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We all know that it’s essential to renew your running shoes after at least every 10 months or after about every 500 miles of use.
But did you also know that running shoes can need to be replaced even if they’re not being used?
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Vanilla posted an interesting article over at Half-Fast today about the fact she always gets the urge to shout encouragement at other runners when she’s in her car.
I must admit, I also get the urge to shout at people from cars… but 9 times out of ten it’s to point out their general bad road manners!
With regards to acknowledging other runners when out training, I always make every effort to say hello or if that’s not possible (due to the need to use what little air I can inhale at the time for breathing), then I’ll always raise my hand in that hello-but-not-a-wave type way. It really annoys me when I don’t get the same response…. although I have to admit, the majority of the time the acknowledgment is reciprocated.
The whole thing is a tad more uneasy when you are actually overtaking someone though. I mean, it’s a bit easy to be taken the wrong way when you speed past someone and just say “hello”. It could almost be sarcastic!
When I was cycling and not running I found it was much more accepted to acknowledge other cyclists. But not having the best riding technique did lead to a lot of tricky hello’s as I’d lift my hand from the bars and wobble into the pothole that I was previously trying to avoid.
I think cyclists are a different bread though… almost like motorcyclists. A cult almost. A tribe. A kind of us-against-them mentality. Which I guess is emphasized by the fact they have to share the road with the ‘them’ in their ‘them and us’ relationship… i.e. the cars! I think there’s a ‘let’s stick together’ mentality with cyclists, whereas a lot of runners are more of the attitude that they’re getting away from things and are in the ‘zone’… and don’t see themselves as being part of a larger ‘club’.
Or maybe it’s just that I don’t look that friendly when I’m puffing away and trying to mumble a ‘morning’ or a ‘hello’?
Right, note to self…. ensure a smile is attached to any passing acknowledgment!
But not due to a run… or even because of my workout in the gym this morning.
I ache all over simply because of a childish session in the swimming pool where I challenged my wife to a race over 2 lengths doing breaststroke (50m in total). Now, she’s been swimming for about 30 years, and I’ve only been swimming since last October when I started swimming when forced out of running because of my stress fracture.
So anyway, the wife went first and managed 1 minute 7 seconds.
Off I went… too fast… forgetting to breath properly… and inhaling half the pool. I couldn’t quit though… and… came in with exactly the same time.
So, a rematch was in order. This time we were both quicker.. but again hit the same time. 1 minute 3 seconds. I have to admit I was very happy! Wendy wasn’t though as I swam 4 strokes under water to start with - which apparently is breaking the rules! Oh well!
So, I now ache all over. Swimming flat out for 50 metres kind of feels like a sprint at the end of a 10K road race!
At last… after 3 attempts at a delivery I’ve just received my new Garmin Foreunner 305.
Once I’ve unpacked it all I’ll post a review!