Cyber Monday come early…

Just a few things that arrived in my in-box, I thought I would share the love…treat someone you love, treat yourself…hell, treat me!

Click on image to go to site

Christmas A-Z

5 days to go….don’t panic!

Ampiphod Waistbelt

Bodyglide

Clif Shot Gels

Dirty Girl Gaiters

Elite SportShield

FlexPower

Garmin

Headtorch

Indoor trainer

Jewelry

KT Tape

Little Stick

Mission Skin Care

New shoes

Oakleys

ProWash

Quilted Race Shirts

RoadID

Sufferfest Training Video

Triggerpoint roller

UD Wasp

vo2 Max Test

Wobble Board

X-Lab Super Wing

Yankz

Zombie Runner Swag

Black Friday…get em’ while they’re hot!

Unique to the US Black Friday is the first available shopping day after Thanksgiving, assuming the store is actually closed on Thanksgiving I saw a few open on the way to my Turkey Trot yesterday. Basically the stores are vying for you attention and dollars with them opening their doors earlier and earlier…7:00am, 5:00am, 4:00am even midnight, and yes some people have been camping out all week!

While I like a bargain like the next person it all gets a bit crazy this time of year!

There was a time when I would have been there in line, well to hell with that, now we have the internet! So here are bunch of Black Friday deals that have come across my inbox and you do not need to leave the comfort of your armchair for:

Primal Wear are offering 50% off everything in their E-Team category, my first ‘unusual’ cycling shirt was from Primal so I always have a soft spot for them, follow the link and use the code ETeam511

Voler is also blowing out this years inventory so there is 20% off everything including stuff that’s already in their sale, Voler makes most of Hammer’s cycling kit

ProBikeKit has up to 70% on some items, 15% cashback on frames and has a Christmas Advent Calendar with 40% each item leading up to Christmas

Don’t forget to check out PricePoint, Nashbar and Competitive Cyclist too the latter is offering a free online subscription to the new cycling magazine Peleton

Sugoi have a 40% off sale through the weekend,so if you are not a Brand Champion you can get your hands some of their great running, biking or tri clothing

Rudy Project is having a one day extravaganza , spend $X and get Y and Z thrown in!

My friends at Wilderness Running Company has a blowout on their shoes with some pairs over 50% discounted including some winter ones with nice features such as Gore-Tex, using quad10 at the checkout will get you an extra 10% off

Hammer Nutrition, has it’s annual 20% off sale, that’s 20% off everything, while I don’t use their nutritional products so much these days, I love their cycling kits and they also carry clothing for runners and triathletes

Garmin has its Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals posted online including the Forerunner 405, Edge bike mounts and HR straps

Talking of Garmin, RoadRunnerSports has the latest Forerunner the 310XT at 25% off it’s now down to $299 as well as lots of shoes at 25% off and a whole bunch of Christmas specials

Gu has a bunch of specials, the one I like is the 20% of their sample pack, one of everything they sell!

So there you have it some of these deals are just for this weekend other last a little longer so get on them pretty quick – oh and full disclosure I am an affiliate of WRC and PBK which means I get a little bit for every dollar you spend. I have a whole bunch of ideas for Christmas gifts that I will be posting soon too so stay tuned.

Stock up on stuffers!

Yeah we can all spend $5000 on a bike or pack our loved one off to a training camp for a week and look after all the domestic mess, bliss at home and get a gazillion brownie points in the process. But the real trick at this time of year is remembering those hints that have been dropped during the previous 335 days, it’s about remembering all those little “oh I wish I had” comments and getting them under the tree asap. So here’s a list of super stocking stuffers all for around $30:

For the swimmer in the house help them with their stroke and consider these Speedo Hand Fins, I have been using them for the few months and while I do not look like Michael Phelps my upper body is starting to resemble his 10 y/o brother!

Accessorize your trail runner with a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters; a firm favorite among trail runners, these keep the crud out of your shoes and let you splash some color around, you can do likewise with some arm sleeves from Moeben, Sugoi or Primal.

Nothing says I love you more than a big tube BodyGlide, chaffing sucks! Of course if the mood takes you you can start applying it to each other!

For you aches and pains invest in The Stick or a foam roller, I little self loving goes a long way! Seriously make this part of your training routine, be proactively preventative rather than regrettably reactive!

This Sugoi Swag-o bago is great for keeping a standby bag full of running stuff or your soggy swim stuff, big enough to carry an a load of kit it folds down to nothing and costs almost that as well, use quad10 at the checkout to keep a little cheer in your pocket.

If you are like me and run on the way home from work you’re exposing your car to all your glorious funk and crud, even worse if you’ve been on the trails, save your interior with this car seat cover, a little more than $30 the 10% discount you’ll get from using quad10 at the checkout get’s it pretty darn close.

