running

Less is more, or running without shoes

Running today is all about taking the basic and turning it into technology. Technical clothes that breath, technical toys to measure everything from heartbeat to location and, of course, shoes. Running shoes are a mix of fashion, function and technology. But they are based upon the idea that they are necessary in order to make us able to run. We are told we need shoes, the right shoes, in order to run. This is despite the fact that barefoot runners do quite well.

There is a new trend to provide a new set of technology for runners. A technology based on less. The New York Times (Amy Cortese Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants) has a fascinating story on the new trend on barefoot running, including the new technology, equipment and the economics of running.

Check out the cool Vibram Five Fingers

Posted on by mklang

Running the distance

Since I survived my first real running event and managed to get around despite my lack of character in relation to serious training I have decided to make it an annual event. So next year on the 22 May I will be running the GöteborgsVarvet again. I registered today.

is it worth it by wrote

This year I ran with a camera and took pictures of the race. Many of the pictures were really bad but those which I liked ended up here. Not sure if I will take the camera with me next year, maybe I should try liveblogging! But then again my hope is to take the race more seriously and dramatically reduce my time from 2:17 to under two hours… so maybe just twitter?

Posted on by mklang

How not to prepare for a run

In a few hours I am heading of to the starting line for GöteborgsVarvet the local annual half marathon and I am really, really not prepared. Some of the stuff is down to bad excuses – probably most of it. An ischias injury stopped my running for a few months. The yearly summer allergy kicked in a week ago which is annoying. So much for the bad luck section.

The real bad stuff was going to Uppsala to attend a great workshop this week. Lots of sitting and eating – the only exercise was intellectual and there was plenty of that. Great and entertaining but really crap for the running. Not to mention the fact that the nights were late and with too many beers.

Anyway I am off to the run soon way in the back at starting group 15 (way in the back) nr. 52041 – hope to make it around 🙂

Posted on by mklang

Getting off the floor

If you are sitting down and reading this then be happy! This Christmas I received an unusual and unwanted present in the form of a herniated disk – put basically the softer gooey stuff between the bones of your spine peeks out and gets squished and presses on a nerve. This causes a painful condition that sends pain down my right leg and the sole my right foot feels like it is asleep.

The worst thing is the inability to sit and work, thankfully going to yoga has helped but most of the time the only way I could work was by lying on the floor with my laptop in front of me. After half an hour in this position (which is not great for writing) my neck is killing me. Anyway, I have ended up being massively delayed (even by my standards) which in turn has knocked me metaphorically to the floor.

So when I today thankfully got sent away the second of my two major texts I was working with and feel like I can get of the floor for a while. My back is still not good but sitting is possible and only a bit painful and I am now looking ahead at the projects I had planned to start in 2009.

Also I am returning (slowly) to the running which I have not done since Christmas. In 101 days I will be running the local half marathod – let the countdown begin

Posted on by mklang

Toys for boys

Remember when running entailed pulling on a pair of sneakers, old shorts and a t-shirt? Basically it’s still the same but even something as simple as running has been upgraded and infused with technology. So what does the high tech runner need to be satisfied?

The sneakers – way back in 2005 Adidas launched a high tech sneaker with a 20-megahertz microprocessor in each shoe that gave the shoe the ability to self-adjust cushioning and support. The shoe makes 5 million calculations per second. But even without the computers the running shoe is a feat (sorry bad pun) of engineering.

The clothes breathe and dry. Letting out sweat and bringing in air. The socks are cushioned, supporting and breathing. Sunglasses are optional. There is a whole array of additional items from bandanas to sweat-bands.

But then, it’s where the real high-tech begins. Training software to help the runner keep track and share their results online. Electronic devices include mp3 players, headphones, pedometers, heart-rate monitors, GPS measuring. The list goes on and on. It makes your head spin.

Kind of makes you long for the old t-shirt and running shorts… Well to be honest I kind of like the gadgets!

Posted on by mklang

Run Fatboy Run

This post was almost called Run Forrest Run but the comedy Run Fatboy Run (it is a must see!) is more appropriate for several reasons – which will become obvious if you read on.

As a writer I am always slightly surprised and very flattered when someone says that they have read something I have written, it makes no difference whether the text is my blog or my PhD. When someone comments on my writing or responds to it the text becomes alive and an exchange of ideas begins. This is fun.

A few people seem to read my blog as a way of keeping track of me and what I am doing. To be fair this group mainly consists of my mother who likes to know where I am in the world (and occasionally why I am there) – Hello Mum!

With the dawn of social networking sites and microblogging more people are subjected to my shorter bursts of everyday information. Updating my status via ping.fm means that the trivial status line in facebook becomes a part of an ongoing background chatter. My friends can see what I am doing and some of them will comment on my actions. My comments on their comments will turn the whole thing into micro-conversations of massive trivia. Something is happening here – not sure what it all means… Yet.

Anyway this all came about when one of my work collegaues (and FB friends) dropped by my office and commented on the fact that many of my status updates on FB involved my running. She asked why this was. Suddenly all the little micro-comments had been harvested and analysed – in the nonchalant way in which the mind works and formulated into a question.

So it’s time to officially announce the fact that I am officially training for a specific goal. My running became vaguely serious in September last year when I succumbed to temptation and bought real running gear. I discussed this online too in a post called Slippery Slope to Spandex. Since then I have been running for fun and exercise.

Then a couple of weeks ago in a fit of misguided hubris I registered for my first ever race. And I mean EVER. I never even did sports as a kid. So now on the 16 May I shall be running a local half-marathon called Göteborgsvarvet. I will not be alone in this there are already over 36 000 runners registered.

So why write all this here? Well to paraphrase an aweful song which I haven’t been able to lose since my teenage years: it’s my blog and I’ll write if I want to. But in reality I want to write it down to increase the pressure, to make sure that I will go through with the whole affair. By placing this text online I am bringing to bear the tools of reputation and public shaming to make sure I will go through with this impluse decision.

Photo: Running man by Tleilaxus (CC BY-NC-SA)

All I can say is: run fatboy run…

Posted on by mklang

Banging head against virtual wall

According to runners mythology there comes a time in a marathon when the runners hit “the wall” it is apparently a place when all the bodies energy simply dries up and the runner is left to finish on sheer will-power alone.

Today I hit the wall early at work. Have been working inefficiently on sheer will-power and I am now going home. This is totally useless information to most of you – like everything else on the web I suppose but I decided that I would feel much better if I moaned about this here. I didn’t work very well so I am still going home.

Just to make sure that this downer of mine does not spread to you here is a random cute puppy picture to cheer us all up.

Puppy Eyes by A? L? (CC by-nc-nd)

Posted on by mklang