Five weeks no running; yep cabin fever is setting in and I just ordered me a pair of these sweet rides! But having said that the swimming is going well, well as well as two sessions can go. Nearly 2000 yards this week, I could have gone further but as usual I was pushed for time. After tweaking my knee Tuesday I took it easier on Friday. I also invested in some larger hand fins to take the pressure off my legs otherwise I am bit like a log in the water! Using a pull buoy helps as well for the buoyancy and a swim cap helped with the cold, so now I at least look the part.
I tried my benchmark pedal rotation on the bike and there’s further improvement; forwards I am up to around 2:00am and backwards around 11:00pm, it’s a little sore to go this far but not to the point of doing any damage. Finally I have made in dent in my weight gain so that’s a move in the right direction.
I hosted this week's Runners Round Table podcast, the topic was "Going Long; Ultra-marathons and IronMan", it was a great show and well worth a listen, check it out on iTunes and take it for a run.
All in all everything is good news, but I would really like to go for a run!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Review; Black Diamond Spot
I have been running with a headtorch for the last couple of years now, early starts and late finishes often bookend my day with running, but 95% of those runs were on the road, mostly with street lights and mostly with cars. My go-to headtorch has been a Petzl TacTikka Plus which is great for a "be seen with" rather than a "to see with" torch. For the ‘Hood I was going to be running through the night…in the woods…with a half moon; dark with a capital D!Headtorchs span the gamut of price range if you really want to go mad you can easily blow $100 and have a set up which is bright enough to light up a Hollywood sound stage but these typically come with large battery packs sometimes which need a “sold separately” recharging unit and the additional weight that you would expect. So my criterion was bright, light and cheap!
I looked around a bit but ultimately went for the path of least resistance; Zombie or WRC, Zombie’s were either not as good as my Petzl or in the $50+ range; too little or too much, so armed with my discount coupon code for 10% 'QUAD10' I picked up a Black Diamond Spot from Wilderness Running Company for $36.00.
It comes with the standard elastic band and is comfy enough, it requires three AAA batteries. The interesting stuff is brightness and durations, this is a screen shot from the instructions:
Still confused, well basically my usage was either the Hyperbright LED (1W) or the three Superbright (3 LEDs). I didn’t realize that there were half settings until I researched this post. Under the heading that a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s Friday and spent most of the week at a pc here’s a picture. Petzl on the left, SuperBright center and Hyperbright on the right. (Bigger picture to follow).
As you can see there is a significant difference in brightness this translates into distance as well, although experience has taught me that looking just in front of me rather than off into the woods is the best place to look. With Fall upon us, yes it’s finally arrived here in Califonia, and shorter days if you’re running in the dark anywhere you need a decent light system, do yourself a favor and consider this one.
See previous gear reviews in the sidebar on the right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Going off at the deep end!
So today I went swimming, told you I was going to! Of course I happened to have picked one of the coldest, windiest days we’ve had in months; outdoor pool! That worked in my favor as I actually had a lane all to myself and once I was in it was pretty much ok as long as I kept going. I got a bit over excited at one point and overbent my knee so now I am sat here with an Ace tube on it, it’s swollen a bit…another lesson learned the hard way! I checked out some YouTube Videos last night, this one I thought was pretty good and helped me visualize what I need to be doing; remembering the ‘rotation’ helped today. I didn’t go mad, and swam about 800 meters, to be honest I lost count but I was at it for about 40 minutes, easing myself into it until getting all over cocky and bending my leg too far!
On the suggestion of JD and few other people I ordered this book and DVD from Amazon, thank goodness for used, much as I like kit $40.00 for a 30 minute DVD seemed a little steep so a used ‘new; unopened’ one for $12.00 was a bargain along with a ‘used; like new’ book for $5.00.
I am thinking about a swimcap…everyone seemed to have one, maybe for warmth? I think my wife has one from her tri kicking about somewhere, maybe I’ll snag that and see.
I have to say all in all I enjoyed it and so other than the knee thing so far so good, I am aiming to go again on Friday...yeah the next thing'll be webbed feet!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The quest for the banana hammock!
This weekend marks week four since the ’Hood. During this week I have felt a marked improvement in my leg, since going to my GP two weeks ago I am still not able to ride my bike, the issue is that I cannot do a full rotation, it’s improving. If you can imagine with the crank at 6:00pm; week one I could go to 7:30pm forwards and 5:00pm backwards, week two I am up to about 4:00pm and 9:00pm, this Tuesday I’ll try again but overall it’s really starting to feel like it’s healing, I am able to skip up and down stairs and getting in and out of a car is easier, other than the bike these are really the two ‘benchmarks” I have.I’ve been doing some core stuff but obviously I’ve not been expending the calories like I had been previously (and I am not going to kid anyone that I have adjusted my diet), end result is a best described as imbalanced input/output, imbalanced to the tune of about 12lbs! Yeah I nearly fell of the scales!
