Stuff I Nag People With

Budapest running shoes store fail

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:33:50 +0200

Romania fails at sports. I knew that already, things are picking up now, but in terms of specialized running stores and sports gear we’re lagging behind. And it makes sense, so far the only store that actually makes money selling sports goods is Decathlon and we got this one fairly recent. We have stores that sell Nike, Adidas and the ocasional Asics shoes, but it’s mostly models for men, older lines or really small sizes.

I went to Budapest for the Rammstein concert like it was the promised land. I took almost 2 full days to look for running shoes, searched a bit online and i went there dreaming about Brooks, Saucony Mizuno and New Balance.

The reality left a bitter taste in my mouth. They have specialized football stores everywhere, i stumbled upon at least 3 of them. But in terms of running shoe options, Budapest is in running stone age, way lower then Bucharest in my opinion. Again, you can find Nike, Adidas and the ocasional Asics. I even found a special running store called “Spuri” that had Saucony. The catch is they only have the most stabilized-heavy-high-heeled models from every brand. It felt like heel striker heaven. Not even AdiZero or Nike Free, not to mention newer lines with less beefy soles.

Just have to add the concert location that was complete crap and the bars that threw us out at 24:00. If it wasn’t for the awesme company and great food, the vacation would have been a complete bust. Good thing I was there with the right people :)

I know, this is an easy one! Still, I had two friends asking me...

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:51:18 +0200

I know, this is an easy one! Still, I had two friends asking me recently what can they do so their calves hurt less and I had a hard time finding a movie of my favorite stretch on the internet. Most people use the “lean against a wall” method, but I have pretty weird (flexible?) ankles, because I don’t manage to feel this stretch properly.

The stretch in the video works like a charm for me. Took some barefoot running to learn to appreciate it properly ;)

If you don’t have a step, check the second part of the video. For example I put my left foot toes against a wall, left heel on the floor and start closing the left hip to the wall / pole / tree. The difference from the video is that i keep my “stretched” leg straight and I stretch by closing the hip to the wall. They are great stretches, no matter what variation you pick!

Mark's First Run

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:15:00 +0200

Went with Mark on his first run! I followed the first week of 5K101, 2 mins slow jog and 3 mins brisk walk…was really awesome, and the pooch seemed to enjoy it. Also, for him it was mostly brisk walk, he just ran a bit from time to time (advantage of having 4 legs :p). I won’t push at all, but it’s nice for him to drain some energy and for my knee to start recovering actively.

Running for Weight Loss - Common Mistakes

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:05:00 +0300

Running for Weight Loss - Common Mistakes:

This is a very nice RunnersWorld article about the top 10 mistakes people do when they use running as a weight loss tool and how to fix them. I’m guilty of some of them, check out the full article!

Running slowly to stay in the ‘fat-burning zone’
Hopping on the scales every day
Taking diet supplements that promise to increase metabolism or suppress appetite
Not eating after your run in the hope of burning extra fat as your metabolism speeds up
Some runners ruin their efforts to get lean by rewarding themselves with unhealthy foods after a training session
Going straight out for a run in the morning without eating breakfast
Eating a very low-calorie diet in the belief that your body will have to use its excess fat to fuel your runs
Using sports drinks or energy gels to fuel your short runs
You want to lose fat from your body, so you lose it from your plate
Training ever harder, faster and longer in your quest for leanness

Strength training exercises for running

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:55:00 +0300

I found a really awesome blog! Brian Martin writes it, it’s about running technique, it also has shoe reviews (yey!) and he wrote a very nice ebook I am planning to buy. You can check it here: http://www.runningtechniquetips.com. I am very interested in the mechanics of running and when a book promises to

make technique and the complex area of biomechanics understandable for runners of all levels of ability

it’s got my attention.

But until I get the book, I checked out this the article about exercises that improve running form and I liked it:

Approaching strength training for running the right waymakes it a legitimate and effective approach to improving running technique. The key running technique tip is to focus your efforts on functional strength and coordinationexercises that closely resemble the muscle activation patterns needed to sustain good running form.
In a previous post and in my book I’ve written about the neurological adaptations that help stimulate improvement, and made the argument that these are critical to unlocking the possibilities of running with better technique. The“practice” element of strength and coordination training is all important to improve the overall efficiency of any complex movement – especially in running.

