Watch out - he's got all the gear!

I liked the way the salesperson in the shop said "this GPS watch is for runners who want to take their training to the next level" in a way that at the same time seemed to imply "ha ha ha, all the gear no idea, eh?". The comment followed on from "have you had a look and compared this to other GPS watches"... really I do walk into shops and on a whim buy an expensive GPS device for the sake of it?!?!

Truth be told my current watch is old now, the strap is coming adrift, the battery is going, the charging / computer connecting rig was always a pain, it doesn't seem to want to find a satellite unless it is charged to the brim (and even then only managing a signal about half the time), and I have been thinking about a replacement for at least the last 18 months.

It be fair the salesperson was probably just going through a thorough sales room checklist so that sometime later I don't come back to the shop or write a review to the effect "bought this watch, it's over priced, and I don't know what half of it does!", in other words risking me saying that I wasted my money in their shop. Happily in the end all the salesperson really succeeded in doing was make me more keen to get it out of the box and try it on a run.

I'm only sensitive because once in a race start pen another runner turned and said "blimey, you sure you've got enough stuff!". They probably had a point but I am hardly a speedy runner I am normally out there a long time so being prepared for eating nutrition I know won't make me throw up, prepared to phone my family to let them know I've stopped or am walking, or simply needing something to wipe the copious quantity of salt build up from my face, are all things that either actually or psychological help me. Over recent times I have rationalised my kit a bit as I learn more and more about what gets me around a course the best but having a watch that works, that I'm happier won't switch off around a long run, that gives me tonnes of useful feedback - that will do for me thanks.

Recent finds during the run up to my 'almost' marathon

Although the build up was cut short at the 11th hour I made a few little discoveries in this particular block of preparation...

New shoes - now I know you'll likely groan "duh!" but a few niggling issues appeared in my feet and legs with my old pair before I realised they were too old. It should not have been the blisters (when I haven't had them in the shoes before) or the different aches I was getting in my calves and achilles (again new) that made me realise I needed new ones but, alas, it was. I should have twigged that I had worn them through a marathon training cycle (including the race), two half marathons, and a couple of 10k races... and that time was up on them. Still I did realise and I made a change and all seems fine again. Running shoes so the rule of thumb goes (so I was reminded by the shop assistant!) one full training and race marathon cycle, or roughly 500 miles. Though it also depends somewhat upon how much you bash the cushioning materials with distances and consecutive runs (i.e., running two or more days in a row may not give the shoe time to recover - let alone you perhaps, phew!).

Zero tablets (made by High5) - in the build up I increased my daily water consumption, yes I fell into one of those "you should absolutely do this to keep healthy" articles on-line, and I know there is a how much it enough debate as with most things... sorry about the near change of tack there, the point is I got a bit bored with water and looked for something that wouldn't lead me into expensive sports drinks or worse still fizzy drinks. I 'found' electrolyte tablets that give your water useful salts (potassium and magnesium to name two) and a yummy favour to it as well. Again there is a "how much is too much" and "is it necessary" debate that can break out, but I made sure my intake didn't exceed RDA (recommended daily allowance). They have been great, they are refreshing, tasty, and appear to have added a bit of energy to my day - although likely a hefty placebo effect compared to the "oh, no more water" moments I had before. They aren't cheap to buy, but working through some maths and they come out far far cheaper than the drinks available in my work cafe (though clearly not as cheap as water from the tap!).

Physio - before having to use my favourite physio for helping to sort my current knee problem I had discovered that he was running a two-for-the-price-of-one deal on sports massage. Buy the pre-race massage and get the post race 'fix me' massage free. Genius, just genius! If you are heading into a race be sure to ask your local physio / sports masseur if they would do you such a cool deal.

