Light up your Runs

I talked about running safe in an earlier post. And I not talking about being attacked but being visible to motorists and other people. One of the way is to wear bright apparel. Black, dark blue are not bright colours and yet it is so common to see people here wearing dark coloured apparel and running in the night. And event organiser adds to this by issuing running and event tops that comes in black colour. I know black is a great solid colour that speaks of power and might and command respect it is not suitable for night running, not unless one is thinking of doing a stealth run and need the cover of darkness.

But good news for those who really want to wear dark coloured apparels at night. In the past, most major apparel manufacturers will incorporate some reflective strips (usually the logo or some lining) that will reflect lights from vehicles and torches. The problem with this strips of reflective lighting is that they works only when a light is shine on them otherwise they are not useful at all. And they tend to drop off after several wash.

Lately, apparel manufacturers have come up with more innovations to make night running safe. Like Puma NightCat Powered apparels which comes with built in led light strip. And the light can be turn on and off or set to blinking. Cool!\

Photo: Puma

And Skechers have come up with a Night Owl running shoes which incorporates photoluminescent technology which produces an intense glow in low light or darkness. And no battery required!

Photo: Skechers

Not to be outdone, Asics has a Lite Show apparel with built in reflective material in the shoe shoe and design.

Photo from Asics

But if spending hundred of dollars is not your idea of running safe, just wear a white top and maybe carry one of those tiny blinking lights.Cheap and good light include those from Nathan and many many others which you can get from those cheap perpetual clearance shops in HDB estates.

Photo from Nathan

Happy Running. 

C3fit Performance Tights

For too long the dominant brand in compression wear in Singapore has been the 2XU compression wear. Now it looks like there is a worthy alternative.

The sidekick was given 2 C3fit compression tights to try and review. Last week she ran 15 km in the C3fit Impact Tights. This week, she did another 15 km in the C3fit performance Tights.

Compared to the Impact Tights, her first impression was that it was much less thicker. In her own words, "comfortable", "good" and lastly "wonderful". The last was when she was speeding past me in the last 1 km as I struggled to finish the run in the hot hot sun. She also claimed that it helps to speed up recovery and her legs wasn't so sore the next day.

In her opinion, it is similar to the 2XU Elite tights and so for those looking for a different brand of tights, this is a good alternative. If anything, for those bored of the usual black tights, C3fit tights do come in many variety of design and colors.

Read more about the C3fit compression wear here.

Natthan Mercury 3 Hydration Belt

Sometime ago I was in the market for a hydration belt. I used to have one many years ago. It serves for well initially but when I stopped doing long road runs, it went into cold storage. Last year I took it out again when the sidekick was training for the Sundown Marathon and I was accompanying her in the long runs. But I had lost too much weight between the last time I used it and it was too loose. The Velcro belt could not be tighten further and as a result, the bottles were bouncing all over. In a fit of frustration, I dumped the belt into the nearest dustbin I came across after trying to adjust it for a proper fit.

When I found out I was going to do Tokyo, I decided I need a new belt. The hunt for the belt was fairly interesting. My main consideration was it must be a proper fit, do not bounce and cost as cheap as possible. A good friend asked me why I needed one? He knew I had a hydration bag so theoretically I could use that for my long runs. I said I don't like to carry a hydration bag especially in the hot sun on the road. He said there isn't even a need for a hydration bag  if I was doing road run. There are always convenience stores, toilets and drinking fountains available all over Singapore and especially in the East where I intend to do most of my long runs. So no need. But I beg to differ.

A belt is more versatile compared to a bag. Depending on the number of bottles, I can fill the with different sort of drinks. Beside it is much lighter than a bag and in a road run, I don't need all the extra weight since I need to carry much lesser items. In my trail runs, 2 very essential items that are in the bag are my phone and a simple set of first aid kits. Beside that, I also carry gels and of course 1.5ltr of water. For road runs, I only carry gels and water and some cash and a transit link card. So why would I want to burden myself with a heavy back pack?

