Archive for Shoes
May 25, 2008 at 12:33 am · Filed under 100 mile Challenge, Apparel, Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Salomon Challenge, Shoes
I was enjoying a nice leisurely Saturday evening when JogBlog reminded me that today was the start of our double challenge combo.
Some months ago, Salomon contacted me (and several others) with the offer of oodles of snazzy free stuff in return for the completion of some crazy running feat. I am quite prepared to commit to almost anything 2 months prior to any requirement to expend actual energy, so I said yes, thought up some crazy feat, then sat back and forgot about it while enjoying the snazzy free stuff.
Unfortunately decisions made in haste have a tendency to turn around and bite you and today is the start of that lesson.
My challenge is to recreate the central London tube line (zone 1 and most of zone 2), running between stations to create my own GPS version of the underground map. Over on the right sidebar you can see a my challenge widget kindly provided by Salomon. It suggests that I will be doing this in a mere 11 days. This is a LIE. The challenge was for a crazy running feat not a suicidal one. My aim is to complete the task within 31 days. I’m also not a “he” but I’m prepared to let that one pass.
I’m not entirely sure what I have committed to, beyond the obvious - hours spent wandering around in circles trying to find the shortest route to the next tube station on the brown line, heck, maybe I’ll even get to learn the names of all those tube lines. It’s very difficult to work out the distances between stations. The London tube map is not to scale so I’ve been printing off geographical versions, tracing pieces of string around the track and totting it all up on my abacus.
An incredibly inaccurate estimate of the track length is 100km, but when you factor in the above ground restrictions, I can imagine my total distance coming closer to the 100 mile mark. This then explains the second challenge. JogBlog is aiming to run 100m in a month as part of her Salomon challenge so we’ve decided to coincide start dates for a little bit of competitive rivalry. Can either of us actually hit the 100m target? Can I do it first?
If I win I may even be tempted to throw a game of scrabble for her.
Anyway, back to today. By 8pm the pressure has built up sufficiently for me to consider a run. I grabbed the Garmin, Nike+, N82 with Sportstracker and iPod. Tooled up with hundreds of pounds worth of gadgets I get on a bus and head towards one of the seediest areas of West London. I was not in slightest bit surprised that when I puffed past a group of lads on the North End Road one of them said “Shall we mug her for her….” I didn’t hear the what for part, I wasn’t really hanging around at the point. Maybe they took a shine to my incredibly red Salomon XT Wings?
I wanted to start off slowly today so aimed to tick off one of the smallest sections of tube line on my map. That’s the district line (green line), Kensington Olympia branch and Hammersmith branch. I made a bit of a bodge though and included West Brompton into the mix which, although part of the district line, is actually on the Putney branch. So I messed up on the easiest section of the whole month, I may have to write tube names up my arm for the trickier sections. As it is, I’m running with the Nokia N82 in my hand watching the little dot moving around the google maps image.
View Larger Map
So todays tally:
Salomon XT Wings Challenge
6 Tube Stations complete
5.26 km total
Sports Tracker map with photos.
Warriorwoman vs Jogblog 100m Challenge Combo
3.3 miles total
…and in case you are all feeling sorry to be missing out on all these challenges, there is a third one starting on the 1st of June. Tis the annual Juneathon where you commit to run every single flipping day for a month. Head over to Joggerblogger’s joint to sign up and if you have a Nike+ thingummy you can join the challenge here as well.
Popularity: 24% [?]
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Tags: District Line, Garmin, GPS, London Underground, n82, Nike, nokia, Salomon Challenge, tube
February 3, 2008 at 11:14 pm · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes
I cut last weeks long run short to attend pressing matters at the allotment so this week I thought I’d reverse my priorities - head to the plot first and then leave the afternoon free for running. After a few hours of digging in the wind I couldn’t decide if I was more in need of back stretching run or a luxurious hot muscle soak waiting at home.
A mere 2k into the run and the muscle soak proposition was a clear winner, I was seriously considering a sharp left manoeuvre even though it might have been hard to try and pass off the short 5k loop as the weeks long run. Fortunately by 2.5k my spirits were soaring, I seemed to have discovered my new shoes. The run started to feel like a gentle jaunt across a sea of fluffy clouds and I was beginning to wonder if I could extend the run.
Don’t you just love new shoe days?
I’ve always run in Asics, I started with 2120’s but after a spate of problems with my ITB, a visit to the physio and a trip to the local specialty shoe shop to have my gait assessed, I moved up to the shockingly expensive Asics Kayano 13 model. I love everything about this shoe, except for the price, so when the Runnersworld Spring Shoe guide came out last week I poured over it in search of an equally comfy shoe at half the price of course it still nedded to be ideal for the overweight over-pronator. I found the ideal shoe but it wasn’t half the price, in fact I think it was a touch more expensive - Asics have brought a new Kayano model, the Asics Gel Kayano 14 and if possible it seems to be an improvement on my existing shoe.
So if I’m not prepared to settle for a cheaper shoe, I need to find a cheaper source for my fancy running shoes. I’ve just ordered from a new online retailer, Distance.co.uk, who were offering the Kayano 14’s at £88.99 with free delivery. Mine arrived the next day, so I’ll definitely be using them again.
Back to the run, I was springing along the track, realising that my mojo had returned. Full of the joys of running, I was back to sweating, puffing and grinning as the usual Richmond Park breeze did it’s best to flatten me.
I was still smiling at 9k so when I noticed the offroad track that has tempted me for the last couple of months, I cut across the road and headed for the hills.