I’ve also been listening to lot of podcasts lately, I listen to them in the car during my commute; you can really burn through them with a 2½ - 3 hour commute a day. One of them in particular struck a cord with me, if you’ve followed me for anytime you’ll know that I am pretty can-do person especially when it comes to running, now when it comes to swimming; and specifically freestyle, well let’s just say that can and do are not usually in the same sentence…well until now. It’s really a case of not doing it because I don’t like it and not liking it because I am no good at it…well duh Stuart there was a time when you weren’t running a bajillion miles and how did you get to that point…I could go on but you can see where I am going.
I am not quite jumping in the deep end literally or metaphorically as I had some lessons earlier this year and even invested in some hand fins and a pair of jammers (who knew they were called that!) I am not sure if I will ever be ready to go all out Speedo but certainly loosing those 12lbs will point me in the right direction
Now I just need to get on, get in and get my feet wet!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Ultralist Gold!
Borrowed from a buddy on Facebook who took it from the Ultralist. The Ultralist describes itself as follows:
"ULTRA is a list dedicated to the sport of ultrarunning. By “ultrarunning” we mean running of a distance longer than a marathon in distance or time as well as shorter specialty races such as Escarpment, Pikes Peak ascent and Mt. Washington. The list will concentrate on matters related to ultrarunning. However, we recognize that the members of the ultrarunning community cover a wide spectrum. Some are interested solely in training and racing information, techniques and experiences. Others enjoy the more ‘peripheral’ areas of the sport, from ultra prose or poetry to descriptions of interesting people or scenery seen during a run or race. All those people, and all those ultra topics and many others, are welcome here. The list will NOT be moderated, however flaming, SPAM and advertising (other than race announcements) are not allowed".
For an audio interview with the creator of the Ultralist go here, to subscribe to it go here. Be warned your inbox will fill up fast so make sure you select the right settings! And so onto the post...it kinda ties into my last one!
Joe Judd of Colorado, writes,
You are more than ready. I think that 50 miles in 12 hours is very attainable, especially if it is a flat course.
1) Focus on keeping moving for the whole 12 hours.
2) A run/walk startegy works well for most people. Something like run for 5 minutes, then walk for one minute. I just run at a comfortable pace for as long as I can, then walk when I feel I need to have a break. Getting exhausted is hard to come back from.
3) Don't stop for too long. Keep aid stops to a maximum of around 5 minutes, maybe 10minutes around dinner time. Remember, if you stop for 5 minutes every hour, you've lost a total of an hour of the race.
4) Most of what you need to overcome is in your head. It's not terribly hard to run a pace of 14:30 per mile. Doing it for 12 hours is another issue.
5) Stay in the moment. It is not a good idea to think of how much longer you have to run. Focus on how you're doing at THAT moment. The hours and miles will take care of themselves. Relentless forward motion!
6) It will get bad. But, then it will get better. It's never a consistent downhill spiral. No matter how bad you feel, you WILL bounce back.
Gold indeed!
"ULTRA is a list dedicated to the sport of ultrarunning. By “ultrarunning” we mean running of a distance longer than a marathon in distance or time as well as shorter specialty races such as Escarpment, Pikes Peak ascent and Mt. Washington. The list will concentrate on matters related to ultrarunning. However, we recognize that the members of the ultrarunning community cover a wide spectrum. Some are interested solely in training and racing information, techniques and experiences. Others enjoy the more ‘peripheral’ areas of the sport, from ultra prose or poetry to descriptions of interesting people or scenery seen during a run or race. All those people, and all those ultra topics and many others, are welcome here. The list will NOT be moderated, however flaming, SPAM and advertising (other than race announcements) are not allowed".
For an audio interview with the creator of the Ultralist go here, to subscribe to it go here. Be warned your inbox will fill up fast so make sure you select the right settings! And so onto the post...it kinda ties into my last one!
Joe Judd of Colorado, writes,
You are more than ready. I think that 50 miles in 12 hours is very attainable, especially if it is a flat course.
1) Focus on keeping moving for the whole 12 hours.
2) A run/walk startegy works well for most people. Something like run for 5 minutes, then walk for one minute. I just run at a comfortable pace for as long as I can, then walk when I feel I need to have a break. Getting exhausted is hard to come back from.
3) Don't stop for too long. Keep aid stops to a maximum of around 5 minutes, maybe 10minutes around dinner time. Remember, if you stop for 5 minutes every hour, you've lost a total of an hour of the race.
4) Most of what you need to overcome is in your head. It's not terribly hard to run a pace of 14:30 per mile. Doing it for 12 hours is another issue.
5) Stay in the moment. It is not a good idea to think of how much longer you have to run. Focus on how you're doing at THAT moment. The hours and miles will take care of themselves. Relentless forward motion!
6) It will get bad. But, then it will get better. It's never a consistent downhill spiral. No matter how bad you feel, you WILL bounce back.
Gold indeed!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The thin end of the wedge...
