Category: review

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Sponsored Post: Koge Vitamins

The following post was sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Koge Vitamins.  I received the product reviewed at no cost to myself in exchange for writing a post about it, as well as some social media content.  I was not asked to give a positive review, and all opinions and experiences are my own.

Introduction



I’m one of those people who knows that they need certain nutrients to stay healthy, but also knows that he’s not getting them from food alone.  I take a multivitamin, but I’m always struggling to find the right one that fits my profile (active adult male) and doesn’t give me heartburn.  Add to the fact that I train for triathlons (i.e. juggling 3 endurance sports plus cross-training) and chase a toddler and preschooler around during my time off work, and both kids don’t ever sleep through the night and you’ve got someone who could use a little extra energy to get through the day.

Koge Vitamins (a Canadian company) started with a two-fold purpose: find a better way to manufacture and distribute vitamins, as well as a better way to get nutrition to malnourished children.  Last things first: a percentage of every Koge vitamin sale is donated to provide African children under the age of 5 with vitamins to help them fight malnutrition.  I had a chance to try their Energy Pack.


The Energy Pack was developed to support increased mental and physical exertion across all activities.  Each does is a little package with four pills in it:

  • Korean Ginseng
  • Guarana
  • Ayur Indian Ginseng
  • Coenzyme Q-10 with L-Taurine

That last one gave me pause, as I was a little wary of Taurine.  Koge says:

“Taurine is known for lowering cholesterol and repairing the body against natural external damage. It also assists with heart health and infertility.”

Still, I know Taurine is in energy drinks that have been getting a lot of bad press lately.  Here’s a quote from an article named: “The Dangers of Taurine in Sports Drinks“.

“Taurine is a free form amino acid contained in foods and manufactured in the body from the amino acid cysteine. It was first discovered in the bile of bulls, and now produced synthetically by the truckload. Since taurine is created naturally in the human body, a good diet supplies all you need.

Studies have implicated synthetic taurine in illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to strokes and seizures to heart disease. For these reasons it’s been banned in some Scandinavian countries after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. Because taurine is utilized by the body during exercise and in times of stress, it’s become a popular ingredient in energy drinks. But taurine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system that’s very unnatural.“

I figured I could simply throw the Taurine pill in the garbage if I could identify it; the website even has little pictures to show you each pill.  If I could find this pill:


in this pack:

I’d be fine.  It seemed hard at the time, but when I look at the photo I took, it seems to almost definitely be the one on the left side.At the time though, I struggled with figuring it out.  In the end, knowing (according to the same article) the recommended daily dose was between 100-500 mg, and what’s in the Koge tablets represents 300 mg a day, I felt a little safer, in addition to the fact that the Taurine was more likely (given Koge’s reputation and methods) natural rather than synthetic.  Still, I would be getting Taurine from some of the foods I ate, without knowing how much, so at times I was hesitant to take both daily doses.

Summary of Experience

The tub has a clean elegant design, and the recommended dose is to take two 4-tablet packets daily.  The packets have all the tablets in them for a half-dose; my only complaint is that I couldn’t get them open without scissors.




I took the Koge Vitamin Energy Pack after an Overseas Family Trip to Germany, and I kept a daily journal of the experience.  I was using the tablets to get over jet-lag, get back into triathlon training, get caught up at work after my absence, and just generally keep up with my kids.

If you want the short version of my experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack, I can say that I definitely experienced heightened levels of energy and alertness, without it feeling unnatural or like a ‘high’ nor making me as edgy and irritable as caffeine does, and I say that with a deep abiding love for caffeine.  Point in fact, I found myself drinking less coffee and seeking caffeine less altogether.  I did not take the full dose every day, and more commonly a half day.  I found physical tasks like workouts easier if I performed them within a few hours of taking the pills.  When I forgot to take them, I did feel sluggish, even if I had a decent night’s sleep (my sleep is interrupted by my kids, there was no effect on my sleeping patterns from the pills that I could notice).

Here is the blow-by-blow of my daily experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack:

Daily Diary


DAY 1:
Recovering from Jetlag; kids up at 5:00AM.  Take vitamins just before breakfast with coffee and my normal multi-vitamin.


