2011 Shoe (P)review Part 2: Stability and Motion Control Shoes

If you're looking at getting into running and have never gone and bought a pair of dedicated pair of running shoes, well maybe take a gander here. We covered shoes for neutral runners last time, and that one can be found here.  Today's post is going to cover shoes for stability.  Owen...thanks for reading these first few lines.

These are usually for those that pronate either mildly or a lot, they usually don't really have too many arch problems, but these will have good support and cushioning. 

I can't remember who the person at the human performance lab (HPL) here at the University of Calgary wrote a feature in the Herald the other day.  The community is still out on whether orthotics actually do any good.  But he said what has been show is that if you feel alright about what you're doing/using you're a lot less likely to get injured.  So if the shoes make you feel good, or that the orthotics make you feel better than so be it.  It ultimately serves the purpose of preventing injury.

Today's post is going to be on some stability running shoes, in the last part of this series next week, we'll look at performance oriented shoes.

Asics - Gel Evolution 6

Asics shoes are synonymous with comfort, and they really do make some great shoes.  The great thing with these shoes is that you get a TON of cushioning, coupled with firm support that will help correct the support for those of you that overpronate.  Like all stability shoes, they're going to be a bit heavier and this weight is going to be in the heel of the shoe, but like the first sentence says, imagine pillow on concrete, nice and soft with lots of cushioning.  For those that get injured a lot, or who have been injured lots this will probably be good for you.  Because there is so much stability, you might not even need your orthotics.

Cost: ~120

Weight (oz.): 13.6 (M) 11.6 (W)

Saucony Progrid Stabil CS 2

Another stability shoe, another tank of a shoe, another shoe filled with tech to give you that stability when you overpronate heavily.  There's a cushioning unit in the rear of this shoe as opposed to cushioniny material giving it a little bit of a harder landing (hardest out of these shoes).  A lot of people don't like this shoe because it's a lot harder and the cushioning doesn't work, some say that if you break it in it will be fine.  It's a firm but heavy shoe, and you may like it.  Stability is solid and flexibility is good too

Cost: ~120

Weight (oz.): 13.3 (M) 10.8(W)

Asics Gel-DS Trainer 16

This shoe is low to the ground, and offers some pleasant surprises.  It's super cushy even though you're low to the ground.  It's a little bit softer than some of the other version that they have offered in the past.  The nested heel (something you usually see on some racier shoes) gives you a nice snug fit and the shoe moves as an extension of your foot which is always nice.  The new design, and well balanced ride is great for having to do intervals and speedwork.  This will be a greater daily trainer for those that are a little bit on the lighter side or moderate weight.  Overall it's a lighter softer version of the old one

Cost: ~110

Weight (oz.): 10.5 (M) 9.0(W)

Asics Gel-Kayano 17

The Kayano puts a soft feel on a shoe with heavy support.  There's a really wide heel which gives you good stability while giving you the cushy fom and asic's Gel which is the normal response of a neutral shoe.  There's a smooth transition into the toe off, and the lacing pattern has been modified so it goes along the top of your foot.  The soft cushioning and the fit of this shoe are second to none.  Like all stability shoes, this one is a little bit on the heavier side, so heavier runners will benefit more from this shoe. 

Cost: ~140

Weight (oz.): 12.1 (M) 13.5(W)

Brooks Switch 4

The switch is brooks' stab at stability shoes and gives you modest cushion at a cheaper price.  The cushioning is a little bit less than some of the other Brook shoes but it's not bad and soft.  Some people say they don't like the ankle collar because it's a little bit low on the padding and fits funny.  It's not a bad basic trainer, but if you pile on the miles it's not for you.  Some people have found that these shoes start to break down over 100 miles. 

Cost: ~85

Weight (oz.): 11.7 (M) 9.6(W)

Brooks Trance 10

This is an unabashed update to stability shoes giving you a fell that is a tad firm and stiff.  The midsole gives overpronators a little bit of correction and the crash pad and pillow of soft foam is great for absorbing the pounding of many miles.  There's a new lacing feature that keeps the tongue that from moving down which is always nice.  This is good as a supportive trainer for average to heavyweight runners.  It's got good fit, and cushioning that's a bit thinner but still nice.