Running hat - the race organisers let everyone know it was going to be a very hot day by recent standards (we have had the strangest lingering wet / cold winter). So I realised a hat was the order of the day, among other things, and noted that all the hats I have are heavy. I get a real thing going pre-race about how heavy the stuff I'm carrying is, which is bordering on irrational given how much I usually weigh... so I went out to find a light running hat realising also that the ones I have would be very uncomfortable full of perspiration! I duly found one and tried it out - brilliant! I now recommend looking for a good running hat and making friends with it in case you need it - even though granted here in the UK that isn't many days of the year ;-)

Hill repeats - back when running was still happening (not that I am troubled or bitter about this injury you notice) I discovered hill repeats are actually good fun and make excellent GPS timing fodder - I do love a good graph.

So to sum up I discovered nothing much more useful than anything you might find opening any issue of a running magazine, but as a collective they were adding to a reasonable run build up. Oh, and no one offered me anything for these ramblings, they are as ever just my meandering thoughts :-)

Kit review - Nike compression T-shirts

What is the second thing that I put on when I get ready to go running? Okay, so no one wants to know what order I get dressed in but a piece of kit I have become reliant upon are Nike compression sleeveless and capped sleeve t-shirts. They act as a terrific light base layer, and if you ensure you have the right size compress with just the right amount of vigour. I have found that wearing them all but eliminates joggers nipple, even over a marathon (though my only 26.2 miler to date was in cold and rain and not fierce hot sweaty weather). Compared to one other base layer brand I have the fabric is very forgiving on the skin, even around the seams.

Frankly I think the manufacturer might prefer that I use one of their images 
- rather than me with my less than six pack six-pack!

I own 7 of these Nike compression t-shirts between the sleeveless and capped sleeve, I bought one and then found that I liked them so much I purchased more. I even have three different colours in my kit box by now (white, black and red

My Milton Keynes marathon [1] - the final run up

Without any tease intended I thought I would break my marathon attempt into three sections, a beginning, a middle, and an end over three parts. So the beginning - the final run up to the start line... 

...after the last minute 5k treadmill test I rested and did my absolute best to eat normally. I had only just realised (okay, read online) that carb loading didn't mean eating vast amounts of carb rich foods, but means that the balance of your normal calorie intake should shift to include a greater percentage of carbs relative to protein and fats.

Other preparation was advanced, my race kit bag was packed at the beginning of the week because I was concerned that it might all turn into a bit of a rush after the 5k test. Truth be told I was nervous and the packing was an early manifestation of the worry I felt about running further than I ever have in my life. I had no feeling of where my fitness was even even with all the diligent cross-training sessions. Still, with a decision made I went about organising as much as I could and double / triple checked everything. The nerves growing all the time, as was noticed by my very patient wife.

Saturday saw another trip to the physio for race day strapping, this time applied with spray glue as an extra  measure! It was a very reassuring session as I also got some sage advice for race day, (1) run as if I expected to run all day (i.e. within myself to ensure completion and hopefully an injury free run), and (2) to keep cardiovascular effort within myself so that at no point I got so out of breath that I would struggle later on. Great words that I took to heart.

The fabulously crafted red map pin on this borrowed GoogleMap
shows the location of Milton Keynes in the U.K.
- taken from a Google Map search

From there we travelled on to Milton Keynes and found our hotel for the night. I had pre-booked the hotel weeks and weeks ago on a no-refund basis in part to ensure that I had still another reason not to back out... really it meant we were going there for a weekend break running or no running. We organised ourselves then headed out to the restaurant that I had already found on the web - part of a chain so that I knew exactly what to expect and thus what to order to set me up for the following morning.

The meal was great, they I wasn't really 'in the room' my head was at this point permanently elsewhere - somewhere across town where ever that start line was. Thankfully my wife understood this face well from our rowing days, both of us react in similar ways to an impending race. Which probably says we should get hold of a sports psychology book and read the chapter on 'quelling pre-race nerves' !! Afterwards we had to go on a safety pin hunt... this was the only thing I had overlooked in my long pre-race packing. In the end we found some in the First Aid Kit in the car (to be returned immediately after the race).

