Fashion or Function?

Every now and then your eye picks up an image from a glossy. In this it were the very fashionable shoes to the right.

What a colours! Lets read what the text says. They are running shoes  (yeah sure..) by Stella McCartney (okay?) for Adidas (alright!).

And then you remember that Stella also designed the apparel for the UK team of the Olympic Games in London last summer (read the related blogpost).

So maybe it is not just fashion but also function that these shoes represent. So good news for those that want to run with something 'different' on their feet.

She also came up with two less striking designs.


These more modest designs can be bought on Amazon (see below). For the very colourful design I can only refer to the Adidas Site!

Five GPS watches tested for accuracy

The Polish edition of Runnersworld featured a accuracy test with GPS watches.

The tested watches are:

• Garmin Forerunner 610
• Nike+ Sports Watch
• Polar RCX3 GPS
• Suunto Ambit
• Timex Run Trainer

The watches were tested on 4 distance/speed combinations a 400m track and a 5th  test was run over a longer distance on a trail in a park.
The watches were also tested on two altitudes: 415 meters above sea level and 714m

The results are:

 GARMIN
Forerunner 610 

 NIKE+
Sportswatch 

 POLAR
RCX3 

 SUUNTO
Ambit 

 TIMEX
Run Trainer  

dist.400m

slow

390m

418m

390m

400m

396m

dist.400m

fast

390m

434m

390m

390m

404m

dist.800m

810m

836m

800m

770m

798m

dist.1600m

1650m

1625m

1610m

1540m

1750m

dist.5320m

in the park

5000m

5030m

5100m

5040m

4840m

alt. 415m

boven n.a.p.

420m

405m

--

409m

413m

alt. 714m

boven n.a.p. 

714m

704m

--

699m

710m

The Polar lacks the altitude registration but is the most accurate on distances. It is available in white as well.

A plus for the Nike is the availability in three colours. It is clearly more of a fashion article.
The Suunto is available in silver as well as black.

Al watches can be used as a heart rate monitor as well but for some you'll have to order the sensor seperately so read carefully before you order what's in and what's out...

Below you'll find both the images and prices on amazon:

Debate: Barefoot Running Yes or No?

Probably, as a runner, you know the book Born to Run. In the video below you find a short debate on barefoot running with amongst others the author Christopher McDougall.

Prefontaine - the Movie

Sometimes you find a little gem on YouTube.

In this case the full length film 'Prefontaine' with Jared Leto as Steve Prefontaine which is still available on DVD as well (for example on Amazon). This raises the question. Is the video on YouTube legal? Don't know but what I do know is that it is posted on the channel of Jared Leto himself.

The problem with this kind of movies is two fold;

1. Are the running scenes convincing?
2. How accurate is the storyline in the historical context or was the focus 'bringing a nice story?'

As for the first: most scenes on the track are convincing and Jared Leto paid close attention to for example Steves specific way of crossing the finish line, pushing down the wire. The most historic race (Munich 1972) is a clever combination of staged scenes and the original footage of the TV broadcast.

Compared to the documentary posted Yesterday I think they succeeded in creating two hours worth of entertainment staying close to the facts. OK, Steve Prefontaine was entertainment enough by himself. So enjoy.

Steve Prefontaine, a one hours video on this iconic athlete

Steve Prefontaine. One of the great distance runners who died to young to be even bigger. That's in short his credentials. Others are 'Nike', Olympics 1972 Munich, American Record Holder. On youtube this one hour video with originale footage and interviews with the athletes of his time and his coach, te legendary Bill Bowerman. Among the names als Frank Shorter from the book "Running for Peak Performance" and Jeff Galloway from "Galloway's Book on Running ". If he would have lived, he probably would have become one of the household names in the jogging boom that started just around this time and that gave Shorter en Galloway the platform.

Enjoy the video.
 

Find the books discussed on Amazon.com or on Amazon.co.uk

New running technique?

City Pier City Half Marathon returns to the seaside

The upcoming edition of the international half marathon will once more take the runners to the seaside in Scheveningen. 

The half marathon road race has a very fast course which one time was the venue of a world record on the half marathon.
As the name of the race suggests it takes the runners form the city to the sea side and the Scheveningen Pier.
A couple of years however this was nt possible as the boulevard received a major make-over. The construction works did not allow the course to go by the sea.

Next CPC is AMrch the 10th 2013 with start and finish at the Malieveld close to the Hague Central Station.

Click here for the course map in PDF