Cost: ~140

Weight (oz.): 11.9(M) 9.8(W)

Mizuno Wave Inspire 7

Another entry from one of my favorite companies.  This is a flexible shoe that feel fast, and there's an amount of corrective support that comes with it too.  It's got a firm underfoot in the heel, and it's gone on a diet too.  The upper portion does tend to wrap the toes a wee bit tighter, not quite enough for wriggle room.  This will be good for those that have low arches, and good for moderate distance and tempo runs.  It's got a great blend of support and cushioning, while having good fit and rolling from heel to toe easily.  I'm also a sucker for how mizuno's look, a little bit flashy but not too much.

Cost: ~100

Weight (oz.): 11.6(M) 8.9(W)

New Balance 860

This is one of New Balance's stabs at stability and it's a sequel to the 760.  There's good stability for overpronators and those that land a bit harder.  The outsole has been modified so that you're on the ground for a little bit longer and there's soft rubber to give you better cushioning.  The shoe is still firm and rigid.  The stiff ride is praised as is the snug heel.  The toe box surprisingly and in contrast with most other shoes is a little bit wide.  It can just take whatever mileage you pound at it, so have at er.

Cost: ~105

Weight (oz.): 12.2(M) 10.1(W)

Nike Zoom Structure+ 14

My first pair of running shoes was a pair of nike's when I was really really tiny.  Nike has come a long way in making shoes, I mean everyone will have heard of Nike.  This shoe is a big step for stability shoes as the midsole design is good for runners who have a slight pronation when they start and are full on pronated when they land.  It's also a lot softer and more flexbile than other shoes in this category.  There's a nice springiness and a good balance fit that hold the arch and heel firmly in place.  This is going to be a plush everyday trainer for eating up the mileage.  Also good for ditching the orthotics.

Cost: ~100

Weight (oz.): 11.5(M) 10.1(W)

So there you have it guys, all the shoes that you could ever want.... minus racing ones.  Those will be coming up next week.  If you ever have any questions and you're still reading at this point, feel free to comment below.

~Cheers

Week in Review Feb 26, 2011

So  as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, I managed to sneak in a quick run today in between all of the study, but I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine and training for my marathon next week. I managed to get a few posts out this week, and Jess should be making a return to training soon. This week had a decidedly winter atmosphere (mainly snowboarding) to it

Posts this week

Monday - Oakley Splice
Tuesday - How to train better
Wednesday - Kicking Horse
Thursday - Training Updates

Random Notes
Reading break has ended, and it looks like Calgary isn't going to get anymore bi-polar weather with the warm streaks anymore


~Cheers

Training Updates - Feb 24, 2011

So today's post is a late one because I completely forgot about it, but it's also a shorty.  I've taken a break week in that I'm not really running, I've just been doing lots of cycling, core work, snowboarding,  yoga, climbing and still exercising but decided that I needed/wanted a break from it.  That and it's reading week which means not going into the school and dragging your butt while it's -20+ below is NOT fun.  So with that, hopefully I'll get a science friday post out tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort

So this week I cam back from another visit to my favorite mountain (Granted I haven't been to a million) and it was a lot better than last time that we were there. 

So a little bit of background, like the logo says, it's in Golden which is about 2.5 hours away from Calgary depending on how quick you drive.  It's actually a really nice drive out there, roads aren't sketchy, and there's nice stuff to look at.  Only thing is once you get into BC, the drive tends to be a bit slower because you usually get stuck behind a car.  As well if there's an avalanche through this area, you are SOL for getting in or out, but hey you're there for heading out to the hill right?  There's ample parking and a small day lodge, it's not usually a particularly busy hill but looks like more and more people are heading out there because like me, they realize it's friggen A.

The hill itself is definitely not a beginners hill as there are more black runs then green and blue combined, and then there's a handful of double blacks thrown in there for good measure.  Here's a trail map, they've actually opened up a new bowl there year too.

It's actually their tenth year this year, so they're celebrating the anniversary.  Not sure if they're doing anything special but you can always head over to the website here.  They've got this really long run called It's a ten, not particularly difficult, but nice as a warm up run, although you do need to get a bit of speed to survive it.  It boasts one of the highest vertical drops in NA, which makes for a hell of a fun run.  As long as there's lots of snow there it's fine to do whatever you want, I mean falling doesn't particularly hurt.  It's a little bit different than other mountains in that instead of taking a gondola up to the hill, you take a gondola up to the top of the mountain and you can come back down, or go halfway and go even higher up. 

It's actually quite a bit cheaper than the bigger mountains and even cheaper if you go get tickets at Costco.  Other cool thing is because it's a smaller ish mountain you're actually going to get pretty cool customer service, like for example I got free wax this weekend.  Just cause.  The other thing with Golden being a smaller town is that you have bed and breakfasts, which makes staying there cheaper.  I like staying at the Country Comfort Bed and Breakfast. It's run by a really nice couple and it's nice there, and close to the mountain.