The last couple of Saturday’s and the next few I am attending a weekend class, it’s a personal/professional development thing and has no bearing on running etc. Every weekend we have a different instructor and so every weekend we have to go through the what’s you name and where’re you from routine, this weekend we were asked to tell something about ourselves that nobody in the room would know and so this weekend I mentioned that I liked to run…a bit, when pressed I mentioned ultra running. I’ve leaned that most people can’t actually comprehend it; see this post for a typical conversation. During a break a few people came up to talk about it a bit more and that was the catalyst for this post. While I am no expert here are my top things to consider if you want to go long…
Base; like any house you need a foundation; the deeper it is the stronger it is, and the higher you can build. Like my profile says I have always been a runner; track and field at school, a stint in the military; running and tabbing, general fitness and more recently actually racing, this is on top a pretty good base of mountain biking which I did a bit of as well. In the last three years I’ve covered about 4500 miles, not excessive by any standards but a lot of those miles are on trails which brings me onto my next point.
Train Terrain; in other words train where you’ll be racing. It’s no good training on the beach path if you’re running through the hills. Be as specific as you can, and at least try and train on trails, this will help (a) build up all those little stabilizer muscles that get neglected on the streets and (b) will give you a better understanding of what is achievable on the trails in terms of how quickly you can cover distances.
Walk the Walk; chances are that for part of race day you’ll be walking some of the course. The purpose of walking is to simply not burn you out, that being said there is more to walking than simply shuffling up the side of a hill. Practice power walking uphill and make walking part of your training.
Gravity Bites; on the flipside of walking is running downhill, strange as this may seem you need to practice this as well. While running is a propellant activity; that is you use your hamstrings to push you forward, running downhill places a lot of emphasis on your quads so spending some time running, in fact the best way to describe it is to actually call it a controlled falling, down a hill will really help out on those long descents.
GIGO/NINO; good input good output, no input…well you can figure out the rest. Much like any endurance activity you need to dial in your nutrition and hydration. The only difference here is the duration. You may have read in my race reports about me eating PN&J, chips, boiled potatos and the like, there comes a point when gels just lose their appeal so be prepared to try real food, obviously don’t try it on race day for the first time, practice on your long runs.
The Ultra Brick; much like a triathlete will have their swim/bike or bike/run bricks, ultra runners have their back-to-back runs. Usually a Saturday/Sunday affair the idea is to run again on tired legs to simulate the longer distances. These are made all the better if you can do both days on the trail.
Time Not Miles; time on your feet is crucial, getting your body used to being upright and moving for 6, 12, 24 hours is something you have to teach it and practice.
MPH not MPM; you can pretty much forget about keeping a steady pace, there will be an average but it’s a figure that represents nothing. Thinking miles per hour allows you to be concerned in covering the distance and in bigger chunks and means you don’t have to focus on every step. Got a Garmin, change one field to MPH and you’re set.
Remember to smile; you choose to get up and drive to the trailhead so enjoy the experience, yeah it’s probably goin to hurt and yeah halfway up (or down) that friggin’ big hill you probably wondering or even vocalizing WTF am I doing here, but I have never seen bigger grins than those from runners who just finished their first or longest ultra.
There are probably a few more but they mostly focus on kit; shoes, backpack, handhelds etc but these are all personal choices. And remember I am no expert. Above all running trails is a different animal from the roads, you become more at one with not only the world but with yourself and you’ll see sights and experience things that only a few ever will.
Remember they say it’s one tenth of one percent of the world’s population that have run a marathon, going longer than that only decreases that ratio…so allow me to welcome you to the thin end of the wedge; it’s a good place to be!
Base; like any house you need a foundation; the deeper it is the stronger it is, and the higher you can build. Like my profile says I have always been a runner; track and field at school, a stint in the military; running and tabbing, general fitness and more recently actually racing, this is on top a pretty good base of mountain biking which I did a bit of as well. In the last three years I’ve covered about 4500 miles, not excessive by any standards but a lot of those miles are on trails which brings me onto my next point.
Train Terrain; in other words train where you’ll be racing. It’s no good training on the beach path if you’re running through the hills. Be as specific as you can, and at least try and train on trails, this will help (a) build up all those little stabilizer muscles that get neglected on the streets and (b) will give you a better understanding of what is achievable on the trails in terms of how quickly you can cover distances.
Walk the Walk; chances are that for part of race day you’ll be walking some of the course. The purpose of walking is to simply not burn you out, that being said there is more to walking than simply shuffling up the side of a hill. Practice power walking uphill and make walking part of your training.
Gravity Bites; on the flipside of walking is running downhill, strange as this may seem you need to practice this as well. While running is a propellant activity; that is you use your hamstrings to push you forward, running downhill places a lot of emphasis on your quads so spending some time running, in fact the best way to describe it is to actually call it a controlled falling, down a hill will really help out on those long descents.
GIGO/NINO; good input good output, no input…well you can figure out the rest. Much like any endurance activity you need to dial in your nutrition and hydration. The only difference here is the duration. You may have read in my race reports about me eating PN&J, chips, boiled potatos and the like, there comes a point when gels just lose their appeal so be prepared to try real food, obviously don’t try it on race day for the first time, practice on your long runs.
