Just Another Runner

While I was surfing the net looking for a replacement for my Mizuno Elixir that broke, I found Mizuno Precision Fit Online . It is another one of those online tools that ask you questions, analyse your answers, and determine what kind of running shoes are for you. I tried two before, Road Runner Sports' Shoe Dog , and Nike's Shoe Finder . Both really just asked basic questions like gender, weight, arch type etc. With Nike's Shoe Finder, on my first attempt, it suggested stability shoes with the then new LunarGlide at the top of the list. I experimented and changed the parameters several times and it gave out LunarGlide every time. Maybe it is because the LunarGlide is for all types of runners? Well I did buy myself LunarGlides and in fairness, I love them and among my six pairs, they're my favorite. With Shoe Dog, it said that I needed motion control shoes. I also recently had my gait analysed at Runnr, and the staff who did the analysis said that I needed stabil

BAD NEWS: My Mizuno Elixir broke this evening. GOOD NEWS: I have a good excuse to get new running shoes. Woohooo!

After my second 21K, I have set my sights on The Marathon. As usual, my first task was to research. I'd like to share the different training plans that I have come across. Of course, Galloway's run-walk-run marathon training. He claims to have polished his training plan after successfully training hundreds of thousands of runners. http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/marathon.html Author of the book "Lore of Running" - Tim Noakes' marathon plan. He said this plan has been field tested and had good results. http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/marathon-training.html Renowned podiatrist and writer, Dr. Pribut's "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back" approach. http://www.drpribut.com/blog/index.php/2010/03/two-steps-forward-one-step-back-gently-approaching-the-marathon/ Pat Carroll's Training Diaries for the 2011 Gold Coast Marathon. He has won the Gold Coast Marathon four times and is now a coach. http://www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au/default.asp?PageID=1

Race singlets have never been a major factor for me in deciding to join a race. Until now. My wife and I went to ROX in Boni High Street to register for the Goldilocks and Greentennial runs that will be held on May 15 and 22 respectively. Goldilocks touted a New Balance race singlet. In my opinion, it looked and felt more like a New Balance knock-off. Greentennial had a choice of a singlet or a T-Shirt. I chose the T-Shirt. I would have registered for these races, whether the singlets were great or not. I actually prefer a finisher's shirt than a race singlet. I seldom use the race singlets because I'm usually not comfortable in them. They would either be too itchy, thick or heavy for me. The few that I used and liked are the singlets from Globe Run for Home 2010, Milo Manila Elims 2010 and Adidas KOTR 2010. From ROX, we walked across to the Runnr store and there I saw a couple trying on nice neon yellow Brooks singlets. I also noticed they were holding registration

My race report on the Globe Run for Home 2011 held on March 27, 2011. I did the half-marathon distance. The report has a similar format as my Perfect Race blog post. My plan for this race was to do a 2:1 run-walk ratio from the start and aim for 3-hours again (my PR before this was 3:07). At the starting line, I positioned myself at the very rear so that I don't get carried away by the pace of the other runners and so that I won't be blocking other runners when I take my walk breaks as early as after the first 2 minutes of the race. There weren't a lot of 21K runners, and looking around, I was a little intimidated by how fit the other 21K runners looked. I was thinking there was a real possibility that I will be coming in last. True enough, at the start of the race, I was bringing up the rear. Occasionally, there will be the late runners who will be passing me. And during my first walk break after two minutes, it was dark and lonely. After a kilometer or so, I start