In the local market, there are basically only 2 big players in the hydration belt market - Nathan and Fuelbelt. There wasn't much to choose from between this 2 since they are more or less similar so it boil own to cost. After looking at various models, I finally settled on the Nathan Mercury 3. Why? Because it was on sale at the SCMS Race Expo.

The Mercury 3 comes with 3 300ml water bottle and a stretch mesh pocket which it claims can fit an iphone. According to the product material, it is also suppose to be bounce-free with ultra soft binding that prevents chafing. 

My previous belt was a 4 bottle belt but I think 3 bottles is more than enough. Beside, I can always replenish along the way thus reducing the weight I have to carry. In my runs, I usually fill 1 bottle with plain water and 2 bottles with a mixture of electrolyte, juice with chia seed and when that run out, with isotonic drinks from the stalls. The bottles does not bounce initially but interestingly, after it is empty and I replenish them, they starts to bounce. I am not too sure why that is so though. 

One of the main reason I choose this model other than the price was the belt clip. The previous belt I had was Velcro and after some time, the belt tends to slip and become loose and one had to keep readjusting it to keep it tight. This belt is the clip on type and the extra length of belting are held securely at the side in a tight loop. Once I had adjusted the belt to the correct fit, the belt sits very snugly on my waist and does not move. The only problem I noticed was that I still had to tighten the belt after some time. I am not sure whether it is the result of water loss during the run or the belt getting lose. But there was no need to loosen the roll up belt. Just a quick pull on the loose part of the belt was sufficient to tighten it.

The pocket is supposed to be stretchable and can take in an iphone but I was not able to fit in my Samsung S3 with its cover. I managed to squeeze in keys, 2 packet of gels, some money and a transit link ezy card though. 

My habit when running is to wear the front of the belt below my top and only the 3 bottles at the back is showing. That means that the belt is in direct contact with my body and happily it lives up to the manufacturer's claim of no chafing. 

Overall I am fairly happy with this belt and I think it is a good gear for those who wants to do long road runs Because of its limited carrying ability, it is not suitable for trail runs and long runs where water supply cannot be replenish easily.

Pro:

Lightweight

Versatile

No chafing

Cons:

Limited capacity

Tends to bounce after replenishing

Become loose after a while

Gearing Up - The Heavies

The list of mandatory items are scary. There are so many items and to make it worse, my little North Face hydration bag is not able to contain all of them. It was either get a new bag or borrow from someone else. But in the end I settled for using an additional waist pouch to contain the other stuff.

Top of the list is my 3 years old North Face Enduro Boa. Into it goes the Geigerrig Hydration Engine which in plain speak is water bag. The  bag is rather small especially after putting in the 2liter bladder bag, there is not much space for anything else so the add on is the small little Mizuno waist pouch (foreground). The hiking pole gets strapped onto the Enduro bag.

(1) North Face Enduro Boa Hydration Bag (2) Black Diamond Hiking Poke (3) Mizuno Waist Pouch

The rest of the stuff that goes into the bag and pouch.

(1) Strobe Light (2) Wet Wipes (3) Home-made first aid kit comprising spray plaster, heat rub, bandages, plaster, anti-bacterial wipes (4) Luminous vest (5) Money (6) Sunblock (7)Jacket (8) Camera (9) Torch (10) Black Diamond Headlamp (11) Poncho (12) Emergency blanket (13) Gels (14) Bak Kwa (dried preserved meat) Not in picture: phone

Together with the water and the hiking pole, the whole freaking lot of stuff weight 5kg. And even after going through the water, it did not seem lighter. In fact, it got like even heavier after 4 hours of carrying it.  And I haven't even added in the full component of food.

Unfortunately there is no drop bag for the 50km so we will have to carry the whole load throughout the race. Packing the items in is a big hassle. And I will have to take them all out just to top out the water and then pack them all back in again. 

Sighed......... Its going to be a long long day.

Gearing Up - Apparel

Another 2 more weekends to go. Time for a full dress rehearsal and so like the NDP, we did the rehearsal over 2 weekends.

