Polar finally responded to my inquiry about my troubles with the bike speed sensor. As I feared, they're assuming that I'm having problems maintaining a signal from the wrist unit to the speed sensor. That's not the problem—it's that the speed displayed on the wrist unit is often wrong. They suggested I ensure that the magnet is within two millimeters of the sensor (it is), that the sensor is close to the wrist unit (it is), etc. They also provided the documentation on how to boost the signal (which I did on the cadence sensor). I know about the issues with the sensor having to be very close to the wrist unit, I finally gave in on the cadence sensor and mounted the wrist unit to the bike so I could pick up the cadence signal (that now works very well).

I've resigned myself to living with faulty speed data that it's giving me. I don't bike enough to buy a different device and it does give me my cadence but I'll have to live with bogus speed and distance data. My best guess is that it's some type of interference. The problem with this theory is that with interference on the heart rate data you'd get really bogus results, a heart rate of 225+, for example. With my speed issue it always seems to jump to about twice my current speed and there's no drop of signal immediately before this happens, it just suddenly climbs. (see graph of this here if you're really interested)

. . .

A good training week. Just over 20 miles and the body seems to be holding up fairly well. One of the fun things about training for a particular event is that you're your own manager, having to decide when to push it, when to back off, whether the stretch for the weekly mileage target is worth it or whether you should back off and take the lousy mileage week in order to make it for the long haul. I like to strategize during my runs—how can I get at least two 20+ milers in before November 5th without killing myself and with enough time for my body to recover? Is a weekly "speed" session worth the chance that I'll aggravate my groin which is always lurking, ready to flare up any time it thinks I'm pushing my limits? Forget Fantasy Football leagues, I've got my own sports team to manage.

Buying running shoes has always been a challenge for me. But I never knew how good I had it in Houston when it came to where and what to buy. My shoe is the Saucony Triumph and I was able find these shoes in Houston at Luke's Locker, Run Sport, and Fleet Feet. But here in San Antonio, despite my efforts, I can't find them. My neighborhood Fleet Feet doesn't stock them, nor does Soler's Sports and Run Gear Run. Oh sure, they can order it for me, but if I'm going to have it wait for it I might as well have it shipped to my house so I can return it, if necessary, without all the associated guilt of returning an item the retailer had to order for me. Because the shoe styles change so often, you never know if your feet will agree with the new model.

So, despite my efforts to support my local running retailers, I've had to go online to Road Runner Sports. My new shoes are on their way with a 45-day no-questions-asked return policy. I wouldn't want to buy an entirely new type of shoe online, but if you know what you want it's sure easy to get them from these folks.

. . .

No response from those laconic Finns on my Polar speed sensor issue. Not even a "We've received your inquiry" automated response.

Arrrgggh. Nothing like being frustrated by the very technology that is supposed to help you. I finally got the cadence sensor on my bike working with my S625X. I had to use the Polar wrist-unit mounting bracket. The good news is that the cadence sensor works. The bad news is that I have to mount the watch to the bracket which means I can't easily remove it during a triathlon. Why the cadence sensor doesn't work when it's on my wrist but does work when it's in nearly the same location but mounted to the bike is a mystery. But I can live with it.

What I can't live with is the speed sensor—it's frequently doubling my speed. I'll be riding along at my slow 16MHP and the wrist unit will display 32MPH. If I stop the bike and start it will temporarily resolve the issue but it will happen again a few minutes later. Very frustrating because the incorrect speed screws up the distance reading (because it thinks you're going twice as fast as you are). So at the end of my ride I have garbage for data—wrong maximum speed, wrong average speed, wrong distance.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The S625X is a good running watch but it's been one problem after another with the bicycling functions. I've contacted Polar's Help Desk to see what they can offer but I'll bet you I get vague response of "Check the batteries on the sensor (not easily done because I have to cut the zip ties that hold it to the fork), check for electrical interference from overhead power lines, consider moving the sensor to a different location on the bike."

Update: Polar has this posting on their site but this if the speed display drops out. Mine isn't doing this—it displays, but at the wrong speed.

This was a decent training week—16.7 miles total, up from 9 last week. My long run of 8 miles today took me through the old Pearl Brewery and the perimeter of Fort Sam Houston. Just a couple miles more and I'll be able to run to downtown and back. During my run I was trying to figure out if I can somehow work my way up to a long run of 21 miles by October 15 which is three weeks before the New York Marathon. It's going to be tight, but if I can stay healthy I should be able to do it.

. . .

