So pretty much knowing that I wouldn’t be racing this year, I drowned my sorrows in wandering the expo and shopping. When I walk the expo, I notice there are many instances of new technologies being showcased. When it comes to new technology, I can’t help but try it out. Here’s a few of what I saw and ultimately bought:
PowerBar Gel, Double Latte – claiming 4X sodium (200mg) and 2X caffeine – WOW! It must work! I’m a heavy sweater so the extra sodium is needed. Looking at my old favorite, GU brand gel, they have no caffeine and only 40mg of sodium. So I’m actually jumping 5X from where I was before (not counting all the salt/electrolyte tabs I take)! And I’ve proven to myself that caffeine does have an effect; at my first Ironman, I drank exclusively coke on the run and it really woke me up – I attribute that to caffeine for sure.
Velocy Running Shoes – I run Pose Method normally, which is forefoot running to maximize relieving of stress on the legs while running. So these shoes are a natural for me. They have designed a support chassis in the sole that rotates the body forward, so that you’re more naturally on the forefoot and your body’s center of gravity is ahead of your feet. It causes a more natural use of gravity in propulsion as well as helping with shock absorption via rolling through the impact with the support chassis. I am looking forward to using these shoes on a test run. They already fit my feet very well. Check out the Velocy web site for more details.
Asics Redux – OK I’m giving Asics a second chance. After they narrowed their Nimbus design causing all sorts of problems for me, I went to Adidas. They were good, but even narrower in other ways causing blisters on the insides of my feet. I then moved to New Balance 755s, which aren’t bad and fit a wider foot. I need to try these out more. But I decided to give Asics a second chance: enter the Gel Kayano 13. It is a stability shoe which I don’t really need, but more importantly it comes in multiple widths. I try the size 2E (up from the normal width) and it seems to fit better. I hope to put it through some test runs this winter in hopes of recapturing my love of Asics shoes.
Garmin Forerunner 305 – I own a Garmin Forerunner 301 which I love. The GPS is really accurate, and it’s great for downloading my workouts so I have a record of everything on my PC. But sometimes it doesn’t work too well. Like in a big city like NYC. The 305 has supposedly been improved for city use with a more sensitive sensor and one that is oriented on the wrist so that it is always pointing up. Another thing to try as I go through trail runs with lots of tree cover and also running around the city. Buy it at amazon.com .