Is it because I is...

We are what we eat. Diets, fads and super foods. 

Because this post is about sensitivity, people's feelings and the choices that we make that other people will ultimately judge us upon. The following people should stop reading here: Vegetarians, fans of Disney, the French, JZ (the one with the Nkandla crib), Daisy the cow, lovers of digestives and my mother. 

Time for change, at least for a bit. 

Spring is here and that means it is time to out with the old. It is also the start of Lent. Symbolically people nowadays try to give up such gentle vices like chocolate digestives or beer for the period of Lent. In the Orthodox tradition one has to give up eating certain foods and the list gets prescriptively stricter the closer you get to Easter. Whilst I like the idea of a gradual weaning process, the habits are not lasting and at the end of it all you eat an entire (inside and out) lamb over two days. So you are right back where you started, in need of another detox. 

Preparing the lamb for Easter. Innards first and
 then the roast the next day. 

I have been wondering what sort of changes I could make to my eating habits. What changes would make a meaningful difference? What would make me healthier and could possibly better me as a runner? A tall order, but there is no shortage of advice out there to help you, some are pure snake oil, others too selective, some emotional, some that have just been done before and are now repackaged as new and improved.

On the dietary spectrum, athletes are probably the most neurotic and are also usually amongst the earliest of adopters with any new diet. Californians follow closely behind. The more we research about what not to eat there is the converse proliferation of choices of how to eat out there. Hi-Lo, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, vegan, anything but sugar, Paleo, Atkins, 5:2 fasting, slow carb diets, or Prof. Tim Noakes' full-on-full-fat gravy boat. The list goes on and on. What path does one follow? I can see the merits in each one, but do I have to just pick one to find my dietary salvation? A new study reported in The Guardian explains that a high fat and high protein diet generously provides with you a fourfold chance of cancer or diabetes if you are under 65. Oddly if you make it past this watershed age, the same diet cuts your risk of dying of cancer by 60% and if not cancer, everything else by 28%. I also read about a four-day ice-cream detox...but diabetes just sprang to mind and I stopped reading. 

Mention to someone that you do such-and-such for a living or even that  do a particular sport for pleasure, people immediately jump to conclusions. People like to say they don't but they do - a profiling begins almost immediately and you are fitted into a preconceived pattern. It gets even worse when you tell people what you eat or if you really want to go down a dark alley with no hope of return, state unequivocally what your eating beliefs are. 


You are what you say you eat. Or don't eat. 

I am a huge fan of the bovine. I love steak, and if I were ever to be given an opportunity of requesting my final meal I would unhesitatingly request a thick slab of its rump, briefly scorched and lain upon my plate. So if I am what I eat then clearly I am not a very nice person. But then, on the other hand I feel profoundly sorry for all animals aquatic that end up on people's plates. Somehow being trapped and then scooped up and then dumped on a deck somewhere to suffocate seems unpleasant and a little fishcist. Frozen octopodes, calamari or hacked up tuna fill me with guilt. Quite why minced beef doesn't warrant a second thought is not clear and not something I wish to explore further here. David Attenborough and the Blue Planet documentary probably has a lot to answer for though. I absolutely have no qualms about poultry either. As absurd as all this sounds, it could be worse - I could be French. They as a nation have practically eaten every animal that has ever walked, galloped, bounced, flapped or slithered across this earth. 

  

Perhaps now that I am older I can sort of see that being a vegetarian is the most sentient life friendly option out there. On a cerebral level it makes the most sense. It is enlightened, you are taking responsibility for your eating habits and with the power of being at the top of the food chain can to make a respectful decision regarding everything else that so desperately tries to avoid ending up next to some fries and a bit of garnishing. It is an occupation of the moral high ground. But perhaps the most difficult part of adapting to this lifestyle change, aside from contemplating a world without bacon, is vegetarians. They are the Jehovah's Witnesses of eaters. Even if you wanted to believe in what they had to say you still just can't bring yourself to let them in the door. Just the mere thought of being congratulated by one of them for making the right choice will make you go right back to Daisy the cow followed by Bambi's grandchildren for dessert. Forget about the more orthodox of the set; vegans, or the other sub-cults: ovo-vegetarians or lacto-vegetarians or ovo-lacto-vegetarians. I am sure there are even more derivatives. 