You can find the pdf with the exercises here: http://www.runningtechniquetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/R4YL_036_Strength-Training-For-Technique.pdf

Blog post: http://www.runningtechniquetips.com/2011/06/free-download-strength-training-for-running-technique/

Enjoy! :)

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:37:24 +0300

shortmom replied to your post: Do you know how to tie your shoe laces?

Also, Body Glide your entire feet! I get big shoes, but after so many miles something will hurt in the end, no matter what you do. :-)

I am pretty sure marathons are a world of hurt, I’ll wait another year till I try one :D

But my big toe nails hurt as well on long runs when my foot was moving in the shoe, so I thought this might help a bit, they don’t hurt anymore so it worked for me :) (wish I knew an instant knee pain cure tho…)

We don’t have Body Glide or anything similar here, does it help?

Do you know how to tie your shoe laces?

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:10:00 +0300

Don’t laugh! I am 28 and I figured out before my half marathon I had no idea how to tie my running shoe laces. And I keep reading about people getting “angry nails”, maybe they have the same problem I had :)

The first very important thing I found out about running shoe fit was when I got my trail running shoes. I was told by a very nice guy to GET THEM BIG! Or my nails would fall off after all those evil descents. So I got them about 1cm longer then I needed.

After that I got used to not feeling the tip of the shoe when I run, I used to wear 38.5 EU / 7.5 US / 5.5 UK and I buy shoes at least half a size larger (my running shoes are either 6 UK or 6.5 UK).

But my feet are long and narrow! Hence the problem. I was pretty comfortable with my Saucony Kinvaras except for the fact that my foot was always “swimming” a bit in them. This is why I was tying them very tight at the ankle at the “extra” top hole of the shoe. Even so, because of this slight movement, I got a pretty big blister on my pinky and it hurt enough to cut my longest run in them to 12km.

This is why I was really worried about my half…how could some shoes that hurt me after 12km be ok for 21km?

My physiotherapist (thanks, Mihai!) saved me once again.

even if the shoes are big, that top “spare hole” is a bad idea; it’s above the thick part of the tongue and it can strangle the foot blood flow
leave the bottom part of the laces loose; it’s important or your toes will get numb
the top part of the laces, on the thickest part of the tongue need to be very tight; this way the foot won’t wobble in the shoe and it will still be comfortable to run in

Now i just forget about the top hole, tie the top half tight and the bottom half loose. You also need cool laces so you can do that, my Kinvaras have nice non-slippery laces or I would have bought some special sports laces. They were perfect on my half marathon, no blisters, no moving around in the shoe, no bad nails.

So, do you know how to tie your shoe laces? ;)

Here is my prettiest medal so far. It’s nice and heavy and...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:21:00 +0300

Here is my prettiest medal so far. It’s nice and heavy and really makes me feel like I accomplished something special. Also featured, my cookie monster tee :P

http://runkeeper.com/user/ruxandra/activity/56057597

Sunday was yet another day when running made me feel like Superman. I started running a year ago and if someone would have told me I will finish my first half marathon so soon, I would have laughed at him…loudly. But I finished, even with my lousy training schedule, with the official time of 2:20:03.

We raced in a cold drizzle, at 10 degrees Celsius, and I bet I was the happiest there regarding the weather. I learned to run in the cold and I got sick several times this summer because I couldn’t learn to tolerate heat. Some arm warmers would have been nice since I ran in a t-shirt and that’s the only spot that got really cold.

Now, about the race goals. My goals were to finish (my secret dream was under 2:30) and to have the last kilometer faster then the first. I accomplished both, even tho my knee failed around kilometer 14 because of my lack of proper training (you can see it clearly in the splits). I had to stop at the closest refill point and stretch a bit, walk a bit, and the pain faded enough to get close to the finish line. After that, the amazing people at the finish area did the trick :)

I’m pretty surprised tbh, I didn’t meet with the wall, maybe it is waiting for me around the corner at the marathon. Maybe it helped that all the way I ran with the “Born to run” audiobook in my ears. Since I read it already I could miss some words without getting frustrated and it gave me the push I needed all the way. For the last 3 km I switched to my “pump” music and I got those lovely “speedy” times :P

Now, more then ever, running makes me feel like I can do anything I set my mind to…and I really can, thanks running :)

Bucharest International Marathon: half, get ready to be rocked!...

