Morning guys, so here's an early post for you, I'm going to keep it super short because well as you've probably realised if you stop by here every so often, I missed both a training tips post, and a product review. That's mostly because of a couple papers I have due, so that's why I'm already up and at 'er.
Jess
So it seems like when it rains it pours, Jess has still been out of actual run training after hitting it so successfully. But after a brief stint with orthotics... they have gone bye bye, and she should be back to her first real-ish run next week. But until then it's lot of time spent doing other things like the bike and elliptical
Kel
Well this week as an absolute gong show for me, after getting in a decent run on friday and saturday......taking a break on sunday and running again on monday..... That's all I did. Tuesday was spent going snowboarding and riding with Amy outside for the first time on her new bike. This week will need to be much better because I think now it's crunch time and I'm eight weeks out, so I really have no choice but to be ready and do well.
~Cheers
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wishlist: Withings WiFi body scale.
So today's post is actually from something that I saw a while back while reading someone else's blog and it came again to the front of my mind yesterday when I saw it in person..... well the box that packages it that is.
So as you've probably realized by now, yes that is a scale and yes I'm getting excited about it. First off it looks absolutely amazing, at first I thought I liked it more in white, but I really wouldn't mind either color.
Yes that is an iPhone that you see on top of the scale and yes it does look that nice. The cool thing about this is that because it's got wireless connectivity (hence the WiFi in the name) anytime that you step on it, it will automagically send this info and keep it private and you can track everything, no need to go weigh yourself and then throw it into TrainingPeaks (what i'm doing right now). Really it comes down to me being lazy and working awesome like that.
The thing is nice, integration is done well, iPhone, iPad, Andoid, internet etc. It allows you to track weight, fat mass, lean body mass and bmi (Which I'm not a huge fan of, but nice to have). This allows you to track all these things that are important and relatively easily to boot. Plus it looks awesome, may have already said that once or twice.
You can also set goals for yourself, and keep track of that with pretty much no effort at all.
So I guess yes this scale isn't neccesary, and it might be a little more than what people would normally pay for a scale ($159) but I think it does a good job of measuring what you need, and packaging it all together to just work. It can allow for up to eight users to be on this single scale and keep track of all of that just by looking at weight, keeps it all private from other people.
Here's a video from the company that explains all that I just said in a cool snazzy looking video.
 |
| White Version |
So as you've probably realized by now, yes that is a scale and yes I'm getting excited about it. First off it looks absolutely amazing, at first I thought I liked it more in white, but I really wouldn't mind either color.
 |
| Black Version |
Yes that is an iPhone that you see on top of the scale and yes it does look that nice. The cool thing about this is that because it's got wireless connectivity (hence the WiFi in the name) anytime that you step on it, it will automagically send this info and keep it private and you can track everything, no need to go weigh yourself and then throw it into TrainingPeaks (what i'm doing right now). Really it comes down to me being lazy and working awesome like that.
The thing is nice, integration is done well, iPhone, iPad, Andoid, internet etc. It allows you to track weight, fat mass, lean body mass and bmi (Which I'm not a huge fan of, but nice to have). This allows you to track all these things that are important and relatively easily to boot. Plus it looks awesome, may have already said that once or twice.
So I guess yes this scale isn't neccesary, and it might be a little more than what people would normally pay for a scale ($159) but I think it does a good job of measuring what you need, and packaging it all together to just work. It can allow for up to eight users to be on this single scale and keep track of all of that just by looking at weight, keeps it all private from other people.
Here's a video from the company that explains all that I just said in a cool snazzy looking video.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Week in Review Mar 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've started finding that over the weekends I'm more and more busy, which usually results in me dropping the ball for this review post. But since I haven't this week, here's a post for you guys to enjoy!
This week I covered a hunk of expensive metal, why mind over body really does hold true, a fancy pair of snazzy looking socks, what Jess and I did, and the person post got shunted in favor of going to get an iPad 2.
Posts this week
Monday - Wishlist: Rotor Q RingsTuesday - The art of suffering
Wednesday - First Impressions: Pearl Izumi Garmin Transitions Team Socks
Thursday - Training Updates
Random Notes
Not only do we not have Spring, but I just came back inside from shoveling a bunch of snow.
Cancallara put in a dominating performance at E3 today, looks like he's on great form
Formula 1 starts this weekend after a slight delay from not having the Bahrain GP
~Cheers
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Training Updates - March 24, 2011
So here are the training updates, I'll keep it short and simple because it looks like that's what drives people to at least click through and read.
Jess
So It seems like this is the story of never ending setbacks on the path to running the first marathon (probably for the best). It's probably best that we came across all of the problems this year and not next year when it all matters. I think this week has mostly been trying to ease into it, not pushing too hard. Orthotics are getting remade so we shall see how those work and if they help with the problem of super high arches.
