I went to London yesterday and met the lovely people at Profeet. It was a really refreshing meeting too as their thoughts on what to put on your feet agree with mine. The technology they showed me, (second to none) and their openness to my needs as a muiltiday marathon runner was spot on.
You see for many years now I have been asking shoe manufacturers to stop making trainer insoles with curved edges around the heel cup as they cause two major areas for blisters on the inside and the back of the heel. I've seen it time and time again at the Marathon des Sables as it's the first major occasion that people have walked with damp feet for along time over a long distance. The painful tell-tale velociraptor walk around the camp afterwards can be avoided so easily I believe.
Hence the insole in the picture and the research that I am about to undertake using my Brooks Adrenaline GTS UK Size 11.5 with the Profeet ULTRA Insole MK1 Prototype. It already looks a winner to me but I will bash in a few miles today on it and report back. If they work it will be a major help to anyone doing the MdS and Profeet can cut them to fit your shoes exactly, as they did for me.
More later...
I've just got back from 'The Smoke' after a couple of great meetings with a couple of new partners for my Performance Coaching Business. It's been really exciting and I'll be blogging more about both companies and what I will be doing with them over the next months tomorrow.
Before then, I am going for a nice lie down after all that driving and enjoy the rest of this rest day of running.
More tomorrow...
As it was my 51st Birthday today, I had a lovely day off and enjoyed a 7.8 miler around Penarth in the sunshine... Following yesterday's run up and down the Big Dipper just two days after a double 33 miler at the weekend I felt totally revived today and enjoyed an 8 min mile pace run around some of the loveliest parts of Caerdydd.
It was a good job too as I had to make some room for my Birthday Supper at The Mint & Mustard Indian Restaurant. I'd run 7.8 miles every day if I could eat there!
More tomorrow after a day in London working with two new partners in my Performance Coaching business.
 |
| Wayne on 'The Dipper' |
It's been another day of Marathon des Sables training for me, this time with MdS2013 runner, Wayne Newton. It was most refreshing, not only that Wayne is just a lovely chap but that we went to Merthyr Mawr sand dunes instead of running the normal 26.2 around Cardiff.
Good news for my tired old legs following The Pilgrims ULTRA but also because it gave Wayne a real taste of what's in store for him (and me) in just 60 days.
It took us to our third rep to run all the way up The Big Dipper... it always takes a couple of gos to get it right I've found and from a standing start it's just far too easy to blow out half-way up. Coupled with a few miles to the sea and back it proved a great afternoon's training session.
My tired quads and hip-flexors are now just a distant memory :-)
An unusual choice today but an absolutely spot on one as I had to 'Push the Reset Button' a couple of times in the last ten miles of The Pilgrims ULTRA 33 yesterday to get back on the case. There's loads of things that run through your brain during 7 hours of Mud Bath and Mountains and when a couple of them collide, then the wheels can start to fall off. Pulling out of the dive is a tricky old thing...
I got to that stage at about 20 miles yesterday suffering I thought with very tired hip-flexors and a bit of a lowering of my expectational horizon of the task in hand. The truth was, I was really hungry and needed more fuel than I had eaten after Day 1 and before to Day 2 of the event. Yes, I was tired after 50 miles, yes it was both muddy and hilly but the old adage of 'Mood is Food' as well as some Trance Music that got me thru.
This consisted of a complete pack of Bloks, 500ml of Go-Electrolye and a fistful of Sausages. And boy-oh-boy it worked, very quickly I got fired up and back on the task in hand. I really blasted the last few miles thanks to 'The Splash and Dash' feed.
Might be worth considering when you are feeling knackered in an ULTRA.
Special thanks to Ian Calder (very kind), Matt Hebden (very funny) and Neil Thubron (very accommodating) for a great weekend of friendship and fun.
Well I smashed it... Well in my terms anyway. I must say that The Pilgrims ULTRA was pretty brutal if I was being honest and the mud just unmanageable in places and Box Hill - a bugger.
Then again, why enter if it's easy eh?
Totally pleased and I'm going to bang it tomorrow too! I'm off to cry about the Rugby now...
www.rorycoleman.co.uk - Running Performance Coach.
Well tomorrow's nearly here and before you know it so will the MdS... just 64 days to go the clock is really ticking now. Suddenly it seems that we have lighter evenings and the flowers are starting to peek out of the ground and there's no doubt things are a lot more livelier now we're into February.
I'm going to make the most of the weekend ahead and try and smash it as fast as I can...
Famous last words and watch this space eh?