The Ultra Brick; much like a triathlete will have their swim/bike or bike/run bricks, ultra runners have their back-to-back runs. Usually a Saturday/Sunday affair the idea is to run again on tired legs to simulate the longer distances. These are made all the better if you can do both days on the trail.
Time Not Miles; time on your feet is crucial, getting your body used to being upright and moving for 6, 12, 24 hours is something you have to teach it and practice.
MPH not MPM; you can pretty much forget about keeping a steady pace, there will be an average but it’s a figure that represents nothing. Thinking miles per hour allows you to be concerned in covering the distance and in bigger chunks and means you don’t have to focus on every step. Got a Garmin, change one field to MPH and you’re set.
Remember to smile; you choose to get up and drive to the trailhead so enjoy the experience, yeah it’s probably goin to hurt and yeah halfway up (or down) that friggin’ big hill you probably wondering or even vocalizing WTF am I doing here, but I have never seen bigger grins than those from runners who just finished their first or longest ultra.
There are probably a few more but they mostly focus on kit; shoes, backpack, handhelds etc but these are all personal choices. And remember I am no expert. Above all running trails is a different animal from the roads, you become more at one with not only the world but with yourself and you’ll see sights and experience things that only a few ever will.
Remember they say it’s one tenth of one percent of the world’s population that have run a marathon, going longer than that only decreases that ratio…so allow me to welcome you to the thin end of the wedge; it’s a good place to be!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Review; RecoFit Arm Cooler Compression Sleeve
October seems a bit late to be reviewing a ‘heat’ thing but seeing as temperatures topped out yesterday at 93f it looks like we had autumn, winter and spring earlier in the week when it rained and was cloudy for three days! That being said these sleeves are something you could easier wear in the cooler months as they do have some warming properties. Anyway onto the review.
The good folks at Wilderness Running Company sent me a pair of the RecoFit Armcooler Compression Sleeves earlier in the year to review and if you were reading my training posts from July and August that you’ll remember that (a) I went to Las Vegas and (b) we’ve had an endless summer and the temperatures were frequently above 100f. So I was happy to try something…anything that would cool me down. First here’s the product info from their website:
“Features light compression, 50-plus UV protection, anti-microbial properties and the cooling quality of Icefil fabric — great for triathletes, golfers, tennis players and anyone outside under the hot sun”.
I though that this was a bit light so I did a quick Google search on “Icefil fabric”, here’s a synopsis of the results:
Descente introduced a new ‘Icefil’ fabric to its top range of clothing for 2009. Descente claims the fabric’s Xylitol treatment absorbs heat from your body and also blocks IR rays from the sun, thus supposedly reducing surface temperature by up to five degrees Fahrenheit as compared to untreated fabrics….Icefil is not a permanent treatment but it is said to retain 70 percent of its effectiveness after 70 washes. Source.
Icefil fabric works not just by absorbing body heat but also by preventing solar energy from reaching the skin- it's neither cool nor clammy to the touch. Source.
So as you can see the fabric's practical application has been aimed at cyclists, there are also quite a few golf shirts available and even an equestrian line, surprisingly I couldn’t find anything for runners.
I am pretty used to wearing armwarmers during cool morning or evening runs and so how they felt came as no real surprise. The compression is uniform and not too tight, there are held on the upper arm by a combination of the compression and a strip of tacky rubber, basically relying on friction to stay put. My arms are best described as average and there was no issue with the fit, they do come in three sizes so try before you buy. In terms of color you can have any color as long as it’s white; white obviously contributes to the reflective qualities of the fabric.
I can’t really categorically say that the Icefil kept me cool or cooler than being without it but I am sure there was some benefit. While in Vegas I was popping into McDonalds to refill my handheld bottle with ice and would stuff some ice inside the sleeves and surprisingly it did not instantly melt so there must have been something going on, also when the ice did melt the wet took a while to evaporate (fyi if you keep the ice on your wrists it will cool you down quicker as the blood is closer to the surface of your skin, that’s why running your wrists under cold water cools you down) so the slow evaporation helped with the cooling.
I also wore them on several long runs through the Santa Monica Mountains. One benefit that you’ll not see on any of the marketing is their protective qualities when you’re rolling down the side of a mountain. Not something I planned but they save most of the skin on one elbow!
Finally I wore them all day and night…and the next day at 100 in the Hood without issue and they kept the chill off during the night.
Not the cheapest thing that you’ll add to your running closet, I would say that for the extreme heat they’re definitely worth trying, they can double up to add some warmth in the cooler months and as a runner or cyclist you can wear them, although I am not sure I’d wear them at my local golf course, my swing is so bad that I really don’t want to draw any extra attention to myself.
If you interested in trying them out you can find them at WRC and if you’ll use the code QUAD10 at checkout you’ll get a 10% discount. In fact check out their website anyway, they’ve got a sale on their sunglasses, Garmin products, trail shoes and a few other things.
