Born to Run

Just finished reading the book 'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall. Inspirational stuff I must say. Now I'm even more motivated than ever to work on a consistent running regime. The book has me even fantasizing about potentially running marathons and ultra-marathons. After all, we were born to run!

First came across the title of this book while doing further online research on Vibrams and barefoot running in general. For some reason, I had too much free time on a Thursday and decided it was time to indulge in a little intellectualism, going on my seasonal book binge.

Although most of the books I picked up were business related, this was the only book on running and man was it hard to find! I went first to Popular to try my luck since they were the nearest, followed by the Borders in Wheelock, before finally getting it at Takashimaya Kinokuniya. Talk about the wrong choice of bookstore memberships. That's the one that I let expired, when I'm still holding on to Times and Borders.

Complains aside, the book was awesome. It was the first on my to read list, telling the tale of how the author, despite being told by his podiatrist that he should abandon running due to his injuries and how he was simply 'not built for running', decided to look for a different answer, finally finding them in the Tamahumara tribe and a group of elite ultramarathoners.

While the book did touch on certain aspects of barefoot running, I felt the bigger focus was simply on the celebration of running and the sheer joy of rediscovering what it's like to be able to run light and free again. It really made me feel that even I could achieve great feats of running if I simply tried and corrected some of the misconceptions I've been told.

Especially inspirational for me was Caballo's idea of just thinking about running 'easy, light, smooth and fast'. Running should be just that simple. I also loved all the anecdotes about people who started running simply because they enjoyed it, and somehow blossomed into incredible endurance runners. If they could do it, why not me? Since I can't run fast, maybe I can run long!

Of course, the kicker was the idea of persistence hunting, of how humans in the past were able to run deers to exhaustion after 6-8 hour long chases. That's like ultra-marathon lengths! If a whole tribe of people could do it, I better damn well be able to do a comparatively simpler marathon.

At the base of it there's still the idea that modern running injuries and the description of running as a 'high impact sport' are due to modern shoes. As long as you're able to change your gait and revert to what was once natural, it hardly matters whether you're running barefoot, in Vibrams, or other minimalist shoes.

There's still so much more I'm not able to put down in words. The book itself is real motivational material. I'd encourage every runner and non-runner to pick it up and try out some of the ideas. Just don't be too close-minded with it!

Spanking New Heart Rate Monitor

Ever since I've had the flight of fancy that I might be doing runs, I'd been thinking of investing in a heart rate monitor. However, the few times I've popped in and out of running shops, the HRMs cost a bomb! The Polar watches are $170 odd and up. That's way too much in my books when I just need to know how fast my heart is beating. Don't really need to know how many calories I burnt and all those extra features that jack up the price.

On this particular day though, I happened to walk by the Running Lab in Tampines 1 and they were having sale. Thought I'd try my luck again to hunt for something around the $100 mark. After browsing around, I managed to find ONE model that was on half price! Hell yeah! Unfortunately, it was the ladies' model.

But me being cheapskate me, I checked with the staff, and apparently the only difference was the design, so I decided to pick it up anyway. That's when I realised there was still additional discount off this item. Talk about luck! It must be fated that I'm to pick up running this year, haha. So in the end, I paid $79 for a Sportline Duo 1025 HRM. Not sure how the price and function compares to other HRMs out there, since I didn't do my research, but it fulfills all the basic functions I need.

To be honest, I didn't even know that HRMs came with a chest strap or required one. But luckily this 'budget' model I bought can take my heart rate from just touching the watch or by using the provided chest strap. Don't know how accurate it is without the chest strap, but it's fun being able to take my heart rate anytime and see how it fluctuates with my daily activities.

Seems like my usual heart rate fluctuatates between 70-100 when I'm out and about, but my RHR is 56-60 thereabouts. Ok, I was hoping I'd have a lower RHR to show that I'm 'fit', but hanging out at the bottom of the normal range is still decent, I guess. Now I just need to keep training my cardio until I can get it down to 50 or maybe even 40! Then I can consider myself an athlete, hahaha.

Wishful thinking, I know. Don't know if wearing the HRM fries my brain or something. Still, it's a goal. Lower RHR, here I come!

The Smell of Funk

The recent wet weather is killing me. If there's one thing I hate most besides roaches, it's wet feet.

Unfortunately, wet weather means wet feet. I don't usually wear covered shoes, so as long as the ground is wet after nature's shower, my Teva sandals are bound to scoop some of that dirty water under my toes.

