Road Warrior

With weeks to train, can tech help our writer not only compete in but complete the Marathon?

- Michelle McLaren

Have you ever had a terrible idea that you just had to do anyway? One day, after returning from one of my lunchtime runs, I was asked if I’d thought about running a marathon. “No,” I laughed. “I’m not a masochist!” But the seed was sown.

Okay, I like running. But a marathon? 26.2 miles? I probably… could, though, couldn’t I? The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try. Oh. Dear.

Before I knew it I had a gruelling 17-week training plan ahead of me, which included four runs a week. If I was going to stand any chance of not only competing in but completing the Marathon, I would need some well-chosen tech to keep me motivated and, perhaps most importantly, to help me recover after 50 runs on unyielding pavements.

Given the reality of having to train mostly on my own, which included long, and often wet Sunday runs, I turned to music to keep me feeling upbeat. Fortunately, Garmin had just released the Forerunner 645 Music running watch. The face is smaller than the rest of Garmin’s sport range, which suited me perfectly. The Forerunner 645 Music was easy to set up and connect to Strava using the Garmin Connect app. Not only did it play music from the wrist, the watch also monitored my heart rate and oxygen levels, and compared my runs to others via the app. I plugged the watch into my computer and added my running playlist from iTunes.

Finally, I was ready to go. Well, almost: I needed something to listen on. Despite working I’ve only ever used headphones that come with my phone (I know, I know). The team insisted that I go for a pair of true wireless in-ears for extra freedom, so I settled on the Jabra Sport Pulse.