The good folks at Wilderness Running Company sent me a pair of the RecoFit Armcooler Compression Sleeves earlier in the year to review and if you were reading my training posts from July and August that you’ll remember that (a) I went to Las Vegas and (b) we’ve had an endless summer and the temperatures were frequently above 100f. So I was happy to try something…anything that would cool me down. First here’s the product info from their website:
“Features light compression, 50-plus UV protection, anti-microbial properties and the cooling quality of Icefil fabric — great for triathletes, golfers, tennis players and anyone outside under the hot sun”.
I though that this was a bit light so I did a quick Google search on “Icefil fabric”, here’s a synopsis of the results:
Descente introduced a new ‘Icefil’ fabric to its top range of clothing for 2009. Descente claims the fabric’s Xylitol treatment absorbs heat from your body and also blocks IR rays from the sun, thus supposedly reducing surface temperature by up to five degrees Fahrenheit as compared to untreated fabrics….Icefil is not a permanent treatment but it is said to retain 70 percent of its effectiveness after 70 washes. Source.
Icefil fabric works not just by absorbing body heat but also by preventing solar energy from reaching the skin- it's neither cool nor clammy to the touch. Source.
So as you can see the fabric's practical application has been aimed at cyclists, there are also quite a few golf shirts available and even an equestrian line, surprisingly I couldn’t find anything for runners.
I am pretty used to wearing armwarmers during cool morning or evening runs and so how they felt came as no real surprise. The compression is uniform and not too tight, there are held on the upper arm by a combination of the compression and a strip of tacky rubber, basically relying on friction to stay put. My arms are best described as average and there was no issue with the fit, they do come in three sizes so try before you buy. In terms of color you can have any color as long as it’s white; white obviously contributes to the reflective qualities of the fabric.
I can’t really categorically say that the Icefil kept me cool or cooler than being without it but I am sure there was some benefit. While in Vegas I was popping into McDonalds to refill my handheld bottle with ice and would stuff some ice inside the sleeves and surprisingly it did not instantly melt so there must have been something going on, also when the ice did melt the wet took a while to evaporate (fyi if you keep the ice on your wrists it will cool you down quicker as the blood is closer to the surface of your skin, that’s why running your wrists under cold water cools you down) so the slow evaporation helped with the cooling.I also wore them on several long runs through the Santa Monica Mountains. One benefit that you’ll not see on any of the marketing is their protective qualities when you’re rolling down the side of a mountain. Not something I planned but they save most of the skin on one elbow!
Finally I wore them all day and night…and the next day at 100 in the Hood without issue and they kept the chill off during the night.
Not the cheapest thing that you’ll add to your running closet, I would say that for the extreme heat they’re definitely worth trying, they can double up to add some warmth in the cooler months and as a runner or cyclist you can wear them, although I am not sure I’d wear them at my local golf course, my swing is so bad that I really don’t want to draw any extra attention to myself.
If you interested in trying them out you can find them at WRC and if you’ll use the code QUAD10 at checkout you’ll get a 10% discount. In fact check out their website anyway, they’ve got a sale on their sunglasses, Garmin products, trail shoes and a few other things.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Some good, some bad, all honest!
If you read or listen to any of the tech or business blogs or podcasts you may have read or heard (last of the ‘or’s I promise) about the Federal Trade Commission’s guides for bloggers, specifically the requirements, from December 1st, to disclose any connections with advertisers including receipt of free products or payment.
It’s no real surprise to me; while I am no social media or marketing expert you don’t have to be the sharpest tool in the shed to see why this regulation has been created.
I originally started reviewing products as a way of sharing my experiences of things that I had discovered that worked (or didn’t) for me. Now that being said if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I have been on the receiving end of my fair share of stuff, swag, freebie call it what you will, donors have included Pearl Izumi, Zensah, ProWash to name but three. More recently I have been very fortunate to have developed a relationship with the Wilderness Running Company from Utah. WRC is a small online business dedicated to serve the trail running community and from whom I have also purchased a fair amount of kit from recently. You can too with a 10% discount if you use the code QUAD10 at checkout, I use the code and it really works.
I have been very diligent about declaring the source of the thing being reviewed and it was a freebie usually, within the opening paragraph or two , I've write “the good folks at XYZ sent me". Typically reviews follow a format of listing the products marketing pitch, usually straight from it's website followed by review, this format is something that I fully intend to continue using.
Having reviewed my list of product reviews I am currently running at around a 50/50 ratio of free vs. purchased, that’s a ratio that’s likely to continue, I am a bit of a kit mapgpie. I also believe my reviews are impartial and fair. If it’s good I’ll say and it not...well I’ll say that too. I am also amazed at the reach of my blog into the big blue interweb thingy, other than my home page my hardest hit pages are product reviews: here’s a screenshot from Google Analytics for the year to date, five items purchased, four items provided:
So coming down the pipe, reviews on Chocolate #9 (originally sent to me by another blogger, then purchased), POM (sent to me), Black Diamond Cosmo Headtorch (purchased) and RecoFit ArmCoolers (sent to me), hey that still makes it 50/50!
It’s no real surprise to me; while I am no social media or marketing expert you don’t have to be the sharpest tool in the shed to see why this regulation has been created.
