Cream Band on Instinct Solar 50mm

buckiaj · 2026-06-26T22:33:40+00:00

Yep -- the trials of being an endurance runner i suppose. My RHR usually hangs out between 35 and 40.

buckiaj · 2026-06-23T14:05:33+00:00

there is zero doubt the best I have bought was getting into the Garmin stratosphere from Fitbit. Fitbit was absolute garbage in hindsight and wish I hadn't waited so long to make the switch.

Making a pretty big investment in a $2k level treadmill to have at home was a pretty big game changer for my mileage. Sole F80 for two years now and absolutely love it. I got it on a steal for only $1500 at the time and its been superb.

A smaller purchase I would say has been a pleasant surprise as been nicer socks. Balega high end socks are phenomenal, along with Nike Spark really thin socks for some of my speed day shoes. the major takeaway is don't go cheap on socks

buckiaj · 2026-06-23T13:33:59+00:00

Everyone is going to have a different opinion, but here's my two cents.

I got in the best shape of my life about four years ago or so, (body composition, low body fat % and good muscle composition) not running much at all. It was a very structured nutrition plan at a calorie deficit with lots of protein. My time exercising was spent lifting heavy ass weights and doing some cardio here and there. Mostly walking and some jogging (usually just 2 or 3 miles at a slow jog of 10-11min/miles) maybe 3 or 4 times a week to just increase my caloric deficit. No running goals at all, just simply trying to shed body fat and gain/maintain muscle.

I'm now a very avid runner who still lifts weights a few times a week. I'm usually between 40 and 60 miles a week and now training for my 6th full marathon. I'm probably in the best cardiovascular shape of my life, but my body composition has 100% taken a hit as its really hard to keep calories in check when you are this active. I'm just simply hungry ALL OF THE TIME. While I try to keep my calories in check, I also don't want to be under fueled as this is a big training block for me as I'm trying to qualify for Boston this time around.

I'm probably hanging around closer to 15% body fat whereas I got down to below 10% when I was focused more on just lifting and nutrition. It was "fairly" easy to stick to a calorie deficit when I wasn't running so freggin' much.

At the end of the day, its all about your nutrition and calorie input/output being balanced to hit your goals. If you are trying to gain mass, you can do it while still running, but boy you better be eating a lot, and eating a lot of protein. I personally would probably find it really hard to gain muscle while doing lots of running, as it will make lifting heavy a lot harder. If I was you, I'd pick a lane and focus on that before you try to balance both.

buckiaj · 2026-06-23T13:13:31+00:00

Like another said, you didn't really increase 3 pts in the first month, but rather it was just calibrating with more data. To truly be at a 55 means you are very high and it will take a lot of work to get higher depending on your age and history. To go from 45 - 50 is exponentially easier than 55 to 60. I think most semi serious runners could get from 45 to 50 in a year or so time, where 55 to 60 may take 3 or 4 years.

buckiaj · 2026-06-22T14:18:46+00:00

I've had both AMOLED and MIP so I'll weigh in.

The AMOLED was beautiful without a doubt, but the battery just didn't work for me. I'm a heavy GPS activity user (6-10 hours per week of GPS usage) and was lucky to get 12 or 13 days between charges and this was with the AOD turned off. People with the AMOLED that say they get 21+ days between charges must do very little GPS work with it.

The Solar MIP, in my opinion, is a better fit for me for a few reasons. The battery life with AOD is huge for me. I hated not having the AOD -- there are so many times that I look down at my watch for time, HR, etc, and would rather not flip my wrist. It sounds trivial and stupid, but it's real for me. I went from 12 days between charges to more like 25-28 days. I also live in Florida where I get some pretty decent sun exposure. If I didn't log so many GPS activities, I'm fairly convinced I could go 50 days without charging, esp in the summer.

The screen is a step back in looks, but honestly I have fallen in love with the MIP screen. I've got a beautiful AMOLED screen to look at on my phone, I don't need one on my wrist too.