In ultra-running circles there is now a Vegan only trail run in Wales. You don't have to be a vegan to be able to enter, though you do need to commit to the vegan lifestyle for the day. Now I hadn't really thought it would make a huge difference and they have said they will be offering vegan 'bacon' and 'sausages'. Fine. I don't mind doing that for a day. But if something were to happen up there and a vegan sausage was my last meal I would be most upset. It also means that I would have to think about what I eat very carefully. Do I really need to worry in a race whether my gel may have some bits of some unfortunate cane rat that got scooped up by a combine harvester or if I should be suspicious about why the bonding agent in my jelly beans is just so jelly like? If this sounds ridiculous, the innocent world of beer is tainted too with animal substances - which completely ruins what was a seemingly simple and innocent self-congratulatory pleasure. I only know this because of a website called Barnivore. It is a blacklist of sorts detailing which beers are fraught with little bits of animal inside. It just means that the whole thing becomes too much work if all you want is a guilt free cold one after surviving a day of vegan sausages. 

Vegetarians also tend to look like vegetarians, quite why wild and errant facial hair or a skin allergy to anything that is not hemp or reconstituted plastic bag seems to be a price they have to pay is beyond me. Scott Jurek seems to be the only one who is actually getting younger and younger. Perhaps I'll think about having what he's having. 

Meanwhile, In the other hemisphere though, Professor Tim Noakes might actually receive a Sainthood, if only South Africa's constitution will allow it. His book, Real Meal Revolution is whipping up fans and detractors in equal measures. Stranger things have happened and unlikely individuals can go on to great things that you would never have dreamed possible in a country with a constitution.

For years South Africans have been forerunners in the high-protein-high-fat diet. 

The principle is the same. Although 

nowadays men have grown soft and 

 braai with gas. Photo courtesy of a

 lazy mate (Thanks Norm).

Special occasions involving rugby or just about every day that isn't a weekday, and even those days are not safe either, meat is grilled on an open flame. Despite being world leaders in clogged arteries we still can't stop. Now Dr Tim has come along and said it is okay, we were on the right track all along with just a few minor tweaks required. Now there are few academics that have researched and influenced athletics more positively than Tim, and I am not going to go into the intricacies of how you need to balance the high fatein diet. But I have had more than enough family members clutch their chests and collapse to be a tad weary of it all. Strangely as a family we prefer to do this chest clutching in airports. It is hard to discern which is more dangerous for a my clan - an airport or too much red meat, but on this occasion I am not blaming lost luggage. 


When in Rome

One of my absolute favourite things about Greece is its food. I have lived in both Vancouver and London, and besides both cities boasting an above average annual rainfall they also offer a varied and worldly cuisine. Yet nothing has been as good or as tasty as the food I have encountered in Greece. The Mediterranean diet is famed for its sensibility, varied and natural foods. Unfortunately modern Greeks now eat far more junk food and far more meat than they ever used to which is why they don't live to 170 any more. Greek children have the second fastest expanding waistlines in the world and whilst obvious modern changes to the diet are blamed, it really just goes to show how dangerous Greek mothers are if they go unchecked. There is no such thing as a child that says it's too full. 

In its purest form, the paleo Mediterranean is really nothing special. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Everything is eaten, moderation and freshly grown produce are its cornerstones. Legumes are welcome, olive oil applied liberally.

Who knew lentils would taste so good?

Home made pita

I have never quite enjoyed food like this before. There is a darker side too with its feast days, quite how many lambs and goats are eaten at Easter or how severely the octopodes population is dented on Ash Monday or at the star of Lent is enough to make the quantities consumed during Oktoberfest seem miserly. I have never eaten less red meat than I have now and neither have I eaten more good fats that I have now. Processed foods are a rarity and most vegetables are locally grown. Perhaps I am at a good place right now with my eating. It has everything good from every diet. It doesn't occupy the moral high ground (sorry Daisy) but you also don't have to consume massive amounts Daisy either. 