I love it when running feels like this - when pace seems irrelevant and the spirit of adventure grabs you, I wasn’t even worried to dirty my new shoes.
I think I’ll be saving these for the Wilmslow half so I can look forward to a morning of running on clouds.
Distance: 12.36 km
Time: 1:43:19
Popularity: 29% [?]
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Tags: allotment, asics, runnersworld
September 18, 2007 at 10:30 am · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Shoes
I feel like a true Amazonian warrior while standing in these kangoo jump boots, I must be towering way above 6ft. Shame I feel like a knock kneed bambi when I’m running in them.
By popular demand, I dragged myself out of my sick bed to provide laughing fodder for the masses:
They are quite good fun actually, they don’t compress anywhere near as much as I expected but they are noticeably bouncier than a pair of shoddy knees. On todays little jaunt I felt that most of my energy went in to up and down movement and it felt as though I was jogging on the spot, a slight alteration in stance led me to move forward with a bit more efficiency.
When I’m feeling a bit better I’ll do some proper tests with them. I want to see if my pace alters over a given distance and how my heart rate responds. It felt pretty hard work today but then that is to be expected, dragging myself out of bed was tough today.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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Tags: knee
September 17, 2007 at 1:55 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Running, Shoes
I’ve been a bit quiet over the last few weeks but fear not, I have kept up with the running. A lot of visitors have passed through the WW household recently, which tends to make training a chore but visitor no 1, Rach, always offers to be my fitness instructor for the duration of her stay. She shouted me around a full circuit of Richmond Park before her shouts turned into whines of “are we nearly there yet?” She also offered to join me for a night time assault of the park on her next visit, carrying the lights and assorted clobber on her bike. Looking forward to frightnight already.
I finally made my way to the top of an allotment waiting list so now my time will be split between running and digging.
After having spent 2 days trying to make an impact on the overgrown plot and suffering the inevitable gardeners aches and pains as a consequence I’m going to have to be careful to ease those muscles into to peak running fitness for d-day (13 days away now).
All allotment related trivia will be restricted to the new Earthwoman blog.
Third bit of news is running related, in a novelty gadget kind of way. A new purchase arrived today - a pair of Kangoo Jumps! These are running shoes with a difference.
They are built like a pair of ski boots but they have a rather strange spring like contraption on the sole which enables you to bound or bounce down the street kangaroo fashion. They look incredibly fun but on a practical front they also claim to reduce the joint impact of running by 80%. Given the state of my knee, anything that reduces impact is worth some consideration.
Unfortunately, along with all the excitement I seem to have developed a rotten cold so won’t be able to try them out straight away. Hopefully with two weeks to go til GNR I should have enough time to recover but it is going to play havoc with my training. I’d taken this week off to squeeze in a few long runs (and tackle the allotment/and play with my new boots) but now I may have to take it easy and dose up on vitamin C. Charity running carries a heck of a lot of pressure along with it, I’ll have to run regardless and 13 miles with a snotty nose will not be pleasant.
Popularity: 29% [?]
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Tags: allotment, GNR, knee
February 21, 2007 at 11:33 pm · Filed under Running, Shoes, Technique
I’m a bit out of sync with my posting but I wanted to slip in an update for the weekend which was quite active on the running front.
Firstly my new shoes arrived: Asics Kayano X11’s and Asics Gel Trabuco trail shoes. The first pair were simply a direct replacement for my existing Kayano’s - a touch larger so they shouldn’t bruise my toes. My parents were visiting as well so my mum ended up leaving with a fine pair of previously owned running shoes with only 158 km on the clock.
I took my folks to Richmond Park to show them the sights and used the opportunity to get a video of my running gait. Booyaa has stoked my interest in running styles by mentioning in a recent comment, the debate between pose and chi running styles. I thought it would be useful to see what my natural running style is before I consider altering it.
Here is the movie:
My 66 year old mum features in the video, she is only at the back because I absolutely forbade her from overtaking me during filming but the moment the filming finished she whizzed past me in her new trainers.
I think I’m demonstrating a definate heel strike in that clip, which doesn’t bode well for me ever getting any faster, every footstrike is the equivalent of me slamming on the brake. I need a video of an “ok” runner to compare techniques with. Would I be better to try raising the knee or kicking my legs out at the back for example? Any of you bloggers got a video to share?
I’ve managed to find a clip of someone demonstrating the pose running technique:
It looks pretty strange - as though the guy is hopping on one leg and bashing his trailing toe into the tarmac, however I think it also demonstrates most of the essential features of pose:
1) Strike on ball of foot, not heel
2) Land with knee bent
3) Land under Centre of gravity with knee, ankle and shoulder in vertical alignment.
4) Lift ankle under hips
5) High cadence resulting in very brief contact with ground.
Not sure where to go with this now, the pose technique looks too far away from my natural style to be feasible but there must be some simple improvements to be made.
Popularity: 37% [?]
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Tags: asics, knee
October 13, 2006 at 9:12 pm · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes
New shoes
Originally uploaded by warriorwomen.
Here’s my first attempt at blogging direct from my mobile phone via flickr. It’s also an excuse to show off my new running shoes.
I went to see the physio yesterday about my assorted running injuries and she told me I needed more supportive shoes. My last pair have only done about 200K so that has been an annoying expense. Can’t wait to try them out though, at £110 I really hope they solve my niggling problems. Actually at that price I’d be happy with a little motor.
Popularity: 13% [?]
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