Monday, January 14, 2008

Garmin Forerider?

As I mentioned on Friday, this is my first snowboarding trip of the season. I forgot to mention that this is also my first time wearing my Garmin Forerunner 205 while riding. I am doing so not to chart progress, but more to satisfy my curiosity about how fast I actually go downhill, how much distance I cover on a typical run, or how many calories I burn on a typical snowboarding trip.

I am surprised to learn that my fastest runs reach speeds between 30-40 miles per hour, with averages in the 20's. I suspect that running is going to seem very slow by comparison. I am also surprised to see that many runs on the mountain are only 3/4 of a mile long. When first learned to ride, I could spend 30-40 minutes trying to get down these runs!

I could not resist recording a few of the chair lifts to see how fast they actually ascend. High speed lifts like the new Cloud Nine Express climb around 10mph, while older ones (like nearby Chair 25) barely reach half that speed. One thing this proves is that my slowest average downhill speed is still faster than the fastest lift. In other words, I really do spend a lot more time riding the lifts than riding the slopes!

I have no idea how the Garmin watch calculates how many calories are burned (especially if these numbers have any relevance outside of running), but I wouldn't be surprised if I burn more than 4,000 calories during our snowboarding trips. I am fairly certain that I consume more than that while dining at Mammoth.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Snowboarding Season

Our first day back in the mountains is invariably going to be rough, not just due to the high altitude but because our bodies have spent many months not using the muscles that snowboarding abuses. That said, we have hopes our distance running would diminish the effects of both.

Unfortunately, my wife and I are not feeling the benefits. We still feel excessively winded after hiking from the SUV to the lift. Our legs are still wobbly when we stand on our boards...and they burn after our first long run. This is not to say we do not have a great first day...it's just not as good as we expected given how much more exercise we have had during this off season.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Perfect Storm

The latest storm hitting California is drenching my home (had to run a sump pump overnight just to keep the pool from overflowing). On the bright side, it has dumped a whopping 3 to 5 feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain thus far and looks to continue dumping multiple feet of snow over the next few days.

What does this mean for my training? Well, I did start running hoping to get and stay in shape for snowboarding...

Friday, January 4, 2008

Garmin Forerunner 405

A friend just updated me on Garmin's freshly announced Forerunner 405. This is certainly the nicest looking (and smallest) GPS watch they've produced and, aside from the price, seems the ideal one for my wife...who I gave a Forerunner 305 just before Christmas.

Given the choice, which would you prefer?