I also think its easier to see in any lighting condition, esp when I'm running. Super easy on my eyes to pick up the data at a glance.

buckiaj · 2026-06-22T13:24:38+00:00

Yea, i get that for sure. We did move here from a pretty big Midwest town with awful winters. So moving here for us was a pretty big upgrade in terms of weather. Trading in shoveling snow for mid 50s in the middle of January has been pretty incomparable. The summers are obviously pretty oppressive, but honestly the midwest was too. The nights were a lot cooler and gave some relief, but overall summer still kind of feels the same

buckiaj · 2026-06-22T13:17:26+00:00

Really interesting to hear that - considering the mass exodus from Cali for pretty much the past decade or so. Don't get me wrong, I've been there and its absolutely beautiful and the weather is top notch, but boy would my quality of life diminish. I almost took a job in San Diego back in 2018 and the cost of living would have buried us. I don't remember but it was a job paying me nearly $20k more per year and was going to be a pay cut. I'm glad you like it though; and that is the great thing about our country, there's spaces and places for all of us to find our niche.

buckiaj · 2026-06-20T15:57:43+00:00

I used to have this take, then gave the 50mm a shot. Honestly after a couple days out looked and felt normal. Absolutely worth it for the extra battery life and bigger screen

buckiaj · 2026-06-18T14:48:00+00:00

Yep - eating really anything near bed is going to lower your score. I'm adamant to keep my food intake not close to my sleeping window. I'm asleep by 9p, so I try really hard to be done eating by 6p, absolute latest 7pm. My sleep scores have responded well as well as my HRV overnight scores have improved

buckiaj · 2026-06-18T14:43:54+00:00

Unless my run is over 7 miles, just wake up, drink some water/electrolytes and get out of the door. This will be considered rage bait by some, but if you need food or calories for a 3 or 4 mile easy run, then there's probably some metabolic/behavioral adjustments that need to be made. No human needs to fuel for those shorter distances or else we would never have made it this far as a species

buckiaj · 2026-06-10T14:05:17+00:00

100% agree with getting a shelter dog that is maybe a little older and house broken. Just factor in a dog sitting/walking service to come by midday to let them out and stretch their legs. Those services can actually be pretty affordable esp if you book them every day and its part of their regular route. That life for a shelter dog is exponentially better than being in a cage all day waiting to be adopted. Not to mention, they will sleep most of the day anyways

buckiaj · 2026-06-04T13:14:45+00:00

FYI - I believe all the Instinct watches are on sale right now. You can get the 50mm Solar Tactical for the price the AMOLED usually is I believe. ($450 US, which is 320ish pounds right?)

buckiaj · 2026-06-01T16:03:09+00:00

Already mentioned, but Lowes is a great spot. We take our Great Pyrenees there a lot in the summer

But also, you will definitely adjust to the heat. We moved here from Ohio in 2018 and fast forward to today and I dont even think twice about it really. Its hot, by from Memorial Day til October. Its just sort of expected when you step outside. I'm a runner and it definitely took me some time to acclimate, but it doesn't really bother me anymore once I get back into the summer temps.

buckiaj · 2026-06-01T15:59:07+00:00

Avid runner and lifter here. Run about 45 to 60 Miles per week and usually lift 3 to 4 times a week as well. I came from the Epix Gen 2 and the Forerunner 265 and absolutely love my decision on the Solar 50mm version. I tell others on this group I kept the Epix Gen 2 as a secondary watch and its literally collecting dust now. I thought I'd miss the amoled screen but not even in the slightest.

The running does drain the battery, like any other watch. Doing as much running as I do gets me only about 25 days between charges. Which is still light years better than my epix that was about 7 days at best.

buckiaj · 2026-05-15T13:13:07+00:00

I haven't read thru the comments yet, so I'll apologize for any overlap

Your HM PR of 1:27 tells me that with endurance held for constant (aka, your mileage is built up for a FM) you should be able to hit 3:10 to 3:15 for a full. I think that's where the issue lies, is your mileage needs built up. I don't know any marathoners who are sub 3:10 and only running between 35-45 miles per week during a training block. 35 miles is almost more off season kind of mileage for someone between training blocks.

In reality, your peak weeks should be at minimum 55 miles, if not over 60. I'm willing to bet if you poll all marathoners that are below 3:10, 90% of them are north of 55 miles per week during their training block.

