AdiNation Run & New Adidas Garmin HRM Strap

Went for the 7km AdiNation run this morning.  It was so hard to pull myself out of bed at 6am for the 7am event.  Keeping to my promise just the evening earlier that I will go for the run was one of the main motivation to pull myself off bed.. still, it took a good 5 minutes to gather the determination scattered all around the mattress.

The run was nothing to cry about.  I could plan a better 7km route with less traffic light.  In fact, we stopped for over a minute on our first light just 20m after the start.  That was just a hint of things (or lights) to come.  Any run along Orchard road will be disrupted by any of the numerous roads you need to cross.  Afterall, we are talking about the shopping belt of Singapore.

What made the run worth the whole waking up business is the talk by Coach Fabian Williams.  A lot of tips about core exercises and some 10x400 speed works.  Quite a bit to soak in but I'm going to need the speed works.  The current limit of 6min/km is not going down further on its own and I need to do something about my heart rate bumping up that high.

Adidas had a private sale at 30% off running and training related items after the talk.  That's when I started paying attention to the Adidas miCoach HRM... strap.  Yes.  I'm happy with my Garmin 310XT but had been eyeing the 3rd generation HRM strap that came with Alvin's 610.  While the 2nd generation soft strap is finally wearable, the 3rd generation feels comfortable enough to wear for the entire day.

So the miCoach HRM strap looks and feels exactly like the Garmin 3rd Gen strap.  In fact, I will not be surprised if they are made by the same manufacturer.  It's a steal at S$39 given that Garmin charges almost USD40 (from US) or S$80 in Singapore for the 2nd Gen.  The 3rd Gen is only available with some specific watch models.  With the 30% off, I just jumped at the deal.

Back home, I tested the strap and it works -- well, that means the 310XT showed a number for Heartrate.  I do not expect any problems since the strap is just a passive connector.  So if you are running a Garmin HRM, the miCoach HRM strap may be a good replacement strap.

Take home for today:

1. Kettle bell exercises for strengthening the core
   
2. Arrange a day for 10x400 splits and not give up within a week -- yeah, I know its painful.
   
3. More checks for running form
   
   
   • Experiment with neck muscle
     
   • Experiment with hand swing (thumbs up)
     
   
   
4. Brand new HRM strap
   
5. Nice Killiney kopi-o and rather average Nasi Lemak
   

Not bad for 2 hours less sleep.