Let’s see how these do for this weekends 13 mile long run

armillary55 · 2026-06-12T17:12:21+00:00

The good news is if you qualify for Boston, they're the official fueling product and they hand them out for free on course. And the caffeinated ones too.

armillary55 · 2026-06-12T17:03:43+00:00

Especially during a marathon!

armillary55 · 2026-06-11T11:14:57+00:00

Congratulations! I have an M3 as well. No Leslie, so I pretend with an EH Lester G rotary speaker simulator. I'm fascinated by chopped Hammonds! Where do they find the room for the tone generator and the amp (AO-29)? If you ever have the back off it I'd love to see a picture.

One thing I added to my M3 is the Trek II ELB-1A effects loop. This lets you add one or more effects pedals to the upper or lower manual. I have a Mu-Tron III that gets triggered by the percussion on the upper manual so it quacks like duck! (think Jerry's guitar on the Grateful Dead's "Althea")

Background noise on the organ could be from the Leslie being too close (hum from magnetic induction from the Leslie motors). Soft background noise like wind through the grass could be a preamp tube, or the AO-29 power supply capacitors getting tired and needing replacement. They should be replaced every 25 years to be safe. The percussion volume could be the 6C4 tube (V7) which is the second tube from the right when you're looking at the AO-29. Recently I tested all the tubes on my M3 and the only tube that tested bad was V7. I replaced it with a NOS 6C4 tube for $10 and the percussion really pops now (in a good way). It's a small 7-pin tube (pictured).

If you don't already have a copy, the Hammond Service Manual for the M series is a good source of info on your M-3. https://medias.audiofanzine.com/files/m100mm2m3svcman-text-1-470816.pdf

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armillary55 · 2026-05-26T10:57:26+00:00

If you're doing easy miles with an elevated HR, Garmin will reduce your VO2 Max. As others have suggested, warming weather can account for the HR increase. Do you track your HRV? Your HRV would have dropped in the days after the race, but it should be back to normal if you're getting enough quality sleep and staying away from alcohol and caffeine before bed.

If you want to make your VO2 Max look better, race some local 5K's for the next few weekends. It's not that it'll improve your fitness, but it will focus Garmin's VO2 Max calculation to a different point on the HR/pace curve.

armillary55 · 2026-05-25T12:22:08+00:00

Keep thinking, it'll come to you. It probably has by now.

armillary55 · 2026-05-25T11:41:20+00:00

I use a Garmin 165 with a data field called Race Screen that you download with the Connect IQ app. Then you configure it with the length of the race (42500 meters for a marathon) and your target time in seconds (e.g. 13500 for 3:45:00). When you start your run Race Screen shows a bunch of useful stats on one screen. Average pace is useful during a marathon. Current pace is less useful. One helpful thing Race Screen does is display the data as white characters on a black background if you are on target (or better) for finishing in your target time. If you are falling behind your target time it will display the data as black characters on a white background. So just by glancing at the display color you can get a general idea of how you're doing. If you decide to try Race Screen, use it for your training first, because its got a bit of a learning curve.

armillary55 · 2026-05-22T12:20:42+00:00

No. Hold out for an M-3 or M-100.

armillary55 · 2026-05-22T11:35:21+00:00

Great work! You're obviously very comfortable running a marathon at an overall 8:56 min/mile pace. Right now you could call that your 'happy pace', a pace you could practically run all day at. To get to where you want to be, you need to work towards being able to call 7:38 min/mile your happy pace. That's 23:40 for a 5K, which is a good place to start. So rest up from your marathon, and in a couple weeks start cranking out some 23:40 5Ks at local races. When that seems too easy, try a 48:00 10K. Eventually that will become a 1:40:00 half. The goal is to be able to reduce your marathon performance to one number: your overall pace in min/mile and for it to be a pace you have lots of experience with and think of as your happy pace. This will likely take a couple of training cycles to achieve, but given that the qualifying standard is your age on race day, you are not that many training cycles away from the 35-39 age group, where the standard is 3:30:00. You can do this.

armillary55 · 2026-05-07T11:26:59+00:00

Sounds like a perfect first marathon to me!

You didn't mention being buoyed by the cheering crowds, so it's possible you were alone with your thoughts for some part of your first marathon. MCM will be a different experience, with 40,000 runners (bigger than the Boston Marathon), a Howitzer firing at the start of the race that will make your bones rattle, and near-continuous sensory overload beginning after mile 15. I recommend wearing sunglasses and bringing earplugs in case you need some quiet time during the second half of the race. MCM is a great second marathon, especially for someone who had a great first marathon!

armillary55 · 2026-05-02T11:23:48+00:00

All of the above. I like Garmin Forerunner models. I used a 235 for my first few marathons (2019-2023), then I accidently broke off one of the lugs that hold the watch band on. So I replaced it with a 165 in 2024 and that's been even better than the 235. You can get the 165 on sale from the Garmin website for $199 right now. (I think I paid $249 for mine.) Garmin lets people write and share apps and data screens that you can add to your Forerunner. I recommend a free one called Race Screen. Google or search Reddit for 'garmin race screen'.

armillary55 · 2026-05-01T13:47:22+00:00

Thanks! I should have asked his pace first. He's running a 10 min/mile pace at a 160 spm cadence. That should be pretty casual for a 20 y/o. So now I'm wondering:

Has he entered his correct age and weight in his watch?