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 21:49:22 +0300

Bucharest International Marathon: half, get ready to be rocked! (or crawled, finished anyway I hope). This is Bijou helping with the race kit :)

Wish me luck!

My Half Marathon Cause

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:45:20 +0300

As you know, I am running my first half marathon in 9 days. Since it’s a huge milestone for me, I decided to support a cause instead of registering normally. Which means I have to come up with a sum of money to donate for that specific charity, I wear their tshirt while running and I help them promote the cause amongst my friends and family. And whoever else might listen :)

I do a lot of running in the city and I always cry about the lack of parks and trees for the shade. I am also planning to have a baby, so the project called “The kids forest” sounds great to me. ViitorPlus already planted 155.000 trees with their “Adopt a tree” program. With “The kids forest” they intend to plant 30.000 trees after the marathon, one for each newborn baby Bucharest has every year.

I need 21 sponsors to help me with 6 eur/25 lei each. Because I like giving back, each sponsor will get a photo made by me (printed and stuck on black passe-partout for RO, digital version print ready for the rest). I was hoping to take 21 photos along the course, but we don’t know the course yet so it’s either that or a photo of the sponsor’s favorite subject. I think I have enough to statisfy all tastes :)

Biggest problem is I am also in a hurry with this. I need to raise the money till the 3rd of october the latest. So if you can help and make our future a bit more breathable, I will highly appreciate it.

Love,
Rux

It's been a year!

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:25:00 +0300

Since i started running :)

The Petrom Cros 2010 was my first running competition. I registered 2 weeks after starting running outside. I walked some of it and in the end i managed to finish it in 21 miuntes. And I was so proud!

1 year later, this happened :)

15:19 min official chip time, 45 out of 225 in my age group. Overall, 110 out of 487 women. Can’t describe how happy I was when I saw the results. Next goal:

Finish my first half-marathon!

I actually registered to support a cause, and it’s coming really soon…only 12 days left!

Yes, I admit, I have an addiction :)

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:47:10 +0300

Yes, I admit, I have an addiction :)

Why I run with music

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 22:55:34 +0300

I wanted to write about this for a long time now, ever since i read devonrunning’s post in which she praises running without music. She even adds a picture from her running route. And then it all made sense to me :)

I run in the middle of the city. I admit, in a very good neighbourhood, and most alternatives would be way worse. Here is a google street view of my favorite street:

It’s very shady and pretty quiet, not that many cars on it either. What it does have tho:

people that make fun of me when they see me, some are flirty, some are plain mean, i don’t want to hear either of them
dogs that start barking histerically from behind fences
car noise, construction site noise, random city noise

I was stalking a good friend’s running track. He lives close to Paris and he runs here:

I’m pretty sure i could run there without music. I love to run as light as posible and i wouldn’t mind to drop some wires. But in the city, in-ear headphones are the only thing that can make me relax and focus on myself and my run. I use them as a defense mechanism in a city that is barely starting to notice and accept runners. Also, a city where people like to put down everything different.

Got some more evidence of this last weekend, i forgot my ipod for my triathlon run and i ran in the sound of honking and swearing from the drivers on the other side of the street (3 lanes out of 5 were closed for us). One of the cars even crossed the police barriers and hit a fellow biker, broke his rib…so much for human tolerance.

Where do you run? Is music helping you focus or would you rather run at the sound of your own thoughts?

I try not to be completely off topic, so I started the training...

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:55:06 +0300

I try not to be completely off topic, so I started the training for my half marathon on the 9th of october. I am way behind on training, so my goal is finishing (and I’d love to do it in under 2 hours 30 min). This is today’s run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112555901

10K at a very relaxed pace, with walking breaks. I try to increase distance, not the pace, since i don’t want to get injured till then. All good so far, nothing hurts!

Weight-wise, i lost almost 2kgs since i got the puppy, from the lack of sleep and involuntary exercise. I got to a point where i eat anything, 3 meals/day, I just stop when I’m not hungry anymore (lack of time really helps with that). I like it this way, I’ll try to keep it up.

