#AskAKW... Is it too late for Dublin Marathon?

Dear AKW, 

I have struggled with injury but am now back running again. My longest run to date is just over 14 miles. Do you think I should be ready for Dublin Marathon in 4 weeks?

Troubled Runner

Do you do the lift thing for the foot?

Not sure why people are being conditioned to think that you have to have arch support in running shoes but it is a simple fact of life that there is an escalating trend of customers presenting themselves to me in +Amphibian King West - Galway either with or looking for arch support.

arch¹

ɑːtʃ/

noun

noun: arch; plural noun: arches

1.

a curved symmetrical structure spanning an opening and typically supporting the weight of a bridge, roof, or wall above it.

synonyms:

archway, vault, span, dome; bridge "a stone arch was built at the entrance"

#Zero25k Running in 2014

We're sure at this stage you are sick of hearing about resolutions, targets and goal setting for the New Year.

We're going to make it a simple decision for you:

Over the past 2 years we've hosted a Zero-to-5k running group (#Zero25k) for absolute beginners who are just looking to get active, a little bit fitter and hopefully lose a couple of pounds while feeling good about themselves.

We designed our #Zero25k program to fulfill those wishes.

This year we are opening our program to our new store in Limerick so there will be two locations, Oranmore (as usual) and Roxborough, Limerick.

You just need to join us, do a little work, allow our mentors to cajole, motivate and encourage you to complete each session in the 9 week program and in no time at all you will be well on the road to a fitter you.

Like to know more? 

Well firstly it's FREE, we don't charge and will never charge for the program, you are doing all the hard work, we get to see loads of people learning to enjoy running, that's rewarding enough!!

Secondly, we meet on Saturday mornings, early. Our first session is usually done and dusted by 8:45 so you can get on with your day. After that you will commit to doing 2 sessions during the week, we'll give you your homework each Sunday ready for the week.

Our mentors will give you plenty of help, advice and guidance so you can achieve the most from the program. Please make use of us! Don't be shy about questions.

Ready for more?

Just click the link here...

#GearTip for Winter Training

With the Winter really on top of us now going #running requires a little thought and preparation to ensure that you are comfortable in all sorts of weather conditions.

Two items of gear which are invaluable in my book are:


Designed as a trail running tight, the material in the +ASICS Fuji Trail tight is stretchy and comfortable. The designers made the lower leg material slightly thicker and durable to help prevent tears and pulls when running through rough vegetation.

I find this lower leg material is water repellant and as a result keeps your legs dry when running on wet roads. The splash water is not absorbed by the fabric and you get no water creep on longer runs.

Perfect item for road or trail running in the wet.

ASICS Fuji Trail tight

Second piece of 'can't do without' equipment is a fabric tube from +Amphibia Sport.

Lots of different uses from scarf to sweatband. Personally I find the best winter use is as a neck scarf. Bunch the material up, pass over your head and its sits snug around your throat, keeping your neck warm, zip your jacket up and the scarf prevents rain from running down the back of your neck.
 

Amphibia Sport - fabric tube

Reflecting on Run Safely

Starting from a Twitter conversation, I reckon it's time to put some information on paper about HiVis / Reflective gear.

 

With daylight hours being so short now and visibility so 'grey' you as a runner / cyclist / pedestrian have to take matters of your own safety very seriously.

Place yourself in the driving seat on a winter's day, low sun reflecting off damp road, rain blurred windshield, how much can you see?

Not much, everything looks grey.

As a pedestrian if you can't be seen against this background you are in serious trouble.

Low sun, glare & rain affect visibility

This is where HiVis clothing comes into it's own. Most HiVis clothing or vests feature reflective strips and DayGlo colours. The most common example is the Vest below, commonly used by walkers and cyclists, though they can be billowly and uncomfortable for running with:

The reflective strips flash when light hits them highlighting that there is an 'object' ahead. The colour is DayGlo yellow which functions brilliantly in daytime (hence the name), every driver slows when they see a flash of yellow in the distance, but serves no function at night.

