June 3, 2008 at 8:47 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
The Nike+ Sportband is clearly not designed for use in British weather conditions, after this mornings run in the rain the watch has died on me. It was admittedly tipping it down but it’s supposed to be a running watch and runners run in the rain, they have to.
The screen has clouded up with condensation and half the display seems to have disappeared.
It’s quite a shame really as I enjoyed the motivating aspect of the online challenges. Oh well, at least it frees up another wrist.
Popularity: 11% [?]
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Tags: Nike, Nike+ Sportband
May 26, 2008 at 11:24 pm · Filed under 100 mile Challenge, Running
Smack talk from the direction of JogBlog had me climbing out of my pyjamas and into my running shoes, ready to head out into the cold wet night.
I thought a quickish blast around the block would be sufficient to stop her thinking I was anywhere close to slacking off yet, and also I could use it as an opportunity to calibrate the Nike+ sportsband which keeps coming in short.
Heading towards the level crossing I couldn’t summon up enough of a sprint to beat the descending gates so had to take a sharp left and run up along the tracks. For calibration purposes you have to maintain a steady pace, so no hanging around waiting for trains.This curtailed route took me too close to my flat to ignore and as my own shadow was giving me the heeby jeebies I thought it was time to go back to bed.
Total distance, a whopping great 1.34 km and over that piddling distance the Nike+ and garmin decided to agree for once. They must be sniggering behind my back!
Warriorwoman vs Jogblog 100m Challenge Combo
10.2 miles total
Popularity: 9% [?]
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Tags: calibration, Garmin, Nike, Nike+ Sportband
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: 14% [?]
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Tags: District Line, Garmin, GPS, London Underground, n82, Nike, nokia, Salomon Challenge, tube
April 28, 2008 at 11:10 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
I’m supposed to be off work at the moment on study leave but it may as well be called gardening leave as I’m spending all my time on the allotment. Today I thought I’d make my non-studying day a little bit more productive by running to the plot and I’m glad I did as it brought me and the sportband just that little bit closer.
As usual I left the house with both wrists laden with super sporty gadgets but the garmin was playing me about big time. I was walking down the street exceedingly slowly but it was still taking an age sighting satellites. As I passed WHSmith I got bored and nipped in to see if they had anymore veg growing gazettes that I hadn’t yet read.
They hadn’t.
I went back out and the flippin garmin started back from scratch scanning the skies. A couple of minutes later, after numerous elderly folk had stood on the backs of my heels I decided it was time to start running - the gps would just have to run along behind me.
500m later the garmin beeped at me and asked if I was actually inside! I switched it off - power to the people! I was only running 2k so I couldn’t afford 10 mins at the start just to capture data, I could have walked it in that time.
No such nonsense from Nike+ Sportband. Just switch on, walk, press start - RUN.
My new discovery, the bit that makes me almost love the sportband, is all down to Buckeye. The training log over there on the righthand sidebar is driven by buckeyeoutdoor and if you have a blog you owe it to yourself to register and get yourself a widget - just look how cool it is! They’ve set up a Nike+ challenge and if you join that and then enter your Nike+ username in your profile, all your runs get automatically uploaded. In this day and age where I seem to be uploading my stats to about a million trillion different online logs, that sort of convenience is just impossible to resist.
Popularity: 20% [?]
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Tags: allotment, buckeyeoutdoors, Forerunner, Garmin, GPS, Nike, Nike+ Sportband
April 26, 2008 at 11:41 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets
I’ve taken my time to write this post because I’m not sure whether to come clean about my sins or to attempt a bluff.
I was sent the Nike+ Sportband to try out at the beginning of the week but as I don’t have holes in my running shoes I couldn’t possibly go running before I had some hi-tech means of carrying my speed sensor - you wouldn’t catch me putting gaffer tape on my Kayanos unlike Joggerblogger and Jogblog.
The little thingammy pouch that I ordered from ebay arrived just before I left for work on Wednesday though, so I pretty much had no choice but to pack my bags and prepare for an enforced running commute.
My first impressions of the strap weren’t great, I wondered why Nike would design the watch to have a ridiculous piece of plastic wedged underneath the usb face. It angled the watch and meant I kept catching it on my sleeve. Thankfully I spotted the photo of joggerbloggers sleak sportband before I went out in public, the plastic bit is meant to be thrown away! Moron. Now I’m wearing it as a watch although I have to ask the person sitting next to me to read it as I haven’t got used to deciphering the vertical numbers and the screen is too dark but I still think it looks cool.
Anyway, back to the running.
When I left the house it was chucking it down so I packed the long sleeve top again, of course when I left work it was flippin scorching and just to ensure that I got heat stroke at the edge of a deserted canal I left the building with my empty water bottle in hand. With no means of re-entering the building I had to set off sans hydration system - bollox!
