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Why Outrun The Bear?

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Why Outrun The Bear?

Monthly Archives: December 2012

Merry Christmas everyone!

25 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by Andy in Runcap

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Tags

banana, basil, christmas, Family, runcap

Apparently the weather outside was really nice so before I went off for a run I had a banana to fuel up or to be more accurate I had half a banana and had to share it with someone. As there are not many photos of me on this blog, I thought I’d take the time to wish everyone a Happy Christmas from Basil and myself.

It was a really nice run out although cold. If you haven’t done so yet, and plan to go for a run today, wear some gloves – I forgot mine, again – I need a pair of idiot mittens so I don’t forget them.
This was my first Christmas day run – as I ran through the deserted streets I remember Mum and Dad dragging me out for a Christmas afternoon walk as a kid. I hated those long walks, but here I am going for a run.
This time last year I had started running but was waiting for surgery on my meniscus so it was really nice to be back on my feet and out running again. I saw a grand total of two people out and 1 car. Of course the only two people I saw were runners. Naturally I waved hi, so it was a good job I didn’t have my idiot mittens on after all and smacked myself in the face with the other hand 😉

Anyone else get(ting) a run in today – Before or after the big meal? Did your parents make you wait a torturously long time to open all the presents like after Lunch, walk and a cup of tea? – just mine???? oh….

 

Perfectly Normal Behaviour *

08 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Andy in Runcap, Shopping

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

clothes, crc, PerfectlyNormalBehaviour, pnb, runcap, Shopping

Distance
2.64
mi

Duration
0:27:43
h:m:s
Avg. Pace
10:29
min/mi
Avg.Speed
5.72
mph
Burned
389
calories
Climb
216
ft
Avg HeartRate
164
bpm


A good run around Thaddeus Kosciusko Park in Dublin. I really like this park as it has a gentle slope and has a mix of gravel path and the ability to head off into the woods. As usual I did a clockwise loop on the gravel path for 1/2 mile and then headed across the field and into the woods for a slosh through the mud. Yet again the weather was great for December, I was wearing shorts and my Columbus Running Company bright green shirt. The ground through the woods was pretty muddy due to the rain we’ve had this week but still firm enough that I wasn’t going to slide all the way down the hill.

I got to the pond, looped around and headed back to the main trail and completed the 2 mile loop on gravel. It’s nice to see that the gravel path seems to be holding up and is a nice offroad 1 mile loop (the woods adds another mile to the loop).

I finished the first loop and as I’m still slowly increasing mileage, I headed back out on the loop and took a diversion off one of the paths intending to cut through the middle of the loop and cut it in half. Instead the path I chose for some reason dropped down into a valley, over a stream and back up the other side and then back to the path I had left. I therefore decided just to run back the way I had came but made a mental note that next time I’ll use that side path as it gives you more of a workout (not a big one mind) going down the hill and back up again than staying on the gentle incline.

When I made it back to the car I had done 2.6 miles in just under 28 minutes. A fun run, not rocket fast, but I’m going to blame that on recovery and my first muddy run where I had to slow down a bit to navigate through the puddles (the deep/muddy ones at least) (an ok I admit it – a couple of walking breaks too)

I did regress to my childhood as I splashed through some of the puddles and sure enough my socks were a very dark brown when I took my shoes off but I did get an impressive set of splashes up the legs.

After the run I tried to take a picture of myself with the shelter in the background and the bright green Columbus Running Company shirt I was wearing. Unfortunately the fact that I didn’t get to sleep until 3am this morning and then up at 7am  – makes me have a weird fixed eye gaze in this photo – but you can see the brightness of the shirt. So after the photo was taken I headed off to Kroger for some weekend shopping and whilst I was walking around the aisles I had a funny experience.

I was looking for some enchilada flavoured soup that I’d had a couple of days ago, had my running shorts and the bright shirt on and was looking puzzled in the aisle as I could not find this soup anywhere.  This woman came up to me, tried to squeeze by me and so I moved the cart over and she said she liked the shirt – it was nice and bright. Seeing as though I’m in my running shorts, shoes and a running shirt, I assumed she knew I was a runner, laughed and said that it was so I don’t get shot as it’s hunting season. She looked at me blankly as if to say “why would someone shoot at you in Kroger?”. I explained that you have to take precautions when running through the woods.  Yet again I got a blank “there are no woods in kroger”. I explained, Not *here* – I was running in the woods earlier and the shirt makes me more visible. At that point – the penny dropped for her – she hadn’t realised I was a runner and was just liking the brightness of the shirt I was wearing (or trying to make conversation).

