Garmin-sponsored triathletes Jenna Shoemaker and Ben Collins share their training and racing experiences with the Garmin Edge 705 and Forerunner 405, along with links to their data in Garmin Connect.

Ben:
This weekend is the US Elite National Championships, which will be held just outside of Portland, Oregon. I’m getting over a setback in my training, but I’m looking forward to the next six weeks where I’ll be able to build up for my final race of the season, the San Francisco Pan-American Cup. Since my overall volume has dropped from the highest it’s ever been just a month ago to an abrupt and extended rest period, I’m going to have to build up slowly. Luckily, I can keep an accurate account of my total cycling and running miles by using the Edge 705 and Forerunner 405.

Right now I’m still doing all my runs around a track, but thanks to the 405, I don’t have to stay in lane four, or even keep track of how many laps I’ve run. I just set the auto lap to 800 meters and I can run loops around the football field, criss-cross, or stay in lane eight without losing track of my ½ mile splits. Without worrying about distance, I can work on my mental-physical connection during runs, which is something I’ve been reading about lately. In the book Zen Running, Fred Rohé writes, “There are no victories except the joy you are living while dancing your run; you are not running for some future reward – the real reward is now!” The 405 lets me focus on the now, and pay more attention to my body. I know the data is being recorded for later analysis, so in the moment I can let go and experience the joy of running.

Jenna:
The last two weeks have been spent building my training back up and working toward a high level of fitness both for the race and for the next training block under the guidance of my new coach. I have been logging a lot of hours on the bike, including hill interval work to build strength and a lot of aerobic work on my recovery days just to put miles on my legs. One of my good friends from college, who I used to bike race against, lives out here and has kept me company on a lot of the aerobic rides, making for a great time, a few flat tires and a lot of laughter.

This past weekend, I traveled with my “California family” out to Malibu for the Malibu Triathlon weekend. I opted not to race either day but instead volunteered to do the 10k run leg of the relay for my California parents. Since I had a long 20k run planned for the day, I decided to work the 10k effort into the middle of the session. Using my Forerunner 405 to track my mileage, I warmed up for 7.5k, raced the 10k and finished the day off with a little 2.5k cool down. The run was good fun and I managed to have a 10k run personal best despite being quite tired and mid-training build up. Hopefully that bodes well for things to come!

So, it seems that after a week or so of indecision, I have finally put myself back on track. I chose a new coach, and as a result, a new home. I will be moving to Australia after my race in China on September 28th to work under my new coach who is based on the Gold Coast there. I am so excited about what is to come and will definitely rely on my Garmin Edge and Forerunner to help us monitor my progress. Unlike my old coach, he encourages me to use a heart rate monitor, so I am excited to start to build that into my training too.