Peg’s Posts: On the move with Girls on the Run

Tomorrow morning, 985 girls in the Kansas City metro will be lining up for the Girls on the Run 5k run/walk to celebrate their completion of this empowering program. I can hardly fathom that much girl power putting one foot in front of the other, along with the support of family members, coaches, volunteers and community members. I don’t have to flip that many pages in my internal memory book to visualize my own daughter, quiet and unsure, trodding around a local park with five other girls for the very first Girls on the Run team here in KC. Six girls, six years ago. Now nearly 1,000 strong! During the 10-week program, Girls on the Run participants have been learning about topics like how to deal with bullies, healthy emotions, body image and community service while they experience the joy of moving in sync with their teammates or at their own pace.

KidsTLC, a neighbor and community partner to Garmin, has offered the Girls on the Run program to girls in residence the last three seasons. The mission of KidsTLC is to provide opportunities that transform kids and families in crisis while ensuring a safe environment. For two of my coworkers and me, coaching Girls on the Run at this site has taught us to be mindful of the challenges youth experience today while we model healthy habits. We’ve found that the teen girls at this site are especially motivated by seeing how far they’ve gone during a lesson activity—aren’t we all when we take those first running steps? The girls have had a chance to wear our Forerunner watches to track their progress during Girls on the Run sessions. No need for coaching the girls how to use these watches. They quickly figured them out and soon started asking things like “can I have the touchscreen one today?” or “how can I get it to show my heart rate?”

Stack up the Savings: Aviation Summer Rebates

Have you been dreaming about upgrading your airplane panel with the latest avionics? Do it this summer and let the savings stack up with special rebates on some of Garmin's most popular panel- and remote-mount avionics! We have mail-in rebate offers for everything from the the G500 flight display and the GTN touchscreen avionics to the GTS traffic systems and our newest audio panels featuring 3D Audio and Telligence Voice Command. All together, you could save up to $6,500!

After you've done the upgrade, send us a picture of your panel and it may just get featured on the Garmin website! To see some of the beautiful panels that have already been submitted, check out our online gallery.

Train Like a Champion: Three Things to Help Improve Your Half and Marathon Times

TIPS FROM GARMIN ATHLETE AND SILVER MEDALIST MEB KEFLEZIGHI:

Hello there, Garmin runners. I am so honored and blessed to be given the opportunity to represent the United States this summer in the Marathon and to be supported by a great company like Garmin. My training has been going great and I am on track to toe the line in August and stride for a chance at victory! I wanted to share a few insider tips with you about things runners can do to improve their marathon and half marathon times:

1. Do fartlek training:

Here’s an example of how it works. Always remember to warm up before you start and approach each session with lots of energy. Try to avoid putting a time or distance limit on the session before you start:

• Jog gently for 5 minutes (or so) then pick a landmark in the distance to aim for and a running pace. For example, this could be the next lamppost in your view, and you decide to run at 70% of your maximum speed until you reach it.

• Run toward the landmark at the pace you’ve decided and when you reach your target, start jogging again until you’re ready for the next burst of speed.

• Pick a new landmark and running pace, but make sure they’re different from the previous one. For example, you now decide to run to the end of the street at 90% of your maximum speed.

• Keep completing these varying distances and speeds with gentle jogging in between. End the session when you feel you’ve done enough and had a thorough workout.

Lucy's Logbook: How to get the most out of your aviation portable this Spring

Springtime is in full swing as the fragrance of blossoming flowers fills the air, newborn bunnies gather in the backyard to nibble on clover, and pilots flock to the Garmin website for… software updates?

Spring is a great time to dedicate some of your spring-cleaning time toward your GPS!  Spend a few minutes visiting our website and download a free software update using our WebUpdater program. Simply connect your Garmin aviation portable to the computer and download the WebUpdater program to update your unit to the latest version.  It is good practice to perform software updates on a regular basis, so if it has been a while, dedicate a few minutes to getting things up to date this spring.  These updates generally help out with GPS satellite acquisition and assist with XM weather downloads, as well.

