Runners!

[Harry]

A little bit of tech advice required from you savvy lot. 
 

My 5-a-side football is starting again this Monday. I’d be interested in tracking my distance. 
 

At the moment, when running, I just use the Strava App on my phone and carry the phone is a waistband. 
 

Obvs I won’t be able to wear the waistband and carry the phone when playing. 
 

So, what’s the easiest / cheapest way of getting a wearable that’ll give me my running distance for the game (and link to Strava too - but not absolutely necessary if that’s not a cheap option - I don’t wanna spend 100’s of pounds, just a simple distance tracker). 
 

Cheers in advance folks. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Harry

[Silvio Dante]

12 minutes ago, Harry said:

A little bit of tech advice required from you savvy lot. 
 

My 5-a-side football is starting again this Monday. I’d be interested in tracking my distance. 
 

At the moment, when running, I just use the Strava App on my phone and carry the phone is a waistband. 
 

Obvs I won’t be able to wear the waistband and carry the phone when playing. 
 

So, what’s the easiest / cheapest way of getting a wearable that’ll give me my running distance for the game (and link to Strava too - but not absolutely necessary if that’s not a cheap option - I don’t wanna spend 100’s of pounds, just a simple distance tracker). 
 

Cheers in advance folks. 

Oddly mate, I’m having similar issues. 
 

Last year at five a side, I was wearing a fitbit ionic. Could start off the watch and auto upload to Strava easily. Other half bought me an Apple Watch and I have Strava linked but damned if I can get football to sync - hasn’t each of last two weeks. It will, I’m clearly not doing it right.

So, base advice - a fitbit will do the trick. If you can’t get hold of one more than welcome to have mine as it’s just gathering dust. Sync to Strava is dead easy.

[Harry]

28 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Oddly mate, I’m having similar issues. 
 

Last year at five a side, I was wearing a fitbit ionic. Could start off the watch and auto upload to Strava easily. Other half bought me an Apple Watch and I have Strava linked but damned if I can get football to sync - hasn’t each of last two weeks. It will, I’m clearly not doing it right.

So, base advice - a fitbit will do the trick. If you can’t get hold of one more than welcome to have mine as it’s just gathering dust. Sync to Strava is dead easy.

Cheers bud. 
So, Fitbit purchasing advice then. As I’ve never owned or even looked into one. 
What model am I looking for - ideally as cheap as pos, but be able to track the kms and sync to Strava? 

[Silvio Dante]

To get a fitbit that syncs to Strava, you need one of the “watch” models. The real basic ones with the five dots you can’t start an exercise on and are just pedometers. Therefore, something like an Ionic which I had works. Charges etc I think work ok as well. Basically, your only question is “can I manually start an exercise on this” (loads of them pick it up automatically though). Whether it’s auto track exercise or manual log though, it will sync to Strava.

[Rob k]

10 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Oddly mate, I’m having similar issues. 
 

Last year at five a side, I was wearing a fitbit ionic. Could start off the watch and auto upload to Strava easily. Other half bought me an Apple Watch and I have Strava linked but damned if I can get football to sync - hasn’t each of last two weeks. It will, I’m clearly not doing it right.

So, base advice - a fitbit will do the trick. If you can’t get hold of one more than welcome to have mine as it’s just gathering dust. Sync to Strava is dead easy.

Mate if the budget could stretch I’d go for the Garmin 235, it’s brilliant for the money and has an option that would track your KMs when playing football. 
 

 

[Harry]

30 minutes ago, Rob k said:

Mate if the budget could stretch I’d go for the Garmin 235, it’s brilliant for the money and has an option that would track your KMs when playing football. 
 

 

Cheers Rob. Just looked at those. 
Was hoping not to spend that much, just after something cheap and cheerful to use for football only. 
 

Would something like the below do the job, or is it just a pedometer? 
 