If you’re looking for something to tickle your tastebuds check out these awesome gels from Chocolate #9, I used them during my 100 miler; there’s a review here and I’ve hooked you up with a discount, you have to call them to order, their website can’t handle coupon codes yet so call 1-866-999-1909 and mention my blog for a 15% discount! Remember never try anything new on race day...try this on your ice cream first!

Even in these winter months there’s sometimes a need for sunglasses, personally I never leave home without a pair. These Tofosis come with three interchangeable lenses; clear; for night, red; for flat and smoke; for the sun to cover most of your running/cycling bases, with a bag and cloth thrown in these are a steal again and there currently half price quad10 will take another 10% off the price!

So with a little time left till the big day consider one, some or all of the above for the athlete in your household or if that person is yourself…well treat yourself!

Christmas come early!

How cool is this!

Last month I posted up a couple of shoe reviews onto Running Shoes Reviews. Each month they have a draw from the people who have submitted a review and last month I came second! I wasn’t expecting any prizes so I was delighted to get an email asking me for my mailing address as there was a box of free stuff with my name on it! Anyway last week it arrived inside I found the following: my handmade winners certificate, a water bottle (you can never have too many of those right!), some Hammer gels; yum, some Honey Stinger gels and some Sharkies both of which I have been dieing to try but have not seen in my LR or LBS! Awesome! So a big thankyou to Shoe Running, check out her blog and excellent website which is full of reviews and add you own and you could be a winner also!

The Whos and Hows; Stocking Stuffing Brain Candy

What do runners read about? I would hazard a guess; running! My nightstand is adorned with editions of Runners World and Trail Runner but if you want something a little more substantive finding some quality reads can be a little tougher. Hands up if you’ve read Ultra Marathon Man? You have, Ok now hands up if you have read Duel in the Sun? A few less hands; if you haven’t read the latter you should; Boston at its finest. Well, here are some suggestions on a few you might not have read, not surprisingly they have an ultrarunning slant, but even for the casual 5k runner this provide a great portal into what we, as runners and as human beings, are capable of.

Survival of the Fittest; Dr Mike Stroud.
Were you impressed with Dean Karnazes’ 50/50? In 2003 Dr Stroud and Sir Ranulph Fiennes ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents! The book explores the human evolution, endurance and adaptability. Not overly sciency it’s an illuminating read and if you ever needed a book to motivate you to exercise this is it!

Running Through the Wall; Neil Jamison
Thirty five stories from thirty five ultra runners from the front, middle and back of the pack. Each story, written by the runners and edited by Jamieson, tells the personal tale of highs lows and everything in between. If you ever needed to find an answer to the question “why do you run 100 miles” this is a good place to start!

The Extra Mile: Pam Read
A winner of back to back Badwater titles, a mother and step mother, entrepreneur and Race Director. A reasonably candid story of Read’s life, through to the books publishing in October 2006; including her battle with anorexia. She is a far better runner than she is a writer ergo it’s an easy read and not the page turner it could have been.

Some others that are on my bookshelf:

Feet in the Clouds: Richard Askwith – obsessive fell running in the UK
UltraRunning; My Story: Mike Bouscaren – exploring the elemental side of ultra marathoning
The End of the Trail: John David Fischer – an average runner runs the WSER

The above are focused on the Whos of the sport so I thought I would throw in the Hows. I get asked quite often where can people find info on ultra running, not that I am a very deep font of information; I still consider myself a newbie, but I am always happy to share what little I know, and most of that has come from this book. It is as close to an “All you wanted to know and were afraid to ask about Ultrarunning” as I have seen anywhere:

A Step Beyond; A Definitive Guide to Ultra Running; edited by Don Allison
In a similar fashion to Running Through the Wall, each chapter is written by those in the know, Broken out over seven topics: Training and Racing Advice, Physiology, Making History, Races & Places, Ultra People, Philosophy and Humor and with articles that address subjects that include; Hill Running, How to Walk While Running and The Agony of Da-Feet there are even several for your partner: the inviting "Pacing in a 100 Mile: A Nice Way to Spend the Night" and the prescriptive; "Crewing: Ten Commandments For Those Who Sit and Wait". If you thinking about running an ultra or you have and want to learn more buy this book!

All of the above are ideal stocking stuffers for the runner in your life, if that happens to be you print this post and leave it somewhere inconspicuous for them to see; I find duct taped to the bathroom mirror, underneath the toilet lid or in the middle of their 52" flat screen TV just before their favorite TV show is a good start!

Finally wishing Good Luck to friends racing this weekend; Billy, Patsy (WM24) and Kelly (GGP) at CIM and Frayed Laces looking to BQ in Las Vegas and of course to you if I missed you!

What you see is what you get; how to customize you Forerunner screens

And so in light of Alice’s and Bob’s recent observations that the Garmin Forerunner 305 is now on sale at Costco for $160 (guess what my wife is getting for Christmas!) I thought I would share some of the features and things you can do with yours, this will I think also apply to a 205 with the exception of anything to do with HR.