Back at the hotel I tried out my kit and my charity start area clothes, and looked nervously to see if the forecast storm had changed its mind (at this point already there were stiff winds, lashing rain and huge storm clouds overhead). We settled for the night, and to ignore the kids (sorry, kids) I put in some head phones to help chill me enough to sleep.

A similar Gruffalo lunchbox to the one that I received
as a kind gift from my wife and kids :-)
 - Image borrowed from the www.truffleshuffle.co.uk website

Morning arrived, I had slept well (amazing), and we set about breakfast. I opened my Gruffalo lunchbox with it's pre-cooked toast, peanut butter, plastic knife and small thermos flask of apple juice and eat my regular pre-run fill. Looking out of the window my weather fears were realised, the foul weather was truly set in. I opted for long sleeved technical top (a favourite from rowing head races), my Lycra / cotton rowing shorts, and green running vest - figuring I was going to get wet whatever I wore while running so to go with functional and moderately thermal. Into the car we bundled and soon we were in the pre-race car park looking at the weather raging.

Me in my charity jacket, jumper and trousers
- there is running kit under there somewhere!

Happily the race was based around the Milton Keynes Dons football (aka. soccer) stadium so shelter wasn't far away. We got ourselves inside and got me ready to go run....

Wow, what a belt indeed

In browsing the blogosphere some while back I spotted product review page by a blogger with a section of reviews of things they had tried / bought and found that worked (blog - 'I'd Rather Be Eating'; page "what am i a camel ifitness review". I read with interest their review of a running belt that they had worn for the first time in a marathon and had absolutely no issues with. As someone who suffers chaffing really badly (I wear a compression vest or t-shirt to avoid horrible joggers nipple!), I had always been shy of wearing any kind of belt or bag whilst running.

Inspired by the review and then by the ifitness website I purchased one and tried it out on a long weekend run. Wow, no rub even having loaded my iPhone, keys and a gel pack onto it.

That was a couple of months ago now and I have enjoyed using it on near enough every run. It is great to have a phone with me, and I have been trying out the gel packs in earnest now (with a possible future marathon in mind). It is completely comfortable, I forget that I am running with it and has thus far stood the test of British weather / profuse sweat. If you want to try a belt I can recommend you have a look around their website.

Ooooooooh, new shoe?

There are many that say "look after you teeth and your feet and the rest of your health will look after itself". Sadly, I don't know entirely what this thinking is based upon (logical common sense I assume), but anyway I do take my feet seriously and do try and get the right running shoes. When I first started running I went to a specialist shoe store keen not to destroy my legs running on unsound shoes. They recommended a very strong pair of shoes, I weighed the best part of a stone more than I do now at the time, and they promised that I would need these to keep my knees healthy.

Since that 'diagnosis' I stuck with those large strong trainers, I think I've been through at least five pairs. I hadn't given any consideration to the fact that as I got lighter and fitter the type of suitable shoe might change. Last week Mrs. Taffi and I went to a different specialist store that has video gait analysis in store. The experience was very illuminating, we both came out with new shoes. The biggest single benefit I could instantly see was that my new runners are lighter than my old ones. I had felt that at the end of a long run I was lugging my shoes along on tired legs / ankles. I just weighed the shoes and my old pair weighed 1kg, my new pair 0.88kg... I am suspecting this might make a very real difference at the end of a half marathon.

I have only run on the new pair once so I can't say all that much about the difference in support or comfort between the two. I guess time and aches (or lack of aches) will tell. Hopefully I will continue having happy healthy feet.

Random weekend stream of thought

Well what a topsy turvy weekend, different movements in being on the move without fitness work. We are having building work done to 're-birth' our house as a new tailored to our lifestyle kinda space. The planning stages seem to be nearing completion and the on the ground action is imminent... so much movement as been packing our house into... our house... moving all manner of stuff into new locations away from build zones. Madness - kinda like the biggest spring clean going with the added fun of finding new homes for stuff.