Kel
Friday: Ended up taking a rest day, I've been really tired this past week and not enough sleep just absolutely wrecks havoc on training
Saturday: Did some work on the bike and working on my position, it seems like it's a little bit better but I'm not quite used to it yet, so still needs more work
Sunday: Spent a little bit more time on the bike, nothing huge but still testing out the new position, tweaked the seat a little bit farther forward.
Monday: Short run in the morning (4 miles, not super quickly) and then did a 10k time trial later on in the afternoon on the bike (20 min, still want to go faster)
Wednesday: Strength day, nothing exciting there, haha
Today: Today was a great day, subbed in intervals for the ones I missed the other day. Did 6x800's, and negative splitted all of them, felt like a champ.... until right about now as I'm sitting here writing this update.
~Cheers
Jess
So It seems like this is the story of never ending setbacks on the path to running the first marathon (probably for the best). It's probably best that we came across all of the problems this year and not next year when it all matters. I think this week has mostly been trying to ease into it, not pushing too hard. Orthotics are getting remade so we shall see how those work and if they help with the problem of super high arches.
Kel
Friday: Ended up taking a rest day, I've been really tired this past week and not enough sleep just absolutely wrecks havoc on training
Saturday: Did some work on the bike and working on my position, it seems like it's a little bit better but I'm not quite used to it yet, so still needs more work
Sunday: Spent a little bit more time on the bike, nothing huge but still testing out the new position, tweaked the seat a little bit farther forward.
Monday: Short run in the morning (4 miles, not super quickly) and then did a 10k time trial later on in the afternoon on the bike (20 min, still want to go faster)
Wednesday: Strength day, nothing exciting there, haha
Today: Today was a great day, subbed in intervals for the ones I missed the other day. Did 6x800's, and negative splitted all of them, felt like a champ.... until right about now as I'm sitting here writing this update.
~Cheers
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
First Impressions: Pearl Izumi Garmin-Transitions Team Socks
Today's product comes from a company that I'm starting to look at more and more, Pearl Izumi. They used to be a comapny that had origins in Tokyo, but it's now known as Pearl Izume USA. Minor factoid that's just kinda cool to know. That and their logo looks kinda cool.
So they make all sorts of gear, running cycling triathlon and the stuff actually looks really nice. I'll probably do another post on something else from them soon. But today's post is going to be about something relatively simple.
Cycling socks are a little bit different in that you're not trying to have them disappear like ankle socks but you actually want to see the cuffs. So what makes these socks awesome?
• Elite Transfer Yarns for wicking and drying
• Forefoot sole ventilation keep this high pressure area cool
• Arch compression keeps the sock in place
• Feet Specific
So I will admit that I'm a sucker for cool little gimmicks like feet specific socks. Granted I am screwed if I ever lose a single sock which is why I bought two pairs of them. So far, I've used them a few times while spinning indoors, and they do feel really nice when you put them on, your feet do stay dry. I can't remember who said this in a review of gear, but that if you're not noticing it, then it's probably doing it's job and what it's supposed to be.
When you have something horrible you will probably notice it, something like crappy heart rate straps, or a bad saddle or a pair of shoes etc. And then there's stuff that's so amazing that you definitely notice how good it is, like your first really good fast bike. So I haven't really noticed these socks all that much while I'm going, but they do feel nice, dry thin, and giving you a little bit of compressions. That and they stay where you put them on which is always great.
This pair you can't get anymore, but this line still exists.
You can hit them up here.
~Cheers
So they make all sorts of gear, running cycling triathlon and the stuff actually looks really nice. I'll probably do another post on something else from them soon. But today's post is going to be about something relatively simple.
 | ||
| SOCKS |
• Elite Transfer Yarns for wicking and drying
• Forefoot sole ventilation keep this high pressure area cool
• Arch compression keeps the sock in place
• Feet Specific
So I will admit that I'm a sucker for cool little gimmicks like feet specific socks. Granted I am screwed if I ever lose a single sock which is why I bought two pairs of them. So far, I've used them a few times while spinning indoors, and they do feel really nice when you put them on, your feet do stay dry. I can't remember who said this in a review of gear, but that if you're not noticing it, then it's probably doing it's job and what it's supposed to be.
When you have something horrible you will probably notice it, something like crappy heart rate straps, or a bad saddle or a pair of shoes etc. And then there's stuff that's so amazing that you definitely notice how good it is, like your first really good fast bike. So I haven't really noticed these socks all that much while I'm going, but they do feel nice, dry thin, and giving you a little bit of compressions. That and they stay where you put them on which is always great.
This pair you can't get anymore, but this line still exists.