Speaking of XM weather, as pilots we know springtime really means an increase in the number of Convective Sigmets, an abundance of cumulonimbus clouds, and dusting off the aviation weather books so we can remind ourselves of the difference between what  “PL” and “GR” represent in a METAR weather report (ice pellets and hail, in case you were wondering).  Many of these pilot-related, springtime concerns pertain to weather and for good reason; it is typically a large part of what contributes to our “Go/No-Go” decision.  If you haven’t used your XM antenna all winter long, it’s a good idea to have a refresh signal sent.  Simply connect the antenna, power the unit on, take it outside with a clear view of the southern sky, and type your Radio ID into this website.  You can find your XM Radio ID number on the bottom of your XM antenna. These two simple enhancements will make getting back into flying much easier this spring.  Besides, you didn’t really want to clean the gutters anyway, right?

Garmin Connect: An Easier Way to Analyze, Plan and Explore

Hey there, Garmin runners, cyclists, triathletes and fitness fanatics. This is a quick note to tell you about some new changes to the navigation within Garmin Connect. Once logged into your account, you'll notice that we have simplified the navigation tabs with four categories:

• Dashboard

Here you will see your five most recent activities including a brief summary of each and a view on the map.

• Analyze

In this area you will have access to your activities page (a list of all your past activities including metrics of each), reports (where you can really dig in and look at your progress by searching for weekly, monthly or custom date range totals or averages), and health (this is your personal well-being portal where you can input your daily weight and with the Tanita BC-1000 Body Composition Monitor you'll see Body Fat, Body Water, Bone Mass, Muscle Mass and many other useful metrics)

• Plan

With this tab we have given you quick access to your calendar (to view past and scheduled workouts), courses (where you can create a custom course/route and send directly to your compatible device or just to get an idea of where you might want to run/ride/explore), workouts (a tool to allow you to create your own workouts no matter how simple or complex and send to your compatible device or to print off and bring with you), and goals (with this option you can keep yourself honest, and motivated by setting goals based on time, speed, pace or distance to name a few and let us track these over a set period of time for you)

• Explore

Here you'll be able to search the millions of public activities from around the world and even access courses that other users have created. You'll also have one-click access to the cycling data of Team Garmin.

As with any change in our lives, whether it's a new pair of shoes (those annoying blisters after the first couple runs), a new seat on your bike (not always a fun break-in period) or a new look to your favorite social media site, we understand it can take some getting used to.

It is our goal to continue to interact with all of you and to create a Garmin Connect Community where active users can feel like home!

ASK GARMIN: EPISODE THREE

This week we'll teach you more about Garmin Garage, how to get voices on your nuvi with the Voice Studio and how to load European maps to your device. To see your question featured on Ask Garmin, send response to garminblogs@garmin.com.

On scene at the IGFA Offshore World Championship

We're on site this week in beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - coined the "Marlin Capital of the World" - supporting the 2012 IGFA Offshore World Championship, the largest offshore fishing tournament in the world. With 48 teams from over 20 different countries competing for the title, this proves to be one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, and Garmin is proud to be a sponsor of this great event.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the week - the blues have been hot so we expect the reels to be singing all week!

Team Garmin Tickled Pink and in Great Form Across the Globe

After nine thrilling stages at the Giro d'Italia, our boys in argyle have held the Maglia Rosa (pink jersey), worn by the overall leader, for five of those stages and have no plans on letting it go any time soon. After the TTT victory, youngster Ramunas Navardauskas held the lead for two stages and after losing it on the sixth stage they grabbed it back with the ever dangerous Canadian Ryder Hesjedal. Hesjedal maintains a nine second lead over the second place rider, and though it's still anyone's game, he is focused on crossing the line after the 21st stage still wearing the Maglia Rosa. Hesjedal is the first Canadian to earn the leader's jersey in the Giro and only the third Garmin rider to accomplish such a feat (Christian Vande Velde, Ramunas Navardauskas).