So next time you're picking a mountain to make a trip to go to, make a trip out to Kicking Horse, you won't be disappointed.

~Cheers

How to train better without really doing anything

Now you are probably sitting there thinking ya this is probably a catchy tag line to get you to read this post, and it kinda is but there is some truth to it.  Everybody will always search for elusive little bits of improvement wherever they can find it, anything from ice baths (Which suck but are awesome) to wives tales.  Today's post is going to look at why you should maybe take a little bit of a look at what you wear to go exercise.

So if when you're going to go run and you pull on something thats more than 5 years old, it's probably a good time to get something new and there's a few reasons for this.  The biggest thing about fitness driven apparel is that first off it's usually made of a moisture wicking fabric of some sort.  Cotton is the enemy, always has been and always will be.  The reason is that moisture that doesn't get wicked away gets stuck in the fabric and then you're running in wet clothes (not fun).  So for those that are just starting out, you don't need to go out and buy super expensive stuff, just find something that you're comfortable in and away you go. It's the same reason why cotton socks suck, just like I talked about back here.

The other thing is fitness geared clothing is usually slightly anatomically different, which makes for better range of motion and less restriction.  It's also lighter usually.  All of this can have a profound effect on the body as no energy is wasted other than propelling your forward.

Flat seems do wonders for preventing blisters because they don't chafe you.  So it's little things like this that make athletically geared clothing a pretty good idea if you intend to go and workout.

On the other side there's cool things like compression gear (I'll talk about it next week) which can help recovery and make sure everything's where it's supposed to be, to silver laced into the fabric to prevent it from stinking or growing bacteria (once again, novel but not necessary stuff).

But probably the most important thing about athletic gear is that it's usually geared towards a specific weather condition (warm or cold) which allows you to dress with the minimal amount of necessary layers, not be bulky and not get too warm which is bad for your body's performance.

So next time as you run out the door or go to the gym, as tempting as it may be to pull on your favorite shirt that you got from somewhere, it's probably a better idea to grab something that's made of a tech fabric like material

~Cheers

Product Spotlight - Oakley Splice

This post is somewhat inspired by my weekend trip for snowboarding.  I was standing in line and realized that pretty much everyone and their dog has a pair of Oakleys hanging of their helmet/touque/head.  I saw these goggles a while back and thought hey they look like a pair of crowbars with a redesigned nose piece.  But apparently according to Oakley, it's not quite that simple.

Oakley Splice

 I have a pair of Crowbars, and like I said I thought it was just a slight redesign, but here's a pic so you have a comparison

Oakley Crowbar

One thing that Oakley has been really big on hypeing up is the fit of the Splice's, namely the nose portion.  You'll notice it's a little bit wider and there's been some vents.  This means the goggles make contact with the entire nasal/frontal area as opposed to putting a ton of pressure on your bridge.  This makes for what they say is a pair of the most comfortable snow goggles ever. 

The lens is another thing that has been redesigned, with it being semi flush giving you a better downward view, as well as the typical wide panoramic view that you see with all oakleys.  The outrigger portion is even off the lens to help prevent any impairment.  Another thing that's gone is the changing is no longer this keyhole mechanism which I really ahte when I have to go and change the lens because it takes forever to line up properly, get in and what not.  Ends up being a giant pain

Like always, the thing that makes Oakley what Oakley is, is not any of the fancy engineering or anything like that but rather fantastic optics.  This is no different.  You get anti-fog technology, 100% protection from UVA, UVB and UVC rays, reduced glare as well as true optics, with the lens not impairing anything. 

So looks like Splice's aren't really just a new pair of oakleys with a new redesign, looks like they should work really well.

~Happy Snowboarding guys

Training Updates - Feb 17, 2011

Today was a short day, just did my miles quickly, then I had to run to my midterm study.  Good news is that Jess's training is awesome, and I'm pretty sure she's putting in even more time than I am right now, so who knows, if I don't get my act together she might even run quicker than I do.

This week although getting back into running has been marred by ups and downs.  Some days I'll feel great and other days not so much, probably has something to do with me being stressed about midterms and what not.  Sleep also plays a HUGE role in how you run.  So with reading break coming up, it should be good.  I'm probably going to be putting in a lot of time on the bike as I really don't feel like going into the university on my days off.  Did that during the first week this year, not so much fun.

