Weblog Alex Reuneker

Garmin-HRM Run and Duracell batteries

— Posted in Hardlopen by

As is often the case, things stop working when fixing is impossible, expensive or just annoying. In the latter category, my Garmin HRM-run chest strap stopped working just when I was visiting the States. I figured it was the battery, but of course I didn't pack any batteries.

enter image description here Garmin HRM-run chest strap, © Garmin

I bought some quite expensive Duracell 2032 batteries and replaced the old with the new. My watch however did not find the strap. I carefully followed the instructions on both Garmin's site and on their forums, including waiting half a minute (and longer) between taking the old battery out and putting the new one in, but nothing worked. As the batteries came in a two-pack, I tried the second one too. Nothing, so I figured the strap was broken. I usually keep all my receipts, but, of course, when I got home, I couldn't find this one. So, no warranty. Therefore, I bought a new, less fancy strap.

A couple of weeks later, I ordered some batteries online and I figured I could use some CR 2032's, so I ordered ten of those, but this time, from a different brand – GP. I tried them in my 'old' HRM-run strap and guess what, it worked again. I talked to someone at Garmin and he said 'Oh, yes, Duracell's do that some times.' Nice... it would have saved me a lot of money knowing that before investing in another strap.

Moral of the story: try different brands of batteries. If you use a Garmin HRM-run chest strap, try other brands than Duracell.

Vitadock to Garmin Connect

— Posted in Hardlopen by

If you use a weight scale from Medisana, you can only sync your weight stats with the Vitadock app and website. As I could not find any way to get these data into Garmin Connect, I wrote a converter which you can find at https://reuneker.nl/files/vita/. It's limited in the sense that it only allows you to import your weight (so not BMI, bone mass et cetera), but it works.

enter image description here Photo by i yunmai on Unsplash

Fix sloshing in hydration packs

— Posted in Hardlopen by

I got (very) tired of that sloshing water sound from my running backpack and then I found this great little tip from the Nathan brand on YouTube.

See https://youtu.be/QnnAZYyodHw.

enter image description here Nathan hydration pack, © Nathan Sports

Meatballs (1979)

— Posted in Hardlopen by

This early Bill Murray-comedy is no movie about running, but a fairly typical summer camp movie – dad sends kid to summer camp, he doesn't want to go and has trouble making friends, makes friends in the end. Running is featured, however, as the grand finale between two rivalry summer camps (after a hotdog-eating contest, some swimming et cetera).

Running in Meatballs (1979) Running in Meatballs (1979), © 1979 Paramount Pictures

This movie's from 1979 and it shows. It's still funny, but I guess you'll have really like Bill Murray or be in that summer-camp-movie mood to enjoy it. Or sit through it and wait for the running, of course.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdZ6RA_c6oE.

Long run through the farmlands

— Posted in Hardlopen by

Today, I did a long, steady run of 22km mainly through the farmlands around here. The weather was abominable for August, but it always feels more rewarding finishing a long run in the pouring rain. On the upside, the cows were very friendly today.

A cow somewhere between Schipluiden and Schiedam A friendly cow somewhere between Schipluiden and Schiedam

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