First up was the attire. I am normally a singlet and short guy but this time round after taking the recommendation of the race director and looking at the photos of the past 2 editions posted by Cornelius, I have opted to go for long sleeve and tights. 

And this is me modelling the attire that I will be wearing on race day. 

On the head is my trusty North Face cap given to me when I was volunteering with the North Face Singapore in the 2011 Trail Run series. I have contemplated getting one of those caps with a neck flap but I think I just have to apply a lot of sun block to protect the neck.

Geigerrig Hydration Engine

Was at an sports retail outlet and came across this new, or at least new to me, bladder bag.

My attention was drawn to the very outstanding caption on the pack "Never suck again".

I was rather intrigued by the slogan. And since my current bladder bag's hose was almost like totally coated with slimy yucky stuff and algae, I decided to give this a try. I rather like the idea of not having to suck on the tube especially when I remember how sticky the mouth piece can be. And moreover, the promotion video that the store was playing was talking about dirt and dust gathering on the mouth piece and how unhygienic it can be. 

Out of the pack, these are the various parts:

1) The main bladder itself. It is rather small for its 2 litres capacity and the material is very thin and light. It can even be turned inside out for washing and the instruction there said it is very tough and will not tear.

Timex Run Trainer

After considering almost every GPS watch available to replace the Garmin 110, my first option was the cool looking Motorola Motoactv. It is packed full of features and most important of all was available in Singapore. But in the end for one reason or another, I settled for a more time tested and reputable watch from an established watch company, Timex and not some pseudo gadget company.

After comparing the 3 models available from Timex, I settled for the Timex Run Trainer. The Timex Global Trainer is Timex's first GPS watch. A gigantic size watch also crammed full of features but  was simply too big for my liking. The latest Timex GPS watch is the Marathon GPS. This was Timex answer to the Garmin 210 and the low end GPS watch. The Run Trainer was right in between. And so it won me over with   the features, size and the pricing. 

Size

First the size. Compare it to the Garmin 110, it is not much bigger. In fact it looks better on my wrist than the Garmin 110. DC Rainmaker has a very nice photo comparison of the various GPS watch here.

Display Mode

Because of its size, it has very big display making  it very easy to read while on the run. This in effect makes up for the very dim indigo blue light that Times uses on its watches which is almost useless. Note the extra big characters in the middle row. This is double the size of the other rows. In fact, the watch can be customised to display 3 or 4 lines of data.

This is the 4 lines display layout. The text are visibly smaller but still quite readable during daylight. Apart from being able to display either 3 or 4 lines of data, Timex allowed for 3 pages of customisation with any one of them being the default display screen.

The setup for the display and in fact everything else can be done on the watch but since there are so many features, it is easier to do it on the Timex Device Agent software. This is the set up for my display.There is an mind boggling list of data that can be displayed that it took me a few tries before I settled on what I want and how to read them.  

More Items for Sale

More items for sale

2011 U-Run + Vertical Climb Finisher Tee size L $20.00

2010 TNF100 Challenge Event Tee size L and S. $20.00 each

Injinji Socks Size L Color Black/White $10.00 each

Cash term only. Self collection at either Tanjong Pagar, Raffles Place or Pasir Ris MRT. Interested please leave me a message or send me a email.

New Items for Sale

Some housekeeping and some more stuff to clear.

2010 Singapore TNF 100 Challenge Event Tee $20

2011 Run & Raisin' Event Tee $10 (SOLD)

2012 The Republic Run Shoe Bag (2 pcs) $10 each

 2011 Yellow Ribbon Prison Run Shoe Bag $10

2012 Bali International Marathon Cap $10

Insoles

Since my first injury in 2006,  I have been using some sort of orthotics for my shoes. Over the years, I have chosen not to use the insoles that comes with the running shoes and chosen to use my own. But ever since I moved on to mid foot running, I stopped using them and just went with the conventional insoles. However, with the latest injury, I have switched back to using orthotics again.