~Cheers
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The art of suffering
One thing that I came across yesterday while running was on the days that I don't feel so good be it not having enough sleep, legs feeling tired, my mind isn't always with my body and that brings me to today's post. If you talk with any professional cyclists and long distance runners, there's no secret to them being so good. It's not that they have some magical training regiments or magical way to make them so good, granted their training does probably have something to do with it. But the one thing that they all talk about is suffering, and if you can learn to suffer and if you can enjoy suffering, then the rest is easy.
So you are probably sitting there thinking what is the difference. I think pain is something that's temporary, like the feeling you get in your legs when you push to hard, or the burning in your lungs or stuff like that. Suffering is the pain that you endure and just keep on going. I was running the other day and i just didn't feel so good and usually I'll just push through it and continue the suffering, but I just didn't have it in me.
How to enjoy it
It's a question of motivation at the end of the day, because if you suffer and you keep at it there's something at the end. I went through this during the marathon you have pain everywhere, you're cold and it's miserable but at the end of the finish line when you cross it, nothing else matters because you've done it and then the pain sets in. Things like mantras do wonders for getting you through, some of the ones I liked.
Do or do not, there is no try
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional
Run, the pain will be over sooner
Don't stop, people are watching
If you are going through hell, keep going
Keep running Bitch
Suck it up Princess
Personal Favorite:
Pain is temporary, Pride is forever.
So whatever gets you over that hump, it's one thing to have a body that can keep up with what you want to do, but it's another thing to have a mind that can keep up with your body. So next time you feel like giving up, tell yourself that you're feeling good, push through and keep on doing what you're doing, you look great. It's fine to be able to prevent these days from happening but when they do... deal with them, once you learn how to suffer, the rest comes easily.
~Cheers
“That’s what you get when you suffer – you get results.” Paul Sherwen Tour de France 1999Pain vs. Suffering
So you are probably sitting there thinking what is the difference. I think pain is something that's temporary, like the feeling you get in your legs when you push to hard, or the burning in your lungs or stuff like that. Suffering is the pain that you endure and just keep on going. I was running the other day and i just didn't feel so good and usually I'll just push through it and continue the suffering, but I just didn't have it in me.
How to enjoy it
It's a question of motivation at the end of the day, because if you suffer and you keep at it there's something at the end. I went through this during the marathon you have pain everywhere, you're cold and it's miserable but at the end of the finish line when you cross it, nothing else matters because you've done it and then the pain sets in. Things like mantras do wonders for getting you through, some of the ones I liked.
Do or do not, there is no try
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional
Run, the pain will be over sooner
Don't stop, people are watching
If you are going through hell, keep going
Keep running Bitch
Suck it up Princess
Personal Favorite:
Pain is temporary, Pride is forever.
So whatever gets you over that hump, it's one thing to have a body that can keep up with what you want to do, but it's another thing to have a mind that can keep up with your body. So next time you feel like giving up, tell yourself that you're feeling good, push through and keep on doing what you're doing, you look great. It's fine to be able to prevent these days from happening but when they do... deal with them, once you learn how to suffer, the rest comes easily.
~Cheers
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wishlist: Rotor Q rings
So I've been trying to think of a better name for the Monday post when i take a look at something that's kinda cool (new or otherwise) but have really never managed to figure out one so it's just been the name, but this week we're going to try with something else.... the wishlist because usually most of this stuff is pretty cool and I do wish that I could have it, so here it is. Wishlist for this week is something that's bike related, which may be due to the fact that I'm finally back on the bike more, at the expense of running, you can't win em all.
So today's post covers something that I saw a couple years ago when Cervelo started using these on their team bikes, or atleast some of them did and they did a little feature on them. Now anyone will know that your chainrings (the big circular rings in the middle of your bike) are usually circular as are most gears, but these rings are different in that they're ovalized. The idea behind them is that because your pedal stroke is not even throughout. If you imagine a clock pattern on how you're pedalling the majority of your power is only generated effectively through 1-6, and more specifically between 2-5 which leaves leaves a good three quarters of your pedal stroke not producing a whole lot of power. So to fix this one can get a more efficient pedal stroke but that is only effective for so much more power
Essentially to generate more power you can either get a bigger chainring (more teeth) or just push more power. Q rings are ovallized so that in the portion that you can use your biggest muscles the quads, the ring is like a 56 tooth cog, and in your weaker portion, it's like a 50 tooth, which gives you the joys of a compact and a double. Proteams use them because you get a more effiicient pedal stroke, less lactic acid build up, and it's easier to ride them. But don't take my word for here, check this out from the now defunct Cervelo Test Team.
