the good thing is the wet snow is gone and you can run properly again, the bad thing, the city of espoo is saving energy by not switching on the lights along the running trail and you don’t see a thing on it. with every step this is a nice little surprise game and a good strengthening exercise for your ankles.
Tags: darkness
the riddle of the mystery pair of trail running shoes that we presented last week seems to be lifted. the friendly folks at asics of whom tom@asics is one replied by email and wrote the following.
Thank you for your email. I believe the shoes you have just purchased are the same as the ASICS GEL Torana 2.
As a brand we sometimes sell shoes into national accounts with different names to those sold into our running specialists. However, the shoes still have the same features and technologies. You
should be able to find plenty of info on the Torana 2 on the website.
well, well that’s selling the bulk cheaper, but guessing from the higher development cost of a separate model, but lower additional manufacturing cost of nearly the same, it’s easier to just use different colours and perhaps change the design a little to reach sufficient differentiation without incurring too much additional cost. this much about running shoe business theory, or actually the attempt at it.
the shoe itself is solid footwear with a hell lot of technology built-in, judging from asics’ product webpage. the outer material really prevents the wet environment to penetrate the surface. for my taste, and the one of my feet, the shoe is a little bit too rigid. yes, it was the old beginners mistake, didn’t protect the sensitive places. hope the shoe will give in a bit more after a while.
it felt pretty good to switch backto the summer tyres again after the snow has gone completely away again. the adidas response cushion is really soft in comparison. the 21.5km in a 4:15min average became more a fartlek than a long and relaxed run. if not for anything else, it was to celebrate day 100 of this project!
Tags: asics gel, asics gel torana 2
it’s day 99 and week 14 just got completed. the test race a week ago has brought back motivation. now it’s time to have our sight on test race #3 in two weeks time. another 40-50 seconds of the current time, to bring the 10k time down to the 36min mark, preferrably a bit below than a lot above. the recipe is focus more on consistence than on speed. Long runs, basic runs and farlek with accelerations every now and then at the end.
week 14 was with 76.5km total distance, quite ok for a 10k training, but not really much when thinking that it’s the marathon we prepare for. the runs were partly quite slow, due to the snow that came last weekend. Also the new shoes are stiffer and feel “slower”. now that the snow has gone away, a switch back to the old shoes is possible. the coming week really should up the ante, the real long distance training needs to begin. make the weekly distance a three figure number. starting from tomorrow’s 20k run.
a sneak preview into the sub-2:30 marathon training plan showed training for 7 days a week with a total distance of around 120km per week. a one-week trial in the winter without the 1000m or 2000m interval runs would provide us with a “tasting sample” of next year’s summer. enjoying the summer during the rainy early winter season has always been my dream…
Tags: marathon training
our hero had to pick up the princess from day care today, because the queen had one of her pre-christmas socials. so running after work didn’t fit in the normal way. this called for a back to front re-planning of the daily schedule. the trick is thereby to identify the items with no delay (or too high penalty) potential. this definitely requires the black belt of project management.
running with the princess means pushing the stroller. this is ok for a shorter run of 10 - 12km. longer 15 - 20km runs can turn out tricky, i.e. bear too high penalty. if the princess falls asleep, it will mean a hell of a time later in the evening when it’s actually bed time - speaking from experience, not to recommend. the other risk is the princess gets bored and wants out from the stroller, not a good service request to get as a running dad while out in the forests. it distorts the coherent running session. so long story short, running has to be separate from the daddy-princess quality time. afterwards can turn out quite late, hence before is the way to go.
consequences on lunch, which is around 11:30 - 12:00, are, not too heavy, not too much. normally it takes 4 hours after a meal to be really ready to go out for training.
the chain off effects:
- princess to be picked up from day care before 5pm (hard stop)
- driving to day care 20 - 25 mins, 4:30pm to leave from the parking lot at work
- showering and changing 20 mins, 4:10pm to be back from the run
- 17 - 19km run in about 1:20 - 1:25h, to be out at 2:40pm, latest 2:45pm
- getting to changing rooms and changing, 10mins
=> keyboard at work to be dropped at 2:30pm, and stick to the salad bar at lunch!
well, in the end the cutlet won in the company restaurant and afterwards there was cake and sparkling wine at a brief celebration at work. the result was felt while out on the running trail. only after 8-9km the blood relocated from the stomch to the legs and helped out there.
