Here I’ll review some running gear/accesories that I have used/am using.
Skechers Prospeed running shoes
I am a heavy overpronator, and when I first got these shoes I didn’t think they were for me. I land heavy on my heel and I thought these would feel too alien for me to run in. However, coming back from 8 weeks out with an achilles problem (caused by weak ankles) I realise that my gait is the cause of quite a few of my problems and anything that helps me correct that is good. So, armed with my SOLE insoles and these shoes I headed out.
The first thing I noticed about them was how light they feel. Because I need stability, I am used to running in heavy shoes, so these made a nice change (my insoles gave me the support that I needed). They are springy but in a good propel-you-forward (not zebedee-on-drugs) way. The sciencey bumph that came with the shoes says something along the lines of ‘Pressure Diffusion Plate midsole and outsole design diffuses ground reaction forces over a greater surface area’…what this equates to is faster running. On my 1st run in 8 weeks I managed a pace that I would normally only hit on my tempo runs ( I wasn’t even pushing myself) and I felt comfortable -they certainly help diffuse the impact of running on tarmac and at the end of my runs my joints felt better than they would in my normal shoes – I think they help reduce the jarring.
The shoe itself is a good fit (I’m an 8.5 in trainers, I got an 8.5 they fit perfectly) with a handy little velcro thingamejig to fix the tongue in place. They are well ventilated – and best of all THEY COME WITH A CHOICE OF WHITE OR FLOURESCENT LACES! I know I’m not supposed to care about such superficial things, but I do like adding a bit of colour and anything that helps get me seen in the dark winter VLM training runs earns a big plus in my book. It’s still early days for me wearing these, I’m not sure if they are the right shoe for long long runs, but maybe I’ll wear them for a 10k and see how I go…watch this space for more info!
Ladgecom All Weather sunglasses
I hate any sort of glare when I am running, and I had been nicking using my hubbys Merrell sunglass to run in. After he hid them from me to stop them, in his words, getting all sweaty and girly smelling (isn’t that a misnomer?) I thought I had best invest in a pair of my own. After a trawl through Amazon (my go to for most products these days) I settled on these babies. Pink so they are girly enough for hubby not to pick them up by mistake, but sturdy enough for me to run in. They sit on my face very comfortably, even at the end of my half marathon I took them off and the only marks I had on my face were the tan lines I had accrued through not using suncream! I like the fact that they give full coverage across the eyes – there is no annoying cut off at the sides and they almost rest on my eyebrows so I don’t have to squint at all – perfect for preventing wrinkles! They come with detachable arms and a strap and a spongy frame thingy which I think is to be used for skiing to help keep you warm. Oh, and a very handy carry case and cleaning cloth. All in all a great product for the reasonable price of £24.99 – and they come in 8 different colours – ACES!
I bought this because I am not so great at pacing myself. I used it for my half marathons and it worked a treat. Prior to this I had used runkeeper which is great for checking out your run retrospectaively, but not so great to use whilst you are running.
This is quite a basic model Garmin which was reflected in the price – just £100 on Amazon. The screen can show you current pace, average pace, miles and time done – all the ususal stuff and I’ve found the battery life to be about 2 -3 weeks of runs – so 30 – 50 active hours ish before it starts beeping at me. It does exactly what it says on the tin, which is adequate for my needs and I like the fact that it syncs quite easily with my laptop.
The only negative for me is that I really enjoy the social networking aspect of runkeeper and I wish I could post my garmin runs onto facebook. For some reason this model won’t sync with RK, and when you post to FB is just has a triangle with no run details which is frustrating.
