ThinkRunning

A beautiful Christmas Day in Derbyshire

I couldn’t really think of a more imaginative title I’m afraid. However, I did manage to do a fair amount of running over the Festive Season.
I have a new widget that details my activities uploaded to Garmin Connect. Father Christmas was quite generous to me a I ended up with a quite unexpected Garmin 310XT which uploads automatically to the site. I rather like the Garmin Connect site to be honest; they have obviously put quite a lot of work into it and the gadgets are really rather useful. From now on I think Garmin Connect will be my running log of choice. I have also decided to venture into the world of alternative footwear – going back to nature or at least as close as you can get without slicing your foot open on a sharp stone.

Christmas day was my wife Heidi’s birthday and as is tradition nowadays for us, we headed out into the Peak District for a birthday morning run with Susie a dear friend of ours and Rosie our springer spaniel. It really was a fantastic run and there are moments in it that will stay with me for a long time. Seeing the joy on people’s faces, everyone saying Merry Christmas, the lovely weather despite freezing temperatures and the snow all made for one of the most uplifting and Christmassy runs I have ever done.

New Garmin

The new Garmin 310XT

I was very surprised and delighted to receive a new Garmin 310XT for Christmas. My old 305 is getting a little old and battered after nearly 3.5 years of constant use in all weathers. the battery is starting to show signs of age and doesn’t last very long now on a full charge. As a unit however, the 305 has served me faultlessly since I got it in 2006. At the time there were a number of faulty units, I had mine replaced three times (without any trouble from Garmin) before I got the 305 that is still going strong.
I had noticed the new Garmin 310XT and decided I would wait until my old unit completely gave up the ghost. This all changed on Christmas morning when I opened my presents. I have taken the 310 out on a couple of runs so far; on the first one it performed faultlessly, locking on to a satellite signal within 30 seconds. The other day in the hills however, it locked up and stopped working. I switched it off and then it worked fine once more. I hadn’t updated the firmware though and Garmin advise you to do this so I will give it another try with the new firmware I have since installed.
The ANT USB receiver/transmitter works perfectly with my iMac, automatically uploading data to Garmin Connect as soon as the unit is within range. Updates are performed with the click of a button on the Garmin Connect site when you need to upgrade the unit firmware for example.
I view the lock up as a teething trouble but will keep you posted on progress with subsequent runs.

Boxing Day

Another nice outing in the Derbyshire Peak District with my wife Heidi and Spaniel Rosie. It was a lovely run/walk up onto Kinder Scout in the snow and ice. Descending proved a little difficult in places where it was solid ice so we walked carefully in these places. Rosie however was not troubled at all by the ice and hardly slowed down; she is definitely in her element in the hills and I’m so glad we have her. I have been thinking about doing some Cani-X events when she is a little older. At the moment Rosie is a little young and her endurance is just 8 miles although I suspect she will quickly improve when we start running her regularly. Need to wait until she is over 12 months old though.

New ‘Shoes’

My KSOs and Injinji Socks

I have been considering trying out some Vibram Five Fingers for quite a while and today (29/12/2009) took the plunge, drove to Sheffield to try some on and bought a pair of KSOs. Initially I wondered if I had done the right thing but the feet quickly get used to them. I will try running in them soon and will blog about my progress. My initial thoughts are that these are a very good idea and they definitely allow the foot to behave much more naturally whilst providing adequate protection from foreign objects in the road or path. I have been wearing very minimal shoes for running and walking now for many months so my feet should be getting stronger.

Getting the Right Fit

These items of footwear do not ‘size’ like any other conventional footwear so the best thing to do is throw away any preconceptions about what shoe size you are – it won’t help you. I used the advice here and here but I urge anyone who may be considering buying these to go to a store and try some on if you can. I was lucky in that I live not too far away from an excellent stockist of Vibrams in Sheffield. The Naked Ape stock all sorts of out door gear for climbers, walkers and runners. The atmosphere is very much a friendly, grassroots feel to the place – climbers are like that I find – they are a friendly bunch. I was helped and advised very well indeed and I walked away very happy with a pair of KSOs and two pairs of injinji socks.

Running

I have been running a little. Last week I clocked up over forty miles so that’s not too bad. I’m getting some regular mileage in nowadays and no niggles or anything so far which pleases me greatly. I am going to start training properly in the new year but for now I am simply trying to build my base up to a regular 60 miles per week.

Events for the new year are really just two where I plan to put in everything I have. Shakespeare Half Marathon and then hopefully on to Berlin in the Autumn all being well. In between I will be entering fell races and anything I feel like doing really. Some will be purely for fun, some will be training and some will be to race. I have no hard and fast plans beyond that for 2010.

I now upload my training to the Garmin Connect site and it posts my recent activities in the left sidebar on this blog for anyone who may be interested.

Happy New Year to everyone!