I created five bags of shredded paper that will make its way to the compost bin, which has moved anyway to make room for other innovations. Ah, that was a whole other 'on the move'... turning a compost heap - lots of fun in that inner child 'I love muck' type way ;o) The best part of the compost adventure was that the kitchen clean up had unearthed old / out of date foodstuffs to tip into the heap as it was turned... I do hope tins of baked beans don't give compost heaps bad gas!

We've made good progress, and streamlined so many rooms its craziness!! During the fun my mum came to visit as the last official guest of the old house, she has suggested she'd like to be the first official guest in the new renovated house... didn't have the heart to tell her the dog gets that honour upon his return from building work (noise) exile.

Even my sisters posse turned up to heap the chaos on a fraction more, Sian dealt with the extra mouths excellently and they left well satisfied. My brother in law is going into the photography business and is setting himself up, he does have a well appointed website set up and is canvassing actively for business around the area "David Young Photography" [link since broken]. His stuff looks great, though I did a google search and he's not the only David Young in the trade... I haven't asked him how chuffed he was to find a dot com available, hehe

On the subject of links I added to more sports links to the 'on the move' listing...

canterbury sports clothing - I have purchase an excellent base layer from them, though I personally keep it as an 'undershirt' base layer as the bod doesn't allow buff muscle poses!?!?!

Simply Oarsome - Rowing Apparel - from whom I have ordered rowing all-in-ones, they haven't arrived yet so any form of review would seem a little previous.

As the title line says "Random weekend stream of thought", I'm sure there was something else to blog...... ah well, next time!

Very gusty, cooler, broken cloud.

[links checked and updated April 2011]

Kit 'tastic

I am getting mentally ready for the coming rowing regatta season... so much so that yesterday I went and ordered another all-in-one Lycra rowing do-da. Figuring that having never worn one I should try one before the season, and the club kit order seems to be taking an absolute age. I found a nice black and white number on Godfrey Sports website, who are also providing club kit, figuring that way it could well be manufactured in a similar manner to my racing kit....

...am I guilty of over thinking and premature planning... yeah probably, hahahaha!!!!

Mechanics of commuting

There are a couple of very handy things to have when you are commuting to work on a bicycle every day...
...one is a locker to hang all your spare clothes in ( I am lucky that I have a long locker to fit shoes at the bottom without getting hung up stuff dirty)...
...the second thing you need is a "Bumerang" - or in non-Ikea speak a coat hanger!!! (In the case of the natty one I bought, one that is short and clips trousers neatly)...


On the left work place base camp, on the right the mighty Bumerang (I am sure Ikea people just sit around pondering "what would sound really stupid translated to English?" when the name their products!!!).

To the bar end...

I have installed bar ends on my bike, which along with adjustment have made the 5mile round trip to and from work a pleasure :o) Whilst I didn't shop for the cheapest or smartest bar ends (I bought them from Bikehut (Halfords) for 25GBP), they are simply great. The difference in stability, and hand comfort was fab... I am now happy that I should be able to commute through the winter, especially if I can sort out my derailleur to run a little more smoothly... long live the bike the car is dead ;o)

Tooled up!!

Aside from the new map measuring program [for the URL see last post] I have also gotten my little mitts on an mp3 player for training / cycling to work... I am not sure of the make otherwise I would share the info (it is 128MB). I reckon I can get 1hr 20mins of music, or 6+ hrs of podcasts... I am not sure which will be more useful in the long run. I may well hold a list of music on the computer and a bunch of podcasts and load up different batches for different purposes. Will work out my motivational music set list and let you know what ends up on it. iTunes [apple] will no doubt be the base station for building the lists, it has a 'new' podcast functionality.

Found a pic of the player on the web...

Have to get myself tooled up because the Abersytwyth run entry forms arrived at my in box, I didn't put my entry in for London due to marriage plans coinciding - despite the chances being slim of getting in Murphy's Law suggests it would be the one time I would get in because of the clash... Decided not to play chicken with the Law ;o)