I originally started reviewing products as a way of sharing my experiences of things that I had discovered that worked (or didn’t) for me. Now that being said if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I have been on the receiving end of my fair share of stuff, swag, freebie call it what you will, donors have included Pearl Izumi, Zensah, ProWash to name but three. More recently I have been very fortunate to have developed a relationship with the Wilderness Running Company from Utah. WRC is a small online business dedicated to serve the trail running community and from whom I have also purchased a fair amount of kit from recently. You can too with a 10% discount if you use the code QUAD10 at checkout, I use the code and it really works.
I have been very diligent about declaring the source of the thing being reviewed and it was a freebie usually, within the opening paragraph or two , I've write “the good folks at XYZ sent me". Typically reviews follow a format of listing the products marketing pitch, usually straight from it's website followed by review, this format is something that I fully intend to continue using.
Having reviewed my list of product reviews I am currently running at around a 50/50 ratio of free vs. purchased, that’s a ratio that’s likely to continue, I am a bit of a kit mapgpie. I also believe my reviews are impartial and fair. If it’s good I’ll say and it not...well I’ll say that too. I am also amazed at the reach of my blog into the big blue interweb thingy, other than my home page my hardest hit pages are product reviews: here’s a screenshot from Google Analytics for the year to date, five items purchased, four items provided:
So coming down the pipe, reviews on Chocolate #9 (originally sent to me by another blogger, then purchased), POM (sent to me), Black Diamond Cosmo Headtorch (purchased) and RecoFit ArmCoolers (sent to me), hey that still makes it 50/50!
Of course if I could make a living from writing product reviews....well that's a no brainer, right?
See previous gear reviews in the sidebar on the right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.
See previous gear reviews in the sidebar on the right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Prognosis...
So today I went to see my GP. I really like him, he’s very no nonsense and isn’t one to order a bunch of tests just ‘cos. He’s also an athlete; he Mountain Bikes and he knows I am a runner, there’s no teeth sucking or the usual "well running is bad for you" BS. He actualy said something like "100 miles, wow, that's seriously impressive"! You can see why I like him!
I explained what happened and what was feeling good and what was feeling bad, lots of manipulation and poking about on my ‘lump’ followed. Now all the swelling has gone you can actually get to the root of the issue. His opinion; a 2-3” tear in my vastus medialis that’s the inner (closer to the other leg) muscle that is part of the quadriceps.
So what's next, well, some gentle stretching to start to free it up, I can ride on the trainer, not on the road, with a consistent cadence; no hills, no sprints and then see where we are in two weeks. It could take another 6 weeks to heal completely, that takes me through to end of November so pretty much my season is over.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, clearly this is not that way that I wanted to end this year, but looking on the brightside this actually allows me to de-program my body of those slow slow miles. It does means that I can start with a cleanish slate in December/January and I’ll be able to re-program myself with the fast fast miles that I’ll need for next year.
I explained what happened and what was feeling good and what was feeling bad, lots of manipulation and poking about on my ‘lump’ followed. Now all the swelling has gone you can actually get to the root of the issue. His opinion; a 2-3” tear in my vastus medialis that’s the inner (closer to the other leg) muscle that is part of the quadriceps.
So what's next, well, some gentle stretching to start to free it up, I can ride on the trainer, not on the road, with a consistent cadence; no hills, no sprints and then see where we are in two weeks. It could take another 6 weeks to heal completely, that takes me through to end of November so pretty much my season is over.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, clearly this is not that way that I wanted to end this year, but looking on the brightside this actually allows me to de-program my body of those slow slow miles. It does means that I can start with a cleanish slate in December/January and I’ll be able to re-program myself with the fast fast miles that I’ll need for next year.
Well at least I am not stuck doing just pushups!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Bobbing along on the doldrums...
Two weeks ago was my last run. My ankle is fine, the swelling on my knee has gone down completely, Ace bandages are back in the drawer. What I am left with is a lump about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide inside my quadricep, it’s not sore or tender but it’s preventing me from bending my leg! I can bend it about 40 degrees backwards and when I raise my knee from the hip forwards it’s about the same! And when I do these bends it really hurts. I tweaked during the week by over bending it and I was climbing the walls in pain.I’ll give it another day or so then I’ll head to my GP, who will probably refer me to my Physiotherapist, she’s really good and they fixed me when I fell apart in 2007. Hopefully some ultra sound and massage will start to free it up. In the meantime I am doing some core and upper body stuff but I can feel my cardio fitness seeping out of my body day by day!
Sigh, no running, no biking, maybe swimming but come on, seriously, how excited am I supposed to get about doing pushups!
Like I said …doldrums!
Friday, October 9, 2009
A little Highland spirit...