~Cheers

Nike+ iPod Touch

Now people who have followed the Nike+ system will have noticed it seemed like a marriage made in heaven.  You have a giant tech company partnering with a company who does fitness stuff well and partnering to make a system that makes it easy to track running.  Now something that would normally help you track pace, distance, calories and stuff like that is going to cost you quite a bit of money because it's usually from a company that does it specifically and they'll milk you for it. 

Enter the Nike+ iPod system.  Now it first started off as a chip and a receive for the iPod Nano and it did basic things like tracking what I talked about.  You would then plug it into your computer and it'd transfer this stuff over onto the computer and you could keep track of it.  Then it become better with iPod touch integration in the 2nd gen version of it.  Then came along the iPhone 3GS having built in native support for it.  It seemed like a brilliant idea.  Buy a 25 dollar chip and if you had the required hardware (iPod or an iPod with the receiver) you could go running, listen to your music and track your runs. 

I actually loved this system because it was a basic system, nothing fancy, and with that it just worked.  Start a workout, go run, finish run, upload data.  You'd even get someone who would tell you how far you've run, or once you're past the halfway point, how much more you have left to run.  If you pressed the "home" button, it'd tell you all your metrics, like how fast you're running, how far you're run and how long you've run.  You'd even get someone to congratulate you when you broke a personal record, such as words of encouragement from Lance Armstrong, some USTAF sprinters, so all in all a pretty cool little app that was pretty cheap.  Best of all it didn't even require that you use Nike shoes for it to work, and that was the best part. 

But skip forward a few years and many many workouts (Hundreds) and it's come a very long way.  It's now been updated tons, there's tons of little features, a new UI and the system isn't quite what it used to be anymore.  I miss the simpleness of the old system where it just worked.  A big part of this system is the online portion where you can have coaching and what not, but I'll cover that in a later review because as far as I'm concerned, that still works.  But coming back to the iPod version, for some reason after you pause the workout and you come back to it, Nike/Apple have decided that it would be a good idea to dim your music so you have to crank it back up to get it back to pre-pause levels.  And then when your nice announcer comes on to give you cues, you will bleed from your ear drums because they shout at you because you had to turn up the volume to hear the music.  Other thing is the cues for some reason seem to have disappeared sometimes, which as runners we like hearing or seeing how far we've run.  The runs don't always sync up with the computer, they disappear from iPod.  Sometimes the sensor will keep on disappearing and then it'll be like "workout paused".  So all in all it's a giant pain in the ass.

It's unfortunate that something that I came to love and actually helped bring me into running and love it has fallen from my good graces because the system is no longer the simple press start and go system that I came to love.  It also looks like Apple and Nike may no longer be in such great terms that they used to be.  Nike's made a wristband version which is similar to the iPod system but without the music.  They've made an app that uses the GPS in the iPhone instead, and they've also got a GPS watch that should be coming out soon, done in collaboration with TomTom.  So with that it looks like while it was what brought me into running and I'm thankful for that, it's not the same as it used to be.  It seems like a curse of everything that gets good, companies feel the need to change stuff up and more often than not screw it all up.  So with that, time to look for a new running partner (human and gadget wise) and looks like maybe something that's a wee bit more purpose built.

The importance of cadence

Anybody who cycles will know that mashing your gears doesn't work particularly well and you work a lot harder.  So most people trying to aim for a smooth high cadence to help with biking.  But it's probably not the first thing that you would think I should really address this when running. The world's best long distance runners will run around 180 steps per minute (90 on each foot) whether they're running a slow warm up or they're at full race speed.  What does change is the length of the stride.  So there's a few reasons why people do run with a higher cadence.

Why run with a higher cadence?

1) The longer it takes for your foot to make contact back with the ground, the more you're in the air.  The more that you're in the air, the harder you will land and thus be at a greater risk for injury.  So less time in air, less time injure means more running for you

2)When you're taking godzilla strides chances are probably pretty likely that your fat is landing in front of you.  This means that before you can push off you have to move the rest of your body forward.  If you keep your strides constant and frequent, you'll probably do a better job of keeping your feet underneath your body and thus center of gravity.

3)Magical jet pack, okay well maybe not a jet pack, but you're running cadence is not likely to change once you've gotten into a certain rhythm or if you've trained a lot at that cadence.  What you can train and what you can pull out in the final finishing kick is stride length.  Everybody minus differences in height will have about the same maximal stride length.  If you can turn over 2,3,4 or more strides on someone well there you go, nothing is more awesome than outkicking someone at the finish line.

Things to watch out for

There is a point where a cadence becomes too high and you're not actually doing your self any good.