Sciency bit:

 Normal color absorbs and re-emits a portion of the visible spectrum that matches its principal wavelength, while the remaining colors are absorbed and dissipated as heat. In this way, a regular yellow color re-emits back to your eye just the narrow yellow band of the visible light spectrum. Therefore, if there is little or no yellow light around (such as early dawn or dusk) the yellow surface would appear dark or even black.

 DayGlo provides daytime visibility by ensuring you standout from your background.

We recommend for anyone running, daytime or nightime, to keep it simple and use a combination of the following:

Clothing or outerwear must be flourescent and retroreflective. Colour patches serve to break up your outline and provide contrast so that you appear as a human shape in the dark, not just some litter fluttering in a ditch.

Look at how the runner 'pops' out of this background -

Sciency bits:

Fluorescent colors use a larger amount of both the visible spectrum and the lower wavelengths compared to conventional colors. They not only absorb and convert light energy of the dominant wavelength, but also the wavelengths of ultraviolet rays and other colors lower in the visible spectrum. As a result, your eye perceives a far more intense color.
Where a clean, bright conventional color is able to reflect a maximum of 90% of a color present in the spectrum; a fluorescent color can reflect as much as 200% to 300%.

A retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface that reflects light back to its source with a minimum of scattering.

Use a headlamp. Even if you are comfortable with where you are running and know the surface like the back of your hand, a decent headlamp will always help draw attention to your outline. Who doesn't spot a light source 5-6' off the ground and wonder what it is?

SILVA X-Trail

Use a flashing rear facing lamp. Just a small detail but very often we are focused on being seen from the front and often forget about some small details on the rear. Whether its a bicycle style rear light (red lens) attached to a backpack or a blinking light at head level it doesn't hurt to have a little bit of extra visibility.

Carry ID. A phone with ICE contact or ideally an ID bracelet should the worst ever happen.

Be defensive. Try and view yourself from a driver's perspective. What can you see? Run against traffic, behind cars at intersections, and avoid areas that might not be super safe.

Run Smooth

Which of these runners 'runs right'?

I know its a cliche, but lately I've been thinking and its worrying.

Every day that we use video playback in +Amphibian King Galway to provide a medium for helping people choose the running footwear best suited for them. The most common question is 'do I run right?'



Now how do you answer this?

Like footwear there are so many factors that are involved, and how do you decide what is 'running right'?

There's the school of thought, run barefoot, it will fix you and make you a better runner. I agree, yes and no.There are people who have fantastic barefoot running form, yet as soon as you put them in shoes they forget all of that and run stupid. 

By 'run stupid' I mean, they switch their brain off, they run and allow the shoe to insulate their foot and deaden all the nice feedback and kill off decent form. So yes, barefoot running is good for them. 

Then there's the majority of us who don't run sweetly, bit of a stomper and untidy barefoot form, in the main shoes are good for them, but also a bit of barefoot or minimal work to help remap muscles and improve form.

I've a couple of previous posts on this area of discussion: What's in a name?

The bit that worrys me and an area I would do research into if I had a these to do for college is what defines 'running right' ?

The common perception is that you should land on your mid to fore foot, allow the heel to drop, charging the calf muscles with that impact force, the muscles turn this impact force into elastic potential energy which as you body weight moves over the centre of gravity becomes kinetic energy levering you just as your foot locks into a rigid structure propelling you forwards.

All this to be done at 90 strides per minute.

The problem I have with this is there is no variability taken into account for height, weight, fitness, mechanical deficiences or anything that marks us out as individual.

In fact it reminds me of the 'one style fits all' coaching that we used to get swimming Total Immersion. 

I think running form should be considered more along the lines of Swim Smooth where rough categories are defined based on common characteristics in swimming style and instead of saying 'this is the way all of you must swim' they look at the individual characteristics of the styles and work with those.