Polar now has a S725X, essentially a bike version of the S625X. With the 625 you can buy the optional bike components (speed and cadence sensor) and the S725X appears to be the opposite—it comes with the bike components but the foot pod for running is a separate item. Hopefully they've improved the bike functions. I have the speed and cadence sensor mounted to my bike and I wouldn't buy them again. The range of the cadence sensor is too short—I can't get a reading if I'm riding upright and the speed sensor often starts reporting bogus information about my speed (usually when this happens it will double my speed). Stopping and starting often corrects the problem. I'm going to try and ride tomorrow, we'll see if it has somehow cured itself of this ailment.

I've always wondered about the chances of dropping dead from a heart attack while on a run. Especially recently with my inconsistent training—the heart rate is way too high sometimes. Here's a good article that discusses exercise and heart attacks from Tuesday's New York Times. So what's the verdict?

The answer is somewhat paradoxical. While jogging, a person — especially someone with underlying heart disease — is more likely to die than if that person were walking or resting at that same moment. During vigorous exercise, the heart can develop an irregular beat, blood pressure can rise to a dangerous level or plaque from a partly clogged artery can break off and stop blood flow.

But — and this is a big but — over all, people who jog, including those with major cardiac risk factors, are less likely to have a heart attack in the long run than if they had not been joggers.

The other interesting tidbit from the article was this one: "In the long run, various studies have found, jogging adds years to life. Over all, each hour spent exercising (up to 30 hours a week) adds about two hours to a person's life expectancy, according to the Harvard Alumni Study, which has tracked deaths among 17,000 men for more than two decades."

. . .

San Antonio, I'm discovering, is a bit of a lame running town. I don't understand this—the terrain, climate, and air quality are much better than Houston but there just there just doesn't seem to be as many runners per capita. One of the things that stands out is there's no park equivalent to Houston's Memorial Park or Austin's Town Lake. So runners are banished to lonely suburban streets, dodging humongous SUV's and wandering dogs (a future topic).

There's hope, my neighborhood actually has two running stores so I know the runners must be out there somewhere.

A dismal week in terms of training. Nine total miles for the week plus 1000 meters of swimming.

My "long" run was six hard, hot, slow miles. The gods must have smiled upon me because I was supposed to do the six miles with a co-worker (and hardcore runner) but we were rained out. This let me do the run alone later in the day and helped me maintain some degree of pride.

It can only get better, I suppose.

The running in SA is good. This cool weather is helping, too, but the asphalt roads, hills, and a slightly more pedestrian friendly environment are making it more difficult to find reasons not to run. And, there are several runners at the office wearing their Polar or Nike Triax watches and that gives me some more motivation. I'm on my third HRM device,  I comment to myself as they pass me in the hall.

. . .

Let's see, another Mad Cow and no one is sure where it came from or how old it is. Funny how that happens. And while I never thought I'd be rooting for a meatpacker, here's one that wants to test every single cow it slaughters for Mad Cow but the USDA won't let them. How's that work? There's actually a regulation on the books preventing a slaughterhouse from testing cows? You can carry a concealed weapon in these parts but test a cow for Mad Cow and you're going to jail, dammit. 

So this slaughterhouse [Creekstone is the name—conjures up images of jersey cows peacefully sipping Chardonnay as they wander through the green grass up to the punching machine, doesn't it?] is doing what all good companies seem to do these days: suing. But this time they're going after the USDA. Sock it to 'em.

And one last comment on the Mad Cow news and Japan's reluctance to import U.S. beef. The news media, terrififed of the unbalanced label, always seems to include in any article about Mad Cow and Japanese beef imports some variant of this line: [from the same source above but pick any of them] (emphasis added)

The U.S. has had three cases of mad cow disease. The first appeared in December 2003 in a Washington state cow that had been imported from Canada. The second was confirmed last June in a Texas-born cow, and the third was confirmed last week in an Alabama cow.

Japan has had two dozen cases of BSE.

Not 24, but two dozen, maybe even two baker's dozen. Close to thirty, you know. So many that it needs to be grouped. Heck, let's just leave it at dozens. All I know is that it's a whole lot more.

You've got to know that this is something the U.S. beef industry keeps reminding the mice who pose as journalists these days: U.S. beef is safe, even safer than Japanese beef.

But read carefully, folks. Japan tests every single cow for Mad Cow before slaughter. Our federal government, the same knuckleheads who responded to Katrina, tests 1% of the 35 million slaughtered. The Japanese have 24 confirmed cases because they actually look for it while our USDA wants to scale back testing.

Could someone please explain to me why Japan can do this and we can't?