1) Stride length is inevitably going to suffer if you push it too high.  One can run faster by having longer strides or faster cadence.  These usually come at the expense of each other minus the ethiopians and the kenyans who seem to have absolutely no problem doing both.  

2)Focus is key.... cadence stride length cadence stride length oh my.  Yes as you start thinking that you need to do both at the same time.  My recommendation is that you work on cadence first and then up length later because by the time that you have ingrained cadence it will be second nature and you won't suffer a whole lot by increasing distance of your stride

3)Aerobic capacity is a big factor in determining if this is going to work for you.  Working faster although more efficiently is going to require a bit more oomph from your cardiovascular system.  That's the reason why Amrstrong could push such a high cadence in time trials.

How to do it?

People will almost always be able to start off and hit this magical number of 90 per side.  But as the miles pile on and our energy drops off this drops off too.  You have to train your muscles to do this so, get cracking.  Figure out your base cadence by counting how many times a foot hits the ground in a 30 second window, multiply by two to get your cadence.

1. Get forward over your foot strike. Get your hips forward and hold a bend at your ankles. You should feel like you are falling to your next step instead of trying to push your legs through. Practice keeping one foot under or even behind you while letting the other leg just go along for the ride. Then try the other foot and then both feet at same time. · Retest yourself. If you are still under 88-90 rpm than go to step 2
2. Holding the same comfortable pace you have used during your cadence tests, experiment with putting foot down earlier than normal. One way to force you to do this is by running right behind your training buddy. If you let your foot swing through, you will either get kicked or trip your friend and you would never want to do that. Soon you will be running with a better-placed foot and a faster cadence. · Retest yourself. If you are still a few strides away go to step 3.
3. Decrease the vertical component of strides. Run lower. If you are on a treadmill watch your head movement in a mirror. If you head is bouncing up more then an inch or two you are too vertical. · Retest yourself. If you are still a couple strides away go to step 4.
4. Side step: Instead of placing your foot to the front and center of your body; place it to the side. This drill should really help quicken your cadence and keep you from overstriding – check it.
5. Run with shorter and faster strides. This is a no-brainer.

~Cheers Guys

2011 Shoe (P)review Part 1: Neutral Shoes

If you're looking at getting into running and have never gone and bought a pair of dedicated pair of running shoes, well maybe take a gander here.

A lot of people out there these days, actually probably almost everyone has some kind of overpronation which can usually be seen by the wearing of the outside of your heel quicker than the rest of your shoe.  A lot of people will get orthotics to help solve this problem.  The problem with this is they usually make your shoes insufferably heavy.  So I used to always look at shoes that provided some stability to help prevent this, and those shoes were heavy too, so then I came to neutral shoes, started to run on them and it's actually been alright so far.

I can't remember who the person at the human performance lab (HPL) here at the University of Calgary wrote a feature in the Herald the other day.  The community is still out on whether orthotics actually do any good.  But he said what has been show is that if you feel alright about what you're doing/using you're a lot less likely to get injured.  So if the shoes make you feel good, or that the orthotics make you feel better than so be it.  It ultimately serves the purpose of preventing injury.

Today's post is going to be on some neutral running shoes, I'll cover some other ones next week

Adidas Adistar Ride 3

 

Adistar first came out from something similar to racing flats which are kinda your minimalistic no frills shoes that are super light and make you go fast.  When they first came out these shoes literally looked like racing flats, and even when I was testing with them on the sole material regarding traction.  Adidas has tinkered with this shoes (like the always do, for better or for worse) adding some foam to the midsole which gives you some more spring and cushioning.  There's still the same heel unit giving you that comfort with the heel strike.  Laces which are always a point of contention in shoes whether they pinch or what not is good, giving you lots of wiggle room in the toe area.  Gives you a little bit more support than racing flat would give you.  One drawback that is common throughout the whole adistar line is that although they're lightweight,t here's not a whole lot of cushioning for longer runs

Cost: ~130

Weight (oz.): 12.4 (M) 10.1 (W)

Brooks Defyance 4

Brooks has not always had a huge reputation for making great shoes, or even running shoes in the past.  I remember when I was a little kid, they were definitely not great, but they've come a long way so I'll give them credit for that.  You sit pretty low to the ground in these shoes, and they're great for just piling on the high mileage or tempo runs that we all (dis)like so much.  IT's based on the sole of a model from last year, but it's now more flexible yet firm underfood and snug in the heel which is something that I always like because movement in the heel without forward motion is wasted energy.  Wrapping your shoe about midsole around your arch is also something that this shoe does well.  Some will say that they won't like this shoe a whole lot because one of the consequences of being super low slung is not quite enough cushioning.  This shoe should be good for anyone that's getting into running or just someone that want's a good all rounder for training.  Nothing fancy, but does what it does well.