I picked this off a friend's Facebook page. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,344 metres (4,409 ft) above sea level. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of Scotland, close to the town of Fort William. The history of hill running on Ben Nevis dates back to 1895. William Swan, a barber from Fort William, made the first recorded timed ascent up the mountain in 2 hours 41 minutes. The first competitive race was held on 3 June 1898 under Scottish Amateur Athletic Association rules. Regular races were organised until 1903. The Ben Nevis Race has been run in its current form since 1937. It now takes place on the first Saturday in September every year, with a maximum of 500 competitors taking part. It starts and finishes on the outskirts of Fort William, and is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) long with 1,340 metres (4,400 ft) of ascent.
Due to the seriousness of the mountain environment, entry is restricted to those who have completed three hill races, and runners must carry waterproofs, a hat, gloves and a whistle; anyone who has not reached the summit after two hours is turned back. The current records have stood unbroken since 1984, when Kenny Stuart and Pauline Howarth of Keswick Athletics Club won the men's and the women's races with times of 1:25:34 and 1:43:25 respectively.
Here's a great video from this years race. I don't know about you but the pipes and drums always sends shivers down my spine and puts a lump in my throat. Here's to a fantastic weekend of racing, running or whatever you're doing to you all!
Due to the seriousness of the mountain environment, entry is restricted to those who have completed three hill races, and runners must carry waterproofs, a hat, gloves and a whistle; anyone who has not reached the summit after two hours is turned back. The current records have stood unbroken since 1984, when Kenny Stuart and Pauline Howarth of Keswick Athletics Club won the men's and the women's races with times of 1:25:34 and 1:43:25 respectively.
Here's a great video from this years race. I don't know about you but the pipes and drums always sends shivers down my spine and puts a lump in my throat. Here's to a fantastic weekend of racing, running or whatever you're doing to you all!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Last one I promise…
By day I am a mild mannered Project Manager, it’s only at the weekend (in the winter) I put my tights on! If you’ve ever worked in a project after all the shouting has finished there is a point where all the team huddle in room and go over Lessons Learned, usually a torturous process where you rehash mistakes and usually forget all the good things, all in an attempt to not to repeat the bad things and replicate the good.
Ten days have passed since 100 in the Hood and I have had plenty of time to reflect. I am, overall, left with a positive feeling, had I not been injured I would had finished well within the time, maybe buckled, maybe not; I would have needed a sub 24:00. With that in mind here is a list of the good;
Nutrition & Hydration: totally dialed in; Cytomax in 2 flavors, Amino Vital and Nuun worked a treat. I did have some Hammer Pepetuem but stayed away from it mostly. Chocloate#9 gels, ShotBloks PB&J sandwiches in the day, Chicken Noodle soup at night washed down with Coke or Sprit. I set my watch to nag me every 40 minutes and that worked well. I had been playing with my nutrition/hydration all Summer and that work really paid dividends.
The Walk/Run strategy; well I can only really gauge this for the first 20 miles or so but I felt strong up until the point where my leg just gave up the fight. I walked a lot during this race but I think, with hindsight, that my walking was strong, this was something I practiced a lot during my long runs so covering 3 miles per hour walking cross country was a good speed.
Equipment check, using multiple Garmins worked really well, I know this is a luxury but with falling prices it’s something to consider. I picked up a new Black Diamond Headtorch at the last minute as it was brighter than my Petzl, it burned through the batteries pretty quick but it was worth its weight in the dead of night. Going bananas with KTTape at mile 55 helped keep my leg supported and warm. Finally two iPods helped as well, music, podcasts, talking books they all while away the time, if you heard someone signing away to Britney Spears…well yeah that may just have been me!
My Training; derailed in the final 4-6 weeks; falling over and then having issues with my knee put me under a lot of mental pressure, in the end it played out ok, while the Santa Monica Mountains my not be the biggest, they’re pretty darn steep in places and amazingly hot in the Summer
The Brain Drain; I really did not know what to expect mentally, I’ve been up for 48 hours+ in the past during a stint in the military but that was 10+ years ago and I wasn’t moving like this. All in all I think I toughed this one out pretty well.
Feel the squeeze; I went to bed Sunday night with compression tights and socks on and I think this kick started my recovery.
Two of everyting; spares, lots of spares, socks, shoes, shirts, batteries, gels the list goes on...Some I used some I didn't but they were nice to have.
And onto the bad:
You’ve only got two feet; Treat blisters early and frequent; an extra 10 minutes spent looking after you feet is easily made up if it saves you from dropping a minute a mile over 20, 30 or 40 miles. Wash your feet; my shoes let in a ton of trail crud, I mean a ton, actually washing my feet clean would probably saved me from getting one of the two blisters I got.
Overpack; I underestimated the cold, partially because of my lack of speed I felt cold but a running fleece would have made all the difference.
Take the time; in the same vein as treating blisters, taking the time to change into my compression tights would have helped my leg with support and warmth, hoping about doing this on the side of a trail is the issue I had with that. That’s my issue!
Race to pace; I printed a Pace Chart for my crew and I and then left mine behind, I didn’t really need it but having the distance between A/S would have helped.
One shot or two; caffeine tablets, buy some and take them!
There are probably a few more that will come to me but these seem to be the ones that have floated to the surface.