So perhaps I am happy with where I am. It may look like a cop-out or that I lack commitment or that I am cherry picking or even just hedging my bets trying to avoid the cardiac arrest bullet with my name on it. In closing, perhaps Gaury Taubes, author of Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories puts it best - It is really just a system of personal beliefs and untested hypotheses, given a veneer of scientific respectability, when in actual fact it’s more like a religion – replete with irrational fanatics, money-making frauds and devout lemming-like followers. 

Regardless, while I try navigate what sensible changes to make, maybe all I'll do to make the world a better place is just give up chocolate digestives and animal enriched beer this Lent. 

Tough sacrifices to make

Credit is due to my wife, who is responsible for most of the good things in my life. She is a firm believer in the adage that 'to have a happy marriage one must have a good wife who is a bad cook'. It is for this reason that my red meat consumption has dropped so dramatically. 

Paying it forward

A healthy lifestyle is something I am very grateful to have. I am eternally grateful for having been brought up

in a family where I was encouraged to get outside and do sport. I often write about how running has been a hugely positive influence in my life. As the years pass, the more it becomes part of me. You hear similar sentiments all the time. Sometimes it is a raging catalyst, a tsunami that wreaks amazing changes on people's lives. Sometimes it is just a ripple that helps nudge them toward leading a more balanced life. Sometimes it is just the little things that make all the difference.

Last year I had a boy in my class. I'll call him 'A'. He was one of those siblings who just lived continually in the shadow of their brother or sister. Loved, but never quite getting out from under their sibling's success. Each day after school he would be taken off to a host of private lessons, golf, tennis, swimming and violin and French too. All the same lessons that his older and more successful brother went to. All the same lessons would reaffirm how good his older was and much more he would have to do. Convincing his mother during parents' evening of his merits was tough. I have never quite had a boy who tried so hard at anything.

I also coach Boy's Games and during the Spring we started track and field. He is the by and far away the fittest boy in about 3 year groups due to his regime after school and on the weekend. In the track events he would run his heart out, but he could never crack the top three in any race. Of course that his brother was well known in the school for being quick didn't help him.  I noticed that whenever the kids did warm up laps he would bolt ahead to the front of the group and just stay there. It was like watching a slinky spring being pulled from the front - he would be out ahead with this long trail of kids behind him. In the sprints he never looked as tired as the others even though he was trying his hardest. He was just running out of track. I decided to introduce a race, a longer race for their age group just to suit him. He didn't have the zip in his legs like some of the other kids, and if you could fuse a Panzer tank and a metronome together then that's just what he was like - he just crushed them with his steady consistency. He had found something that he could be good at. Because the race was longer than what the kids where used to, it was thought of as the tough race. It helped A even more. The season progressed and so did his self-belief and confidence. People now mentioned his name when talking about running. He practically glowed.

At the end of the season I mentioned what progress he had made to his mother who was sceptical but graciously agreed to indulge me. I wanted to show A that running could also take place off the track. As they lived very close to us I suggested that we met where I took our dogs walking. His mother would walk the trail while we ran ahead with the dogs. Despite him now being a more confident runner it was obvious he had never run outside before. Kids just don't get to explore any more. Hesitant at first he soon revelled in the freedom, jumping over rocks and running through the stream. The dogs barrelling through the long grass next to us amazed him. At the end of the school year I received a hand-made card that explained it all.

A year later he is no longer in my class though has joined my cross-country team. At the age of 10 he wanted to run a trail race. After getting special permission from the organisers, he was allowed to race in the men's 18-29 category. He won. What path he chooses to follow with his running is up to him. But what he does know is that he is good at something. He can run and run until the others fall away. I know that when he looks at a mountain he sees it differently to how he used to. He now wonders if there are tracks that he can run on.

Mizuno Harrier 3 Review

Mizuno Wave Harrier Review

Mizuno makes fine golf clubs. Well-crafted and they are a technological delight to hold.

Accurate and responsive. Since starting out in 1906 Mizuno is one of those companies that churned out varied and quality products across several sporting lines. Mizuno Running is one of those Marmite companies. You either love their shoes or hate them.

