Just curious does anybody get geeky with their data or have any useful tips to monitor improvement? One thing i've started doing which made a huge difference very quickly was graphing my PBs over different distances. So i have a swim graph with distance on the x-axis and secs/length on the y-axis. I have it set up for 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1k, 1.5k and expect a log shaped graph where the sec/length starts quick and evens out to a certain number of seconds per length. If say my 100m time falls slower than the graph i know i need to improve it... too geeky? I actually have 2 graphs drawn on it.. one for my PBs and a slightly quicker and better shaped one for my aims..
Comments
I suspect this thread will please a lot of people
I struggle with the date
I admit i spend a lot of time messing around with stats in Excel ... i'm a geek and proud of it
This years build up to outlaw ...I campared my traiing each week with same period last year and year befor ... plus the plan I was trying to work toward (Volume and % for S/B/R/W etc)
[sits in the non-geek corner with Mouldy...]
never got the stats thing - how I feel works for me
Geeks shall inherit the earth
I love playing about with stats, but then I get annoyed with myself when I don't see progress. But the point up until the plateau is very motivational!
I too am a geek and proud of it. My nickname from my mentor is Statto.
When out on a bike ride I will shout out average speed, distance travelled, and mile splits.
When I get home I will download the data and analyse the figures. One time, when I came off the bike, I worked out exactly where it happened due to the peak in my heart rate
In fact, I probably spend more time messing about with stats and excel spreadsheets than I do training
I geek a bit. Garmins make it easy. I particularly like looking at where I was going fastest on my bike.
I shall have to try graphs, if they improve performance!
If stats actually helped then we'd all be running faster.
Look at the marathon times in the 1980s. No GPS then.
Compare them to now with all our gadgets - we've got slower !
Garmins definitely make it easy. In fact the 910XT makes it hard not to geek a bit. I just walk into the house and it uploads all the info from my swim from number of lengths to number of strokes per length! Its easy to get lost in it all. I can't guarantee graphs will make you quicker, but they are a good start Sarah that's a good point about reaching a plateau.. i'm trying to break through that in running at the minute and it is frustrating!
Speek for yourself ... i didnt run much at all in the 1980s ... so im definatly faster now that then
I love spreadsheets. Always download my Garmin to my Garmin Connect, a free app on Apple. Great looking graphs with loads of parameters you can compare.
Only problem is I'm getting slower But I think that may be because I am the wrong side of the age curve. Perhaps I'm not getting slower as quick though because of the graphs
It should be pointed out that you crashed into the gutter while checking your stats
Fur cough, Barlos!
I swear by the WKO+ system which offers many many opportunities to geek out over your data.
One of the features I really like is how it can pull your data into a graphical model of training stress which I can then use to assess how much I'm taxing my body through training.
I've also learned over the years that once I approach a certain training stress score that I'm more than likely going to get ill so I know I'd better ease back off things.