We laughed and carried on shopping – that was the most bizarre conversation I’ve had in Kroger for a long while and not exactly the most successful one with a woman 😉

*At Least For Runners –  isn’t it perfectly normal behaviour to wear bright clothes so they don’t get shot and go to Krogers?

1. What is the weirdest conversation you’ve had in the grocery store and do you go shopping in your work out clothes or go home and change first?

I don’t mind shopping in my work out gear but if I’m wet from rain or a sweaty run, I do avoid the freezer aisle as wet clothes are not pleasant and in the case of sweat I do towel off and use deodrant first.

2. What other Perfectly Normal Behaviours are applicable to runners?

I’d have to say running in the road rather than on the footpath. Used to bug me as a nonrunner to see runners doing that, but I know the tarmac surface is a lot kinder than the footpath – less tripping hazards to start with. However the camber of the road and crazy drivers does offset this benefit. Give me a trail through the woods any day.

A night run, and in the rain too.

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by Andy in Runcap

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Columbus Running Company, crc, Mizuno, Rain, Roosport, social

Last Tuesday night, the Columbus Running Company had a social evening run sponsored by Mizuno with every attendance getting a free gift which was a pair of running socks.

The weather at 4pm on Tuesday night was horrible – it was absolutely chucking it down and I was mad – I had been looking forward to this run for ages and it looked like it was going to be miserable. The plus side was that it would be my first real opportunity to run in the rain.  However as it turned out, most of the rain stopped by the time the run started.

As I got out of the car I clipped my new Roosport to my shorts and walked to the store, was just about to open the door when the Roosport fell off my shorts. Not a good start. I didn’t bother messing with it any further and put it in my running jacket pocket. I switched shoes to a pair on bright green Mizuno’s, picked up my free socks and figured that at least if it does chuck it down later I can switch back to my shoes and I have a free pair of socks to change into.  I didn’t win the drawing for the gloves and we soon formed up by time and started to run.

Mizuno Run at the Columbus Runing Company

Source –

I’m at the back right of this photo – initially I didn’t think it was me due to the mysterious green glow, but funnily enough that is my Garmin back-light.  The previous week’s run I ran over my planned distance as I was unable to get the backlight to show whilst running so I could work out if it was time to turn around. I obviously got it working as this is the back-light shortly after I started the watch.

It seemed that everyone was doing sub 9 minute miles – there were only 3 of us who were running slower than that, so everyone shot off and I ran most of the way out with one guy but he turned around shortly before the 1 mile mark. So I had company for the first 0.9 miles and at the 1 mile beep I ran to the end of the road and then headed back by myself – so much for a social run!

When I got back to the store after about 20 minutes I was pretty wet from sweating (I probably didn’t need the jacket to keep warm as it was actually 51degrees after the run) and the rain. A shopper who had been at the start looked at me and asked if I had finished already with a look of amazement.  That made me laugh as the run was a 5 mile run and I was back in 20 minutes or so, making it a 4minute mile for 5 miles – a nice compliment though 😉

The Mizuno (and my Glycerin 9’s) have been weird to run in lately. Due to the stress fracture in my knee, I know I’m not running evenly on both feet and I can hear the difference on the pavement – my left leg doesn’t make much noise, but the right leg slaps the pavement with every step which is most annoying. Initially I thought it was the glycerin’s but the mizuno’s did a similar thing. I’ve not run in my old NewBalance shoes recently – I used them before thanksgiving and was not aware of any issues, but I was running on gravel paths as opposed to tarmac so the noise was not as noticeable.  The Mizuno’s were pretty comfortable although they were a bit stiff across the top of the toe and I could feel them rubbing a bit as my feet flexed on impact.

Thanks to Mizuno for sponsoring the run and thanks to Columbus Running for putting on the event and congratulations on being one of the top 50 running stores in the country – a well deserved honour.

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