I'll let you know when I get a chance to try these out, but they look like they should be pretty good, and common who doesn't love new gear for your bike
So today's post covers something that I saw a couple years ago when Cervelo started using these on their team bikes, or atleast some of them did and they did a little feature on them. Now anyone will know that your chainrings (the big circular rings in the middle of your bike) are usually circular as are most gears, but these rings are different in that they're ovalized. The idea behind them is that because your pedal stroke is not even throughout. If you imagine a clock pattern on how you're pedalling the majority of your power is only generated effectively through 1-6, and more specifically between 2-5 which leaves leaves a good three quarters of your pedal stroke not producing a whole lot of power. So to fix this one can get a more efficient pedal stroke but that is only effective for so much more power
Essentially to generate more power you can either get a bigger chainring (more teeth) or just push more power. Q rings are ovallized so that in the portion that you can use your biggest muscles the quads, the ring is like a 56 tooth cog, and in your weaker portion, it's like a 50 tooth, which gives you the joys of a compact and a double. Proteams use them because you get a more effiicient pedal stroke, less lactic acid build up, and it's easier to ride them. But don't take my word for here, check this out from the now defunct Cervelo Test Team.
I'll let you know when I get a chance to try these out, but they look like they should be pretty good, and common who doesn't love new gear for your bike
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Week in Review Mar 19, 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've started finding that over the weekends I'm more and more busy, which usually results in me dropping the ball for this review post. But since I haven't this week, here's a post for you guys to enjoy!
This week I covered my last bit on shoes, the magic of a plastic bag, how a block of sugar tastes, what Jess and I did, and a certain very fast runner I have the privelage of running beside/behind.
Posts this week
Monday - 2011 Shoe (P)Review Part 3: Race OrientedTuesday - How a produce bag and some water can save you headaches
Wednesday - Review: Clif Shot Bloks
Thursday - Training Updates
Friday - People I know: Edward
Random Notes
I've actually managed to do all five posts this week, I can't remember the last time I did that (well technically 6 including today's)
Weather is back to sucking in Calgary, so much for being able to start riding outside for good....FAIL
Milan San Remo was this morning, unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to watch the finish of this one.
I've got something exciting planned for Monday's post and I'll hopefully be able to try them out courtesy of a fantastic friend who really is amazingly awesome.
My team (Garmin Cervelo) have this video feature where you can go behind the scenes and see what goes on with the team, kinda cool if you like looking at the stuff, hit it up here
McLaren and Specialized have released a new aero bike for the Manx Missile called the Venge, seems like everyone is copying Cervelo with it's aero bikes.
Cycling is still unfortunately plagued by doping, this week marks the first time someone's been suspended for using HGH ( Human Growth Hormone)
~Cheers
Friday, March 18, 2011
People I Know: Edward
So here's an idea, a return to how I did it before, with introducing people in my life, or at least the ones that also have athletic pursuit in mind like me. Today's post is about a certain Edward Choi, he's the one that you've been hearing lots about (wanting the times and splits on training) and introducing him to body glide and what not. He's actually a phenomenal runner that used to compete for UC on the xc team. He's running a few half marathons before he's going to target Boston in 2015. Maybe with a bit of luck I'll be able to beat him there. He also wants to do tri sometime, so we're kinda similar, but he's a lot faster than me. He has a blog too and writes about it, much more like me but probably a little bit more focused than me. So there you have it, it's friday and now you can follow one of the people that I train with.
~Cheers
~Cheers
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Training Updates - March 17, 2011
So continuing along with a new format, and the addition of some other things at the behest of a certain reader..... who we're talking about tommorow here are this weeks training updates.
Jess
So Jess has finally started running, it's going to start off slow to make sure there's nothing more that's going to be bugging her. She's now looking to building towards the half marathon so we should see some pretty sweet distances coming from her soon.
Kel:
So last week I think this was a bit better, and we'll continue on with it.
Thursday: Fartlak day, did 10 of these running at roughly a 6:15/mile pace upping that to 5:50 on the last three, man were my legs ever sore
Saturday: Double workout day, ended up running a 7.5 miler at 9:15 a mile, and then went for a nice as well as a short 11 k ride outside. First run I've done in FOREVER
Sunday: Feeling a little bit tired form the double of the last day, but put in a slow 9:30/mile for 6 miles. Legs didn't feel good at all.
Monday: So after a not so great nights sleep, got up tried to run a bit, but wasn't feeling the love and stopped. The weather beckoned in the afternoon and I did a 36 k ride outdoors.... loving the weather
Tuesday: I decided to do my speed workout outside during this day which turned out to be a mistake because there was ice all over the place, but half k intervals will probably get lengthened, pace wasn't bad though at 7 - 7:30 for pace.
Wednesday: Just did a regular strength workout today, I really can't say I enjoy doing doubles because they just sap your energy.
Today: So I should've run today, but instead decided to go to the terrain park and play on my snowboard, lots of fun to be had
~Cheers
Jess
So Jess has finally started running, it's going to start off slow to make sure there's nothing more that's going to be bugging her. She's now looking to building towards the half marathon so we should see some pretty sweet distances coming from her soon.
Kel:
So last week I think this was a bit better, and we'll continue on with it.