Here is a rundown of the orthotics that I have used or am using (left to right):

1. Sole Footbed. This was one of the earliest orthotics that I got. It is heat moldable. Just put it in a toaster or oven and heat it up. Once it soften, stand on it and volia, an insoles that mold nicely to the foot.  I worn this pair for a long long time back in those days when I was a heel striker.  Like most typical orthotics, it is semi rigid and do not allow for any flex at all. Looking back, I wondered how in the world I got used to it but it certainly does provide very good cushioning and support. Till today, I am still using it, but not in running shoes but my heavy duty walking shoes. The Sole Footbed is available at Running Lab outlets.

Garmin Forerunner 210

On the spur of the moment, went and bought the Garmin Forerunner 210. The 210 is the upgraded version of the 110 which I bought almost a year ago. Back then, I bought the basic set without the heart rate monitor  for $299.00 but now due to the favourable exchange rate, the 210 with the heart rate monitor is only selling for about $260.00.

The 210 looks classier with its all black strap. Other than that, it looks no different from the 110 down to all the printed words on the face.

New Water Carrier

Some runners want to run long distance but for some reason or another, are reluctant to carry a hydration bag or fuel belt. Fortunately, for the majority of runners in Singapore, "refueling" facilities are readily available in most of the popular running routes. However, what do you do when you really need to carry bottle of waters and maybe the odd towel or keys and stuff and do not have a bag or belt?

This innovative lady seems to be got the problem solved: 

Can't see the solution? Have a closer look:

Event Bags and Caps for Sale

Event bags and caps for sale. All bags at $10.00 and caps at $5.00. Cash only. Self collect at Pasir Ris, Tanjong Pagar or Raffles Place MRT.

2010 F1 Nature Race Hydration Bag Redeemed! (FOC) with any purchase. First come first serve

Adidas Shoe Bag S$10.00 Sold!

New Balance Real Run Shoe Bag S$10.00

2007 &  2008 Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon Gym Bag S$10.00 each

 New Balance Real Run Messenger Bag S$10.00

Assorted Caps Left to Right:
2010 North East Run (White), 2009 Yellow Ribbon Run, Sold! White Run (can't remember from what event), 2010 North East Run (Orange) S$5.00 each

Interested, please email or call/sms me (if you know my phone number)

TNF Enduro Boa Hydration Pack

Last I talked about the things to bring along during a trail run. So how does one carry so many things around and not feel like a rag-a-bone man? The answer, my friends, is a good quality hydration bag. There are hydration bags and there are hydration bags. Some are made for trekking, some for hiking, some for mountaineering, some for cycling and some for running. The difference is the waterproofing and weight. For running, you will want one that is water proof, light weight and yet has enough storage space to keep all the barang barangs.

And so introducing the North Face Enduro Boa hydration pack. 

The North Face Enduro Boa hydration bag comes with a 1.5l water bladder. 1.5l is sufficient in most cases but even if it is not sufficient, it does not make sense to carry a bigger capacity bag as the weight will be an issue. Just make sure to top up at water point. At the back is a small compartment suitable for putting the first aid kit, a small towel maybe and foods. In addition, the unique patented E-VAP shoulder harness is supposed to spread out the load evenly and reduces abrasion from the shoulders.  

This is one cool bag that comes with a gladiator style front top Velcro strap instead of the usual plastic clasps. There is a small little pouch at the gladiator strap useful for putting some coins. 

The other interesting feature of the bag is that it comes with the Boa system. A simple turn of the dial and the water inside is evenly distributed again to reduce the irritating sound of water sloshing inside.

The bag comes with all the bells and whistle. Literally. There is a whistle attached to the front harness.   In addition, the magnet that is on the vertical strap is so strong that throughout all the runs, the hydration sucking tube never comes off at all. So no irritating dangling tube.

Tees for Sale

Clearing the closet and the following event tops are available for sale at $10.00 (price reduced for selected items 14.6.2011) each first come first serve. All not worn before. Interested please email me or those who know me personally can sms me. Self collect at Tanjong Pagar area.