Cost: ~100

Weight (oz.): 10.9 (M) 8.9(W)

Mizuno Wave Creation 12

 

I wrote a post about this shoe a while back, some of you might even read it.  But I'm a huge fan of the wave creation line since I started with the 10.  Granted it might look like a freaking tank but man are they ever nice.  The key to this shoe is two plastic plats that cradle the food and act like struts to absorb the energy of the strike.  Because it's so heavy it's usually geared towards bigger runners to take advantage of the construction.  The heel is a little bit lower in the back because the old ones were so high up.  While the toe is curved up a wee bit more to make for a better ride.  It is quite stiff as a shoe, but after breaking it in, I have no complaints with the 10 or the 11 so it is a personal preference.  It's nice but firm and it'll let you just pile on the mileage.

Cost: ~140

Weight (oz.): 13.6 (M) 10.1(W)

 

Mizuno Wave Rider 14

Second entry for Mizuno in the neutral shoe category.  This pair is a little bit different than the creation.  This year the rider has put on a bit of weight because of more materials in the sole.  Although the added weight has made this shoe more stable, it still makes it really firm.  It's moved away from a go fast shoe to more of a run forever shoe.  The wrong of the shoe unlike the creation is a little bit shallow.  So it's for those that train everyday and don't mind a tighter forefoot.  

Cost: ~100

Weight (oz.): 11.3 (M) 8.6(W)

New Balance 1080

New balance has come a long way from being a tiny shoe maker.  They are interesting in how they name their shoes with numbers rather than names, but hey whatever works.  It's an updated version of the 1064.  It's good for those that run like horses (HEAVY).  You've got firm cushioning, thick hell and a beefy midsole.  This makes the shoe a little bit stiffer, but for the target market it's probably going to work alright.  The sockliner is really nice, something I always enjoy when slipping into a new shoe.  This shoe will be good for those that run every day and are maybe a little bit heavier.

Cost: ~135

Weight (oz.): 11.9 (M) 9.8(W)

Saucony Progrid Jazz 14

Saucony makes basic, no nonsense shoes, which comes with the price which is nice.  It's reliable for tooling around at a modest pace.  The upper is a little bit stiff, but he soft underfoot feel and snug heel make this shoe a good deal for the price.  Those who have higher arches and run a decent bit looking for something reliable will probably like this.  People say it has the right amount of cushioning while still feeling light which is always hard to get right.

Cost: ~85

Weight (oz.): 11(M) 8.7(W)

Somnio Pacemaker 2.0

I had never heard of this shoe company before, and chances are you probably hadn't either.  The shoe is cool because the big thing about it is customization.  So everything from footbeds, to foam plugs, insoles;  this allows you to tailor a shoe to your liking much like you would with a suit.  One thing it's missing is a medial post (which would make it a stability shoe).  The ride is firm, but this is offset by the ability to customise the shoe.  This will be great for people who are always injured or have special requirements.


Well there you go guys if you're looking into getting into running to stay healthy, you have a whole host of shoes to maybe go and take a gander at.  Go down to your local running store and get them to take a look. Next week will cover Stability shoes, and then in the last of this installment will be performance shoes and "others".


~Cheers

Cost: ~125

Weight (oz.): 11.8(M) 9.6(W)

Week in Review Feb 12, 2011

So  as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, I'm starting to return to finding things to write about, training lots, and oh the cycling season has started in earnest with my team taking 2nd and 5th overall at the tour of qatar.

Posts this week

Monday - Fi'zi:k Bar Tape
Tuesday - Why running makes you healthier
Wednesday - Review: High5 Zero
Thursday - Training Updates

Random Notes
Jess finally got new shoes..... I think I'm more excited about this than here, haha. 

Garmin Cervelo continues to rip it up on the cycling circuit, they've added another five wins in five days.  Looks like it's going to be an epic year for them, next up is Oman. 


It looks like we're making progress on planning everything out for our 24 hour spinathon that Amy and I are doing, keep your eyes and ears posted and we'll have some more info here soon as we find out.