Thursday: Fartlak day, did 10 of these running at roughly a 6:15/mile pace upping that to 5:50 on the last three, man were my legs ever sore
Saturday: Double workout day, ended up running a 7.5 miler at 9:15 a mile, and then went for a nice as well as a short 11 k ride outside. First run I've done in FOREVER
Sunday: Feeling a little bit tired form the double of the last day, but put in a slow 9:30/mile for 6 miles. Legs didn't feel good at all.
Monday: So after a not so great nights sleep, got up tried to run a bit, but wasn't feeling the love and stopped. The weather beckoned in the afternoon and I did a 36 k ride outdoors.... loving the weather
Tuesday: I decided to do my speed workout outside during this day which turned out to be a mistake because there was ice all over the place, but half k intervals will probably get lengthened, pace wasn't bad though at 7 - 7:30 for pace.
Wednesday: Just did a regular strength workout today, I really can't say I enjoy doing doubles because they just sap your energy.
Today: So I should've run today, but instead decided to go to the terrain park and play on my snowboard, lots of fun to be had
~Cheers
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Clif Shot Bloks
So in the theme of writing shorter quicker read posts, here's another short one today talking about something that's great for taking while exercising. A friend of mine asked a little while back and this is someone we'll talk about on friday, was wondering where I found all the little things that I use during training like body glide, gels etc. So today's post is going to cover what my thoughts have been so far on using Shot Bloks
So that's what they look like, and I guess I should say what these are for people that don't know what they are (I'm talking about you Alan). They're essentially little blocks of sugar and electrolytes that you can chew while exercising to continue giving you energy and replacing lost electrolytes. There's even a nice little drawing and a schematic of packaging that fits very nicely into a jersey pocket. They've got some that have caffeine (25 and 50 mg) and one that has extra sodium (3x) to help you replenish what you lost.
I guess the biggest thing like with all sports nutrition is, does it go down alright? For me yes it does, and I've found for the most part Clif stuff goes down easily (tastes good) and stays down (doesn't cause funny feelings in the stomach). The biggest thing that makes it up is Brown rice syrup, so if that doesn't sit well with you, these will probably not work so well. One thing I do appreciate is the way they've packaged it, there's not really any extra bulk at all. They say that they're "Fastpak" system allows for easy opening, but I've found that if you just cut the top off with a pair of scissors, you can just squeeze off one by one easily while in motion which is always good. They're never too sweet, and they've got a ton of flavors.
Nutritionally, a few things, it is vegan, it's gluten free, but NOT KOSHER. They've got a few different flavors:
Black cherry (50mg caffeine)
Cran-Razz
Lemon Lime
Margarita (3x sodium)
Mountain Berry
Orange (25mg caffeine)
Strawberry
Tropical punch (25 mg caffeine)
Here's a nutritional info for their lime one, I don't think it changes a whole lot between bars:
Personally my favorite one is lemon lime, but I'll probably go and try some more of these new flavors that they have for this year, it used to only be like 3 or 4 flavors. It will set you back about a buck 50 and you get 6 bloks for that. So next time you want to take something solid, or try it out, pop 1 or 2 20-30 minutes before you start, and then every 30 minutes after you start exercising, and you should be full of energy.
~Cheers
I guess the biggest thing like with all sports nutrition is, does it go down alright? For me yes it does, and I've found for the most part Clif stuff goes down easily (tastes good) and stays down (doesn't cause funny feelings in the stomach). The biggest thing that makes it up is Brown rice syrup, so if that doesn't sit well with you, these will probably not work so well. One thing I do appreciate is the way they've packaged it, there's not really any extra bulk at all. They say that they're "Fastpak" system allows for easy opening, but I've found that if you just cut the top off with a pair of scissors, you can just squeeze off one by one easily while in motion which is always good. They're never too sweet, and they've got a ton of flavors.
Nutritionally, a few things, it is vegan, it's gluten free, but NOT KOSHER. They've got a few different flavors:
Black cherry (50mg caffeine)
Cran-Razz
Lemon Lime
Margarita (3x sodium)
Mountain Berry
Orange (25mg caffeine)
Strawberry
Tropical punch (25 mg caffeine)
Here's a nutritional info for their lime one, I don't think it changes a whole lot between bars:
Personally my favorite one is lemon lime, but I'll probably go and try some more of these new flavors that they have for this year, it used to only be like 3 or 4 flavors. It will set you back about a buck 50 and you get 6 bloks for that. So next time you want to take something solid, or try it out, pop 1 or 2 20-30 minutes before you start, and then every 30 minutes after you start exercising, and you should be full of energy.