I do feel a little more alert and seem to need coffee less.  I’m able to stay a bit more focussed in a meeting and I manage to get a good indoor bike session done – I think I came further faster with less effort than I would have pictured for those numbers.


I skip the second dose, since I forgot to bring it to work


DAY 2:


Lightning Kid woke up at 4AM and though we refused to indulge his instinct to get up and play, it cost us the rest of the morning (minus 30 minutes I managed to catnap from 7:30 to 8:00AM).  I took my Koges with OJ and coffee and a breakfast of cous-cous, peanut butter and maple syrup (it was going to be a long day, comfort food needed!).


Today was a ‘lock-down’ where some members of my team worked exclusively on one project and basically blocked out other inquiries and requests via email or telephone.  I had very complex work to do myself, and there were a few times I went cross-eyed.  I did get an impressive amount done, and even managed to sort something out that had the whole team confused.  I worked through lunch (ate at my desk and took my second dose after that), though I did take sporadic sanity breaks.  I ended the day with less of the work done than I wanted, but the initial estimate of how complicated it would be was off anyway, so I’m proud of what I got done, and I’m thinking the Koge’s might be making a small difference.


Some dry mouth toward the end of the day.


DAY 3:


Take my morning dose before breakfast.   After lunch, I take a long bike ride that goes well: I’m happy with speed, cadence and technique.   I should have taken my second dose beforehand, but I forgot.   I skip it for the rest of the day.


DAY 4:  Take my breakfast dose, but I’m tired the rest of the morning: did I not sleep well?  Am I already desensitized? The afternoon (no second dose) goes OK, but I’m in bed by 9:45PM.  During the night I sleep well at least.


DAY5: Another ‘lock-down’ day at the office and I’m there by 7:30AM.  I notice myself powering through the day without needing any extra coffee beyond my first.  I’m a little bit high-strung, but not as irritable as with caffeine, I think.  The extra energy is a bit of a shame since I don’t have time for a workout and the weather is too nasty to simply take a walk for my break times.  I’m having trouble controlling my appetite but that may be from a lack of non-work outlets available.


DAY 6: Single dose before breakfast; trying to precede my coffee a little to improve absorption (tip from the #KogeVitamins Twitter Chat).  I do a *Matrix* workout at lunch and get a new record on the *Rope Machine* (635 Meters) and a new high in a pushups exhaustion test (45 reps).  I didn’t take my second dose, but I did get a good swim workout (1500m) in after dinner and was still able to get to sleep at night.


DAY 7: I didn’t take a dose before breakfast and tried to pack two doses in my lunch bag to take throughout the day.  When I got a chance at work, I could only find one dose in there.  While the pills do seem to reduce my need for caffeine, I miss taking actual coffee breaks and drinking coffee (I have a French press at my desk and good, caffeinated coffee).  I went for a slow, recovery run to test out my calf which I hurt falling down the stairs last week.  In spite of a slow pace and low mileage I felt sluggish. Withdrawal? I took a dose after lunch and got through the afternoon feeling OK.


DAY 8:  Took my dose at the office, hours after breakfast and coffee.  Stuck to single dose all day and tried to do a 100 Pushups workout.  I didn’t complete my second set, and then just waited for the Pilates class to start.  Stuck to the single dose.


DAY 9: Took a dose after breakfast, well after coffee.  I couldn’t feel much in terms of effect, but I did complete a brick (60 indoor cycling, 4km run) feeling strong.  No second dose today.


DAY 10: Single dose at midday.  We drove up to the cottage this morning, and I didn’t want to feel too energized for sitting in a car.  While my weekend training plan was to swim on this day, and ride the next, the weather forecast made riding seem unlikely and I didn’t want to ride on legs that had been trashed from the previous day’s brick workout. I planned to do the swim within the predicted ‘showers’


DAY 11:  The ‘showers’ that were predicted turned into a torrential downpour that made me wish I’d built an ark.  We ended up taking the kids into downtown Huntsville to run around the mall and stopped for ice cream too.  By noon, things were on their way to clearing up with some intense sunshine.  I took the days’ half-dose before lunch (macaroni and cheese) and when the kids were asleep for a midday nap, I did my open water swim training.   Though it was a little too soon after eating and I struggled a little, I did have a good pace and I was quite pleased with what I accomplished.