This weeks prospects
So hopefully this week I will finally write the Nike+ review... or at least a thoughts into.
We're going to change up this Friday's and probably all friday's posts into something a little bit more applicable to us, which will be something sciency related. 
I'm hopefully going to look at some new shoes for the year 2011 just kinda what you have to look forward to.
And the training article will probably look at something related to biomechanics.

~Cheers

Training Updates Feb 10, 2011

It's already been 41 days into the new year, and I don't feel like I've accomplished a whole lot.  I mean sure school's started and I've been running a lot in the new year, but it just feels like the year is zipping along super quickly.  Without further ado, lets go to what's happened in the training lives of Jess and Kell

Jess
Well last time I checked when I was leaving the gym, Jess was putting in some solid time on the bike.  Biking is actualy surprisingly helpful in getting your speed up, and I definitely noticed that coming off the biking season and going into run time.  But Jess should hopefully post something here as well, i've asked her to put up a post this week so she's got a few days.

Kel
This week I've managed to start getting back into the groove of thing.  Chinese new year has now passed us by which is awesome for allowing me to get back into training.  I've put in some good runs this week, I've come to the conclusion that intervals have, do and always will suck.  The only thing that changes is how fast you run them, and by extension how much less you think they suck.  Unfortunately intervals will always hate you too.  One way to combat this crappiness is compression gear, so look for an article to pop up soon regarding that and my thoughts so far on using it.  The weather is starting to warm up which means the return of outdoor running which I'm a huge fan of.  Now just to find the time to go and do it.

~Cheers

Review: High5 Zero

If you guys were reading this little of collection of ramblings back in December, then you might have remembered a little post of mine a while back on something that I got back a while ago to try out.  It's called High5 Zero.

So I've now tried every single flavor that they have, and so far I'm a pretty big fan.  There's a few reasons for this, I love Gatorade as much as the next guy but sometimes you're just not really feeling like hitting your body with a ton of sugar, or you might not be working out for a really long time.  So benefits of this include things like low cal, no sugar and what not.  You've got a version that can give you about mild cups of coffee worth of caffeine (~65mg) which is always nice for zapping you awake in the morning. 

So what do I think about it?  Well the packaging is really sweet because it just comes in a tube that you can toss in a big, a locker, jersey pocket, more or less anywhere.  You can mix it to however you like it, be it 1 tab for every 750ml, 1 and a half or even two.  This makes it a lot easier to carry around then a giant tin of gatorade power.  If they made it into tablets? I'd be all over that. 

How does it work?  Well personally I like it because it's not too sweet, goes down easy.  Doesn't taste like crap or anything that's been sweetened with aspartame which I'm not a fan of.  The only complain that I have is the one with the caffeine tastes a bit like red bull, and it smells like it too which I'm not a huge fan of.  But still it goes down easily, nothing like the Red Bull that we all know.  As for its working, I don't know how much of it is a placebo effect, but I didn't cramp as much.  This might've also been because I wasn't running my face off as soon as I got started. They say the extra magnesium helps prevent it.  I'm inclined to say I believe them because high5 does a ton of testing with their stuff. It comes in a few diff flavors; Citrus, Berry, Cherry-Orange and Xtreme Berry (Caffeinated).  I like the citrus and berry runs. 

So these tubes will run you around 7-8 bucks and will have 20 tablets to mix to your hearts desire.  And you can get it at my favorite online shop like always.

~Cheers

Why running makes you healthier!

Running is probably one of the most innate human things to do.  I mean why else would we have two legs right?  So besides the fact that in general exercise is good for you, running has some specific benefits.

Brain
- It's been shown that people that exercise are shown to have a higher GPA in university than those that don't.
- In Britain, they looked at workers who had exercised and found that on days they exercised they were less likely to make mistakes and they were more productive
- A journal in America found that teens that exercised were less likely to develop dementia
- Insomniacs fell asleep quicker when they exercised and they slept more
Health
- If you exercise at least an hour a day, you're 18 percent less likely to suffer upper respiratory tract infections
- If you work out at least 2.5 hours you're 19 percent less likely to die prematurely and 50 percent lower risk of premature death if you're active
- Better bone density, or at least a lower percentage of people had low bone density.
- If you run more than 35 miles a week, you're 54 percent less likely to suffer age related vision loss compared to those that do 10
-If you run 10 miles, don't fret you're still 39 percent less likely to use high blood pressure meds and 34 percent less likely to use cholesterol meds