~Cheers
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
How a produce bag and some water can save you headaches
So today's post is going to be about a little bit of preventative maintenance. As the weather is warming up outside, I know calgary is super warm this past little while, we all feel like going out and running more and more. The only problem with this is you still need to be careful of little patches of ice here and there and not slip and fall because that would suck lots. But for those that ever feel a little bit of pain in the front of your lower leg (the shins) this is usually an indication that you are doing too much or doing it too quickly. Shinsplits is something that is essentially a result of repetitive motion (read running) and causes your muscles to get sore and inflammed. One thing that you can do to help prevent this is icing your shins after run. So take a bag that doesn't leak, fill it with some ice and then happy icing. It is recommended that you put a thin towel in between so that you don't give yourself frost bite.
If you do adequate stretching, don't ramp up your mileage too quickly, and try to have an efficient foot strike. All of this coupled with some icing after your runs should keep the shin splints at bay. So with that happy running guys.
~Cheers
If you do adequate stretching, don't ramp up your mileage too quickly, and try to have an efficient foot strike. All of this coupled with some icing after your runs should keep the shin splints at bay. So with that happy running guys.
~Cheers
Monday, March 14, 2011
2011 Shoe (P)review Part 3: Race Oriented
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. A couple weeks ago, I did a bit on stability shoes. Now here we are at the end and it's race oriented shoes.
These really aren't meant to be heavy trainers, and they're meant to go ..... and go fast, oh and they're super light too.
So there you have it guys, all the shoes that you could ever want. If you ever have any questions and you're still reading at this point, feel free to comment below.
~Cheers
These really aren't meant to be heavy trainers, and they're meant to go ..... and go fast, oh and they're super light too.
Adidas - Adizero Aegis 2
All adizero shoes are thin and light, I actually helped out with some testing when these shoes were lighter and ya I can attest to the fact that they're light as a feather. It's not bad for people who pile on the mileage (but not too much) and do it quickly, and you've got some modest cushioning, and a low slung ride. If you need supportive shoes you're not going to like this a whole lot. The thin laces like they were when I tested them do present a little bit of trouble in staying that way, but reef knot them and you should be good. This shoe is meant for those that have an efficient stride and need a slightly supportive racer or a fast training shoe. Long runs will probably be a no go in these.Cost: ~111
Weight (oz.): 9.3 (M) 7.9(W)
Adidas - Adizero Tempo 4
What do you know, another adidas shoe, another adizero model, and it's still in green. It's got a pretty zippy feel and it's not all just it's weight, but how it does it. Your heel is firm coupled with a soft flexible forefoot that cancels out any negative effects from the heavier heel. You've got a distance racing shoe, or a daily training shoe for those that mildly overpronate. Thin soles means you're always in a stable connection with the ground, and there's still ample support with the low weight.
Cost: ~100
Weight (oz.): 10.9 (M) 9.0(W)Nike - Lunarlite+ 2
This is the sequel of the first one and actually nails it right. It's lighter and softer than it's past iteration. It's als more stable and flexible, and you've got grooves that gives a smoother ride. The arch wrap in the middle is also broken up so you've still got each bend flexing to work independently. It's an efficient shoe that's good for speedwork. Again shoes that do the cushioning and stability well even though they're light tend to win rave reviews, and these are no different. It's a little bit of a different take which isn't always bad.
Cost: ~100
Weight (oz.): 9.8 (M) 8.4(W)Saucony - Progrid Mirage
It's got a really smooth feel for a lightweight shoe, which don't usually go hand in hand. It's got the same platform as the Knvara and encourages midfoot striking. There's a pastic post under the arch which gives you stability and the shoes upper gives you a better hold for the foot. It's not quite as comfortable as the Kinvara but it'll be a good shoe for those that are easing into barefoot running (still quite not there yet with the idea). Cost: ~100
Weight (oz.): 9.6 (M) 8.3(W)Under Armour - Assert
Now a lot of people didn't know they make shoes, but they actually started doing cleats. This is a low profile model, and it looks pretty sweet. Your foot is positioned pretty close to the ground, which gives a firm stable ride, and the heel is well cushioned. There's a cavity in the outsole which gives the foot something to sink into, but the forefoot is super thin and doesn't absorb impact well. So while not a bad shoe, there are some niggles, the cushioning is overly hard, and the heel tends to slip. The shoes light and flexbile, but it's probably better geared towards a lightweight runner using these for speedwork.Cost: ~85
Weight (oz.): 9.8 (M) 8.5(W)So there you have it guys, all the shoes that you could ever want. If you ever have any questions and you're still reading at this point, feel free to comment below.
~Cheers
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Week in Review Mar 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've started finding that over the weekends I'm more and more busy, which usually results in me dropping the ball for this review post, and Friday's usually are gone. Clearly my brilliant idea of trying to do a different kind of post failed miserably, but fear not, I've got a treat for you this Friday and hit should happen because it's the first time that I've not had midterms for an ENTIRE WEEK.
