October 7, 2008 at 12:50 pm · Filed under Event, Running
I love this event, it is a complete pain to get to, it costs a fortune, it’s almost impossible to get out of South Shields before night fall, but it still remains the highlight of my year. Grubby street urchins high fiving you, toddlers squirting bottled puddle water at your feet, spectators cheering and offering out ice pops, pizza and vodka. The folk from South Tyneside really get into the spirit of this event and you can’t help but feel privilidged to be part of it. At times through the race the emotion gets the better of me and I have to fight to stop myself blubbing.
I couldn’t fathom a way of setting myself a target for the 13.1 mile distance on the forerunner 405 so instead I had to set the pace of the virtual trainer and just watch my progress against my shadow. Being a “tad” heavier and not having shown an immense amount of commitment to my training this year I thought the best I could hope for was to aim for a 3:05 hr finish and so set the training buddy to 14min/miles. With the watch stuck on this screen I couldn’t tell what pace I was running at and so effectively ran the race blind. At each mile mark though I seemed to be gaining minutes on my buddy - I was kicking virtual sand in his face.
At mile 7 as was hosed down by a teenager in full firemans garb, it coincided with the end of the first episode the Archers and its replacement by P!nk’s “I’m Not Dead”. The combined effect was so refreshing that I experienced the best 20 seconds running of my life. I overtook walkers and everything!
Unfortunately in a half marathon, there is no escaping mile 10, it arrives like a soggy duvet and throws itself around your legs. At this point I was 9 minutes ahead of my target but with the duvet around my ankles I was losing minutes every few hundred yards. I was cracking up but at this time last year I had to step of the sideline to perform first aid on my thighs, something must have improved despite my preparations.
At 11 miles I had slipped back to only 6 minutes above the 3:05 target but I was smelling the sea air and getting all emotional again. My folks had driven down to catch me cross the finish line and started to feel a pb in my bones. I upped the pace at the 12 mile marker and kept looking down at my watch to see if I could get that the distance between me and my shadow to increase. It started to happen and I felt strength in my legs.
That final mile was exciting for me. It was just like the final leg of the Bushy park run, giving it all for a chance at some glory. At 7 minutes ahead of target I was struggling with my maths again to see how much I had to do to beat last year. The finish was coming upon me so quickly I didn’t think I had enough distance left to make the time but I was willing myself on anyway.
I crossed the line in 2:57:00 about 50 seconds slower than last year. Not a pb but I was so chuffed that I’d come anywhere near it. Here’s my thank god it’s over shot, I don’t think I look quite as happy as last year but then OGB had gone AWOL. His training had been a bit lacklustre as well but at the start line he’d decided he was going to push it anyway. When he wasn’t sitting at the agreed meeting point with my pint in his hand I assumed he must have been carried off in a helicopter. I was probably wondering what I was going to tell his mum as the photo was taken.
We found him eventually in an emotional heap after spending about 45 mins battling in the baggage bus for our clobber. Shoes and bags and shirts had been strewn all over and it sounded a bit like a blood fest. Luckily I got to avoid all that - that’s the benefit of running with fast friends, thay get to collect the bags while all you have to do is struggle over the finish and stumble into the nearest fish and chip restaurant.
Delicious!
Popularity: 11% [?]
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Tags: bushy park, Forerunner, Forerunner 405, GNR, Great North Run, OGB
May 14, 2007 at 10:30 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
At the special request of Jogblog who always manages to pick great t-shirts with running events tagged on as a bonus, I have set up my own homage to the tatty duster material I get landed with.
Maybe when I get a whole stack of them I might go really nerdy and have them turned into a special little quilt. If you fancy making your own you can get the instructions here.
Ever worried about the right time to wear your race t-shirt? Check here for the definitive guide to race t-shirt wearing etiquette.
05/10/08 Great North Run 2008
All the Great Run t-shirts are worthy of the name.
I love these events and the t-shirts are designed to be worn with pride. I’ve got quite a few of them now though and I wouldn’t mind if they switched to a new colour next year, much as I like the blue-grey tone a bit of variety can’t go amiss.