Coming up on the blog (so I don’t slack, even if I don’t have time for it):

Why I run with music
Review for my favorite running thighs (cold season coming up, i get to wear them again!)

5.4km in 31:35 mins. This is a new PR for the 5k, even tho I had...

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 12:25:00 +0300

5.4km in 31:35 mins. This is a new PR for the 5k, even tho I had major problems on the last kilometer. Our team was 31/51 for the relay race which is not bad at all. We did have an awesome swimmer tho ;)

It was my first relay race and i was nervous about missing Adi’s arrival, so I didn’t go to the toilet right before the start. It was also very hot and I hydrated properly. The result was the most tormenting last kilometer I’ve ever had. I’m pretty upset I was around 26 minutes and i had 800m left till the finish…and then I had to start walking even tho my legs were fine and i wasn’t out of breath yet. Guess we can call this race experience!

This month I found 3 more short running competitions I look forward to, good training for the semi marathon on 9th of october. My goal for the semi is finishing, since Bucharest summer kinda ruined my training (that and my failure to wake up early in the morning). Awesome month for sports here in RO!

5K

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:36:54 +0300

Race tomorrow. I forgot my mp3 player, my gps watch, i didn’t sleep more then 5h/night in a week and i just got very sick from dinner. Oh, and it just started raining! Tomorrow will be a funky day :)

In case you were wondering where did I disappear again…...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:53:55 +0300

In case you were wondering where did I disappear again… this is Mark. He’s been chewing on everything around the house, including my nerves since friday. I love him already and I am working hard at getting him used to an apartment with 2 cats in it, and to get the cats used to him, and surviving till the 22nd when i am allowed to take him outside (that’s the magical day when he gets his last vaccine). Till then, I am stuck with a bundle of energy that thinks cats are fun to chase around and peeing on the couch when left alone at night is mandatory.

Other then that, he’ll make a great running partner when he will be allowed to run long distances (after 12 months). He will also be quite a tired puppy before the end of September, can’t wait for the long walks that will exhaust him properly ;)

Pretty damn awesome if you ask me! :)

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:09:59 +0300

Pretty damn awesome if you ask me! :)

Swimming: my new cross training of choice

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:17:23 +0300

Untill I work some more at my tattoo that is :)

But till then, I found a 25m long pool somewhere close by and since Dan is going for the whole triathlon sprint on 3rd of september, we started training. I love swimming, but I never took proper classes and I do it badly. I favor one side and I swim crooked! So I started looking for online tutorials. This is what I liked most:

10 videos on Freestyle swimming, pretty nice lessons and easy to understand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITWOqCaq4hM&feature=BFa&list=SP1ADCFFE55422E7C7&lf=autoplay

A description of the “Total Immersion” method along with notes from the guy that actually tried it:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/08/13/total-immersion-how-i-learned-to-swim-effortlessly-in-10-days-and-you-can-too/

Total immersion is tai chi inspired swimming (and no, I didn’t look for it, chi running, chi swimming, this chi thing is following me around ;) ), looks very elegant and light and that’s my target, I want to learn how to swim like that. Only problem is the swimming pool we’re going to now is 2m deep and you can’t do exercises with a partner easily. Also, people come there to do laps and I think I am in the way when I stop to check my posture or I do drills. If you’re going to click one thing in this post, click on the video :)

asthepenguinruns replied to your photo: It’s really easy to understand now why some of...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:31:43 +0300

asthepenguinruns replied to your photo: It’s really easy to understand now why some of my…

Interesting…. where did you get this done??

It’s not mine, tho now that you mention it i should scan mine, i got my foot shape scanned a while back in a sports store.

I found the photo i posted after reading this article: http://naturalrunningcenter.com/2011/05/05/why-does-the-modern-foot-look-the-way-it-does/

The photo is from: http://www.adamtglass.com/2010/03/16/shoes-and-adaptation-guest-post-by-brad-johnson/ , don’t see the photo source tho or i would have mentioned it :)

I see my feet modifying in the same way at the moment, the toe box is getting wider then it was and the whole foot is more stable.