Posts this week
Monday -Specialized PuristTuesday - The Science of Sweat
Thursday - Training Updates
Random Notes
So Calgary has decided to finally give us some friggen A weather, which means a return to outdoor running hell to the yeah
I've noticed that more and more of my friends I have successfully conned/talked/had a hand in them aspiring to do their own marathon which is really sweeet, I mean Jess was the first one but that goes back a little bit.
Another really cool thing that I've come to love is reading people's blogs because it's a way to look into their world, and more and more of them are popping up with training, it's super exciting to read them
I got some pocky they other day, I don't know if it was a premium kind or a Japan only kind but it tasted soo much better. Usually candy and sweets do tend to be fantastical when it's from the land of the rising sun.
I hope all the people in Japan are doing alright, they've had a tough few days, but I'm sure they'll pull through. Our thoughts are with the families of all those affected
~Cheers
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Training Updates - March 10, 2011
We're gonna try a new format this week:
Jess
So Jess's training has still been hampered by a pesky injury, but she should be back soon (fingers crossed). So other than that, not a whole lot is new in her own words being projected through me.
Kel:
So because these updates come on a thursday, it's kinda funny how the week runs. Depending how I do that week you might get one or two thursday updates.
Thursday: Short 4 miler, this was originally meant to be a 6 mile time trial, but everything just fell apart
Sunday: I was gonna try to race with Amy but that didn't quite happen but it's alright, put in an hour and a bit on the bike
Monday: 5 miler that was run at a briskish pace to help reset myself from the disaster that was an attempted time Trial
Tuesday: 6 miler run with Edward to go and grab his body glide. Edward runs SUPER quickly, but it was good for me realize that I have a long ways to go
Wednesday: The dreaded double, did a strength workout and then a real race with Amy..... score.....Kel: 1, Amy: 0. We're planning another race for the weekend
Today: Ran some fartlaks today, in my goal of trying to increase my speed, which needs tons of work.
~Cheers
Jess
So Jess's training has still been hampered by a pesky injury, but she should be back soon (fingers crossed). So other than that, not a whole lot is new in her own words being projected through me.
Kel:
So because these updates come on a thursday, it's kinda funny how the week runs. Depending how I do that week you might get one or two thursday updates.
Thursday: Short 4 miler, this was originally meant to be a 6 mile time trial, but everything just fell apart
Sunday: I was gonna try to race with Amy but that didn't quite happen but it's alright, put in an hour and a bit on the bike
Monday: 5 miler that was run at a briskish pace to help reset myself from the disaster that was an attempted time Trial
Tuesday: 6 miler run with Edward to go and grab his body glide. Edward runs SUPER quickly, but it was good for me realize that I have a long ways to go
Wednesday: The dreaded double, did a strength workout and then a real race with Amy..... score.....Kel: 1, Amy: 0. We're planning another race for the weekend
Today: Ran some fartlaks today, in my goal of trying to increase my speed, which needs tons of work.
~Cheers
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The science of sweat
In the goal at doing short informative posts here comes another short one today.
So today's post finally comes around to covering something sciency-ish. I've talked about how body heat can screw you over and why something as simple as picking proper clothing can help you train better. I've also talked about the importance of hydration here and here.
The idea behind sweating is usually when we get hot, we sweat and this usually goes hand in hand with exercise, so there's a few things with this that one has to be careful about. First off you have to be able to sweat so make sure you're drinking lots of water. But most people's instinctive reactions when they start to sweat at the gym, or running or anything is to try and rub it off, towel off etc. While this is probably not a bad idea for appearances, it is counterproductive towards actually cooling your body. You'll notice that after you towel off you actually feel warmer. It's also the same reason why you feel super cold after you stop running and you don't change into dry clothes. So to keep your body cool, it sweats, don't towel off and your body's heat will thank you. Chances are you'll probably perform better too
So today's post finally comes around to covering something sciency-ish. I've talked about how body heat can screw you over and why something as simple as picking proper clothing can help you train better. I've also talked about the importance of hydration here and here.
The idea behind sweating is usually when we get hot, we sweat and this usually goes hand in hand with exercise, so there's a few things with this that one has to be careful about. First off you have to be able to sweat so make sure you're drinking lots of water. But most people's instinctive reactions when they start to sweat at the gym, or running or anything is to try and rub it off, towel off etc. While this is probably not a bad idea for appearances, it is counterproductive towards actually cooling your body. You'll notice that after you towel off you actually feel warmer. It's also the same reason why you feel super cold after you stop running and you don't change into dry clothes. So to keep your body cool, it sweats, don't towel off and your body's heat will thank you. Chances are you'll probably perform better too
Monday, March 7, 2011
Specialized Purist
I'm going to try and make it my goal to write shorter posts because maybe you'll actually read them. Today's is about new water bottle from Specialized. Everybody who does sports will know that over time water bottles will stain, decolor or just start to smell from putting Gatorade, Enudrox etc. Specialized developed a new water bottle to combat this, it's called the "Purist"
So the idea behind this comes from a Lotus leaf being able to shed water and contaminants. They do this by having a super low surface tension. They also make this layer out of silicon dioxide (stuff that's in glass and quartz) so it's safe for you. This prevents anything from sticking to the plastic and thus giving you a clean bottle and clean tasting water for years to come. They did a tomato test to prove this, and it's actually kinda cool. Washing them just requires you to rinse the bottle with water.