Race report here.
13/09/08 Great North Swim 2008
This was the first swim event in the Great “run”/ swim series. Apparently they have more planned for 2009.
Race report over here.
06/12/08 British London 5k
I have a fairly strong recollection of spending New Years Eve, getting slightly drunk and entering every race on the UK running calendar, strangely though, I manage to get all the way to July before taking part in the first race of 2008. After a slack 6 months it is not too surprising that this race proved to be exceptionally slow for me.
The British London 5k is the baby sister of the 10k, it starts at 8:30 so that all the runners have finished and cleared off the route by the time the 10k’ers start at 10:30. The route takes in the embankment and parliament square and includes the patriotic brass bands that the event is known for. Not quite as much public support for this event as the 10k but still fun and the queues are much more manageable.
Race report over here.
01/12/07 Grim 8
Nice T-shirt eh?
Race report over here.
04/11/07 Loseley Park 10k
A very safe t-shirt for quite an unsafe race. Definite ankle spraining opportunities in this event but thats what you get with cross country events. That and a lot of mud.
Great weather, fine and dandy course, lovely company, what more could you ask for in an event? I think it was pretty cheap too so no complaints with the t-shirt.
Race report here.
30/09/07 BUPA Great North Run
Here’s a t-shirt designed to be warn the next day, either for bragging rights or to explain why you are hobbling off the tube like an incontinent 80 year old. Tis made from thick, good quality cotton and is a kind of bluish grey, the photo suggests it is more blue than grey but my eyes say the opposite. It’s a very popular t-shirt as well, Shakti has already tried to nab it from me but I shall just refer her to the rules of race t-shirt ownership - see no 10.
Brilliant, brilliant, event. If you can be at all bothered to travel all the way up North for a run I would definitely recommend this. I can’t imagine another race making you feel so warm and gooey inside. Mind you, if you are a super duper good runner aiming for a sub 1:30 pb you might not like all the sideline festivities designed to hold you back a bit. This is one for the smiley happy runners.
I’ll be doing it next year but might break the bank by staying over on saturday and sunday night, I think it would be a bonus to miss the exodus out of South Shields.
And for completeness, here is the running vest I completed the event in. It was provided by my charity: Wheelpower. Must say those iron-on letters worked an absolute treat as the supporters cheered me on by name.
Race report over here.
02/09/07 Sports Aid Gyro 10 km
Just a fruits of loom white cotton number but its fairly thick cotton and tasteful enough to wear without a running excuse. I’m showing the back of shirt here, the front is fairly minimalist, sporting an open font G in the bottom corner.
They had womens specific t-shirts as well, which had an interesting cut, but I decided my belly button is best left covered and so opted for the shapeless blokes version.
Good event this, it’s held on my doorstep which awards it multiple bonus points. The route is along the river between Chiswick and Hammersmith bridges and finishes at the civil service sports club which laid on a bbq for and an open bar - yowser!
12/08/07 SheRunsHeRuns Bluewater 10 km
This is a special t-shirt because its a proper running shirt - real techy fabric and everything. It’s unusual for race organisers to provide commerative t-shirts that you’d actually want to run in.
My photo isn’t quite doing justice to its full glory. I entered the race late so had to pick it up on the morning of the event. As everyone else was wearing the little peachy red number, I had to whip mine on quick or risk being a pariah for the whole run. This shot was taken post race and is slightly marred by the pint or so of sweat it absorbed during the morning. Nice eh?
I understand the colour runs in the wash too, so hold it back til you have a full load of peachy red clobber.
Race report is here.
15/07/07 Brighton & Hove Running Sisters - Trailblazers
Women only this one.
A fairly tough but rewarding run around the South Downs with pretty much an equal amount of ups and downs. The route is well marked with either painted arrows or friendly marshals. This year they organised a walk at the same time as the run which is good for non running mates but there wasn’t a huge turn out - it was positively received nontheless.