After stopping for a special Father’s Day dinner on the way home from the cottage, we began what should have been a 2 hour drive.  The Lightning Kid had seemed feverish (though the thermometer had said no earlier) and screamed non-stop in the car.  We stopped about 3 times (every 10 minutes or so) to see if he could be comforted (he seemed fine when we’d get out of the car), and ultimately gave him infant Tylenol.  We drove for another half-hour and the screaming wouldn’t stop – long enough for the Tylenol to kick in.  I pulled off the highway to find a hospital, but when we pulled up to the Emergency and saw how full it was (and everyone was wearing masks), I thought of all the other Emergency Room visits that didn’t yield anything in cases like this and said I wanted to keep driving and see if he would fall asleep.  I took side streets and a slower route South and he fell asleep.  Then the storm clouds moved in.  The continuous lightning strikes wreaked havoc with my night vision and the torrential downpour made hydroplaning a constant threat.  There was even hail in the mix.  Keeping the car on a road that I couldn’t see for all the water and pelting raindrops was one of the most harrowing, white-knuckle experience of my life; and I’ve been electrocuted twice, nearly drowned my first time in the Pacific surf and faced malignant melanoma.  My mental alertness could be at least partially attributed to fear, but I’d like to think the taurine, ginseng, etc. played a role too.  We didn’t get home till midnight and we still had to put the kids to bed, take out the garbage and unpack the car.


DAY 12: Missed my dose.  Extra coffee needed.


DAY 13: Many wake-ups from both kids overnight.  I took my morning dose with water and my regular multivitamin.  I did a core workout at lunch (30 min of exercise). I didn’t take the second dose, but I was craving a boost by mid-afternoon.  


DAY 14: Skipped my dose, I forgot, though I started to wonder if subconsciously I didn’t want to feel energetic today.  Lots of time on the road/in the field.  No workouts.  Had too much caffeine (coffee and pop) and feel crappy by evening.


DAY 15: Fairly busy day.  No workouts, but there was enough concentration-based work and going from place to place (including coming home for lunch) to merit both doses plus some coffee in the morning.  Felt pretty good, but needed to get to bed early.  Good night’s sleep


DAY 16: Last chance to exercise before the Muskoka 5150 triathlon.  I take my morning dose, and run (slowly and gently) to work.


DAY 17: I took a single dose that morning to prep for the 3 hour drive north (with a pre-schooler and toddler in the back).  I felt pretty clear and alert for the drive, and OK most of the day, but tired and ready for an early bed-time before the next day’s race.

DAY 18: I woke up at 5:30 to get ready and go to the Muskoka 5150 Triathlon.  I didn’t take any pills with them to the cottage, so I’m without them when I might need them the most.  In addition to an exhausting race, I had an afternoon of playing with the kids on the beach, on the deck, in the cottage to wear me out.  I found a spare dose in my toiletries bag that I could have taken the next day.

That’s pretty much my crazy life on Koge Vitamins Energy Pack.  I’ve been taking them similary erratically since.  It remains an option to get me through the more hectic times, though I think I don’t like needing them.  Koge Vitamins also has a Daily Essentials pack that I’m curious about – and I wouldn’t mind helping provide vitamins to kids in Africa either.



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Pre-Race: Muskoka 5150 2013

This weekend is my first triathlon of 2013: The Muskoka 5150!



Though Muskoka is becoming a Triathlon and Multisport hub, and the Muskoka 5150 had it’s inaugural race last year, the Huntsville race site and general venue has had a long history prior to the Ironman 70.3 taking place later in the year.


Compared to last year, this race is taking place nearly a month earlier so everybody, including me (who am I kidding? especially me) has had a little less outdoor training time, especially with the way the winter didn’t seem to want to let go.  The other big difference from last year to this one for me, is that I’m jumping age categories: from Men 35-39 to Men 40-44.  Doing some informal research has led me to believe that I will be comparatively slower within this age group for the same performance: there will be plenty of dads in this group, but most of them will have kids who are older and more independent than mine, allowing for more training volume.  Race stats always tell you how you placed relative to everyone else in your age group, and the way I’d like to look at my relative placement from year to year, race to race is by dividing my placement by the total number of participants within the age group for a percentile: the number reflects the percentage of participants who are faster than me – the lower the number, the better I’m doing.