This past weekend also marked the start of the Tour of California (TOC), where Team Garmin has sent a top squad in search of an overall individual victory. Last year, the team took home the best overall team award and want to keep that momentum moving forward. Tom Danielson appears to be the team's leader for this year's TOC and based on his early season form we should be in for a fun ride! After stage one of the race, Garmin had earned its way onto the podium with Heinrich Haussler in second position.

As evidence from their unparalleled, exclusive race and behind-the-scenes footage, our friends at Bicycling Magazine appear to have caught the argyle fever too. At their "Garmin Insider" page you can find photos, candid interviews and videos about your favorite Garmin riders. The stylish kits that our riders wear with pride even made the list of the top stylish teams of 2012!

Here is a great recap of the first stage as told by team manager Jonathan Vaughters: Stage One.

Get your cowbells out and your vuvuzelas pointed to the sky as we cheer our argyle riders on to victory!!

Garmin Helps to Pass it On

Garmin is proud to help support Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors, a non-profit group that helps kids experience the thrill of the great outdoors. It's no secret that fewer kids are playing outside these days, and even less are being exposed to hiking, camping, geocaching, fishing, boating, and hunting.  That, in turn, helps contribute to childhood obesity, diabetes, and depression -- not to mention a lost connection with a child's natural environment.

Pass It On aims to change that.  By matching caring adults who have a passion for the outdoors with children who don't typically have access to the outdoors, the Pass It On program allows kids to learn about a wide variety of outdoor activities in a safe environment.

Tonight and tomorrow, the group will host its largest fundraiser of the year, Bust-A-Clay for Kids' Sake at Flint Oak Lodge in central Kansas.  You can read more about the event here, and if you feel so compelled, you can donate through the Garmin team's fundraising page.

Pro Triathlete Matt Lieto Swimming With The Dolphins

This last February I had the opportunity to do a training camp in Kona, Hawaii in preparation for my upcoming season. The winter time can be a hard time to train in Bend, Or. (my home), so if I want to make improvements in my fitness before June, I simply have to skip town. I got a couple friends together, a cheap rental, and off we went for 5 weeks of hard work (and maybe a little fun too;))

As things go some times, my second day there I pulled my calf muscle on a run, and running was out for this month of training. Not ideal, but we must adapt. Focus became getting healthy and putting big miles in on the bike, and what was already going to be a focus….swimming! As luck had it, my Forerunner 910xt showed up in the mail the day before I left for camp, and I was able to use this amazing unit to track my progress and work for the next 5 weeks. I decided for these 35 days, I would swim--  every day. No matter what happened I would touch the water every day. Whether it was swimming with my big brother on the Ironman Hawaii course or a workout in the pool. Sure, some days were lighter, but some days were heavier with double swims sandwiched around a long ride. But I was in the water swimming. I had never been able to swim this much before due to weak shoulders and chronic pain. Before my trip I went in to Rebound Physical Therapy and learned some pretty useful exercises that I did daily to strengthen my weak muscles so I could handle the swim load.

One of my favorite swims was an open water swim from my sponsor in Hawaii, The Mauna Launi Hotel  & Bungalows. I would usually walk to a neighboring beach and swim laps around a boat that was moored about 500 yards out. Typically, I did a few warm up laps, then I would do laps for time, and then usually somewhere I would focus on breakout speed to simulate a race effort and then settle in. It was a great way to find rhythm and get a good feel for race type conditions. Of course the turtles and the handful of dolphins, I was lucky enough to have as swim buddies from time to time, were a welcome treat. They would come close enough for me to tack onto the end of their group, and I would literally swim my pace with dolphins surrounding me.  Spectacular, and yes I promise this is work!