I first took notice of them after an ultra-running friend had just won a gruelling 160km race through the wild virgin forests of Northern Greece. He swore by them and there is no better place to test the shoes. I ordered a pair.

When they arrived, they looked like one of the designers of the Subaru Legacy in the late 90s had been given a second chance at redemption at Mizuno. They didn't look flashy, just unmistakably rugged, and instantly forgettable. Of course to round off the package there is a strange Anime fetish look with bits of silver rubber and plastic glued here and there. Right now I bet you are googling ‘Subaru Legacy’.

Look for a review of the Harrier and you will always come across this phrase "Light, low-profile, fast".  Not even Mizuno have terribly much to say about the Harrier. Just that they adapt to the environment. No other shoe maker I think is even vaguely comfortable about making that kid of claim. The shoes do feel relatively light given their bulk. Weigh them and they come in at about 348 grams for a UK 12. So not very light them. That there is a good deal of protection is obvious from the outset. There is even a little bumper attached to the front to provide toe protection. What I didn't like was that when I flexed the shoe it sounded as though the upper had a crinkly plastic bag sewn in there somewhere. Mizuno do explain that a lot of technology has gone into developing this shoe, such as AIRMesh, X10 Carbon Technology, WetTraction and SmoothRide. All you really need to know is that they are all parts of the shoe and also probably used to describe parts in a Subaru carplant. 

The outsole

The shoe is touted as a low profile fast shoe but with a 8/20mm drop it is at best a beefy low profile one at that. Otherwise there is very good mid-foot flexibility and it does promotes a comfortable mid to forefoot strike with plenty of protection. If you are looking for a solid, neutral running shoe that is essentially based on a road shoe with a lot more rubber underneath then look no further. 

The grip in the dry was excellent and the tread seemed to grip the ground well.  When I ran in the wet, it was a different story. The rubber did not do well in the wet and unfortunately I only realized this after I was lying slightly confused amongst some bushes after slipping on a section of flat rock. Wet rocks and roots felt as slippery as glass. Muddy and packed trails however were not a problem and they felt stable and reliable. The outsole is very tough and they do provide reassuring protection. 

The Upper

You get the feeling that the upper is cheaply made. Perhaps I could not move past the recycled plastic bag sound. Slide your hand inside the shoe and you will feel ridges and seams. Unlike with ino8, the MT110s, Nike Terra Kigers where you would feel confident to experiment going sockless, not so with the Harriers. On the flat I had no problems with the upper, but as soon as I ran anywhere with a steep gradient the upper would bunch and bite into my foot. The upper is very breathable and did well in the dry hot heat of summer.

More than a blister. Result of a seam cutting into my foot during a 15km trail run. 

So incensed was I that I decided to send a photograph of the inside of the upper to Mizuno.
They were not particularly interested. But you can see the ridges and untidy stitching. 

What I liked

• The longevity of the outsole. In dry and muddy or easy packed conditions they are stable and secure. Mizuno are right about the X10 carbon technology, it is incredibly durable. 

What I did not like

• Despite the WetTraction technology, they are definitely very slippery on wet rock and roots. WetTeflon. 
• The upper. There is a lot of room in the forefoot which is nice, but it does bunch up when you tackle steep stuff. That concentration of materials (and plastic bag) chafes and I did not feel it held my foot well, at least compared to some other trail models out there. 

As such I never tested the shoes on anything longer than a 20km run. I have run over 800 kilometres in them in total and the soles have little wear and tear to show for it. The upper is beginning to disintegrate now and the little toe bumpers are peeling away from the upper. Despite their rugged longevity, they were never my ‘go to’ shoe. Some people love, them. I love to hate them but I still have them and they'll probably knock about in the back of my cupboard for several more years. If there ever is a nuclear fallout, all that will remain of our civilisation will be cockroaches and Mizuno Wave Harrier 3 (and 2) soles.  

Perspective and quick fixes

The perspective of moving out that door

They do say that the hardest part of a run is getting out the door. I say it to myself all the time. It is a handy technique to beat away the self loathing that will surely follow if you don’t get out that door. Runners are funny that way.