Milk Run 2006 Size L Cotton material $5.00

Penang Bridge Marathon 2007 Size S Cotton $5.00

Garmin Forerunner 110

After waiting for the past 1 year, I finally went and got my Garmin GPS watch. I had wanted one for quite some time but baulked at the cost of it. However, now that the USD had come down to a low, the watch has become so much affordable.  As I don't do tri, I went for the basic Forerunner 110. Across the big blue sea, the watch is selling in the US for around USD250 with the heart rate monitor (including shipping to sg) but over here it was retailing for S$340.00. However, I opted for the non heart rate version and it cost $300.00 at Sim Lim. Found out it was selling at the Sports Expo for $299.00. Oh well.

Out of the box, the set comes with a clip to attach to the watch for charging and uploading. There is also a power adaptor which provides for convenient charging direct from the power point.

The watch itself is pretty bulky. Its face covers almost my whole wrist. The display is simple - just the distance , the total time start, elapsed, end and the pace.  Using it was simple. Just press the page/menu button and wait for it to locate the satellite signal after which it will automatically switch to the Timer mode. From there, press the start/stop to capture the run. To save the run, press and hold reset. To manually insert lap, press lap otherwise there is some prefixed autolap interval provided.

Like: Easy to use. Display is big and easy to read for old fogeys like me. Locating the satellite was quick although in my 1st 2 usage, it took some time (more than a minute for the 2nd run) to pick up the signal but for the 3rd run, it picked up the signal almost instantaneously and while I was still inside the car!

Dislike: I like to see my splits but it does not display the splits in the History page. Just the basic information. Also, the battery life is kinda short at 8 hours with GPS usage and 3 weeks without (on clock mode). For my 3rd run with it, because I did not charge it since the 2nd run on Thursday, I was anxiously looking at the watch as the battery indicator went lower and lower but fortunately it held up for the 20km in the end.

Am I happy with the watch? My original choice was the Timex Ironman GPS watch which is still not available here yet and I have never considered the 405/410 or the 305/310 or even the 210 as I don't like the price, design and don't need the footpod respectively. So yes, I think I am happy with the purchase more so when after uploading the data to Garmin Connect and seeing the wealth of information there and after finding out how much the Timex will cost when it finally reach our shores.

I Run with Music

It is quite surprising that having been running for so many years, I have never ran with music before; music in my head yes but not in my ears. I am not used to having something stuck in my ears or a dangling wire about me whenever I moved so I have never gotta around to using a MP3 when out for a run. However, I do know that some studies have shown that running to music actually helps in the running so when I got the chance to test drive the Sony Walkman W252, I grabbed it.

So on Saturday took it out for my maiden 'run with music' and to live up to the spirit that the people from Hill and Knowlton said - to 'stress test' the W252, the run was a long 20km. The night before, I had dragged a mixture of English and Chinese songs from the Princess' pc. Adjusted the volume to what I thought was a comfortable level although M said I was talking very loudly which means the volume was still a bit too loud. But to me it was probably just alright as I could still hear the surrounding sound. (Uncle here has to sound a word of caution - do not blast the player at full blast - it is bad for the eardrums and also runners need to be aware of the surroundings, in particular traffics and other road users coming up behind)

So how did it went? First, the earphone sits very snugly and there was absolutely no slippage or bounce. It wasn't too heavy either and after a while, other than the music, I didn't even noticed the earphone. Also, there was no jump or skipped track despite all the bouncing and running up and down the slopes. Indeed the music really took the mind off the miles (or KM as we said it here in Sg). Along the usual distance from Upp Pierce to Lower Pierce, despite the late start, I took 2 minutes faster than my usual time. Is it really the music or psychological?

Just towards the end of the run, it started to rain. Just nice to test the touted water resistant feature of the W252. Even with the rain and my tons of sweat, the W252 continued going on without any undue side effects. Despite the short charge on Thursday (I think it was charged for less than an hour), the W252 went on strongly for the 2 hours that I took to complete the 20km. According to the specs, it can last 11 hours on a full 90 minutes charge so I think there was enough juice in it to go far longer. Maybe I should bring it along for next week TNF 100 to distract the mind from all the slopes?