This got verified with other people doing this as well. They said it's the closest thing to a perfect water bottle. Only downsides include that it's almost twice as expensive as Specialized's other bottles and it doesn't come insulated. So until the price comes down I shall resort to some major handwashing of my bottles and what not.
~Cheers
So the idea behind this comes from a Lotus leaf being able to shed water and contaminants. They do this by having a super low surface tension. They also make this layer out of silicon dioxide (stuff that's in glass and quartz) so it's safe for you. This prevents anything from sticking to the plastic and thus giving you a clean bottle and clean tasting water for years to come. They did a tomato test to prove this, and it's actually kinda cool. Washing them just requires you to rinse the bottle with water.
 |
| Regular Bottle |
 |
| The Aftermath |
 |
| Purist Bottle Aftermath |
~Cheers
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Training Updates - March 3, 2011
So this week some exciting things have been happening. I'm now able to do a lot more analysis on my runs, and I've really come to the conclusion as I talked about back a while ago that Nike+ is no longer the system that I cam to love and it seems unfortunate that most products seem to go that way.
But there's been a few updates, Jess is still putting in some sick time at the gym recovering from her injury and there's been a slight change of plans in how races are going to get done. She's going to be doing the Calgary half and moving back her marathon to the Edmonton one. Looks like it should be a much easier one than Calgary as the profile for the course in completely flat as a pancake, and it's run kind of in a figure eight shape.
I've been able to put in some decent mileage this week, I did about 25 miles, which isn't huge, but it's getting back into things. The weather has not really been co-operating for the runs outdoors here and I'm really starting to get sick of running inside. So lets hope with fingers crossed that it will start to warm up, but I have my doubts.
~Cheers
But there's been a few updates, Jess is still putting in some sick time at the gym recovering from her injury and there's been a slight change of plans in how races are going to get done. She's going to be doing the Calgary half and moving back her marathon to the Edmonton one. Looks like it should be a much easier one than Calgary as the profile for the course in completely flat as a pancake, and it's run kind of in a figure eight shape.
I've been able to put in some decent mileage this week, I did about 25 miles, which isn't huge, but it's getting back into things. The weather has not really been co-operating for the runs outdoors here and I'm really starting to get sick of running inside. So lets hope with fingers crossed that it will start to warm up, but I have my doubts.
~Cheers
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The power of confidence
This post is a little bit of personal experience, a little bit for friends that I know who are going to the same and I'm going to keep it short, just for you Owen.
We all get into training ruts, we all get down about training and start to lose hope/sight of what we're doing or where we're going. So for those that want to do something this year here's some ideas on how to get yourself in gear
1) Sign up .... NOW
Everybody is always afraid of not being able to do a race, so they say I'll get to a certain fitness level and then sign up. I worried about this when I was younger, never wanting to do a 10k, having my mom sign me up for one was probably the best thing that has happened for my love of running
2) Do the distance
If you're worried that you won't be able to do the distance, bet it 3, 6, 13 or 26 miles..... well maybe not 26; run a little bit over your target distance so that you know that you've done this before. For people who are doing the 26, you can stop at 22.
3) You can do it
If you believe that you can do it, and you tell yourself you can do it, you probably can and vice versa
4) Get into a groove
If you have stuff that you only wear on race day, or do the same pattern before training, whatever helps you get into a routine and gets your ready to do whatever you're doing.
That's it, that's all. Happy training guys
We all get into training ruts, we all get down about training and start to lose hope/sight of what we're doing or where we're going. So for those that want to do something this year here's some ideas on how to get yourself in gear
1) Sign up .... NOW
Everybody is always afraid of not being able to do a race, so they say I'll get to a certain fitness level and then sign up. I worried about this when I was younger, never wanting to do a 10k, having my mom sign me up for one was probably the best thing that has happened for my love of running
2) Do the distance
If you're worried that you won't be able to do the distance, bet it 3, 6, 13 or 26 miles..... well maybe not 26; run a little bit over your target distance so that you know that you've done this before. For people who are doing the 26, you can stop at 22.
3) You can do it
If you believe that you can do it, and you tell yourself you can do it, you probably can and vice versa
4) Get into a groove
If you have stuff that you only wear on race day, or do the same pattern before training, whatever helps you get into a routine and gets your ready to do whatever you're doing.
That's it, that's all. Happy training guys
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