All my runs are tracked on a Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS enabled watch and – if I remember – with a heart rate monitor around my chest. If you click on the links at the end of each blog entry, you will go to Garmin Connect, a website that stores Google Maps of where I’ve run and when and also has details like my heart rate throughout and how high I climbed if it was hilly.
With regard to kit, I’m not a stickler but I do know that David Cameron will never fool other runners into thinking he is serious if he wears polo shirts to go jogging. Has he never heard of joggers’ nipple?
I used to buy all my kit from Decathlon. It’s cheap, good quality stuff that does the job but the more I run, the more I’ve started to look towards more technical kit supplied by the like of adidas and Nike. I buy a lot of it from either Wiggle or Start Fitness.
Where I am serious about things though is footwear. Anyone who jogs or runs on a regular basis is bound to have long-term problems unless they make sure they are wearing the right shoes. I overpronate when I run – that is my ankles roll inwards with each step – and, as a result, I need to wear what are called ‘stability’ shoes to stop the rolling causing injuries like shin splints.
When I first started running, I had my running gait analysed (they do it in most sports shops for free) and bought a pair of Asics GT2140s to correct the problem. You need to change your running shoes every 500-600 miles or so and when Asics later upgraded the model to GT2150s, I bought a pair but found I really did not get on with them and ended up suffering from terrible shin splints.
Luckily, these have been corrected thanks to another gait analysis section where I was recommended I try trainers by Brooks. Their GTS10 model also corrects overpronation and I am happy to report that since changing shoes, sometime in early April, I have had not a single problem. In fact, despite only changing to the Brooks one week before the Brighton Marathon, I managed to run the race without a single blister either – something you normally get if you don’t break a shoe in properly before a long run.
I also track all my runs on another website called The Good Run Guide which even counts how far I have run in my trainers to make sure I don’t run more than my 600 allocated miles in them before buying a new pair. If you like running, support them, they are a nice little British company trying to make their way forwards in a game full of behemoths. Click here for GRG
Click here for Garmin
Click here for Decathlon
Click here for Brooks
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