 

[CyderInACan]

@Harry when running I use the strava app too but I have a cheap sports direct bumbag that I use to keep my phone in. Unlike a sad old Brit tourist on the Costa Del Sol though I have the bumbag well hidden under my running top and the pouch at the back to avoid any untoward interference. . Have used this before for 5aside when I was on endomondo and it worked fine and didn’t find it at all cumbersome. And it was only about a fiver. 

[Kid in the Riot]

On 04/08/2020 at 19:57, Reigate Red said:

Have downloaded couch to 5k and did run 1 - does that count 

It's how I started a couple of months ago! Really good app to get you going. Unfortunately it couldn't help me overcome my hatred of running. Best of luck with it tho! 

The pools are back open on 1st Sept, thank the Lord.

[Harry]

1 hour ago, CyderInACan said:

@Harry when running I use the strava app too but I have a cheap sports direct bumbag that I use to keep my phone in. Unlike a sad old Brit tourist on the Costa Del Sol though I have the bumbag well hidden under my running top and the pouch at the back to avoid any untoward interference. . Have used this before for 5aside when I was on endomondo and it worked fine and didn’t find it at all cumbersome. And it was only about a fiver. 

Cheers Reg. Yes, I have a similar ‘Russian hooligan’ style cheapo bumbag when running to carry the phone. But I didn’t want to wear it to football (the amount of times I crack one in the nuts is not good, so I know damn well someone will blast one into my bumbag and smash the phone!!) 

I think I’ve got the solution now. 
@Silvio Dante has very kindly offered me his Fitbit Ionic, and didn’t want anything for it, aside from a donation to CHSW, to which I’ve this evening donated £30.  
Very kind of Silvio and much appreciated. 
 

I took it for a test this morning. Walked round the village with daughter in buggy, and then when I got home I opened Strava and it linked the walk. So a good test result. 
Hopefully that should work for football tomorrow night, and I can wear the watch with a sweatband covering it. 
 

Only thing was, the walk was about 4.5k but the watch only logged 3.4k. So no matter what the result tomorrow, I’m gonna claim I ran 10k, ha ha. 
 

Gonna be a shock to some of my muscles and 46.5 year old bones tomorrow, having not played since early March. Luckily everyone was desperate to play so we’ve actually got 6 a side on the 5 a side court, so maybe I won’t need to do as much running as usual! But I’m still predicting ‘stiff as ****’ on Tuesday morning! 

Edited August 16, 2020 by Harry

[CyderInACan]

8 hours ago, Harry said:

Cheers Reg. Yes, I have a similar ‘Russian hooligan’ style cheapo bumbag when running to carry the phone. But I didn’t want to wear it to football (the amount of times I crack one in the nuts is not good, so I know damn well someone will blast one into my bumbag and smash the phone!!) 

I think I’ve got the solution now. 
@Silvio Dante has very kindly offered me his Fitbit Ionic, and didn’t want anything for it, aside from a donation to CHSW, to which I’ve this evening donated £30.  
Very kind of Silvio and much appreciated. 
 

I took it for a test this morning. Walked round the village with daughter in buggy, and then when I got home I opened Strava and it linked the walk. So a good test result. 
Hopefully that should work for football tomorrow night, and I can wear the watch with a sweatband covering it. 
 

Only thing was, the walk was about 4.5k but the watch only logged 3.4k. So no matter what the result tomorrow, I’m gonna claim I ran 10k, ha ha. 
 

Gonna be a shock to some of my muscles and 46.5 year old bones tomorrow, having not played since early March. Luckily everyone was desperate to play so we’ve actually got 6 a side on the 5 a side court, so maybe I won’t need to do as much running as usual! But I’m still predicting ‘stiff as ****’ on Tuesday morning! 

Result. Good luck for later - update us afterwards! 

[Harry]

14 hours ago, CyderInACan said:

Result. Good luck for later - update us afterwards! 

Great to be back playing football. 5 months without!! Dang. 
Gonna feel it tomorrow. Despite all the hundreds of kms clocked since lockdown, it’s such a massively different effort. 
 