Breaking down last year’s performance and looking at this year in a new age group:


Swim 1500 m
Time: 34:32 (2:19/100 m)

This put me at 21/28 (75th percentile) in the Men 35-39 Age Category.  In the M40-44 category for the same year, that would have put me at 35/40  (87.5 percentile) which is slower relative to the pack.  I have some pool swims on the order of 1500 m which are somewhat faster so I could optimistically project coming in 31/40 (77.5 percentile).  That’s still slower and it assumes that the time losses I incur for open water (not swimming a straight line, current, waves, dealing with physical contact) balance out with how much faster my wetsuit makes me.

My ‘un-taper‘ tune-up pre-race open water swim was a mixed bag. I ate too soon beforehand, but there are some good straight lines in there, and a sub 2 minute /100m swim pace, but the conditions were pretty much ideal – no wind, no waves, no crowds, no turns to make; it won’t be like that on race day.



The course actually starts in Fairy Lake then works it’s way up the Muskoka River; so you’ve got the open water waves from wind (though motor boat traffic gets minimized at race time), then current and navigational twists and turns in the challenge mix.  The good news is that I’ve done the same course (more or less) not only last year, but in previous Subaru Series events. If I sight frequently and use my memories of the past to reduce my ‘where the heck am I?’ pauses on the course, I think I can get a swim I’ll be really happy with.


Bike 40 km
Time: 1:22:49 (29 km/h)

I forgot that I must have made some gains on the bike last year, because that speed looks good for me historically speaking.  For bike performance I’m in the 85.7 percentile in M35-39 last year, and I honestly feel like I could squeeze out a better performance this year.  I think I’m a little stronger and faster (and lighter!), I just lowered my aero position a little bit, and I’ll be familiar with the course; I might even skip the bit of bad luck where I got stuck behind a car in a traffic jam situation going over a bridge.  Last year’s performance would have placed me at 35/40 in M40-44 or 87.5 percentile.  Again it looks like the new age group is actually a faster one.  But, if I can average 30 km/h, I could have a time of 1:20:00 and move to the 80th percentile.  The ride out to Port Sydney and back is a pretty one, but there are hills (they are inevitable in this area) and I’m not really well trained for that.  Fingers crossed.


Run 10 km
Time: 57:41 (Pace 5:47 per km)

I tend to think of myself as better in the swim than the bike or run, but last year’s race makes my swim and run equal compared to the pack at least.  I placed 21/28 or 75th percentile for running in the M35-39 category.  That pace/time would put me at 33/40 or 82.5 percentile for M40-44.  I don’t have a good prediction for running this year… I could be faster, but I haven’t done enough brick workouts to evaluate my speed off the bike.  That pace doesn’t look too threatening, but factor in the hills and heat, which I’m probably not conditioned for, it’s hard to be optimistic.  I did manage a good pace in my pre-race brick workout. After 32 km on a spin bike, I managed to run 5:25 per km, but only for 4 km. I do think with fuel and mental focus I could keep up that effort level, at least.




After playing around with zero-drop/minimalist footwear, I think I’m going to be wearing my new Salomon XR Missions.  The run course has roads, but also gravel (from segments that use a running track) and trail portions, so their tread will come in handy.  My main reason for choosing them in spite of the extra weight (compared to the Virratas or my Zoot racing flats) is that the cushioning means I can run how I want to.  I think trying minimalist running technique has taught me some about turn-over and not heel striking quite so much, but I never did find my mid-foot, and I don’t really feel like my technique needed that much change – good shoes mean I can run fast (for me), and what else am I really trying to accomplish?


Transitions

I like my transitions efficient but calm.  The only thing left to really affect how quickly I complete transitions (that is within my control, unlike rack placement or course layout) would be to attach my bike shoes to the clips and learn how to put the shoes on during the ride.  I’ve played around with it a little in the past and didn’t feel safe, so I’m not going to try it.  Everything else I think I’ve optimized for my own racing experience.