but more importantly the schedule held and the little princess learned to put on her shoes during the evening’s daddy-princess quality time. next time she gets them the right way round.
just bought a new pair of running shoes for the winter. the local budget sport outlet had a number of winter and off-road running shoes on sale. although a pair of nike were about half the price of the asics I ended up buying, I don’t regret the decision. inexpensive nike shoes have th eproblem that they are also quite modest on the performance side. this pair didn’t provide any support and felt just like a soft rubber layer under the feet. the asics keep the foot well in place and provide some support for a pair of normal feet.
after an initial test over 13,5 km this evening, I’m sitting in front of the internet and would like to know more about the shoe I bought. however, it’s difficult to identify the model by looking at the shoe. left the box at the shop, they should deal with the resulting waste. also cut off all the labels before going out and those are now below nasty dipers in the trash. no can do to retrieve those anymore. the receipt from the shop just says asics gel terrain. but this search term in Google doesn’t provide any resuts that would fit to a model named like this.the asics web page doesn’t show a model like this one, but that’s no surprise, the outlet mostly sells remainders of last year’s stock at reduced prices. if any reader identifies this model, let me know.
(click the picture to enlarge it)
running with this pair of off-road shoes on the snowy trails worked out well. in comparison to yesterday’s “summer tyres”, there was no slippery situation today. the shoe is stiffer, which makes sense given the more uneven ground it’s made for. the feet have still to get used to the more restricted mobility. the profile provides sufficient grip in the snow and slush. the outer material is water abrasive. a working package for 90 EUR.
Tags: asics gel, new shoes, winter training
click the picture to enlarge
same place a bit over one month earlier looked differently. last weekend brought the winter over europe. in finland’s and sweden’s capitals air traffic was partly halted. in germany the usual traffic chaos on highways and state roads. 4 people died in austria in an accident. in switzerland fallen trees took the rhätische railway out. in southern europe, italy and greece strong winds stopped the ferry traffic to and from their major habours. the winter said hellp to europe. and winter tyres are deerly needed, not only on the car, but very much also at your feet. was out on a long run today, 22km. in the deep snow, it was good training for the ankles and the muscles around it that look after its stability. often had to jump of the sidewalk onto the street, because snow on the sidewalk was 30-40cm deep and no one cared to look after it - lazy house owners.
but the adidas response shoe is more of a summer model. it likes the direct contact to the tarmac. additional layers of water in any form between it and the solid ground quickly result in aquaplaning exercises. this pair of shoes are not made for winter conditions. in addition, the adidas shoes have now 860km under their be… soles. so two reasons now, it’s high time to look out for and hunt down a pair of good winter running shoes. the nearby budget sport oulet features a good selection of reduced last year models. luckily a quick internet search led to a 2007 runner’s world winter shoe guide. on top came out the asics model gt-2130, the new balance 858 and a reebok fusion 2. further searches provide long lists of trail running shoes. marketing has fully left its mark in this business. target segments are defined to utmost detail. you can get special running shoes for your training on tarmac, forest, trail grounds, for summer and winter, for all the different pronations, for races, and what not. soon it’s like tooth paste, one for the mornings another one for the evenings.
the blogosphere provides at least some hints on what not to buy. Scott Dunlap recommends with valid reasons to stay away from gore-tex running shoes. ok, no gore-tex. and the smarter fitter blog points to surprises when ordering a same pair online directly from the manufacturer. in addition there’s a good summary of the whole list of things to be aware of when buying running shoes.
i’ll just pass by the local budget sport shop at a next possible occasion and grab what’s on offer there, seems to have some grip and fits when putting on.
Tags: adidas response 16, new shoes, running gear
week 13 reminded of a rollercoaster ride. monday after work, emergency call from home, the little one screams and no one knows why. by the time i arrive at home it turned out that the shoes and gloves haven’t been warm enough, feet and hands got cold on the way home from day care. well, well, most probably not the last time the little one will get cold feet in her life, perhaps daddy gets less of a shock next time. anyway, the positive side of it, running wasn’t deleted off the evening schedule. and it was good monday night - a fartlek with an average of 4:11min/km, that’s a crisp pace - not so much due to the little one’s screaming escapades but rather due to the fact that we did only basic runs on the weekend.