Here is the course t-shirt, I didn’t actually get one but Shakti who beat me home did. Not sure what the criteria is for getting one but maybe you have to be just a bit faster than me. The entry was £15 I think so not too bad with or without the t-shirt. Mind you I do like the t-shirt, I think the blue panted lady has a striking resemblance to my own running self.
Race report
Every Saturday 9am - Bushy Park 5k Time Trial
This is my new favourite t-shirt!
BPTT has got to be the best thing in West London as far as running is concerned, early risers are welcomed every week, rain or shine, including xmas day. The event is FREE! and well organised and provides accurate, timely race results and stats via the event website.
The time trail is maintained by volunteers and actively encourages all comers with its friendly and supportive atmosphere. Set your alarm and come along.
July 1st 2007 - British London 10k
I haven’t discovered time travel yet but as the t-shirt arrived this morning and because its the best duster I have so far I thought I’d include it.
Race report will follow but expect it to be a tale of woe, it is on record as being one of the worst organised races in history, second only to the shambolic Great Escape run.
Nice t-shirt though and it has a back:
**UPDATE**
I’ve now done the race and although it had a few organisational issues at either end of the run, I would really recommend you have a go at this one. It is such a joy to run along this central London route with the roads closed off and supporters lining the sides. It gave me a feel for what the London marathon would be like.
Race Report
May 13th 2007 - Stratford Sprint Triathlon
Not sure how I feel about this t-shirt but it was a fantastic event, brilliantly organised and as a result I will not hear a bad word said about this pink work of art.
March 25th 2007 - The Great Escape
Absolute pants! That goes for the run and the tatty bit of cloth I swapped for twenty two of my British pounds.
Avoid.
Boy am I bitter about this one!
Race report.
October 9th 2006 - Nike Run London - North vs South
My first running event. I remember her fondly. I could gush about its wonders or you could go and read the race report.
The t-shirt was a strange one. Its the only shirt thus far that could be classified as a sports top. It did use technical fabric in the construction, just not very much of it. It had to be worn for the run and it pulled in an alltogether unflattering fashion. It was also completely transparent which meant I had to run with another shirt underneath and therefore nearly collapsed with heat exhaustion.
Still, it all looked very nice in the photos and I still see people running in theirs almost a year later.
As you can see on the back it says “We South” and we won by the way!
Popularity: 18% [?]
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Tags: BPTT, bushy park, GNR, Nike, OGB, t-shirt, Triathlon
March 18, 2007 at 10:15 am · Filed under Uncategorized
I’m a self confessed gadget freak and another close shave with ebay and a ridiculously expensive but absolutely essential running watch has triggered the creation of this page - my homage to sports gadgets, gear and utilities that you can almost not afford to live without.
Asics Gel Kayano 14
This is the latest incarnation of my favourite running shoe. The Asics Gel Kayano 14 is the high end offering in the asics stability range, and as such is designed for the mild overpronator. Like its predecessor the Kayano 13, it is one of the few shoes recommended for the heavier runner, which is perhaps why I am so attracted to it.
I wasn’t expecting a huge improvement between the Kayano 14 and the Kayano 13 but I have to say the new version is definitely more comfortable. I’ve had these two models under the spot light trying to find an explanation for the differences in the ride. There is an increased amount of gel around the rear foot and I’m pretty sure the foam at the heel has increased in thickness too. Apparently the foam is a new springier version and there is a new heel collar. Although I can’t tell the latter points by looking at the shoe I do get the sense that my foot is being held at the heel. It’s an odd sensation really, rather as though my foot is being guided onto the ground as I run. It makes me feel quite stable and sure footed and I found myself ducking and diving a bit on my first run with them.
Runnersworld tagged these as the “best update” in their spring shoe buyers guide and I have to agree. I got mine from Distance.co.uk who are offering the best deal I’ve found so far - the cheapeast price, free delivery and super prompt dispatch.
Nokia N95
Here’s my review of the all new, potential running wonder gadget, the Nokia N95.