What I mean is there is no point taking a 5 minute mile runner whose running form makes them look like they've been shot or something, doing loads of coaching to make them this graceful forefoot striker with perfect poise and balance who clocks 5:10 miles.

Is there?

Ideally you would look at this individual and work a couple of form tweaks to help them become more efficient so they can run 5 minute miles for longer or to help clock a 4:55 mile. 

Its not about making a beautiful runner out of someone, its about running beautifully and efficiently within your body's capabilities and recognising the difference. 

P.S. the 'ugly' runner on the right is Priscah Jeptoo who won +Virgin London Marathon today in 2:20:13 

Run Smooth

Which of these runners 'runs right'?

I know its a cliche, but lately I've been thinking and its worrying.

Every day that we use video playback in +Amphibian King Galway to provide a medium for helping people choose the running footwear best suited for them. The most common question is 'do I run right?'

Step into Minimalism

From our +Amphibian King Galway Facebook page:



What is 'Minimalism' or 'Natural' running?

MINIMALIST RUNNING SHOES FEATURE LOWER MIDSOLE HEIGHTS AND OFFER LESS SUPPORT THAN TRADITIONAL RUNNING SHOES

BY PUTTING THE FOOT CLOSER TO THE GROUND AND ALLOWING A FREER RANGE OF MOTION. MINIMALIST RUNNING SHOES ENCOURAGE A DISTINCT FOOT STRIKE.

MINIMALIST RUNNING SHOES ARE RECOMMENDED FOR RUNNERS UTILIZING OR TRANSITIONING INTO A MIDFOOT / FOREFOOT STRIKE MOST OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH BAREFOOT OR NATURAL RUNNING FORM

WHEN SUPPLEMENTED INTO YOUR WORKOUT MINIMALIST RUNNING SHOES CAN HELP YOU BECOME STRONGER AND MORE EFFICIENT

In +Amphibian King Galway we get asked about minimalism and transitioning to barefoot running, a lot. Like so many things in life there are as many different answers as there are individuals asking the questions. Transitioning to barefoot running or any form of minimalism requires time, dedication and patience.

You have spent how many years to date wearing structured footwear, shoes, runners, boots that have all worked to isolate your feet from their environment. They have protected your feet from that environment, but in doing so your awareness of the environment you are in contact with is diminished. When was the last time you kicked off the shoes and socks and really enjoyed the feel of a lawn?, or dug your feet into a sandy beach? or picked stuff up with your toes? Try it and see.

Having advised so many people and listened to so much feedback on peoples experiences the best advice we can give to people looking to try minimalism running is to go off road. Get out in the woods, into the park, try something completely different from your normal run.

Why are your suggesting to hit the trails?

• Your mindset will be different, you will not be focussed on running x miles at y pace. Just run! And by the way do it without ipod so you enjoy the complete experience of sensory input.
• Your run will be different, you will skip around obstacles, jump over branches, you will feel lighter without focusing on steady stride & casdence.
• The surface is nature. She is forgiving & will welcome you, just leave her as you found her. #LeaveNoTrace
• There is no disruption to your road running habit. Stay as you are running in your normal shoes, to your normal training program and introduce these off road runs as a completely different exercise format.
• The new muscle patterns and runnign form with transfer into your road shoe, You will run better and more efficiently in your 'normal' shoe without having to change anything.

How?

Pick up a pair of low profile trail or minimalist trail shoes, we'll give you help with selecting these, and get out and enjoy. Give yourself a winter of off road minimalist running and you will see the difference for yourself in the Spring.

To lace or not to lace?

Another question that keeps cropping up is "what laces should I use?".

Specifically it is multisport atheletes that are looking at racing shoes in +Amphibian King Galway  and asking this question and it is in relation to speedier transitions between the sports, usually bike to run phase where the speed laces are in the running shoes to save time in T2, though in duathlons this can be T1 and T2.

How do you know when a shoe is 'dead'?

If I got €1 for every time I get asked this I wouldn't need to sell shoes, but if I didn't sell running shoes in +Amphibian King Galway I wouldn't be asked.

