More running kit

More kit arrived today. Running is probably one of the least expensive sports you can take up – no regular membership fees, and minimal equipment – but there are still a few things you can spend your pennies on. With the London Marathon just four weeks away now I don’t want to be in the situation where I’ve stinted on something that would really help for the sake of a few quid.

This most recent spree includes a pair of running socks (which haven’t arrived yet), a drinks bottle – one of those ones with the hole in the middle in the fashion of a baby’s toy rattle – and an inexpensive digital watch with a stopwatch function.

Hilly Mono Skin Supreme Anklet Running Sock
Amazon, £7
Clearly, you have to look after your feet when you're doing a fair amount of running, especially if, like me, you’re on the heavier side. I tend to opt for socks with a fair amount of cushioning, and they're usually an “anatomical” fit, meaning they’re specific to either right or left foot, with the cushioning in zones not just below the heal but also under the ball of the foot.

These are £7 from Amazon, which is not bad for something I find comfortable for long runs as well as short. I’ve bought cheaper cushioned socks, but you pay for your thrift in blisters and hard skin. They don’t give me blisters and show no signs of shrinking with repeated washing. I’ll stick with this brand until they fiddle with the product specification, which they inevitably will at some point.


Ronhill Wrist Bottle, 500ml
Amazon, £3.50
I usually get away without taking water with me on anything up to 10k, but beyond that, hydration  has a marked effect on how I feel (it probably has an effect on performance up to 10k too if I'm honest, but I'm not exactly an elite runner and it’s a fag carrying a bottle about). I’m really having to ration myself with the 300ml bottle I bought a couple of months ago when running 15miles, so I'm hoping the larger size will seem me through to my longest training run in a couple of weeks time.


Timex MARATHON watch Black/Lime TW5K94800
Amazon, £22.74
I abandoned my Garmin some time ago – it takes an absolute age to acquire the satellite link, which delays the start of a run to such an extent I found I was actually putting off going out. Besides which, I've quite enjoyed just pulling on my shoes and heading out the door, listening to my breathing and what my body has been telling me about my performance. But for the marathon training I have needed a little more feedback, and have started to take my phone out with a GPS app – it seems very battery hungry though, and I'm not sure it'll make the longer runs without an additional power pack. Besides which, it's tucked away into my running belt, which isn't exactly accessible on the go. I'm hoping this no-frills digital stopwatch will be all I need – it has a large, legible digits that I should be able to read through tears of pain while waving my arm about weakly. No memory for stats or even single run lap times (it does have a lap function but there's no way to recall lap intervals once you've cleared them), no GPS, no picking it up for a run and realising you didn't put it on charge, and no faffing about waiting for a connection. It should be all I need.
 

Body Shop Peppermint Intensive Foot Rescue

I'm still having intermittent problems with my right foot, although not quite as bad as it was a month or so ago when the metatarsalgia was at its height. Since I've bought a new pair of running shoes – New Balance 860s again –  the cushioning of the brand new pair has made a noticeable difference. But  the odd grumble is still nigglingly present, on both the underside and sometimes the top of the foot, and, though the latter seems oddly linked to tight calves and goes away after a sleep and a stretch, I decided I should get into a routing of massaging my feet on a daily basis.

While there are numerous products out there for this kind of cheesy activity, I remembered with fondness the peppermint foot lotion which the Body Shop used to do, and was pleased to see they produce a similar product in a slightly richer formulation. This has the advantage of being absorbed into the skin more rapidly, which is great because I'm not going to develop a habit of foot massage if it takes an age each time. It's still alarmingly pink, but has a wonderful, fresh, invigorating scent which cuts through the aroma of overripe cheddar with ease.

And so far, my feet seem to be appreciating the new regime.

Body Shop Peppermint Intensive Foot Rescue, £9 for 100ml

Deer park

Just been for a solitary autumnal run through a dusky deer park. Sounds idyllic? Not so. I'd forgotten that it's rutting season for the deer, and so was rudely brought out of my Keatsian reverie by the terrifying bellowing of lairy stags who obviously didn't take kindly to a fat beardy creature lumbering out of the mist.

Met the first one about half way round, and quickly changed course. Several others curtailed the evening's run, as I took the quickest route back to the gates, my car and safety, all the time imagining every sound behind me was a charging stag. Problem was, while it was a pleasant downhill run into the park, it was uphill on the way out, and I had no energy left for trying to outrun several hundred pounds of venison with antlers and an attitude.

Think I might have to rethink that route...

Running free

All I wanted to know was, how fast I’m going, and how far? Not to be obliged to run a particular route, just because it’s the one I’ve mapped out in advance. To go where the fancy takes me, and to come back with meaningful information that I can use as part of my training program.

So, I invested in the very simplest of the vast array of GPS-equipped fandangos available at the moment, and took my first run with the infernal contraption strapped to my wrist today. I’ve known of the existence of these things for some time now, managing to ignore them in a contentedly luddite fashion for just as long. I run to escape, not least from being stuck in front of a computer for most of my working day. Why would I want to allow technology to blunder rudely in upon my relaxation time? Eventually, though, curiosity’s got the better of me. That, and the promise of just heading out with no fixed plan and following my feet.

How marvelous, but also, how frightening? This thing knows exactly where I’ve been, how long it’s taken me to get there, how fast I was going at which point, my precise elevation above sea level at any given moment, and what I'm thinking about at the time. Well, maybe not the last one, but you get the picture. It could even tell me how fast my heart’s beating, if I’d bought the necessary accessory (I probably will buy the necessary accessory at some point). The amount of data that it captures is quite astonishing, much more than I really need. Is it going to turn my runs into techno-fests of number crunching? I don’t think so – I reckon the attraction of the bells and whistles will wear off soon. Will it reinvigorate my training, and help to get me out of bed on the cold, dark winter mornings that are rapidly approaching? I think it might.