Fi'zi:k Bar Tape

So today's post is going to be a little bit of a short one just looking at something that I explored while hunting for some goodies for my new bike to personalize it and make it my own.  Everybody for the most part usually gets a typical stock bike that's been made by the manufacture, sure it looks all nice and shiny but it's not really "yours".  One of the people that I ask for anything related to problem solving on my bike has a really good line, half of biking is how you look.  I'm not a big fan of this but I did want to customize a bike a bit.  So what does/can one do to change how their bike looks a bit.  Well you've got your typical cable casings, seat, bar tape, stem, tires and stuff like that.  The cheapest ones to do are probably bar tape and cable.  As of right now, the color for casings I want from the company Jagwire have been proving harder to find.  Thus I just went online and got some blue tape to match my blue and grey bike.  Not quite sure one I finish using the tape weather I will get some grey tape of blue tape, but what I know is I'll probably spring for some from Fi'zi:k.

Now what makes it so great, well first off, it's got a fantastic looking name and it's kinda cool to pronounce it. It's literally how the punctuation goes (sounds something like fitzeek).  That and it comes in a ton of different colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any color you want

The first time I actually got to try this out was on a test ride that happened to not only have some super sweet bikes, sweet handlebars which were super comfortable, but all of this was topped off with some sweet bartape.  I am personally a huge fan of bright colors, but because I'm not a particularly great cyclist, I wouldn't be brave enough to go for a lime green or yellow tape job.  Probably will be a the dark buffed grey (far left, 2nd from top) or the lighter blue (2nd from left, 2nd from top).  So after you've picked a color, what else makes a good tape, well if it's a little bit tacky so that you've go grip, a little bit cushy to dull vibrations, doesn't get dirty too quickly, or stretch out.  And if it's breathable it's even better.  

 

But I'll post a review of the Deda tape that I'm probably going to put on for this season and ride with it.  

This fancy little addition to your bike should run you around 14 bucks or less right here.

Since today Calgary is under the assault of the not so happy portion of bipolar weather (Read lots of snow) riding today will have to be done on the trainers.

Week in Review Feb 5, 2011

So  as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, didn't cover a whole lot this week, I was pretty tired a ton of the time. 

Posts this week

Wednesday - A good way to spend 5 bucks

Thursday - Happy Chinese New Years

Random Notes
Jess has some stuff that she'll probably share with you in due time.  Chinese New Years this week has wrecked complete and utter havoc on my training.  I've been out a few times running, there's been hte occasional pangs of pain in my knee. 

Cycling season has started, there was already the Tour Down Under, in which my team (Garmin-Cervelo) won the overall race.  Then the tour of Qatar starts tomorrow.   

This week should bring about some more updates, and by updates I mean back to the usual new products, training updates, product reviews, some training tips, and then I think I'll bring back the people you should meet.

~Cheers

Happy Chinese New Years

Sorry guys, today's training updates post has been trumped for something much more awesome.... CHINESE NEW YEARS.  SO with that enjoy the video

A good way to spend five bucks

So since last Thursday I’ve managed to post......not a single entry on this blog.  Part of this owes to the fact that I’ve been really drained from school and everything.  Training has kinda fallen off track a bit, but it should be back now.  I’ve switched my training plant a bit for the marathon in the hopes of maybe targeting a really good time for my second marathon.  We’ll see how it goes I mean I have nothing to lose right? Other than maybe a slow running time.  So today’s post which is usually supposed to be a review is not so much a review in the strictest of senses.

MEC which is a co-operative based in Canada that has a focus on outdoorsey type of things.  A lot of people envisage it with things like going to go buy a tent, sleeping bag, a jacket for the north pole.  What I didn’t realize till a few years ago is that they really sell a lot more than your standard outdoors type.  I bought all of my climbing gear from there (and honestly I don’t know where else I would go and get out other than the climbing gyms)  Ended up getting out with a decent amount of gear for not that much.  Fast forward to about a year ago, I started learning how to do my own tuneups on my snow board, I got all the required stuff to do it from there too.  And once again you save a lot of money compared to if you went to an actual shop or store that caters to snow sports.  Not only that I actually ran into someone who tuned skis for the Canada race team, and learned a ton about tips, tricks and life savers in the process.  And it’s like that for pretty much anything you would go and get there.  You get it cheaper, and you can probably find someone who will answer all of your questions and teach you a thing or two.  They’ll be cheerful about it too.  I have nothing bad to speak of them, especially when something as basic as gels are sometimes cheaper by 50 cents on more, it’s staggering.  So yes it might cost you five bucks to get a general membership, but it’s probably going to be one of the best things that you spend five bucks on, not only do you save a lot of money, but you can always go find stuff that has good workmanship and fantastic customer service for the most part.