This phone has a lot of similarities to the much hailed iPhone, in that it’s a do-all wonder phone. Differences are that the N95 is available now, does more but of course isn’t quite as pretty or desirable.
I got it cos I love Swiss army knife electronic gadgets and I sold it to myself on the basis that I would now be able to run with a lot less stuff in my pocket. This one phone replaces my old phone, an iPod, a 5MP compact camera and a GPS unit. Admittedly I never run with a compact camera, preferring to settle for the rather spiffing model included with my old super slim an’ sexy Samsung D900.
So this now means I am running around with a considerably larger brick in my running shorts. I still haven’t weaned myself off the separate iPod either so I am going to have to work hard to prove the running wonder gadget claim. So far it just pulls my shorts around my ankles as I try to run.
Great features of the phone are its camera - a 5MP number with a load of different settings and in phone editing options. You can crop photos and then immediately upload them to flickr which is quite useful. I’ve never seen a phone camera with as many configurable settings. Quality is good too.
The video is of extraordinarily high quality but I seem incapable of uploading this to youtube without spending 2 days converting and then shredding with windows movie maker. The TdF movie I placed on the blog shows no resemblance to the version you see on the N95. I am clearly inept.
The best bit is the mapping feature. It has a built in GPS which will home in on your current location in a Google Earth style. You can either download the local maps to your memory card in advance or it will download the area as and when required. I’ve downloaded all the Prague maps so that I can find my hotel without recourse to a street map. Fingers crossed this works or me and my phone will become quite unpopular, quite soon.
The media player is again very good but I haven’t yet sussed out a very efficient way of loading my tracks onto the phone. I really need it to link with iTunes so I don’t have to do any faffing with new libraries and playlists and stuff but at the moment I am restricted to the application shipped in the box. I may come back to this when I’ve sussed out my options.
One weird thing with the phone is that shutting the slider doesn’t end a call. That has got me into trouble a few times when I have made comments about the call while still connected. There is a dble slider mechanism which acts to switch the layout between portrait and landscape and I imagine this is way it doesn’t close connections.
Its a doddle to connect up to the internet, using either my service provider network or any unsecured wireless LAN. This is a great thing because now I can access facebook from work and generally bypass their outrageous 15min internet restriction. An amazing number of sites work very well on the small screen.
I also wanted to get rid of my pda when I got the phone so I am now relying quite heavily on the calendar function. This is by no means as good as my dell axim version, as it is not easy to see what is lined up for a future week without looking at individual days. You can sync the calendar directly with google calendar or any iCal calendar by using goosync so I am currently trying to live my life out online. Hopefully I won’t miss anything too important in the teething stages.
It has a standard array of Office applications but unfortunately these are only viewers for reading email attachments. I think you can fork out for editable versions of these packages but that’s just too disappointing.
So in summary, it is not really your common or garden go-faster type of running gadget, more a gentle sauntering along, holding the waist band of you shorts sort of running gadget. It will encourage you to stop regularly to take amazing snaps of cows, edit them on the fly and then publish on-the-move, blog posts direct from flickr. You may also need to stop from time to time to confirm your location on the gps, search for the nearest pub and alter the route accordingly.
*UPDATE* I’ve now moved on to the Nokia N82, check out my first impressions and a comparison of the two phones here.
Garmin Forerunner 405
The latest version of the amazing Forerunner series. The GPS running watch has now been packaged as an everyday watch and is now smaller than a brick. It has a swanky touch sensitive bezel and all new graphical features but it’s still no good for swimming.
Check out my review here.
Garmin Forerunner 305
This is a dream machine, its like one of those tamagotchi pets that you have to look after. My tamagotchi forerunner requires exercise and it’s nutrients come in the form of data - it physically pushes me out of the door with my trainers and forces me to find new routes to entertain it. I haven’t started stroking it yet but its a close call.
The 05-series looks a little more attractive than its predecessor (01-series) but its still a shed of a computer to put on your wrist, its never going to become your everyday watch. The 305 also has added heart rate functionality unlike the 205 model.