I hate that icky sticky feeling, not to mention how it'll end up stinking real bad, my feet especially. I've had at least one complain already, and god knows how many more unspoken ones.

In the hopes that the Classics will fare better, I've been wearing them around too. While the funk is lesser for now, it takes hell of a time to dry. I'm basically squelching around in soaked feet. Doesn't help that it's mostly fabric.

One saving grace is that it's machine washable though, so I've been dumping it into a laundry bag with the rest of my wash. Helps to keep the smell down.

The only problem is wet weather makes it hard to sun dry them. In the mean time I have to wear my Tevas. Back to square one. *facepalm*

While I'm busy sulking, anyone's got recommendations for washing powder or detergent? Still can't seem to find the magic one that gives my clothes that laundry fresh fragrant. Sigh.

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Wet Weather Plans

It's been raining a lot this month, and I'm caught on my running day with the rain outside. I hate sloshing around with wet feet, so the Vibrams are not gonna cut it. I've already been in several downpours with the Classics on my daily travels and I don't really like the wet fabric sticking to my feet, and how my dirty feet would stain the insole. The KSOs with the mesh upper will definitely not help either. Oh well.

Let's hope the rain subsides tomorrow, otherwise I won't be going for a run till next week. In the meantime, I should probably hunt for some waterproof or at least water resistant shoes.

Cheated on eBay

After a long and fortunate experience of purchasing on eBay, I've finally hit a dud. Not that I wasn't prepared for it since I went it with my eyes wide open, but still disappointing to find my streak broken at last.

What was the object of forgery? A pair of Vibrams KSO from China.

After returning my KSOs and trying out the Treksport, I was a little uncomfortable about wearing down the sole of the Treksport and preferred the thinner 2mm sole for roadwork. Deciding to take my chances online, I went for a cheap pair of KSOs on eBay.

To be honest, it's rather expensive even for a pair of knock-offs. I'd expect half-price, but it was going for around 75% of retail, one of the reasons I bit. Another reason was that Vibrams were made in China anyway, so I was taking my chances that these might be factory rejects or extras produced out of the actual factory. I had contacted the seller to ask if these were original or knock-offs, and all I received was an ambiguous 'made in China factory'.

Turns out, it's not authentic. Having worn actual KSOs before, I could instantly tell the difference. The sole of the fakes were much stiffer, the material of the uppers were different. Those guys even had the cheek to include the Vibram and Aegis tags to make it look like the original product. The only thing missing was the box.

Unhappy with the lost money, I reported the incident to eBay since selling fakes is against their policy. Unfortunately, eBay was slow with their response, and simply told me to contact the seller and get a refund. If the seller refused, I could escalate. In my mind, I was going WTF. So even though it's against policy to sell fakes, and I clearly know it's a fake, eBay would have me discuss with the seller so he could deny it? I could easily submit documentary evidence with photos if eBay required!

Moreover, even if I resolved it with the seller, it meant that the seller could continue selling fakes to others. If you've never tried Vibrams before, you probably couldn't tell the difference from the knock-offs. I'd thought eBay would take a greater interest and try to shut these kind of sellers down. So much for eBay customer protection. I even replied their email with the concerns about, and all I got was another templated 'contact the seller' reply, with no regard for my email contents. It's as though they can't read!

Fortunately, the seller was pretty affable despite the fakes. I contacted him and he agreed to refund me after I sent the shoes back. On my side, the cost was the $17 for shipping back. It could have been worse. Oh well, the price to pay for learning that eBay's buyer protection policy is weak.

45 Minutes

Ok, after giving myself a week to recover from the right foot pain, I went back for another run. To be safe though, I wore my Injinji toe socks and the Treksports for more padding in case I hurt my right foot again.

Also, the experience taught me that maybe my gait was wrong and I should consider changing it up a bit. Instead of landing most of it on the ball of my foot and rolling it back, I tried landing on the blade of my foot and rolling it inwards. Seems to work better, and there's not much pounding sounds on the pavement either.

Decided to take it easy first, but after awhile I started to feel good, with just the occasional nagging pain of the right ITB, so I decided to extend my run and explored a new part of the neighbourhood. Tried to see if I could hit a longer running duration since I wasn't so focused on speed.

By the time I finished exploring the new area and cut back, it was almost 40 minutes, so I took a small detour and ended up reaching back to clock about 48 minutes. Not too bad I'd say. Legs were a little light after that, but based on the soreness levels I'd guess I'd only need one day to recover.

