds like blasphemy to me. But, he did plant a seed of doubt in my mind. So I poked around the internet and found shoe review websites (didn’t know there were Ray equivalents in the running shoe world), and their reviews were spot on to what my friend was saying. Basically, my beloved DS Gel Trainer was a great shoe, but for a very specific purpose. So, I took my friend up on the challenge of finding a new running shoe(s) to fit both my body requirements and appropriate distance/ intensity workouts. I was even informed that people have more than one running shoe… different shoes for different workouts!?!?! You might be rolling your eyes at all this, but folks, I really never considered my shoes were the problem. And I surely never would have considered running in several types of shoes for different workouts throughout a training block was a thing. So it is with GREAT hesitation that I put this out there, fear that the running gods are going to mess with me again, but I have been hammering out a solid 6 weeks of training with my coach and not a single issue. I went from the end of November frustratedly thinking “here we go again” when my foot started nagging again, to switching shoes and getting instant relief. Mind. Blown. There you have it. My running shoe saga. And I’m not done yet. My friend put me in a very conservative shoe knowing I was uber hesitant to change shoes. So later this month we are actually going to hit up a running store and check out a full range of options and test them out! Let me know if this is of any interest to you, and I’ll continue this story as it progresses. As well, I HAVE to know from you. Was I the only one cranking out both long runs and track/speed workouts in the same shoe? Thanks again for being a Newsletter reader, and cheers to a happy and healthy 2023! Bobbie |
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