So it has been a month since I received the news that I have to pack up long distance running in earnest otherwise I would be requiring a large piece of titanium to be placed into knee. So despite having to knock anything longer than 5k on the head, it does mean that I can still at least run Parkrun. If albeit not as frequently.
So having not done any running at all since the Adidas Thunder Run 2two weekends ago, I decided to run the Bromley Parkrun this Saturday. There were two main reasons behind this.
Reason 1 -Not a Headache
I had gone into work on Wednesday & Thursday and had to return home on both days due to migraines and didn't make it into work on Friday Sometimes you hear people saying I had a migraine earlier (thinking that it is just a bad headache) I can assure you a migraine is not just a headache. I lose my periphery vision, I then get black spots in front of my eyes, followed by nasuea/throwing up and then the mother of all pressure headaches. The only thing I can do is lay down in a dark room. So in a nutshell I spent 90% of Wed/Thu/Fri sleeping or trying to sleep. So I had to get out Saturday morning as I needed the fresh air.
Reason 2 -All the Gear, No Idea
I have been fortunate enough along with a number of other Petts Wood Runners (for the second year running) to be asked to help test and provide feedback on a selection of running apparel, nutrition and technology. So I wanted to test a couple of items that had been assigned to me. Can you guess what I had to test??
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| I look like a packet of Opal Fruits |
What you may also notice from the pic above is, no Garmin! so in running terms, I was naked! Having spent the best part of the last 2 preceding almost every run waving my wrist at the sky trying to pick up the satellites, I just wanted to run and not worry about pace or time and not having to wait for the recognisable Garmin beep that can be heard a thousand times at most events (running or cycling).
I got round in 24:14 (only learning of my time when I got my text from parkrun in the evening).
No link to my Garmin stats. So here is a link to duck billed platypus instead?
The gear that I tried was Ashmei compression socks - very comfortable and despite being compression socks, not a nightmare to put on. But the acid test for me with any pair of socks is how much they seem to shrink after washing (although being Merino wool, potentially less washes are required!)
My other item being tested were the Puma Mobium running shoes. I admit these look strange as they have what looks like a pre-formed high arch. Reading the bumph the idea is that the shoe effectively flattens out and moulds to your foot on footstrike but then recoils back to shape once you lift your foot and therefore getting power transfer. Well that's the idea? From my perspective, they were comfortable with loads of cushioning especially in the forefoot (which is important for me, being a mid to forefoot striker), and very lightweight. I had some minor discomfort on the instep of one of my feet, but I will be giving them another whirl to see how I get on with them.
So there you have it, a brief blog by my standards.
Until next time
TJH