Its a perpetual question in a never ending cycle.

Whats in a name?

Following a recent discussion with a pal this topic came up which, I feel, causes quite a bit of confusion for runners and needs a bit of +Amphibian King Galway clarity applied.

What exactly is the difference between a traditional technical running shoe and a minimalist running shoe? (Thanks Dave for the inspiration)

Do my feet look big in these?

Every day when sizing people for runners in +Amphibian King Galway , I would normally hear several suggestions that I'm telling fibs about the numbers.I also get quizzical looks about sizes I may be suggesting.

I'm used to it at this stage.

There's a couple of measurements I look at; your barefoot size (just standing there), your recommended shoe size (normal everyday shoes) and then your running shoe size.

Foot width, bridge height & foot volume are generally 'eye-ball' dimensions that are taken into consideration when selecting and recommending a pair of shoes for you to try out.

What is the reason for the running shoe size?

Well, depending on your arch which may be high, neutral or low your foot will do a certain amount of work when you are running. The arch is a flexible structure of joints, muscles, connective tissue all designed to be a mobile unit that helps the body absorb impact energy (when running) store it as potential energy (in the muscles of the lower leg) and re-use that force as kinetic energy (driving your forwards). A highly efficient use of energy systems.

So, let's assume you have a neutral arch, nicely flexible with good mobility. When you run, between strides you are airbourne so gravity starts having an effect on your landing. It multiplies the impact forces from 1-2 times your walking body weight to anywhere from 2-5 times of point load on landing.

To absorb and redistribute this impact energy (remember from school science class the Law of Conservation of Energy? Energy in a system may neither be created nor destroyed but can be changed from one form to another. ) the arch flattens as the impact energy becomes stored by the foot. As the arch flattens your foot becomes longer.

If you don't have space at the head of your shoe, you are going to lose toenails, simple.

With sandal season around the corner, tell me do you this this is a good look?

Didn't think so.  :)
 

Don't believe me, want to test me?

Next time you get out of the shower stand on the floor with your feet shoulder width apart. Have a look at your footprints. Now place one foot alongside the prints and stand on one leg. The second footprint is larger both in length, width and surface area. This is how the body starts dealing with running impact energy.

So that's it in a nutshell. We're not trying to make you trip over your own feet, or turn you into a circus clown. We're not even making up the numbers for fun. 

Your foot size is your foot size, but your running shoes size is a different thing altogether.

Trust me.

Happy running!!

Sock it to me!

All to often the importance of proper running socks is overlooked when choosing footwear for your endurance running.

Pitted Keratolysis - sweat!

Without going into a long and convoluted discourse about the mechanics of the foot during your running stride ie gait, suffice to say that at the point of maximum force generated through the foot, your arch will flatten, your toes stretch forwards and your foot splays out the result being that your foot can be a shoe size longer and a size wider.

At this stage we should all be aware of the importance of correctly fitting a running shoe, but did you realise that the socks are just as important?

Cotton socks are a no, no. The cotton absorbs sweat, retaining it close to the skin, softening the skin (making your feet clammy) and being the primary cause of 'hot feet' and blistering.

Don't run in cotton socks!

My personal favourite

Instead use purpose made sports or running socks with wicking materials to draw moisture away from the skin and which will allow the evaporation of this moisture through the mesh upper of the running shoes. The socks may have additional features such as spandex to wrap the foot or heel pads for additional comfort. You are going to spend time on your feet working hard so they should be as comfortable as possible.

The most important factor about choosing your socks is to get the size right. Most will come back a little in size with washing so be sure to have wiggle room (sorry about the pun!) by going up a size. This will also mean that your toes will not be constrained by the socks, which can also be a contributing factor to runners toenails and subsequent loss of said nails.

My own personal favourite is the Mizuno Biogear range of socks which feature Drylite moisture management and a really comfortable band of support around the arch & plantar areas of the foot. An expensive sock, but not as costly as losing toenails or developing blisters in a marathon.