It's on like Donkey Kong!

Yesterday was my long tempo run, 8 miles at 7:05, first and last are a warm up and cool down. My mind wasn’t in it, in fact I had said on Twitter…

So after some procrastination I just got changed and got on with it. I knew within a quarter mile it was going to be good run. The route takes me around my local neighborhood; there are some short steepish hills both up and down and some longer sweeping ones too, as well as some traffic lights that I have to stop at and where I pause my Garmin. The miles were just clicking by and when I hit the end of mile 4 in 28:06 I knew it was going well and I decided to keep the pressure on I clocked through the 10k distance and hit the lap counter, this would completely throw me off at mile 7 but I wanted to see where I was at for the 10k. I finished the 7 miles in 50:03 and then added the eighth mile in 6:56 for a total of 8.21 in 56:59 just under three minutes faster than my run on Thursday which was over a quarter mile less.

My 10k came in at 42:48, needless to say I am happy, ecstatic, cartwheeling around the lounge, that’s 5:05 minutes off my PR…as for next Sunday, oh yeah it is, as they say, on like Donkey Kong!

A week in review…or a week of reviews!

Phew, wow what a week, sorry for all the reviewing, I got a bit behind and the only way to get through it was to shotgun it out. Still it’s all good stuff so if you have a minute check out. Anyway well normal service will now be resumed, I have a couple of thing left in my review box but I’ll be putting those out over the next couple of weeks.

So it’s Friday, how was your week? Get some good runs in? I hope so. Mine went pretty well. Monday I had beach path intervals, 2 mile warm up, 5 x 1200 @6:05 mile pace 1 mile cool down, I had heavy legs and the closest I got was around 6:29, I was surprised given that I had had Sunday off? It was inevitable my running has been on the up and up and sometimes you just need that body check to keep you in place. Tuesday I hit the pool, 1000 meters in 40 minutes and that was that, I need to work on my swimming endurance and style probably but I am book marking that for now. Wednesday late night in the office…enough said!

Thursday I was back on my faux track, the beach path, I had an 8 mile short tempo scheduled, 1 mile warm up, 6 mile at 7:05 pace and 1 mile cool down, Conditions were perfect and with little breeze the temp was around 65, the sun was out but there was high cloud, I really nearly almost so close I can touch it nailed my splits;

I finished the 8 mile run in 59:53, that’s a first for me a best I can remember 8 miles in under an hour, so I was really happy. I also got this awesome sunset as a finishing bonus. Interestingly, or should I say frighteningly to hit a sub 3:00 marathon my splits, each and every one of them. need to be at 6:51!

Tonight I hit the gym, Friday night…it’s gotta be one of the quietest nights of the week, nothing major a good legs work out and plenty or stretching.

Tomorrow I have another 8 miles scheduled, long tempo this time which means a slightly slower pace and that ends Week 10. My Spring ‘A’ race is next week, the Redondo Beach 10k, I upped from the 5k to the 10k, for two reasons (1) I don’t think I have it in me to hit a sub 20:00 5k and (2) this race is actually the race where I set my 10k PR three years ago, my 10k PR is probably the worst one on my running resume so, while not making any predictions, let’s say I am looking to improve by some and a bit!

That will end this training cycle, depending on next week I think it’s been pretty successful in bringing some pep to my pace, I’ll be doing an analysis, of course, after the event. The next ‘A’ race will be the Rock ‘N’ Roll in June…there are a few things coming down the pike which might put this under some real pressure including a job change (for the good) the impact of which is hard to measure at this stage…we’ll see?!?

The Sufferfest draw was held this evening, the answers were Walter, see this post and Shower Cubicles see the pic to the right from Wikipedia, the winners were: Wes and Kevin, email me at quadrathon at gmail dot com and I’ll send you the code, good luck and remember to post a review once you’ve stopped shaking!

And that kinda wraps that up. I have some more Giveaways coming up in the next week so stay tuned, especially if you have cold feet, sore knees and/or live in or near Nashville or Tennessee…all will be revealed!

Have a great weekend and those of you in the 20/20 challenge don’t forget to send me you weigh in numbers.

Review; Moji Knee

We all have sore bits, and we’ve all sat in the evening with a bag of frozen peas on sore bits, it’s ok you can admit it, you’re among friends.

If you’re lucky somewhere along the line you’ve picked up a flexible ice pack that you’ve strapped on by way of a tea towel and if you’ve been really lucky you may have one with some rough fabric and an inch of Velcro at one end!

Well as Dylan once said the times they are a changing, well they are at least for your knees…say hello your new best friend, the Moji!

From their website:

…“Moji products apply 21st century technology and materials to create innovation in the icing category. A host of published research supports icing (aka "cold compression therapy") as one of the simplest, most-effective, and critical measures toward post-workout recovery, injury prevention, and rehabilitation”…

So here’s the lay person’s review. The Moji comes as a two piece kit; the cold cell unit and the Compression Wrap, they’re presented in a simple plastic envelope which allows you to store the cold cell in the freezer without issue (issue = leaking stuff i.e. ice cream!) you can tuck the Wrap in your sports drawer. Let’s review each piece individually;

The cold cell is designed as a circular, jointed unit that allows it to mold itself to your knee, each cell contains proprietary gel which is designed to retain its temperature for at least 20 minutes post freezer and not freeze solid and in fact it doesn’t even become that stiff.

One one side it’s covered in a soft fabric which is gentle on your skin and has the ability to remove any moisture. The flexibility actually allows you to envelope your knee and actually target the whole area with, well, cold!

The back side has the soft loop end of Velcro which attaches to the wrap.

The Wrap is made predominantly from PolarTec fabric, it’s an X shape with a wicking knee panel and has four straps that wrap around, in fact they act as compression, did I mention this week that I like compression…I think I did once of twice, to your knee to add additional support. Silicon stretch tabs with velcro ensure that the Moji stays on, so you can walk around with the risk of it slipping down. In fact you can jump about with it on while chasing two kids around…been there done that!

Its a bit bulky but ladies with a long skirt or men or women with loose pant could easily wear it underneath without issue…or just wear shorts and to hell with the funny looks, when you're 40+ like me who cares!

The Cold Cell attaches to the Wrap by way of several Velcro “stripes” and these effectively hold it in place within the wrap; it’s very simple and very effective.

Moji’s website provides lots of info in their Interactive Library, articles not only on icing but also, ironically on warming up, there’s a blog, videos and of course a shop where you can order on line. Currently the Moji is available as a knee wrap and a back wrap, a leg wrap and shoulder wrap are scheduled for release this year. There are several retail outlets scattered across the US and one in Canada. The knee wrap is priced at $89, the back wrap is $129 and there are several accessories as well. Clearly this is not a cheap purchase but it if you are prone to sore knees (or back) this could very well be an investment for you.

I suppose the question I should ask is would I have bought it, well, the answer is probably not, (although I am such a gear junkie that just maybe I would have?) but this is based the fact that my knees, while occasionally sore are not as much as a major issue for me as they are for some. If you are someone who has or is having problems then this really could be a sound and solid investment.

This product was provided free of charge by Moji. 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.