Now I am prone to a spot of self loathing as much as the next man.  I am also a king of procrastination, or rather grouping things in an order to be done. If you ask my wife it looks like procrastination. To be honest, I am not sure where this trait came from. My entire family is dynamic to the point of being wearisome. My wife too can’t stop moving and doing, a beautiful mix of activity and exhaustion to behold. Now before you start forming this mental picture of me standing at the doorway with my running shoes on, wearing a wife beater with a pizza stain down the front, blinking at the sunshine. In this mental picture I might even be adjusting or scratching somewhere usually not done in any sort of company never mind polite circles. Perhaps I belch or kick the dog and then slope back to a darkened room and settle back into a fragrantly stale couch. I am not that guy either.

Where has this trait come from? I think I can only blame Tetris. I was obsessed with the game as a kid. But I had a weird way of playing, I would build up solid piles on either side of a  long one-block wide gap, much like a space between skyscrapers, just waiting for when one of those long rectangular blocks would pop out from the top of the screen, slotting them down to the bottom row. Magically after a blink, seven rows of carefully arranged and compacted building blocks would vanish. That was far more satisfying that any score I got. I couldn't bear building a solid row on top of three rows with gaps in. Weird and particularly unhelpful. So you see, video games do corrupt the youth of today and clearly yesteryear. Happily that’s where my dalliance with video games ended. Shooting and driving fantasies never took hold. It did give me the idea though that things needed to be grouped together and completed in blocks.

Living in London didn't help either. I worked as a project manager in the City. Of course speaking to project managers about their work is perhaps one of the duller ways to spend your time. Pray you never get introduced to one at a party. Maybe quantity surveyors are the dullest of all. So dull that you are afforded a glimpse of what it must be like to be at a cocktail party in Zurich. No matter how interesting the project they are working on is, it is all dull sequences and timelines. Time will even, mid conversation, take itself off to whither and die in the corner leaving you standing in a stifling vacuum.

“Wow, you are building a hovercraft barge that will revolutionise… “

“Yes, but we can’t do anything until we have selected the right colour doorknobs for the cabins before we can…then of course on the critical chain there’s the marine license…”

That sort of thing. Filled now with self loathing you wonder why even asked?

A door with a view

But what it did teach me was the importance of perspective. Projects are nothing without the bigger picture with a series of structured steps leading up to it. So really a more advanced level of Tetris. English weather too gives you a sense of perspective. There is no waiting for a sunny day tomorrow because that day comes only twice in a year and never during Wimbledon. You just need to get on keep the big picture in mind. The weather was always terrible and if you wanted to go out running or cycling you just had to get out that door and grim your way through it making sure your upper lip didn't wobble at all. Guilt and doom too add to a sense of perspective that is unique only to living life in England. Guilt because someone somewhere out there was braving the weather and you weren't. Doom, because there is only so much grey sky you can take.  

Not so now that I live in Greece. Rain and clouds are only fleeting visitors and you can be assured that tomorrow will be a better day and you can just wait it out. Their weather is wholly responsible for the concept known as Greek time. It has no bearing at all to the Greenwich meridian or any US Naval atomic clock. Things get done later, when the time is right or maybe when the right day has rolled around or after dinner. Perhaps that’s why Greeks live so long. Infuriating. The lesson here is more the necessity of perspective and planning. Observe any Greek road works as a case in point and you’ll get a distinct feeling that the whole thing is influenced somehow by zodiac movements, the seasons or only when their mothers let them out after dinner. A few months later the whole thing is dug up again or collapses.

Don’t open that door

Sometimes running out that door is just rubbish advice. It is difficult to distinguish at the time, some runs do get better and you return home with a smugness that is more insufferable than self loathing. At other times they just get worse and worse. A few nights ago I really did not want to run. I had had a long week and it was the last week of the school term. There is tiredness in your bones that only teachers will know. Nevertheless I felt I was behind in my training, I had to run, I needed to run but I shouldn't have run. The whole way round one of my regular trail routes I felt like the unfortunate Edgar in Men in Black:

Imagine you had been given a second chance to live and got to inhabit someone else’s body and to your dismay you end up with a pretty useless corpus. Nothing ever clicked into place. My feet were clumsy and my lungs had no interest in what the rest of my body was doing at all. I had the distinct feeling people were staring without looking at me as I jerked along the path, the way people do at parents dragging a tantrum throwing child behind them in a quiet supermarket. I didn't even feel better when I got home. Just like that time when you asked that tedious fellow what they did at that party – you never get that time back.