The forerunner is first and foremost a gps unit so this means maps, lots of em, you’ll find this blog littered with images of my routes. If you do the same route day in and day out you are rewarded with the same image - here lies the motivator to get out and run new routes and further distances and so on.
It’s been designed with runners in mind so it provides the typical data fields such as pace, distance, time etc but you can also set the exercise mode to bike or other so then you can switch speed for pace if thats more appropriate. Back with running, I have mine set to beep at each km to tell me what my average pace has been which is really useful for hassle free pacing in a race. If you really want to be sure of hitting your target you can set up a virtual racing partner and chase a dot around the screen - just be aware of lampposts, rivers and other obstacles.
The jewel in the forerunner’s crown is SportTracks an independant and free software utility that just rocks! More on that down the page.
Polar RS800SD
I’m a sinner! Despite having proclaimed a serious commitment to the forerunner I appear to be shifting my affections towards another. So far I have been able to resist - it is after all, shockingly expensive - but ultimately resistance is futile, so I will attempt to rationalise my decision to have two all singing, all dancing running machines.
This watch would be the absolute pinnacle of runners watches, if only it had gps functionality.
Polar have rightly chosen to stick with their speed sensor footpod to determine running distances and speed. I’ve mentioned before in my comparison of the Polar RS200SD and the Garmin Forerunner 305, that the polar model actually provides more useful information when you are out on the run as its pace reading is stable and reliable. GPS on the other hand tends to jump around a bit as the signal strength wavers, even on apparently clear days I have to alter my route a little in sporttracks as it keeps suggesting that I was running along the riverside path and alternately jumping from path to the middle of the river and back again.
The downside of the speed sensor model is that it doesn’t enable you to plot glorious little route maps of where you’ve been and also the foot pod isn’t a great way of telling how fast you are travelling on a bike or skis for example. Now if it had a little gps add-on, it would be made! Well what do you know? Polar have announced that a little GPS add-on will shortly be available for the RS800 so all my dreams are about to come true.
One of the other super useful features present on the RS800SD is that it measures cadence and stride length, I could have hours of fun tripping myself up as I try to both reduce my stride length and increase my cadence.
Oh and its waterproof, so if I ever did jump into the middle of the Thames or move to the tri-side I could still collect data.
Right, I’m sold, I’m just off to Ebay again……
SportTracks
If you’ve got a gps unit then you need SportTracks, don’t worry, this one is free so you definately can afford it. Even it you don’t have a gps I reckon its still worthwhile having as your dedicated training log - it just won’t look so pretty without the route maps.
This screen shot just shows the basic activity screen but there is stacks more hidden away - weekly, monthly and yearly reports; splits; athlete stats including weight and injury/illness status. Again the blog is littered with examples.
Asics Barrios Backpack
Not terribly geeky but I’m chuffed with it all the same.
I use it for commuting, where I can get it to hold the bare essentials very snugly and I’ve had no chaffing injuries despite running about 75 km with it (not in one go).
It has a peculiar bottle holder that I haven’t fathomed out how to use and the side mesh pockets are too tight to fit in anything that I’ve tried to shove in there but they would take gels etc.
It has a stowable holder for your cycle helmet and I’ve tried running the Bushy Park Time Trial while wearing the backpack laden with cycling shoes and helmet - didn’t lose anything. Its quite comfortable for cycling too but if was going on a long trip I may need to start looking around for a bigger sac.
*UPDATE* I have now found the larger sack I needed for fully loaded running commutes. After trying both the Inov8 Race Pro 18 and the Salomon Raid Revo 20, I have plumped for the Salomon model. Extremely comfortable, if perhaps a bit sweaty on the back, and holds everything I need.
Popularity: 53% [?]
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Tags: asics, backpack, bushy park, commute, Forerunner, Forerunner 305, Forerunner 405, Garmin, GPS, illness, injury, n82, n95, nokia, polar, RS800SD, runnersworld, salomon_raid_revo, Sporttracks, Swimming, thames