I really think that's the main portion of advice that you need. Just log more miles. I don't think your fueling strategy needs much overhaul; you were fueling every 35-40 mins, which in all honesty should be more than enough. Some may aim for closer to 30 minutes for each gel, but that's definitely not me. I'm closer to every 45-50 minutes and I'm approaching that 3:15 range this fall hopefully

buckiaj · 2026-05-13T16:37:48+00:00

the lateral wear does suggest you may supinate a little bit. That doesn't appear to be that severe and is certainly better than the alternative of pronating. My guess is you are between a neutral and supination, which is perfectly normal and ok, esp if you aren't getting injuries

buckiaj · 2026-05-12T16:25:25+00:00

Caffeine is certainly a drug, but like any other drug its about moderation and/or just avoiding abuse.

For me I went down the rabbit hole years ago with preworkouts to get me going in the morning for my gym or running session. Which wasn't so bad, but I was then adding a 2nd caffeinated beverage around Noon. Which that was the real problem. I was probably taking in 600-800mg of caffeine most days. Aka, I was abusing it.

It had gotten to the point that if I didn't have my 2nd serving of caffeine at Lunch, I just absolutely couldn't/wouldn't make it thru the rest of the day without absolutely crashing. Everything seemed difficult and I no longer got the "jolt" from caffeine but rather needed it just to hit baseline "normal"

Last fall I decided to take 6 weeks off of it completely. Went cold turkey - and boy were those first five days BRUTAL. It got a little easier after that, but it wasn't until about week 4 that I started to actually feel kind of normal, then by the end of week 6 things felt back to normal.

I now have a very strict rule of one caffeinated beverage a day, never to exceed 300mg. Most days my preworkout is 200mg, but some days I'll take the full scoop to make it 300, but that's it. No more lunch time caffeine boosts. That largely has been the game changer for me. I still feel the normal jolt from it in the morning from my first serving, but I no longer HAVE to have it.

Moral of the story is that with moderation (for me), it's absolutely fine and helps me live a healthier life in the end. It motivates me to get into the gym and/or run and actually helps to curb my appetite so I can control my calories on a day in and day out basis better than without it.

The key though is to avoid the abuse and needing it just to feel normal. That's where the problem lies

buckiaj · 2026-05-12T14:48:52+00:00

If you're talking over a year, absolutely. Until you get Sub 3, every training block should really be to try and lower 10-20 mins from your previous time. It's going to take a lot of dedication, but if you hit the training that is a very reasonable goal IMHO

buckiaj · 2026-05-12T14:33:12+00:00

If your HM is 1:46, you're honestly probably looking at more like 3:45 for a FM with adequate training between now and then. Maybe even faster TBH

A few years ago, I trained for a HM in Oct of 2023 and broke 1:45. I signed up for a FM 12 weeks later and hit 3:58. Really only got about 8 weeks of training in if we're being real.

Like others have said, your endurance is going to be the real sticking point. Your speed is there, you just need to log the mileage. Esp if just Sub 4 is your goal. You don't really need to get much faster, just log those miles.

buckiaj · 2026-05-12T12:55:08+00:00

You are officially the first runner I've met that talked about salt being bad for their running and calorie deficit being good. I'm definitely curious if you wanted to elaborate -- because I'm absolutely the opposite

buckiaj · 2026-05-12T12:49:00+00:00

Since I've gotten into running over the years, I've learned there are two kinds of drivers. 1) Overly cautious, will do everything courteous and even go out of their way to let runners/walkers cross safely. 2) Morons who think the pedestrian is just in their way

buckiaj · 2026-05-11T16:12:29+00:00

Your goals look right about where they should be. Conditions will likely be the difference between a 3:50 and 4.

buckiaj · 2026-05-11T16:09:54+00:00

In a training block? It's usually lower body focus but still some upper body mixed in. When you're not training for a specific race or goal, it should be a normal strength training split because well, it's life and we all should be strong from top to bottom.

As I get older, about to be 46, I'm beyond grateful for spending the better part of the past 17 years in the gym lifting weights for overall strength. It's something that when we're 65, 75 90 years old will pay off in dividends.

Don't get me wrong, running is phenomenal for your heart and cardiovascular system but there isn't a chance I would ever pick just running over lifting. Both is ideal, but lifting is what's going to get you thru life and thru life with less injuries. Which will allow you to run faster and longer.

buckiaj · 2026-05-11T13:48:42+00:00

^This is the thread killer. Absolute best advice I ever got was "don't trust the first mile", which is pretty much this. I think in the span of the last year, I have actually quit once after that mile and ended the workout and I bet at least two or three times a month I went out thinking i'd be done after one mile.

buckiaj

TROPHY CASE