But other times it can be blissful, a release so glorious and unrealised at the time. Yesterday I ran up into the clouds on our local mountain with our four dogs, got drenched, leapt over bushes following the dogs and was annoyingly happy when I returned home.

Arranging four dogs, one of whom is deaf, neatly in a photograph is nigh on impossible. Three was the best I could do.

After a week where I felt like an Edgar and then like a kid, I thought about the value of perspective and running

•  You need a sense of perspective with your training just the way you do with life. Unless you are training for the Olympics and are not having fun, you need to look at what you are doing.
• At some point you’ll realize that as a runner you are the sum of all the steps you have ever taken, not just that last training block. Make your runs count.
• Training well is always better than just training.
• Getting out that door and moving is the next best thing. If you can’t run and feel like an Edgar, do something else. Walk, take the dog out or ride a bike. You can run well another day. 
•  Run when you can with man’s best friend. It is entirely worth it and you’ll feel like a kid again. There is nothing as happy as a dog running. 
• You’ll never be as young as you are that day. Enjoy it because it won’t come round again.

      Hacking about without purpose and perspective just means you’ll get a job in the Athens Road Department. Once and only once you have been let out after dinner.  

Are you tough enough?

There goes the neighbourhood...

The problem with the internet is that too many people are getting involved with things that they shouldn't be. Everyone has the freedom to push their own agenda, much the same way as I am now. That a little knowledge is a dangerous thing is well known and there are just too many people imparting their advice. It is wonderful that the internet can give a voice to everyone yet there is a growing noisy corner of it that seems to be getting a little out of order. As a society we have successfully marginalised the workings of Darwin and we are paying for it. Facebook is the main vehicle of social connectivity at the moment and it seems to be the receptacle of all that is really useless out there. Don't get me wrong, I am on it as much as the next person, but I am now beginning to get an inkling that I am outgrowing it. I don't want to admit it but I think that this means that I am getting old. The perils of microwaved water, rice that ferments quicker because of mean thoughts, the healing power of 'Likes' and KFC's secretly bred four-legged and four-winged chickens are some of the latest inane warnings that are gradually creeping into the realms of social media. The allure is the underlying subtle dichotomy of these premises. That the thinking behind them could make sense is more appealing that the alternative. But what has happened to critical thinking? So far my microwaved porridge with its altered DNA (really now...) hasn't caused anything to go awry. Perhaps it's because I choose to eat bananas with brown flecks on the skin that is counteracting the adverse effects...you never know. Or do you?

It's not that people post them in an ironic way, people believe it. Utterly and completely. Have I just got old? Is my thinking now too rigid? Am I becoming a little bit grumpier? Probably. Just because there is a scientific experiment captured on YouTube doesn't mean it is true. If only it were that easy. Sample sizes are too small and with random variances. A theory needs to be replicable - test it yourself. Don't just YouTube it. 

When the going gets tough, the tough work out

Aside from the plethora of irritatingly bad science out there, there is also the range of inspirational workout posters doing the rounds. Again, I love them. It is a little bit like a walk down memory lane with a dab of testosterone applied Floyd Landis style. If you walked through an open plan office floor in the 90s, most likely the walls would be covered with paintings that looked as though they had been churned out by some unfortunate retirement home-cum-sweatshop in Florida. Pastel water colours with no real discernible subject matter. Amongst these instantly forgettable swathes of pink, blue and lime green prints there was always one of these put up by some departmental middle management hack:

That eventually became this...

Inspired yet?

There is no end too of inspirational work out quotes. It appeals to the athlete in all of us and unfortunately is even more irresistible to the unsophisticated of the species. We just can't help it.  Again, there is nothing wrong with it . They are motivational red flags to the competitive. Because I am not into Crossfit as it appears so much of the Facebook world is, I don't take them to heart. The challenge was not thrust on me. My masculinity intact, I can let them pass by and my un-Spartany toughness remains threatened. 