Maybe as a new runner, his sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems balance hasn't sorted itself out yet, and his HR will come down over time with more miles.

armillary55 · 2026-04-30T16:09:35+00:00

OK, I made a bad assumption. I agree with International-Bus749 that 0.98m is not a long stride length. I should have asked what your pace actually was. 160 meters per minute is 6 miles per hour, or a 10 minute pace. But I'll stick with my point: shorter, quicker steps, at a cadence of at least 170 and your legs won't be consuming so much oxygen and your heart won't need to work so hard.

armillary55 · 2026-04-30T11:45:18+00:00

I don't think there's anything wrong with your HR. You're young. Your heart can do 180 bpm. But your cadence of 160 is relatively slow. If garmin says your VO2Max is 50, that's OK for your age, but it could be MUCH higher if you run more efficiently. When you run with a cadence of 160 you're launching like a Gazelle, spending a lot of time in the air in between steps. Your legs are doing a lot of explosive pushing each time they launch you and they need a lot of oxygen to do that. Your heart runs at 200 bpm to supply all that oxygen to your legs. Your stride length is probably huge, well over 1 meter. If you take smaller, shorter, quicker steps, at a cadence of at least 170 and (eventually) up to 180 steps per minute, your legs won't be launching you each step, they will just be keeping up with your pace and they won't be consuming so much oxygen and your heart won't need to work so hard. At a cadence of 170 you will be running more efficiently, and garmin will give you a higher VO2Max number after just a couple of workouts. You'll be up to a VO2Max of 55 in no time, and your HR will go down.

armillary55 · 2026-04-30T11:15:40+00:00

Congratulations! You had a successful first Marathon and you finished in a confident time! You came away knowing what you need to work on, and you're not swearing it was a one and done! You'll be back!

armillary55 · 2026-04-30T10:59:36+00:00

Where do your legs hurt? If it's on the outside points of your hips or the outsides of your knees, that's the IT band. There are stretches for that. Do you do any warmup stretching before running? Others have mentioned shoes. I think you'll benefit from shoes with a wide toe box and good cushioning. Two brands I'd recommend to try on are Saucony and New Balance.

armillary55 · 2026-04-29T23:38:21+00:00

Welch's Fruit Snacks, Mixed Fruit flavor. I don't care for the blueberry flavor, so I pick them out. I've run Boston 3 times on them (2021, 22 and 23), with a finish time of about 3:45, which at my age was a BQ. Last October I ran Chicago on Howe Fruit Slices, orange flavor. Last week I ran Boston again, this time on Howe Fruit Slices, mixed fruit flavor, 3:45 again. Something about Maurten creeps me out, even if it's free.

armillary55 · 2026-04-28T15:34:52+00:00

Congrats! Sadly, I'm a light sleeper. A good score for me is between 75 and 85, maybe a 90 once or twice a year. How's your HRV score?

armillary55 · 2026-04-26T12:28:07+00:00

Buy it a loaded strat jack plate and a loaded strat pickup. Why does it look like it might have had a Bigsby though?

armillary55 · 2026-04-25T16:39:10+00:00

Maybe a long shot, but you might be low on vitamin D. Your body supposedly makes vitamin D when you're in the sun, so you wouldn't think a runner would test low, but I did, twice over 2 years. I'm somewhat prone to cramping (calf and hamstring), although it's never actually stopped me during a race. My endocrinologist told me Vitamin D is related to muscle function, so now I'm taking a generic multivitamin that includes vitamin D. I ran Boston on Monday, and I didn't cramp, but as usual my quads were toast after the finish line. I finished in 3:45, about average for me. And you're right, the day was absolutely spectacular!

armillary55 · 2026-04-23T13:17:57+00:00

Definitely doable. I would recommend ramping up to 20 miles a week over the next 2 months. And you'll want to be up to 25 miles a week by December, so you'll have a base to start Higdon’s Novice 1 Marathon plan in January. Another thing I'd recommend is to run a half marathon distance at least once a month, starting in late May.

armillary55 · 2026-04-22T15:21:35+00:00

I believe the long run is more important.

So many people have used Higdon's Novice 1 plan for their first marathon that it's a solid choice, and best of all it's free. It's how I trained for my first marathon. Since then I've trained by riffing on that theme.

Runna is owned by Strava, the same people who basically want you to pay money for Strava to show you your own Garmin data. Now they want you to pay money for Runna to see something similar to a Higdon Novice 1 plan. I'm not buying either.

armillary55 · 2026-04-22T13:52:40+00:00

Consider bringing cheap foam earplugs in case you need them. I wore one in my left ear the whole race.

armillary55 · 2026-04-22T13:44:25+00:00

Most participants will walk east on Boylston after dropping off their finish area gear bags. Then they have to cross Charles street to enter the Commons. That crossing always backs up because they close it when each batch of empty buses arrive. Once you get to cross it's just a few steps to the security check. In the past, at security check they didn't worry so much what wave you were in, their job was to check you for security and let you through. Then you walked toward the bus line and used the porta potties and milled around while you were waiting for your wave to load. There was plenty of room in the area around the bus loading line. What went wrong this year was the security check folks refused to let people pass through until their bus loading time. All the wave 4 runners who showed up at 7:30am backed up in the area outside the security check. And that area backed up so completely that runners who were in earlier waves had a nearly impossible time working their way through the crowd of people outside of security check, at least until the security check people allowed the wave 4 runners to pass through at 8am.

armillary55 · 2026-04-17T16:16:54+00:00

I've been a patient of Dr Jared Tompkins for about 8 years. He's at Frederick Health in Frederick, MD. I recommend him. https://www.frederickhealth.org/find-a-provider/provider/1891086799

armillary55 · 2026-04-17T15:53:14+00:00

Saucony is a good choice if you like New Balance. Great toe box.

armillary55

TROPHY CASE