niblue Member

I do use a treadmill occasionally but I'm pretty sure I did all my C25K runs outside.

I did my first half marathon last May. I'd entered it about a year before but during that period had switched from running back to cycling as my main fitness activity so did virtually no running until just a few weeks before. When I entered I was running a fair amount - typically one 10K and a couple of 5K's each week,…

That study seems far too small to be useful, particularly as the most interesting thing would be whether the change in activity levels stuck and what effect it then had on health/fitness etc. The main point though is that for people that aren't active then either aiming for 10,000 steps a day or for some other regular…

The Apple watches are nice enough but the battery life on them seems to be pretty poor - quite a few of my colleagues have them. My wife and daughter have both had fitbits but weren't that impressed by them and both have moved to Garmin Vivoactive HR's which they are happy with - especially with the excellent battery life.…

I was out in Bahrain in the middle of summer when I was near the end of C25K so had to do a few runs despite a temperature that was well into the 40C+ range, even after dark, and with massive humidity as well. It was very tough and I found I needed to slow down a lot in order to be able to run for a reasonable period…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder obviously, because I think it's hideous! Wouldn't mind a Gates drive though. I have a chain driven Alfine bike (a flat barred Cotic Roadrat) and it's been great.

What about joining a club? I joined my local club and have found it great - lots of rides for a range of abilities, very social and lots of on-line chat via a closed facebook group.

For some reason I'm now seeing very big differences between Garmin and Strava in their calorie burned calculations for bike rides. For example I did a 100km non-stop ride on Saturday which took bang on 4 hours. Garmin reckons I burned 4645 calories which is exceptionally unlikely, especially as I was taking it reasonably…

Still using mine but probably only for another month or so.

If DC Rainmaker tests one and it's ok I might take a punt on one for my 2nd bike.

SPD's on all the mountain bikes, SPD-SL on the road bikes. I really don't like riding without being clipped in.

You're a daredevil. You ride at speeds that would make your mother cry.

Got loads of new stuff as I've been updating my Roubaix and my wife's bike. Latest change is a set of Shimano Dura-ace C24 wheels for the hills, shod with 24mm Specialized S-Works Turbo's and a set of Shimano RS81 C35's for general riding - currently shod with 23mm GT4000's but thinking about trying the 26mm version of the…

The Vivoactive HR is a great general watch and works pretty well for running although the screen is a bit small. I tend to still use another Garmin (a 220) for running for that reason however I use the HR and instant pace information quite a bit when running - if you don't look at your watch all that often when running…

Might be worth looking at another trainer. Most can simulate a reasonable level of resistance (I think about 800W) so if anything it's usually easier to get your heart rate up and sustain it on the turbo than on the road.

I use one of the left-hand crank mounted 4iiii power meters on my road bike and have been happy with it so far. It's probably the cheapest option at the moment. Not a clue how it impacts calorie burned estimates though!

I'm at 720 miles against my target of 2017, so might need to increase it a bit.

I did 20 miles with my wife on Saturday, then was out with my club for a 46 miler yesterday - slow on the outbound with the bronze section, then faster on the way back with one of the silver groups. Also nipped out at lunchtime for 13 miles or so today as the weather was so nice - although quite windy. Might still set-up…

I've never been asked that - or asked anyone that. I do run too though!

I've driven up it several times but never ridden up it yet. It's not stupidly steep anywhere but it is long. The route along the coast north from Applecross is also superb but has lots of ups and downs on it. Definitely looking forward to riding there one day - it'll be a compact chainset and an 11:32 or even 11:34…

There doesn't appear to be any noticeable difference between the HR readings from my Vivoactive HR using its optical sensor and from my Garmin 220 or 810 when using a chest strap. The other optical HR I had (a Microsoft Band) was also ok although was quite sensitive to how tight it was on your wrists - initially I wore it…

You tend to get a lot of random Kudos for Zwift rides - I suspect it is probably that "Kudos all" option that was mentioned earlier. For non Zwift rides there do seem to be some folks that Kudos loads and loads of people (we were discussing it in the club and it seems to be the same set of folks that do it) - no real idea…

Once you're up to speed then 23mph on the flats isn't really related to your weight - it's more down to power and aero, so being smaller means you'll be able to hold 23mph at 200W. I've got a lot more watts available than that but am not as aero(!) so could probably keep up on the flat although I suspect you'd drop me on…

I've not found the lack of HR info when swimming to be an issue - I wouldn't mind having it, but it's quite an expensive option as the devices and HRM straps that can do it are pretty expensive. I've been impressed how accurate the Vivoactive HR has been, not only at counting laps but also in figuring out what stroke I was…

The Glasgow to Edinburgh route is fairly flat so is do-able on pretty much any bike if you take it slow. It's more suited to either a proper road bike or a reasonably light hybrid though - it'd be harder work on a mountain bike with knobbly tyres. If road cycling is what you're interested, including maybe joining a club at…

I'm mostly riding the turbo-trainer during the week at the moment, using Zwift. I do the occasional race on that as well. Probably head out for the club run on Sunday as well - although that might depend how rough I feel after my son's 21st birthday celebrations on the Saturday night!

Best of luck with that. I had cataract surgery a few years back (just one eye) and found it less of an issue than getting a filling at the dentist.

Or the Vivoactive HR. That's what I use for swimming and it's very effective.

Other than a 10K race yesterday and a half-marathon in May I've not got a lot of plans for 2017 yet. Probably the main ones are two tick a couple of landmarks off the cycling list - 1st is a 100km day (I've been very close to that on a number of occasions but haven't tried for it yet) and then next is a 100mile day. I'm…

I did a 10K race yesterday in a little over 57 minutes and that formula gives about the same result for me as my Garmin did (760 from the formula, 810 calories from Garmin). Strava seems to overestimate running calories though, giving 1,111 calories from the same Garmin data. On the bike I can burn 700-800 calories in an…