3 seconds later the Sportband is telling me to start walking but the garmin is persistently ignoring my request to locate my position. I can’t start walking now or the garmin will have a paddy fit. By the time the gps picks up the Nike system has gotten bored and gone back into clock mode, who can blame it?
I was feeling hot, sweaty and lethargic so I pretty much ignored both gadgets for the first 4k as thoughts vacillated between diving in the canal and diving in the canal. When I entered Brentford I headed straight for the nearest shop where I knocked back a bottle of water before I reached the till and handed over 90p for an empty bottle of plastic.
I set off again but now thoughts were of cool beers, enjoyed by the rivers edge. As I’ve never been known to resist the lure of beer and I was just about to reach the Thames river bank, I rather shockingly dived into the next shop and came out with a can of Stella. Now beer can’t be shaken so I paused both gadgets while I wandered down to the river. I thought I’d just enjoy my can and then carry on with the run.
Oh baaaaad runner! I thought it would be rather pleasant sitting with my legs dangling in the river enjoying a refreshing brew but the reality was rather seedy. I’m clearly a runner - running clobber and shoes, beetroot face and sweat, not one but two running watches and headphones in ear, only I’m walking and not just walking, this is no-good can swigging bum walking. About 300 hundred proper runners came past me in and in the end I realised I wasn’t enjoying this whole cool beer thing and tipped it all away.
Running was pretty tricky from here on in, 300m run, huge gasp, hands to temples and then walk for 1km - repeat. Nice treat at the end as there was a new piece of graffiti on my steps. Not quite Banksy but it isn’t bad.
Painful but the Sportband faired pretty well.
Total garmin distance (running only): 5.78km
Nike Sportband distance (running only): 5.65km
No way of telling which was the most accurate but they were close enough to ensure that I’ll never bother calibrating the Nike Sportband.
Post run, the usb face automatically uploads (after inserting into the usb port of course) to the Nike+ website and displays whizzy graphs.
The Nike+ website is pretty good if you like online motivation. You can join no end of challenges to push you out of the door and it looks like the next Nike organised run will be a worldwide Nike+ only event. The sportband is a great way of a gaining entry to the event, its also got to be one of the cheapest available speed and distance monitors on the market.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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Tags: commute, Garmin, GPS, Nike, Nike+ Sportband, Stella, thames
October 1, 2007 at 9:52 pm · Filed under Event
The Great North Run has got to be the most self-indulgent running event in the race calendar, I personally could handle this kind of ego boost on a monthly basis, I would say weekly, but as I’m still unable to walk so I think that might be pushing it.
Look how happy I am barely seconds after the finish. I work hard to be permanently grumpy but this race had infectious happiness thrown in - I was smiling at every mile, even at mile 12 when my quads seized up badly and I had to be rejuvenated by a tumbler of vodkaless vodka handed to me from the sideline.
The Great North run is a very special event, the organization is flawless and the support from the crowd is amazing. I ran the route hugging the left hand side, I therefore got very familiar with a lot of locals (I also came close to having an unwelcome shower from the guys caught short and relieving themselves on the overpass above me). Every one of those 13 miles ticked by so quickly, I must have slapped the grubby hands of at least a thousand kids and I have to admit its not an everyday occurrence for kids to high five me.
We had to set off from my parents house at 5am, so there was a 4.15 am rush to the loos, enough to put anyone in a bad mood you’d think. OGB and myself have managed to be grumpy for every race we’ve attended over the last year but we surprised ourselves by feeling upbeat for the whole shebang on Sunday. We were a bit nervy at the outset as we were right at the back and it felt a little uncomfortable to start with the sweeper van clipping at your heels. Still, it only took us 25 mins after the starters pistol to reach the start and we set off at a sprint (unmaintainable) to escape the van.
Thats the last I saw of OGB until we were re-united at the family meeting spot. You’d be forgiven for thinking he just hitched a ride to the end as he looks so fresh and spritely but his official time was 1:58:33 so I suppose he had plenty of time to freshen up.
I had a lovely run from the start, I was just raring to go and set off a bit too swiftly but I was enjoying myself. Despite sharing the motorway with 49,999 other runners, I didn’t feel too constricted. I had to do a little bit of weaving in and out but mostly I followed my line.
The red arrows stormed across our path just as we crossed the start line and then appeared above South Shields again when I reached mile 10 and kept me fairly occupied with their acrobatics til mile 12ish. That was jolly good timing as I was suffering quite a bit from the tenth mile. I still had plenty of energy but my legs (quads specifically) were tightening up like crazy. I had to hop off to the sidelines at mile 12 to try and stretch out my legs a bit so I could carry on. I ran the whole way but in the latter stages my running was no faster than other folks walk. Every now and again the crowd would call out “Go on warriorwoman!” and I’d manage another appreciative burst. Such good fun.