When I first got my Garmin Forerunner 305, one of the annoyances was the need to dig into the settings menu to look at the time, it wasn’t until somebody told me you can customize your screens that I realized what other info I could look at. So this quick post will tell you how you can set up the three screens to see the data you want to see rather than the default.

There are three screens that rotate available for customization: Main 1, Main 2 and Running, this is the same for “Biking” which I use and for “Other” which I haven’t, I assume swimming, skiing and snowboarding, or indeed anything else that begins with "S"...you know skating, stamp collecting and Scrabble etc, could be used here. A couple of other points to note; in case you wondering what the little white square is just below the word Garmin, it's a reminder to me to switch between Bike and Run and the "flecking" below the Start/stop and Lap Buttons is delamination of the surface due to insect repellent during the summer; water resistant; yes, insect repellent resistant; no!

Anyway to get back on topic. To set up the screens to show some really interesting data follow these instructions:

Press Mode to enter the Settings menu
Use Up/Down to scroll down to Settings, press Enter
Press Enter to select General
Scroll down to Data Fields press Enter
Select Main 1 Press Enter

Here you will be prompted to select the number of quadrants you want and will see the screen divided into four quarters, in the middle is the quadrant tally scroll up or down to select the number of quadrants you want (1 is minimum, 4 is maximum). Using the Up/Down to scroll to the number of quadrants you want, press Enter. You will then be prompted to use the Up/Down and Enter buttons to select the field you want to view.

You then repeat that for all for quadrants. Press Mode to exit back to the Main 1/Main2/Running menu and repeat for Main 2 and Running.

My preferences are:
Running: Pace / Lap Pace / Calories
Main 1: Pace / Average Pace / Distance / Lap Distance (a lap for me is 1 mile)
Main 2: Distance / Heart Rate / Average Cadence / Time, this is moving time

For Biking I have the following:
Biking: Time / Current Lap / Average Cadence / Lap Cadence
Main 1: Speed / Average Speed / Distance / Lap Distance
Main 2: Distance / Heart Rate / Average Cadence / Time, this is moving time

As you can see there are some repeats, to be honest after playing with it these are the ones that I come back to more often that not.

For both running and biking for the cadence to work you will need a Footpod and Cadence Monitor. The Footpod also allows you to use a Forerunner on a Treadmill and the Cadence Monitor can be used on a bike trainer, both of which are important to those of you in more winter climates.

Finally you can vary the speed of screen rotation. From the same menu as Data Fields select Display, select Auto Scroll Timer; I suggest Fast to minimize the risk of running into a lamp post while gazing at all this newly discovered data.

PS the layout of text to photos looked ok to me on a 19"monitor at 1280 x 1024

Wanna ziga zig ha!

Well that time of year is nearly upon us…burned hands from retrieving fallen chestnuts that were roasting in an open fire, the glazed-over-my lifeforce-is-being-sucked-out-of-me-as-the-camera-rotates-around-my -spinning-head-while-I-stand-in-the-center-of-the-shopping-mall look, the persistent sting of paper cuts from all the wrapping and the pseudo waxing from scotch tape. So when you manage to break free of the tractor beam of the mall, hit the internet 'cos there’s a bit of shopping to do! If you’re stuck for a gift for the runner in your life here are a few things that have caught my eye or put another way “I tell you what I want what I really want…

Nathan HPL 028 Vest, if you run with hand bottles but want somewhere to carry gels, chap-stick or suncream this lightweight vest will accommodate them and a little more with it’s elasticized back pocket where you can stash a jacket, arm-warmers etc. Talking of arm-warmers Moeben Sleeves overcome the “it’s cold now but I will get warm soon", plenty of fancy colors and a handy dandy pocket for a gel etc.

As it is cold for 90% of the country, it’s even got below 50f here in Southern California this week, most runners will be wearing tights of some description, to avoid the "clunking of the junk" us fellas normally end up with shorts on underneath, well comfortable it isn’t! The Asics Transitive Brief overcomes that…warning this is not the most flattering photo! However if you want to go and get all compressed CW-X Insulator Stabilyx Tights will keep you all neat and tidy as well as warm and supported, just to be fair, as cold legs is cold legs there is also a ladies version.

Thinking ahead to the spring thaw avoid unnecessary blisters and slushy shoes as best you can with Dirty Girl Gaiters, don't worry dirty guys can wear them to!

If it’s so bad you really can’t head outside, curl up in front of the treadmill with Ultrarunning - My Story, Mike Bouscaren’s narrative of his journey of self-discovery through Ultra running.

Finally if nothing else fails slam this in your stereo, you’ll be running before you know it!

PS here's a quick shout-out to Frayed Laces who conquered the Honolulu Marathon this past weekend...rest up and return!