Overall
Time: 2:59:07

I placed 24/28 overall in M35-39 last year (isn’t it funny how your bike performance is the biggest indicator of your overall performance?).  That time would put me at 34/40 (85th percentile) in M40-44 or let’s say I shave off 3 minutes total from last year (2 for bike, 1 for swim, everything else equal)… it actually puts me in the same place since #33 did it in 2:53, which goes to show how limited this exercise is in terms of usefulness.  I still had fun though… I guess I just like numbers.


While this sort of analysis and prediction helps me stay motivated to give my best on race day, the truth is, without having had enough in-season training including open water swims, rides through hillier terrain and brick workouts, I have to treat this race as a tune-up race: the real goal is the Bracebridge Triathlon in August, it is to be my redemption race.

To prepare myself for the day, I’ve actually set alerts on my Garmin which I never do, but I’m hoping they keep me mentally focused: swim alerts for every 500 m so I know how I’m doing, and a bike alert to let me know if I let my cadence get below 75 RPM.  I wanted one for my run too, but they don’t seem to have one for pace, and the heart rate one is based on Zones as opposed to straight percentage of maximum, and I just didn’t have the confidence to peg my run performance that way.  Some things can still be done by ‘feel’.

Where’s your personal line on how much to go by ‘feel’ and how much to track the numbers? Can a race be a tune-up, or should the attitude always be ‘there is no tomorrow’ on Race Day? Can it be both?

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Gear Corner – Running Shoe Review: Saucony Virratas

I was sent a pair of Saucony Virratas by Saucony (via Fitfluential) for review purposes free of charge.  I was not compensated in any other way, or asked to give a positive review; all opinions are honest and my own.

Introduction

The idea behind  barefoot/minimalist running is that the stride we’ve developed through having running shoes with all their cushioning and stabilizing technology has given us an unnatural stride that is actually what is behind most running injuries.  Running more like our evolutionary ancestors would enable us to run more efficiently and safely, and the way to promote that kind of running is to wear as little as possible on your feet.  I can remember seeing people do marathons and half-marathons completely barefoot (except occasionally a little duct-tape) as far back as 2005, but the movement (and subsequent product development and marketing machine) really grew over the last few years.

I did like the theory, and I was willing to give the practice a bit of a try, though I didn’t want to send my entire running technique back to square one.  A few years ago I bought a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves to play around with a little; I took them on a soft trail that I thought would be ideal for the experience – I wouldn’t need the extra cushioning I’d come to expect from my road running shoes.   Unfortunately that trail was also very hilly – I ended up really aggravating my Achilles tendons (both of them!) and I got blisters to boot.  Since then, I only used those shoes under controlled circumstances on the treadmill, or for other activities (playground with the kids, weights, spinning).  I understand and like the theory of minimalist running, but I have severe reservations about its practicality when it comes to my goals and lifestyle.

The Virrata is “remains is a feather-light, ultra flexible shoe with advanced cushioning that promotes a powerful stride and allows your foot to move the way it was meant to.”* (quoted from the Saucony website).  It’s what the call a zero drop shoe, but with cushioning.  The zero drop means there’s no modification to your foot’s natural profile – your heel isn’t any higher off the ground than the ball of your foot.  And for people like me, the cushioning could help deal with the realities of hitting the hard ground.


Image courtesy of Saucony.com

Initial Impressions

When I took the Virratas out of the box, I didn’t notice anything terribly different about them… because they were still stuffed with paper.  Once I took that out I nearly threw them in the air because they were so much lighter than I expected.  Obviously they wanted as little weight as possible for that natural feel – they’ve chosen lightweight materials, but also created a very open mesh for the top of the shoe; they’re highly breathable and intended to dry quickly.  I noticed the sole right away also.  It was thick enough to be noticed, and make me believe it would provide some cushioning, but I could also tell the flexibility would give it a very responsive feel.  I couldn’t wait to run in them!


