Being lazy on the blog

Ok, I'm not actually being lazy but catching up with work and family after the long trip to Sandakan.

Just a bit of update, I've finished my 5K run and have registered for Brooks Half Marathon 10K run on 3rd March. I was tempted to go for Half-Marathon in the beginning but thank God for some cool headed advice from my dad. Looking at the training plans out there, I doubt I could actually make it at all and end up burning myself  up.

So instead of setting such a high goal for myself, I've decided to just go for 10K and most importantly, enjoy the journey toward the Marathon milestone and not rush myself into it. Things will only get better as long as you learn to enjoy the journey there.

In terms of gears, there's been a few changes as below:

I've gotten a Merrell Road Glove to use as a form trainer. I HAVE to say, a 0 drop non-cushioned shoe is ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY different from the Skechers GoRun. 4mm made a lot of difference. My calf ache every time after a run in them. Hopefully I'll get better as I continue to train in them.

Merrell Barefoot Road Glove

I think I am now pretty sure what type of shoes that I like. Both the Merrell and the Skechers disappear from my thought as I run in them. It doesn't get in the way of feeling what's under the feet, it's light and it provides my toes flexing spaces. Seriously, it's liberating to be running in these shoes.

I've also gotten myself a technical shirt from Salomon. I usually run in any plain old cotton T-shirts but I've found them getting more and more uncomfortable as the mileage increases and the T-shirts get heavier, wetter and clingier. Seriously, they feel like they've just came out of the washing machine. -_-''' I've done 2 run in the technical shirt and I'm happy to say I love the feel. My first run was aborted due to sudden rainfall. SO I had to run back in the rain with everyone driving looking at me like I'm a dunce, but it was fun to run in the rain XD. I reached home soaked through the top. The shirt does cling to me but not in an icky sort of way, instead it stretches and conform to me when it needs to and hang lose when it can. It also got freaking cold when it clings to you as the water start being wicked away.

Check out the wickedly cool design.

The 2nd time was helping a friend to train, running a relatively "easy" 5K. I wasn't too sweaty and the shirt isn't too wet this time round, but even then, when the shirt comes in contact with you, it feels cool. I guess this is because the shirt kind of promotes evaporation. This was proven quite true when I washed the shirt. It dries super fast compared to my other shirts. Of course the color scheme of the shirt's a killer ;)

I've also gone out to grab myself a running jacket for the rainy season so that I can continue my run. I've had to move my run outside as the pool area walkway is roofed and it's surrounded by 4 tall buildings, thus the GPS signal is terrible. I'm currently using iSmoothRun to capture my data and even though it has an accelerometer mode, it's not overly accurate yet as it relies on previous data to do some calculation algorithm. It is however a wonderful app as I can have all sort of integration with it.

Be that as it may, I'm planning to go shopping for more shirts, shorts and a water bottle to facilitate my long runs on weekends so it's "Ho Ho Ho" for the shop owners and "ouch ouch ouch" for my wallet.

My current running gear and wish list

3 months into a sport is a relatively short period of time. And yet, it this short period of time what have I gotten myself into? Let's seeeeeeee.......

Shoes:
I'm currently using Skechers GoRun. It's a pretty comfortable shoes to run in. It's however not suitable for you to go shopping in. I'll explain more on this when I write a review on it. I also own an adidas JawPaw II Watersport shoes. I'm still wondering if it'll make a good substitute for barefoot running shoes. We'll see how it goes when I do test it out.

Belt/Pouch:
Currently using a twin pouch SPIBelt. Fairly decent and cuts down on the jingling of keys I would say. I can even stuff my iPhone wz casing in it.

Apps:
I'm using iSmoothRun app on iPhone to track my runs. It is feature packed compared to the rest of the apps I've used.

Wish List (Read Shopping):

Head/Sweat Band:
I'm currently eyeing Bondi Band. They're unfortunately unavailable in Malaysia as yet and have to be shipped in from US. I really hate it when sweat starts dripping from your forehead into your eyes so this is the next thing I'm getting.

Jacket/Raincoat:
Still doing research on this. Saw the Nike Vapor Windrunner and I'm drooling over it. There's also the Adiviz Jacket which glows in the dark. Doesn't seem to have any hood though for the adidas.

Cap/Hat:
Not too sure if I wanna get one or not as my main concern is heat ventilation. We shall see.

Bag:
No extra gear as yet to pack it in, but would be useful when the raining season come for me to pack in the extra clothes and towels.

Shoebag:
No extra shoes as yet so not needed yet, but I got my eyes on some of em already.

Shoes:
Oh my. The list will be too long to list down. My eyes are on Merrell, Vivobarefoot, Saucony, Skechers GoBionic, Vibram and etc. I'm a "little" picky when it comes to shoes I'm afraid. How picky can you get you ask? Let's see now.

1. Lightness: They have to be light. If I wanna train with weights attached to my feet, I can always attach it myself. 
2. Flexibility: Flexibility is a relative term I guess. Basically it should flex at the right places and allow for a full motion of feet movement to conform with road surface.
3. Heel Drop: I would say 4mm and lesser. Why? Currently I'm getting PF whenever I get into anything with a high heel drop-off. This may change in the future once my feet has strengthen up but we'll see.
4. Toe box: Wide and Big is the keyword here. I've grown used to having full motion of my toes when walking and running. I like my toes to be able to splay our, curl and have freedom of movement when they're shod.
5. Cushioned vs Non-Cushioned: I'm currently running in the Skechers GoRun which is fairly cushioned. I've yet to run in a Non-Cushioned shoe but planning to give it a shot when my feet has strengthen up

Yeah yeah, "little" is a bit inappropriate I guess. :P I also plan to buy 1 or 2 Sandals/Huaraches for comfort wear and as emergency run gear but we'll see.

I think I better put a stop on my wish list for now. It's getting kinda scary even for me. Hehe.