Runblogger Minimal Shoe Guide - Updated

Pete Larson author of Runblogger has updated his minimal running shoe guide to bring it up to date with some of the recent new shoes released on to the market here

I have a few of these shoes (Saucony Kinvara, Merrell Sonic Glove and Adidas Hagio) and plan to post some thoughts one my experiences of them in the future...

John Austin Half Marathon (inc Video/TV Coverage)

Back in March I ran the John Austin Half Marathon in Brockenhurst , Hampshire (a few miles from home). It's a scenic XC route around the New Forest, not a potential PB, but a fun race non the less! On the day the weather was horrendous, cold, heavy rain and very windy, the first few miles were ok as they were on hard forest tracks and a bit more sheltered amongst trees and I moved up into 2nd place having run with a couple of others to start with. However as we emerged out onto the exposed ex-Beaulieu Aerodrome, the full force of the conditions hit! There were lakes of water on the course, I stopped trying to avoid them after a few and consigned my feet and legs to a soaking for the rest of the race. Hydration wasn't a problem, you just had to open your mouth :-) Managed a gel too despite non-functioning fingers! Later sections of the course were saturated and muddy, my pace suffered accordingly, but I maintained 2nd place. The last few miles through Roydon Woods were nasty, with a couple of steep climbs, but less feet swimming which was a relief. As I can up and over the railway bridge near the finish, the next runner was closing on me, but I managed to hold him off (helped by the fact he took the last turn on the playing field too quickly and slipped over on the mud!) to take 2nd overall and my first race prize, a nice Salomon runnning hydration pack :-). I was very cold at the finish, it took nearly half an hour to stop shivering, next time wear I'll more clothes when it's only 5 degrees, pouring with rain and howling a gale...

Here's a link to my Garmin data (ignore the HR data, the transmitter was playing up!) and below is a short video of the race, which includes about 3secs of my post race interview at about 4:30 from the start. Also below is the local news coverage of the race from ITV Meridian. May well run it again next year and see if I can improve my result ;-) Hopefully the weather will be a bit better too!

Race highlights video

ITV Meridian Coverage

Virgin London Marathon 2012 Report

My first London went to plan very well. I was at the start way too early, but at least the train ride from Charing Cross was quiet! Saw the rest of the New Forest crew for a quick pre-race photo and then wished them all good luck as they were all in the Champs start.

Some of the NF Runners at the start of VLM 2012 ( L-R Al Pickburn, Erica Fogg, Steve Morton, Becky Hollowbread, Henry Szwinto, Valeria Sesto)

Got a great start at the front of pen 1 on the blue start (over the line in 30secs or so from the gun) and paced the first miles with Steve Morton (New Forest). We were joined after the red start merged with the blue by Chris Brobin (Southampton AC), who I'd met during the Mad March 20 down in Christchurch. The atmosphere on the majority of the route was fantastic, rounding Cutty Sark and crossing Tower Bridge were the big highlights. Caught a glimpse of the elite women running westwards at mile 22 as I passed half way in  01:21:37 (just inside my 02:42 max pace limit). Also picked up my sunglasses (left in brother's flat) in a sleek pit stop manoeuvre with my wife :-)

Ran around the Isle of Dogs pretty consistently, but my feet were really starting to burn, which was off putting. My quads started to tighten from about mile 20 and I managed missed the mile marker at 21 completely (under the bridge as you turn off Popular High St?) and that threw my watch splits out. Upside was that I got to mile 22 a lot quicker than I expected!  The final few miles were a battle with my quads which were screaming at me to stop, my margin for getting under 2:45 was only 1-2mins so I had no choice other than to push to keep the pace up. I really want to enjoy the final stage of the race up to Big Ben and through Westminster, but it felt like just me and my legs on their own. that said the several thousand cheering supporters were still in the back of my mind. The final drag up birdcage walk was horrible, 800m, 600m and finally 400m to go just before Buckingham Palace and final turn right to see the finish line a few hundred yards away, it looked like a mile! I kept going and didn't believe I was going to come in under 2:45 until I was 50yds from the line.

I finished almost perfectly halfway between my two pacing limits in 2 hours 43 minutes and 33 seconds.  A PB by over 12 minutes on my 2011 Abingdon time. Overall aerobically I was fine, the gel plan (8 in all) worked really well and I tried to make sure I was drinking enough and regularly. In the end it was muscle fatigue that put the brakes on, thankfully it wasn't so bad that I couldn't hold the pace required. Here's a link to my Garmin race data if you're interested. Now got a good idea of what my marathon HR is (around 165) and it only started to drift upwards in the last 2miles.

2012 VLM Route Flyby

With just under 2 weeks today to the Virgin London Marathon, time for a little route swotting (as it's my first time at London), courtesy of Mapmyrun 3D run player...


 

Camille Herron - From Recreational Runner to US Olympic Marathon Trials

Camille Herron recently placed 26th the the US Olympic marathon trials (02:38). She has written a really great article describing her journey from a reasonable (recreational) runner to qualifying for the US Olympic marathon trials and how she transitioned to running exclusively in road/xc racing flats, minimalist shoes and barefoot.

The article can be found HERE

Dr Mark Cucuzzella on Minimal Running

US trail running website, Trail Runner Nation have recorded a podcast with minimal running expert (and family doctor) Dr Mark Cucuzzella, director of the Natural Running Center... He succinctly describes the state of minimal runner as it stands and how it can be applied to runners of all abilities. It's well worth listening to understand the problems with traditional running shoes.

Trail Runner Nation go as far as to post the following disclaimer before listening to the podcast! "You may never lace up a pair of shoes the same after you listen to this podcast. Disclaimer: This podcast may be hazardous to the health of your traditional running shoe, orthotics and even your socks. Runners proceed with extreme caution!"

The podcast can downloaded from iTunes or here

Runblogger's Shoes of 2011 (& maybe 2012!)

Runblogger (Pete Larson) has publish his 'Lightweight & Minimal shoes of 2011' review, proving a good cross section of the available lightweight and low heel footwear on the market for both on & off road use, as well as a look forward to some shoes about to be released in 2012.