tuesday, wednesday, was a fall back to the previous week. only little motivation and unsuccessful interval runs. no good at all. thursday and friday were intentionally kept light in order to get the bet out of yesterday’s 10k test race and win back motivation through that. it seems it worked in the end. the race showed improvement over the previous test. and motivation is back.
sunday, although a relaxed run was on schedule, it was family and car tyre changing time. just in time before the winter said hello with a big bang. the snow on the picture on the left came down in 5 hours. week 14 will see a lot of running in the snow until it’ll turn to sludge towards the end of the week. today we had a rest from running, it was deserved.
micke-midlife had to prove himself in the second test today. and it looked good, almost too good.
the aktia cup is a 10k run winter series held in vantaa, north of helsinki. the series started today and consists of 5 runs, one per month from november to march. registration, start and finish organized in and at a local school buidling with an adjacent car park. that one was needed, it filled up pretty quickly. there was quite a crowd out there. and apparently a good one, guessing from the running gear and the thorough warm up. already an hour ahead of start gazelle like, functional asics gear wearing groups trotted along the first kilometers of the race route to warm up. either they were just show-offs or actually good runners.
quickly after the start it turned out to be the latter. there was a sizable group of runners ahead of our hero right away. however, we missed out on the old trick. when warming up do some very late accelerations just before the start and approach the starting field from the front. this way you end up in the front of the pack, not a couple of rows further behind and have to push and jump your first 200m between slower runners in front of you. we were pampered with the relaxed atmosphere at the first test race. in vantaa the elbow rules apply. juhana, a colleague from work knew to play this game better. there he stood in the first or second row.
never the less, the first km appeared way too fast, 3:21min, this normally takes revenge towards the end of the race distance (and it did). the race route was quite boring, it’s 5km in one direction, then a u-turn and back again. the first half in 17:57min still appeared really fast, some hope arose that this could be a result way below target. the second half on the way back taught us differently. km times were suddenly above target and attempts to raise running speed even a little were rather short lived. it more or less went the other way. the second but last km was in 3:50min quite disappointing. this was running at the (current) limit. finally when turning on to the home straight with the finish in front of the eyes some helpers stood chatting in front of the the official race time clock. if looks could kill this moment had seen some casualities - death by deadly looks right through the chest…
When crossing the finish line i saw the clock stopping for me at 36:40min. another race at clockwork presicion, 3:40min/km was the target, a 5 sec/km improvement over the previous, the first test race. satisfaction and an inner smile for the rest of the day.
juhana’s version of the race (in finnish), he runs at surprisingly similar heart rates.
day 85, a total of 68km in week 12 is slightly more than the 63km the week before, but it’s still not there where it should be. running doesn’t feel the same right now than it did earlier in the fall. the threshold to go out appears to be higher. for monday it was way too high. just tired after work. body pump on tuesday provided a welcome change from the running routine and a 3 day muscle pain afterwards. most probably as a consequence of the body pump session (+ the current motivation), the wednesday’s intervals were rubbish. the rest of the week then just basic runs. something needs to change in the training program.
last sunday was father’s day in finland. unlike mother’s day which is pretty much harmonized across countries on the second sunday of may (except for the uk), father’s day is all over the calendar. in central europe e.g. it’s in june, in the us, japan, canada and the uk as well, australia and new zealand have it in september and the european nordic countries put it to the second sunday in november.
the good thing with father’s day is daddy gets a present! that’s not too difficult for the rest of the family with a running dad in the family. whatever running gear not yet part of the wide set of accessories beats genuine moose driving moccasin mocs by far. well ok, not quite, i’d like to think of running as an easy-to-do and uncomplicated sport, where the activity and performance is in the foreground and the equipment in the background and kept as little as possible. but running gloves as father’s day present in november with a gruelsome running winter fast approaching, that was a genius move by the present decision committee, i.e. the beloved wife.
the löffler running gloves are thin. operating the hear rate monitor, the nokia n85 running device or tying the shoes work fine. with other gloves fingers get clumsy so that that dexterity is limited. in addition there are reflectors on the sides like on all quality running gear. i expect to keep my hands warm while temperatures are going down to -8 to -10 degrees celcius. below that, thicker gloves will be needed most probably. finally, the löffler gloves are machine washable - easy maintenance, very important for a family dad!
warm hands = smiling dad 
Tags: father's day, running gloves