We recovered from the run with a plate of fish and chips served on the seafront with a bottle of dog. Such bliss.
Here are my splits from the garmin:
I suppose that shows that I need more training. I had plenty of energy at the end but my legs cannot cope with the strain. I sooooooo hope I don’t get accepted into the London Marathon this year, I only entered so that I can start building up my rejections for the 5 strikes and you’re in rule. God help me if I get accepted first time. Instead I fancy cramming a few half marathons in for the new year, I think thats a good challenge distance.
I’m back home now and am suffering quite badly, not sure how I’m going to get into work tomorrow. My quads are completely shot and I’m practically descending my flat stairs by shuffling down on my arse. In fact the only reason I’m not bouncing down on my bum is that I wouldn’t be able to drag myself back into the upright position. What a state! Mind you, I’ve made progress, this time last year I was crippled by the Nike 10k run, at least I’ve doubled the distance to knock myself out. This time next year…..who knows?
Official time: 2:56:07
T-shirt shot over here.
Popularity: 30% [?]
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Tags: Garmin, GNR, Nike, OGB, t-shirt
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.
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: 12% [?]
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Tags: BPTT, GNR, Nike, OGB, t-shirt, Triathlon
March 17, 2007 at 5:29 pm · Filed under Running
My hip has started to get really vocal in the last few weeks, it is not very happy with me at all. I’m not alone with this one, I’ve noticed a number of bloggers commenting on similar ailments but so far I haven’t picked up any great cure-all tips.
I was hoping to squeeze a couple of running commutes in this week but I was limping for two days after the first so I thought I ought to give it a rest. Trouble is, resting doesn’t seem to be the definative answer either, it improves slightly, only to start twingeing again the moment I start running. The last time my hip was bad was around the time of the Nike 10km back in October, I thought I was going to have to drop out but I just took a few Ibuprofen and managed to keep pushing til the end. I didn’t walk well for a few days and then I started seeing a physio. She reckoned it was ITB pain, which surprised me as the site of greatest pain was right over my iliac crest and not on my thigh at all, but she gave me some stretches to do and got me to invest in some crazily expensive shoes and the problem started to improve.
After a few clear months it’s reappeared and the only thing that has changed is that:
- I’m too bone idle to do stretching at home
- I switched super expensive shoes for a pair of non-slip trail shoes for a few runs
I’ve often heard that leg length discrepancies are fairly common, and can result in pain in the hip on the dominant side. The notes on the coolrunning site had me jumping up and down in front of the mirror, barely clad, trying to determine if this affliction affected me. Trouble is I’d need a couple of rulers, a long spirit level and an assistant to detect differences as small as a cm - and that is just not going to happen, so I have to assume I am perfectly formed.
Sometimes the pain moves from the iliac crest (I think that is the lumpy bit most commonly referred to as the hip bone) into my waist and then into my buttock. I’ve done a few searches and found some interesting pointers on the coolrunning website. Looks like it could be piriformis syndrome or just a simple overuse injury but either way the solution lies in stretching -yawn!
I don’t know what my problem is with stretching but really I cannot be arsed to do it at home. My proposed solution is to check out the local Bikram yoga centre for a week and see if makes any difference. I’ve got a week before my next 10 km event in Hyde Park so I think this is the ideal testing ground. For those that don’t know, Bikram yoga is alternatively referred to as hot yoga, and is similar to Hatha yoga except that it is performed in a heated room - 100′F. The heat helps keep you supple and you can get more involved in your stretch and also means you tend to feel it the next day. You also get very hot, which means while I continue to wear head to foot clothing and nearly pass out by the end of the session, the blokes in the class will typically perform their stretches wearing only a skimpy pair of speedos. Gross!
Popularity: 30% [?]
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Tags: commute, injury, Nike
January 27, 2007 at 9:08 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This run actually comes out just shy of 5km - 4.97km to be precise. It forms part of the Nike Run London 5km training runs. Its one of the easiest in that it is almost perfectly flat. Regents Park is quite a lovely park as well.
Heres the satellite image.
For other 5k training routes in the central London Parks try the other Nike Run London routes such as Richmond Park
Popularity: 6% [?]
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Tags: Nike
January 27, 2007 at 8:09 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This route is part of the Nike Run London 5km training runs, but the forerunner tells me it is a 5.23km run.
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Richmond Park is a great place for both running and cycling and the two coexist fairly happily.
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Of course everyone heads to Richmond Park to spot the local wildlife. |
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The elevation profile says it all - rapid descent followed by an almost relentless climb. Mind you I am a bit of a wimp, the overall climb isn’t realy that great, in the scheme of things. |
This is a circular route, starting at Broomfield Hill Car Park.
Here’s the satellite image.
Popularity: 8% [?]
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Tags: Forerunner, Nike
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