Finally, if you are looking for a nifty MP3 to bring along on your run, the Sony Walkman W252 will fit the bill very nicely. At the recommended retail price of $129, it is very reasonably priced and you get a rugged player without all the wires and extra weights.

And oh by the way, Jay Chou and running do not go together, if you know what I mean:)

NB: The Sony Walkman W252 tested in this review was made available courtesy of Sony Singapore

Walkman W252

Someone up there must like me. Just after I talked about having free products testing, got an email from Sony Singapore to 'stress test' their latest product. Talk about coincidence!

From the maker of the original Walkman, Sony has now come up with the Walkman 252, a MP3 player designed specially with the runners in mind. Which makes me wonder, why not call it the Runman 252? Er I guess Walkman 252 sounds better than Runman 252 right?

After a short 1 hour of charging, the Walkman 252 is ready to go for a run but unfortunately I am not so let's look at the features first:

Out of Box

 The most unique feature of the Walkman 252 is that it is 'wireless' but not wireless as in bluetooth or wifi. One of the big bugbear of runners who run to music is the annoying earphone wire and the need to carry the MP3 separately using an armband. The Walkman 252 cleverly overcomes all this by incorporating the MP3 into the earphone so volia - no wire.

It is sleek and looks damn cool. The MP3 comes in 4 colors, Black, pink, lime green and white. The test model I have was black all the better to blend in with the hair. Wait a minute, maybe I should have a white piece since my hairs are all white now! At only 43g, it is light weight and fits snugly in the ear.

The other main feature of the Walkman 252 is that it is water resistant. That should eliminate the perennial problem of most runners that the earphones get ruined by all the sweat from running. The Walkman 252 is supposed to be water resistant from fresh water, tap water and sweat but no swimming though! And no washing or rinsing under the tap.

Switching it on and off is simple - just magnet it together to switch off and un-magnet it to start playback.

Under the Hood

Its comes with a 2GB storage enough for roughly 500 songs. According to the press release, this is due to finding the right balance between the usability, performance and affordability. For this release, the playback is a solid 11 hours on a full charge of 90 minutes. It also has a Quick Charge function which allows the 252 to play up to 90 minutes with a short 3 minutes charging. Unfortunately, it does not come with a separate power adaptor charger so charging is only via the provided USB stand.

F1 Sports Hydration Bag

During the F1 Sports Nature Run in April at the MacRitchie Reservoir, participants were given a "hydration bag" as part of the goodie for signing up for the race. I finally decided to try it out during Friday's run home. I have never used a hydration bag before. So I didn't really know what to expect. One thing I know from friends is that this particular bag has some very obvious design flaws. Firstly, there is no hook to hang the bladder bag so the bladder bag will flop to the bottom. Also, there are no straps within the bag to keep the bladder from moving around   Therefore the weight will not be evenly distributed. Finally there is no hole along the vertical strap for the tube and mouth piece to come out. 

Also, there is no additional holder within the bag to keep the bladder from moving around   

With that in mind, I decided not to use the bladder and proceeded to use it as a running pack. First impression was the pocket was too small to put my wallet, keys and phone. What I did like was that there was a pouch on the horizontal strap to keep more frequently required items. In my case I put in my compact camera.

And so off I went. And within 2 minutes, I had to stop! The front pouch which to me look so convenient earlier was bouncing and sliding up and down like a yo-yo and causing a lot of discomfort. Turn out it was not fitting enough and without any stopper in place. Irritated by this, I remove the camera and put it at the back together with the rest of the stuff. There goes the convenience!

Another 10 minutes later along Marina Boulevard, the whole bag started to swing wildly. What happened? And I discovered one of the freaking vertical strap had broke! What the hell! And so I had to tie it to the horizontal strap but that cause the whole thing to become lopsided and rubbing against the nape of my bag!

Final conclusion - dump the damn thing and get a proper bag. Cheap thing or in this case free thing no good!