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I PR'd at the 2009 Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half by 27 minutes! You can read my race post-mortem at dailymile.com if you're curious.

Hella Sound now offers Gift Certificates! Priced at $5, $10 and $15, they're perfect stocking stuffers and last-minute gifts for your running buddies. Print 'em out, or let us email them directly with a note from you. Sweet, huh?

On the Las Vegas RnR tip, here's some thoughts on how I did 27 minutes better than previous outings, and things I learned:

1. A good running playlist is a good thing. If you're curious, here's what I ran to:
· Hella Sound What Are You Made Of?!? [165BPM]—my go-to running song these days
· Hella Sound As You Wish [165BPM]—transitions nicely from "What Are You Made Of?!?"
· Hella Sound How To Turn Around A Bad Day [165BPM]
· One Day As A Lion Wild International—great live drum sound, great aggro vocals; really gets me going.
· Eve & Fatboy Slim Cowboy—the lyrics are SOOOOOO crass, but the rhythm is fantastic. I love Eve. She nasty.
· Hella Sound What Are You Made Of?!? [165BPM]—finished up strong

2. Gu Chomps are cheating. They're so kick ass, and so easy to use, that it's almost too easy. I brought 2 baggies and started chomping them every so often from mile 3 to mile 11. I never once ran short on energy, never once bonked, and also never once got that gaggy "ugh I just ate a Gu" feeling. I hit every water station on the course (just drinking water, no Cytomax) and it went fantastically.

4. Losing weight helps. At racetime I was down about 20lbs from two months ago, and I believe it's really helped. Another 40 or so to go...

5. Garmin. This was my first race with a Garmin; and while I've run with the Nike+ before, I rarely had it calibrated properly to be accurate. I was shooting for 2:30:00, which turns out to about 11:20 miles, and with the Garmin, I was able to stay at pace easily.

6. In general, I think I've just become a better runner.


Be safe, have fun, and don't be a stranger!

12 Brilliant Remarks:

  1. Zoë said...

    I have NO DOUBT that you have become a better runner, dude!! Congrats on your PR!!! Aren't Garmins awesome?
    I'm seriously considering checking out your songs...

  2. Come on in, Zoë: the water—I mean music—is fine! :)
    Thanks for the kind words. I *feel* like a better runner. Well, actually right now I feel like a broken runner, but I'll mend up quick.

  3. Amy Guth said...

    Wait, you like the Garmin better? Since I'm starting over with a clean slate (doesn't that sound better than: "Since I have to start over from the %&*#@*^ beginning post-injury"?), I've been thinking about going that route. I used to just paced myself the old fashioned way, but I think it's time to invest in a gadget.

  4. The Garmin rocks. I got the 305, which is clunky, but it was $150 at Amazon—much cheaper than its sibling products. It is amazing. Which is to say, it's fantastic. And I haven't even scratched the surface of cool things to do with it. One thing I'd like to try is heart rate running, where you basically pace yourself according to heart rate zones.
    Welcome back, Ms. Güth. Welcome back.

  5. You PRed a HALF marathon by almost 30 min!? That is amazing.

    They say that every pound you take off will take off a minute marathon time. (As long as you have weight to loose) Sounds like you are on your way!

  6. Anonymous said...

    Congrats on your PR!! Twenty seven minutes is huge. I'm gonna check your playlist out. Thanks.

  7. thank you very much

  8. Ramsays said...

    Great idea John.

    I'm a hobbyist developer, love to excersice to music and have created a software prototype that dynamically picks a song based on your live heart rate read from a Garmin HR monitor. I have not shared it with anyone. My kids and I were just bouncing around the living room seeing what song was picked while taking turns dancing.

    How about allow folks to upload a Garmin training file - then automatically create a suggested playlist back based on their actual heart rate over time during their last workout?

    Again, I think there may be some synergy if your interested. I just am interested in creating cool toys. ;-)

  9. Psyche said...

    Hey, John! Glad I found your blog. A 27 minute PR...? Fantastic!

    I love your music! I plan on using it for the final third of my upcoming marathon..in which I will PR by 27:01. (Yeah, that last part is merely wishful thinking:)).

    Oh- I must check out Eve & FatBoy Slim "Cowboy"...And I must suggest FatBoy Slim, Norman Cook & Pierre Henry "Psyche Rock (FatBoy Slim Malpaso Mix)". So good it's worthy of HellaSound, AND has my name in the title:)

  10. zbsports said...

    Great, I was entertained by the post. I learn more things on it. Thanks!!!

  11. Congrats! That's an impressive improvement on your PR. Great job!

  12. Great updates....thanks for sharing your running playlist..it's kinda cool..