Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Totally Trashed



My flame was completely burnt out after Saturdays long run. I call it a long run by time rather than miles as the difficulty reared it's ugly head, which made the miles relatively short.

During my one and a half hour ride home, I wished someone else was there to drive as a nice warm nap sounded very inviting. Though tired as hell, I was so pleased with the effort I put in. The fact that I forced myelf into the second lap and enjoyed it was encouraging. Had I quit after one lap, I think would have been very disapointing.

By monday morning, I knew I pushed the envelope a bit as I had many new pains to enjoy. I decided not to run for a couple days because my right hip was pretty sore and I learned in the past that the hip needs rest or there is hell to pay.

I counted at least 6 muscles that I thought were pretty tuned up ......but now were complaining everytime I stood up and because of the loose terrain, I now have 3 new blisters that will soon become black toenails. All battle scares with no regret.

I ended up with a near three hour workout mostly in zone 4 and 5 of my heart rate, A perfect workout to start the new year. It took me a long time, but I think I finally have learned how to appreciate a hard workout without dissecting it and finding reasons to discount my effort.

As for the Ice Spikes, I have decided they get a thumbs down....at least for me and the way my running and workouts go. There is no doubt that theses spikes have a fantastic grip and surely are much better when walking or running on smooth ice.

I felt they seemed loose in my shoes and part of that may be the fact that I previously had the slightly larger sheet metal screws in them and perhaps the soles were stretched out a bit. Reguardless, they are the runners I use in these conditions so I will put the old screws back in.

In my run Saturday, most of the conditions were quite soft. I did hit a few roots under the snow and the last half to three quarter mile was on a plowed tar surface. In the process of two laps on this course, I lost 5 out of the 24 spikes in my shoes. At a cost of approximately 50 cents each, I feel that it would be too expensive to continue using the Ice spikes.

What I might do is try the Ice Spikes in another pair of runners as I got 8 extra spikes in the kit so that gives me enough to outfit a second set of runners. perhaps in new holes, they might not pull out as easy.

So, I am not saying they are not good, it's just doesn't seem cost effective for me. I didn't see a huge benefit over the sheetmetal screws when comparing cost verses performance.

4 comments:

Dan said...

Good effort out there Kevin. I'm trashed too! Thanks for the tip about the spikes. I'm going to stick with screws for now.

chris mcpeake said...

Great job. Got to get those long runs in. Personally I dont know how you guys run in the snow all winter.

chris mcpeake said...

Good job. Got to get those long runs in. Personally I dont know how you guys run in the snow all winter.

Two said...

Great to finally meet Kevin. You know, I am not sure if Saturday was the best or worst time to be testing winter running spikes. My Kahtoolas really impressed me on the occasions I wore them last season, but this first long run of the season left me a little disappointed. The handful of runners that passed me on the second lap seemed to be flying and I wasn't sure I saw anything special on their feet, in fact, one guy looked like he had shoes without tread on the soles! Oh well, just shows character being out there on such a day!