Strava & Fitbit linked up fine. Although I am still doubting the distance the Fitbit is clocking - had me at 3.3k. Another player clocked 4.2 and I know I did just as much as him. Ah well, it’s registering something, which is what I wanted. So all good. 
 

Not looking forward to the stiffness tomorrow morn!!! 

[CyderInACan]

9 hours ago, Harry said:

Great to be back playing football. 5 months without!! Dang. 
Gonna feel it tomorrow. Despite all the hundreds of kms clocked since lockdown, it’s such a massively different effort. 
 

Strava & Fitbit linked up fine. Although I am still doubting the distance the Fitbit is clocking - had me at 3.3k. Another player clocked 4.2 and I know I did just as much as him. Ah well, it’s registering something, which is what I wanted. So all good. 
 

Not looking forward to the stiffness tomorrow morn!!! 

My first game back on Thursday - looking forward to it - gonna be a test for sure 

[54-46]

On 22/06/2020 at 09:36, BRISTOL86 said:

Really, really impressed with the new earphones. After almost a year running without music after my last earphones packed in, it's been an absolute joy to be running with music again, I'd forgotten just how much it picks me up when I'm starting to flag.

Looked at loads of pricier models but none of them ticked everything I wanted (i.e. properly waterproof and comfortable to run in) at a price I was happy to pay just for workout earphones, as I already have a nice pair of wireless over ear headphones for general use. 

First impressions are really good, first time of having an 'AirPods' style earphone, was worried they'd move around and not be comfortable to run in but they're great, and for £46 if they only last a year I won't lose any sleep as opposed to some which are £150-£200.

Anker Soundcore Life P2

 

I too can vouch for these. Great quality and sound and they’re just over £30 at the minute, we’ll worth it

[BRISTOL86]

Been forced to take a bit of a break from weight training due to injury so back to more cardio. 

Longest run in about 15 months this morning at 9 miles, the last mile or two was pretty hellish, just not used to that distance. 

[mozo]

12 hours ago, BRISTOL86 said:

Been forced to take a bit of a break from weight training due to injury so back to more cardio. 

Longest run in about 15 months this morning at 9 miles, the last mile or two was pretty hellish, just not used to that distance. 

Great distance, although don't push too far too fast bro

[mozo]

I've got a bloody cold. Do you lot carry on running with cold?

[mozo]

28 minutes ago, TomF said:

I don't personally, if your immune system is weak running can make it worse in some cases. 

I don't generally, but I do worry about inactivity affecting fitness. After two days rest I settled on a 75% effort 12m cycle yesterday and certainly didn't cure my cold!

[PunkRockDad]

11 hours ago, mozo said:

I've got a bloody cold. Do you lot carry on running with cold?

If the infection is on the chest or if I have a temperature then I won't run but if it's a head cold (runny nose, sneezing and so forth), I ordinarily carry on running.  I think it's called the 'neck rule'.

[!james]

1 hour ago, TomF said:

Unrelated but anyone got any use or have thoughts on Thorlos socks?

Not tried them but had a few different brands and found runderwear the most comfortable - https://www.runderwear.co.uk/pages/runderwear-socks 

[t_b]

Proper cold this morning when I went out at 6am. Very tempted to bust out the long sleeves but luckily the sun came along shortly and seemed to keep me okay. 

[mozo]

37 minutes ago, tommy_b said:

Proper cold this morning when I went out at 6am. Very tempted to bust out the long sleeves but luckily the sun came along shortly and seemed to keep me okay. 

Yeah that time is coming. This godforsaken country...

[Rob k]

17 hours ago, mozo said:

Yeah that time is coming. This godforsaken country...

