Run Fat B!tch Run
Saw a great book in WH Smiths today...
I have no idea what the book is about other than it's about encouraging fat ladies to lose weight by running, but the title caught my attention and made me laugh.
Sound Advice from the Virgin London Marathon Organisers
Sound advice from the Virgin London Marathon organisers in their Final Instructions (PDF) on page 9 ...
... but by all means wee in people's gardens elsewhere 
Inov-8 Bare-X 180 Minimalist Shoes Look Good
I was browsing Wiggle the other day and happened across these rather attractive looking, from an aesthetic and spec perspective, minimalist running shoes from Inov-8...
These are the Inov-8 Bare-X 180
Race Report: Reading Half Marathon 2012
Sunday saw me take part in my first half marathon in over 13 years, the Reading Half Marathon, and what a brilliant race it was.
As you may have read back in November, I took the plunge and entered the Reading Half Marathon and continued with the MAF training principals exclusively with the idea I'd going into my race with at least a great aerobic base and possibly missing some speed. This was a bit of a gamble as I'd never heard anyone train like this before and had certainly never taken this approach myself. Seeing as I hadn't done a half marathon in a while, I thought "What the heck. It'll be an interesting experiment. Worst case scenario, I blow it. Best case, I finish the race strong and get the sub-90 minute finish time I'd be aiming for".
Sh*t Runners Say
Runners are strange creatures. We get up at insane hours of the morning to run insane distances on an almost daily basis. Along with this comes all the banter about these shoes, that injury, and the next best running gadget or race you must run.
Recently talk has turned to barefoot and minimalist running and along with it a whole new topic of discussion for those long Sunday runs. As with anything new or different, you always get the "experts" and those who get a bit over enthusiastic and this is what Steven Sashen of Invisible Shoes has capitalised on for this first video, "Sh*t Barefoot Runners Say"...
Tim Noakes: "If you've got Lore of Running, tear out the section on nutrition"
I'm slowly working my way through Phil Maffetone's The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing and I must say it's quite a varied read. One topic I've just finished reading is about carbohydrate intolerance. Carbohydrate Intolerance and the Two-Week Test gives a good idea what the chapter is about, though this post doesn't go into the performance affecting aspects like the book does.
I've read on numerous occasions, and with ever increasing regularity now, about how maybe we've got it all wrong and we really shouldn't be consuming anywhere near the level of carbs that we do, but this is the first time I've actually seen anyone correlate common aches and pains with our carbohydrate rich diets. This is quite an interesting topic, which I'm eager to test, especially if it'll have a positive impact on my overall health and running performance.
259km: A New Monthly Record
Yesterday's run saw me log my highest monthly mileage total of 259km...
My previous high was 252km in November 2011. Now the fact these two are quite close to each other - we could say right after each other as December doesn't really count as I was on holiday for most of the month - is no coincidence. Since September I've been experimenting with the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF)
It's Official: Barefoot IS Best
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is now official, barefoot is best. Well almost... if we do a bit of liberal interpretation . To quote Vivobarefoot's article (I've changed the link to point directly to the paper)...
Delta Park Parkrun: My First African Parkrun
Over the Christmas holidays, I was compelled (a visit was due anyway) to return to sunny South Africa for the first time in five years - my first Christmas back in SA in 7 years - by my cousin's desire to marry a gun-toting children's pastor (lovely chap).
As part of my holiday back home, I decided I'd venture out to see what South Africa's first and only (at the moment) parkrun was like. It'd been a very very very long time since I last ran in South Africa, let alone raced, and from the one other run I'd had in Jo'burg during my hols, a gentle 10k, I knew it would be a toughie.
So nice and early on Christmas eve, I bundled my wife into the car and we headed down to Delta Park for a quick spin round the park (me - my wife doesn't run). We got there with about half an hour to spare so I could warm up and introduce myself to the organiser - the one and only, Bruce Fordyce
Tackling The 10 Myths Of Barefoot Running
Great and well balanced article from Podiatry Today busting the myths commonly associated with barefoot running.