One though that really caught my attention was the one where there was never anyone that regretted a run. Ever. Really? It kept cropping up with different friends. It jarred something in me. 

What was I thinking?

It made me think. There is often nothing that feels as good after you have returned from a run. That exhilarating yet fleeting dose of endorphins makes everything feel right. But there are many times that I have regretted going for a run. It was those runs that lead to injury or illness.  I knew it at the time too but I could not stop myself. Years ago when I was on the ironman bandwagon I was on the far side of being over trained for much of it. We used to call it the razor, that fine line of finding form yet with the abyss of fatigue. We used to revel in it. It was fun, too and I was part of a pretty competitive group that were all out there chasing this bone, egging each other on. In one sense we are still pack animals. A simple mob with a cause. 

Later too when I started with specific marathon training, following the programme was everything. I never wanted to regret, the feeling that I didn't achieve my weekly training targets. Sadly, all those miles completed whilst over-trained ended up being junk. I didn't get faster, I was just tired for longer. All the while hanging in until the magical taper period so that I could somehow repair myself in time for the big day.

I regret that run when I twisted my ankle after deciding on running a needlessly technical downhill just a few days ahead of a race I had prepared hard for. I missed the race and I still have a slightly dicky ankle. I regret the track session last year when I strained my knee ahead of the marathon. I knew I was tired but I felt I had to tough my way through it because I would be stronger afterwards. It is all fine until it isn't. I regret all those runs when I knew I was getting sick but I went anyway. Why I never listened to my body I don't know...but I also know the next time I get into a training cycle I'll get caught up on driving towards my goal. It is hard, but I have resolved to regret less and listen more. Hopefully it is a sign of maturity. 

Listening to your body is just one of the steps along the road of being an athlete. It is also one of the steps that you heed the older you get. Many athletes find it hard to hold back when training with accumulating fatigue. We make little deals with ourselves such as promising to get a little more sleep that night or that by eating a bit better so we can avoid the downward spiral of over training. Letting go of that missed training session seems to be the most difficult to do. Life too seems to get better at adding obstacles in your way. Less time, work responsibilities, family commitments. The less time you have to train the more important it is listen to your body. 

Sometimes I know that I am not tough enough and that's okay too. Training at the end of the day is a luxury and I want to be able to enjoy it for as long as possible. 

Nike Terra Kiger Review

Nike Terra Kiger

This is Nike’s latest foray into the trail market and it is a good one. It will be interesting to see how this

model goes down as the perception on Nike as a producer for serious runners is deeply questioned by many, and it gets worse when you enter the niche arena of trail and ultra runners. But as answer to the dubious, Nike has produced a shoe that can hold its head high amongst the favourites out there.

This is a carefully considered shoe and one that shows the Nike is interested in wooing this growing section of the market. When I opened the box and held the shoe I was surprised at how light they felt as they looked a little on the bulky side. A size 12 (US) weighs in at 274 grams.

The mesh upper is similar in concept to the Nike Free, but far more durable. It too has a seamless liner that is very comfortable and can be worn sockless. Once you slip your foot into the shoe the upper seems to suck back onto your foot (in a good way). The lacing system is extremely secure and holds your foot firmly in place. These shoes are extremely comfortable to wear. I was surprised that flat lacing was used, but they work well. The heel and mid-foot area of the shoe hold your feet closely with a roomy toe box which is great for those steep climbs and descents. Just from a ‘feel’ factor these shoes are the most pleasing.

The sole is a little more cushioned than I am used to. It has well paced tidy lugs that are unobtrusive but give good grip in dry and gravel. The sole provides very good traction in wet conditions too, but I have not had the opportunity to try them in very muddy conditions.

The surface area of the Kiger’s sole is slightly larger than that of most minimal racers and it is noticeable - on technical terrain the shoes don’t feel accurate but I think they just take a little getting used to. The heels have a slightly rounded cup to them. I am guessing that  this has been designed so because hard edges catch and are easier to roll on. It does not give a different feel when running, but then I also haven’t had any problems either. Aesthetically I get a kick out of the contour lines motif on the sole.