I cycled yesterday morning - went out at 8.30 and was freezing for the first few miles, i had a long top on too 

on a seperate note for those local

to Yate, j went to Cromhall quarry swimming today, it was absolutely brilliant, i had my wetsuit on but plenty didn’t. Really recommend if you like swimming  

Edited August 31, 2020 by Rob k

[!james]

Just crept past 200km for August after a nice long run this morning! 

[mozo]

8 hours ago, Rob k said:

I cycled yesterday morning - went out at 8.30 and was freezing for the first few miles, i had a long top on too 

on a seperate note for those local

to Yate, j went to Cromhall quarry swimming today, it was absolutely brilliant, i had my wetsuit on but plenty didn’t. Really recommend if you like swimming  

I really want to enjoy Cromhall as I'm not too far away. Might need some crawl lessons before I do though. What's it like in the colder months?

[CyderInACan]

13 hours ago, !james said:

Just crept past 200km for August after a nice long run this morning! 

Good work. After 200km in June and 156km in July I only managed a paltry 76km in August. Need to correct that downward trajectory by getting straight back on it today that's for sure. 

[elhombrecito]

Optimistically took my running shoes with me to Croatia for two weeks - needless to say, they came back unused  There was something about eating and drinking all day in 35 degree heat that made me not want to run... 

In self-isolation now for 14 days, so running is definitely not on the cards. Luckily, I have my turbo trainer and Zwift set up to get me through this next couple of weeks (sorry, I know cycling is a dirty word around these parts ). 

[CyderInACan]

3 hours ago, elhombrecito said:

Optimistically took my running shoes with me to Croatia for two weeks - needless to say, they came back unused  There was something about eating and drinking all day in 35 degree heat that made me not want to run... 

Show off! I did run in Greece last year in similar conditions though - only 4 k from Troulos to Koukanaries and back but bugger me it was tough work! 

[Rob k]

11 hours ago, elhombrecito said:

Optimistically took my running shoes with me to Croatia for two weeks - needless to say, they came back unused  There was something about eating and drinking all day in 35 degree heat that made me not want to run... 

In self-isolation now for 14 days, so running is definitely not on the cards. Luckily, I have my turbo trainer and Zwift set up to get me through this next couple of weeks (sorry, I know cycling is a dirty word around these parts ). 

I bloody love cycling - I’m doing a 164m route to Dorset and back now the London marathon is off.

i have really struggled with the turbo stuff though, i find it soo boring, is zwift worth the money?

[elhombrecito]

11 hours ago, Rob k said:

I bloody love cycling - I’m doing a 164m route to Dorset and back now the London marathon is off.

i have really struggled with the turbo stuff though, i find it soo boring, is zwift worth the money?

I've literally only just started using Zwift. I'm confined to my house for two weeks, after three weeks on holiday with no exercise at all - I needed to do some exercise so I bought a cheap trainer and sensors so that I could connect up to Zwift, so just using the free trial at the moment. I'm enjoying it, but obviously that could be just be the novelty of it at this stage. Seems loads of workout and route options to choose from to keep things interesting, and not get bored, so I will probably pay for next month at least. 

[Harry]

On 30/08/2020 at 20:22, tommy_b said:

Proper cold this morning when I went out at 6am. Very tempted to bust out the long sleeves but luckily the sun came along shortly and seemed to keep me okay. 

Yep, I had my long sleeves out on Sunday morning too. Was a cold morning but I kinda wish I’d just gone in a tee as I did overheat a bit. It’s that funny temperature where you’re not sure if you’d rather be warm at the start or overly hot at the end! 

On 01/09/2020 at 08:09, CyderInACan said:

Good work. After 200km in June and 156km in July I only managed a paltry 76km in August. Need to correct that downward trajectory by getting straight back on it today that's for sure. 

Only managed 106km for August, which is my lowest since March. 
But the return of 5 a side impacted on distance. 3 games of football was about another 12k but after a game on a Monday night the legs just don’t have it in them to do another 2 runs Tues-Fri, so I’m only getting 3 runs a week now plus the footy. Whereas I was doing 5 a week before.