My injuries are all on the mend, I ditched the crutches day 2, I was more likely to trip and break my neck with them, I stopped wearing the aircast on my ankle last Friday and switched to an Ace tubes on my ankle and knee, there is a little swelling left in both and I have about 90% range of motion in my ankle and about 65% in my knee, I am having trouble bending it, there is a solid lump of ‘stuff’ in my quad where I pulled it, swelling, scar tissue etc but it’s getting better every day. I never filled my Vicodin prescription.
I put back on the 10lbs I lost, I lost 6lbs during the weekend and I kept burning off the weight through to Tuesday and since then I have been solid diet of chips, ice cream and chocolate!
I have a whole bunch of product reports to write up including Recofit Cooling Sleeves, the Black Diamond Headtorch and Chocolate #9 gels these all worked really well for me.
And with that I close I out this adventure. I am still kicking around what I can squeeze into the rest of the year, but I am thinking long game here and until I am 95%+ I am on ice, literally and metaphorically, more to follow…
Ten days have passed since 100 in the Hood and I have had plenty of time to reflect. I am, overall, left with a positive feeling, had I not been injured I would had finished well within the time, maybe buckled, maybe not; I would have needed a sub 24:00. With that in mind here is a list of the good;
Nutrition & Hydration: totally dialed in; Cytomax in 2 flavors, Amino Vital and Nuun worked a treat. I did have some Hammer Pepetuem but stayed away from it mostly. Chocloate#9 gels, ShotBloks PB&J sandwiches in the day, Chicken Noodle soup at night washed down with Coke or Sprit. I set my watch to nag me every 40 minutes and that worked well. I had been playing with my nutrition/hydration all Summer and that work really paid dividends.
The Walk/Run strategy; well I can only really gauge this for the first 20 miles or so but I felt strong up until the point where my leg just gave up the fight. I walked a lot during this race but I think, with hindsight, that my walking was strong, this was something I practiced a lot during my long runs so covering 3 miles per hour walking cross country was a good speed.
Equipment check, using multiple Garmins worked really well, I know this is a luxury but with falling prices it’s something to consider. I picked up a new Black Diamond Headtorch at the last minute as it was brighter than my Petzl, it burned through the batteries pretty quick but it was worth its weight in the dead of night. Going bananas with KTTape at mile 55 helped keep my leg supported and warm. Finally two iPods helped as well, music, podcasts, talking books they all while away the time, if you heard someone signing away to Britney Spears…well yeah that may just have been me!
My Training; derailed in the final 4-6 weeks; falling over and then having issues with my knee put me under a lot of mental pressure, in the end it played out ok, while the Santa Monica Mountains my not be the biggest, they’re pretty darn steep in places and amazingly hot in the Summer
The Brain Drain; I really did not know what to expect mentally, I’ve been up for 48 hours+ in the past during a stint in the military but that was 10+ years ago and I wasn’t moving like this. All in all I think I toughed this one out pretty well.
Feel the squeeze; I went to bed Sunday night with compression tights and socks on and I think this kick started my recovery.
Two of everyting; spares, lots of spares, socks, shoes, shirts, batteries, gels the list goes on...Some I used some I didn't but they were nice to have.
And onto the bad:
You’ve only got two feet; Treat blisters early and frequent; an extra 10 minutes spent looking after you feet is easily made up if it saves you from dropping a minute a mile over 20, 30 or 40 miles. Wash your feet; my shoes let in a ton of trail crud, I mean a ton, actually washing my feet clean would probably saved me from getting one of the two blisters I got.
Overpack; I underestimated the cold, partially because of my lack of speed I felt cold but a running fleece would have made all the difference.
Take the time; in the same vein as treating blisters, taking the time to change into my compression tights would have helped my leg with support and warmth, hoping about doing this on the side of a trail is the issue I had with that. That’s my issue!
Race to pace; I printed a Pace Chart for my crew and I and then left mine behind, I didn’t really need it but having the distance between A/S would have helped.
One shot or two; caffeine tablets, buy some and take them!
There are probably a few more that will come to me but these seem to be the ones that have floated to the surface.
My injuries are all on the mend, I ditched the crutches day 2, I was more likely to trip and break my neck with them, I stopped wearing the aircast on my ankle last Friday and switched to an Ace tubes on my ankle and knee, there is a little swelling left in both and I have about 90% range of motion in my ankle and about 65% in my knee, I am having trouble bending it, there is a solid lump of ‘stuff’ in my quad where I pulled it, swelling, scar tissue etc but it’s getting better every day. I never filled my Vicodin prescription.
I put back on the 10lbs I lost, I lost 6lbs during the weekend and I kept burning off the weight through to Tuesday and since then I have been solid diet of chips, ice cream and chocolate!
I have a whole bunch of product reports to write up including Recofit Cooling Sleeves, the Black Diamond Headtorch and Chocolate #9 gels these all worked really well for me.
And with that I close I out this adventure. I am still kicking around what I can squeeze into the rest of the year, but I am thinking long game here and until I am 95%+ I am on ice, literally and metaphorically, more to follow…
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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