Things I like

The tongue is attached to the upper on the inner side. The design works very neatly and with the slightly elasticated upper fits neatly and snugly to your foot. The tongue also extends quite a bit further to the other side completely covering the lacing system. In some shoes you can feel the laces, these just give you that comfortable vacuum packed feeling. It’s the little things that count and this is a great feature.

• The lacing system. Snug and comfortable. The flat laces don’t snag.
• The upper is like wearing a sock. You just want to keep on wearing them.
• The sole has a great cushioning, you might not quite get that feel of the ground, but for rougher terrain and the longer days out on the trail, you’ll thank them.

Things I don’t like but probably don’t matter

As I mentioned, the surface area of the sole is a little wider than I am used to. So these are great for just bombing downhill if you they are not technical. On the technical sections I found that I was catching more than I was used to. But that perhaps was just me being unfamiliar with the shoes. I do like the cushioning, but I would have liked a rock-plate as although you are well protected there is a bit of flexing of the sole on sharp objects. At the end of the day - this is a great shoe, extremely comfortable and I am already looking forward to retiring these shoes at the end of their useful life as they are great to walk around in too. 


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New Balance MT 100 Review

New Balance MT110

This shoe has been out for sometime now already. It was first released in 2012 and I am already three pairs down the line. This is and has been my favourite overall trail running shoe. It

is the Bruce Lee of shoes - lean and mean. Aesthetically it is very different from other shoe offerings out there and initially I shied away from it because of its shiny patent plastic look.

The genealogy of the shoe is apparent if you look at previous New Balance trail models, however this shoe is a giant leap forward. The MT110 is a minimalist shoe. It has a 4mm drop and weighs in at 219 grams (US 12). The entire upper is plastic and is its most striking feature, giving it an almost football boot appearance. Despite this, the upper is very well ventilated and does not have bulges and seams where other shoes might have where the upper and mesh are sewn together. This provides a very comfortable fit and it is a shoe that I am happy to run sockless in.

The tread is aggressive with counter facing directional lugs for the forefoot and heel. Despite being a minimalist shoe it offers excellent protection due to the RockStop plate in the feel and forefoot. The mid section is a softer rubber compound that has less protection but ensures the shoe’s flexibility. The heel fits closely. It has also been designed with a lower instep and a roomier forefoot area. The result is well fitted shoe that gives you the space in the front when you need it. In short it feels like a racing flat with teeth.

It is not a flashy shoe by any means. In many ways this shoe is refined simplicity, perfectly designed for purpose. What I appreciate most about this shoe is that New Balance made a shoe just for running. Hold up most running shoes, with the exception of fell running shoes or racing flats and you find many features that just don’t help you move forward. Flashy logo, over engineered lacing eyelets, extraneous padding and all sorts of other bits and bobs that have been added to help make the shoe stand out. Not so with the NB MT100. This is the kind of shoe that has everything you need and nothing you don’t. 

The tread in the forefoot and heel is very durable. The tread on the softer rubber the midsole wears away almost immediately, but it is part of the shoe design.

Things I like

• Excellent grip without the lugs being too pronounced
• The Rock-Stop plate, provides protection without the expense of weight
• It is light weight
• Low to the ground
• I like that the inner sole is sewn into the shoe
• The mirrored imprint “KEEP UP” on the sole

Things I don’t like but probably don’t matter

The mid-sole. It is made up of a softer rubber compound and the tread wears away quickly. That in itself is hardly a problem. It is also the soft underbelly of the shoe. The rock-plate does not extend to that area. Another thing I am not too fond of is that the soft rubber does not grip well. However, the instances of you needing the midsole to provide grip are minimal.

The laces. There is nothing wrong with the laces, but the rest of the shoe is sleek, without any ridges, these are the only thing that will snag if you run through brush of any sort. They are also a magnet for catching burrs and in Springtime I always end up with an impressive collection of the local flora’s seeds attached.

Wish list for the shoe

• Create a neater lacing system
• Extend rock-stop to the mid-sole.