Fitbits don't work across the room

Ouch

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

About halfway through this morning's treadmill run, I spotted my Fitbit sitting on the guestroom bed. I'm really into capturing my activity through that device, so I was a little nonplussed by the situation. While I was still capturing metrics like time and heart rate on my Garmin, all those steps would be lost to my daily and weekly totals. I considered stopping the treadmill to retrieve the device but decided that it wasn't worth the disruption.

Years ago, when my first Garmin failed during a run, I felt frustrated and asked myself, "If the run didn't record, did it really happen?" I know it sounds silly, but I once felt that way. A documented run is a tangible entity. Something that happened. Something to look back upon. A run performed independent of a watch or device doesn't become part of recorded history. I'll admit that on the rare times when I've gone out "watchless" on a run, I later Gmap'd my route so I could at least capture my distance.

Even without a device, running data on the treadmill is always available via the display. I don't fully trust the accuracy, but at least it provides ballpark metrics. I maintained a challenging pace through the workout and that took my mind off forgetting my Fitbit. So it looks like I'll need to wait a little longer to get my next Fitbit badge. Further, today's totals won't approach my daily goals. But I got a good run in today, despite the lack of evidence.

2:03 is fast for a marathon but not for the LIRR

LIRR, eat my dust!

It has been a while since I've been in the office and it's nice to be back. Our building is running at half power so it's a little chilly, but it isn't so bad that you can't work. My commute seemed to take forever this morning. The Long Island Railroad is running on a modified schedule and this morning it stopped in places that I didn't even know existed.

It usually takes me an hour and twenty minutes from the time I leave my house to when I walk into the building where I work. Today it took me two hours and three minutes, exactly the same time that it took Geoffrey Mutai to finish the 2011 Boston Marathon. Fifteen of those minutes were spent walking uptown from Penn Station, a distance of one mile.

Out of curiosity, I Gmapped the straight-line distance from my temporary home to my office building and came up with 30.7 miles. That meant that my commute this morning - car, train and brisk walk averaged 4:00 per mile, while Geoffrey Mutai pulled off his marathon record at 4:41 per mile. Practically outrunning a train is pretty impressive, unless you're talking about the LIRR.