Also gingerly tested for the right foot pain, and it was mostly gone. I can feel the weakness there, but no flaring pain like what I initially experienced. Good sign that means I'll probably be fully recovered by the next run.

Overall, I'm happy with the progress. The goal here is to get to 1 hour plus runs and maintain those on a weekly basis. When I feel good enough, might try for 2 hours or longer to cop a feel for half-marathon lengths.

Vibram TrekSport

Initially, I was considering a pair of TrekSport or KSO Trek for trail running on my rare visits back to Penang. However, in terms of value, it didn't seem like an intelligent investment to drop a hefty sum of cash for something I'd only use a few times. Regardless, I didn't have much of a choice when I was forced to take it after having to swap my defective pair of KSOs in, since they didn't have sizes for other shoes.

Anyway, so here I am with a pair of TrekSports, sharing my thoughts on it.

Design
The TrekSport comes in a nice variety of colours, with 4 for the men, and 4 for the ladies, although they share two common colours. While I would have loved to the get champagne/red or the red/black, the local store only had a pure black variant of the TrekSport. From the official Vibram website, that colour is no longer available, and is a black/charcoal variant instead.

In terms of looks, the TrekSport is quite similar to the the KSOs although there are some improvements in features. The strap now has two small strips of reflectors and one more small one behind. These seem to be mostly decorative, going by their size and position. Another notable feature that has a cosmetic effect is the TPU toe reinforcement to help reduce wear and tear at the toe area, giving it a slightly reflective black shade.

This model features a thicker 4mm outsole and has an EVA midsole for plating protection, as well as the standard Aegis anti-microbial treatment.

Fit
The TrekSport is a newer model that comes after the KSO, and follows the same size chart. As such, I went with the same size 40 on my KSOs. Since I got to try this out at the store, they fit pretty well. There's still the nagging issue of my horrible little toe, but it's almost unnoticeable once I start running in these. I've also worn my Injinji toe socks in these, and it still fits snug without becoming constricting.

Similar to the KSOs, putting it on can be a little difficult at first due to the snug upper, but once it's on it stays on. The tightening system is also similar, with a dual function velcro strap that loops around the heel to tighten both the lateral side and the heel area.

One new adjustment over the KSOs is the wider and cushier heel tab, which results in a more comfortable fit when the back of the shoe presses against the Achilles tendon. The TrekSports are also fairly stretchy and forgiving in the sizing, so I suppose they will fit better over time.

Barefoot Feel
Given how the TrekSport is slightly thicker and the way the outsole is designed, the ground feel for it is much reduced compared to the KSOs or Classics. I suppose this is a necessary trade-off for more foot protection since this is supposed to be a trail running shoe. I can still feel the ground much better compared to other shoes, but once I slap on a pair of socks, it's pretty muted.

The flexibility of the shoes go down a bit too because of the slightly stiffer mid-sole. There's still a lot of flex though, so it shouldn't really affect running activity. It weighs in a little heavier at about 180grams on each side.

All else is as expected from minimalist shoes, with no heel and arch support, and a zero drop.

Usage
These shoes are designed primarily for trekking, hence the namesake, although it can obviously be used for running and travelling as well. It's supposed to be rugged and tough and all that jazz.

However, I have my concerns with this pair of shoes. Since I don't go trail running much, my primary running surface is on asphalt, which I believe it's much harder wearing on the sole than trails. Trails may be uneven, rough, and peppered with the occasional rock, but at least the overall surface is still going to be softer than concrete pavement or road asphalt. That said, I haven't ran trails in these, so I could be wrong.

Regardless, the sole of the TrekSport is much different from the KSO and Classic. Instead of the razor sipping, they've gone with textured surfaces and grooves, giving it a much more aggressive grip. However, the last time I saw protrusions and spikes made of rubber at the bottom of my footwear, they flattened out in two weeks. As such, I have my doubts, and I'm keeping these in the back burner for when I finally find time to go trail running.

In the meantime though, it has held up decently for the few runs I've used it for, as well as a game of badminton. The sole grips well on a variety of surfaces, despite my initial concern that it might slip on the smoother surface of a multi purpose hall.

The upper is similar to the KSO, and is very breathable but not at all water resistant. I enjoy wearing these without socks like my KSOs, but socks are a necessary evil to me for longer runs so I don't stink up my shoes too quickly.

Overall, the TrekSport is feels rugged and offers great foot protection, but it comes at a cost of heavier and thicker shoes, reducing some amounts of ground feedback. This will probably not become my main running shoes, but it's a good backup to have on those trail running occasions.