Image courtesy of Saucony.com


Let’s go to the video! (This was made using Coach’s Eye for the iPad and WeVideo)




Virrata Outdoor Run


Due to the *Chilly Half Marathon*, and the taper that preceded it, I hadn’t taken the Virratas out on a run; running a race in brand new shoes is no-no, especially if it’s a long distance (for you), though apparently *Fitness Cheerleader* did it.  Once I had a few days to recover, I decided to take them out for a quick run on the sidewalks (Kovas, of Midwest Multisport Life says the Virratas are *not so good on the snow*, so I skipped the trails).

I hadn’t noticed any more soreness in my larger, more major leg muscle groups, but upon starting my run, I did feel it in my ankles.  While the Virratas have great cushioning for a zero-drop/minimalist shoe, that’s still not as much as I might be used to.  The good news is that they are also very responsive, I found myself making the slightest adjustment and the ankles didn’t hurt as much (they joints may have simply needed to get warmed up).

Running in them felt very natural; there was no ‘whoa this is new/different’ sensation in them, and what I love is that my pace was in keeping with with my race pace from the weekend: 5:48, 5:42, etc.  At first I took that to be a good indicator of how natural the shoe and I fit together, but upon further reflection, I think I would have been slower in my old shoes, since I was still in recovery and trying to take it easy.  I think the light weight of the Virratas might have turned what should have been a slow, easy (and short) run into one with a more respectable pace!

Still when I think of the lightweight materials, I have doubts as to how they’ll stand up to my average runs, which typically include gravelly trails and mud, roots, rocks in addition to pavement and the cement of sidewalks.  The Virratas will probably occupy more of a novelty slot in my shoe rotation, but I’ll certainly enjoy running in them more than I thought I could considering they’re a minimalist shoe.  If I can integrate them into my training, it will help my running technique and strength in my feet and some of the other, smaller stabilizing muscles needed for running.  Like they say: Find Your Strong.

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Race Recap: Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington

Done!  I finished the Chilly Half Marathon in 2:02:14!  While I was hoping for a finish time less than 2 hours, I think I can say I left it all out there on the course, and there wasn’t going to be a faster finish for me no matter what I did.  Let’s get into some details…

My wife dropped me off in downtown Burlington sometime after 9:30 and took the kids on a play-date rather than try to keep them happy in the sub-zero (Celsius, in case you’re reading this in the U.S.A!) temperatures.  City Hall was open and available to stay warm and take bathroom breaks, but I found it so crowded I wouldn’t have been able to guess where the back of the line was, so I opted to use a local Subway restaurant instead (I later bought cookies from them to make up for mooching).




As the start time approached people started lining up in the corrals according to what their estimated finish time would be.  I saw some pace bunnies struggling to get to the right position (hint: 1:55 is faster than 2:00), but I’ve never used them much myself (I’ll try to keep my eyes open for them but I use my Garmin instead).  Having the crowd fill in help stave off the cold a little bit, but just about everybody had to jog on the spot a little to stay warm, whether or not that was their usual pre-race habit.

There seemed to be a false start where the crowd started to advance, then stopped, but finally (about 10:10 or so) we were off.  I had plenty of time to start my music playing and start both Endomondo and my Garmin before crossing the start line chip sensor (the chips are disposable ones attached to the race bib – very convenient).

Straight down Brant street toward the lakeshore and then a right (west) we went.  Once I start running, I usually warm up right away, but this time I think it was at least 2 km before my fingertips stopped hurting.  I hadn’t taken as detailed a look at the race course as I should have: I knew we were heading toward the Burlington Skyway bridge, but would we actually be running on it?  That would be a unique experience but also very cold… the western turn-around point was at the base of the bridge.

I was feeling good, and though there was temptation, I kept myself from running too fast so that there would be plenty left in the tank (both fuel/energy wise, and from a muscle fatigue perspective). I was nearing the start point (about 5 km) when I noticed my phone was playing from the intended running playlist, but rather shuffling between the whole collection (neat Endomondo feature: if you go to the link and click ‘Playlist’ on the left, you’ll see what I was listening to!); the Scherzo from Beethoven’s 9th was not what I had in mind! I took a walk break at the top of a hill and made the change.

My Garmin did something weird and I have yet to figure out why: it gave me lap alerts for every kilometer about 330m early, even by it’s own measurement. For example, it called lap 10 complete at 9.67 km and lap 11 complete at 10.67 km. I got used to that, and actually found it handy to show how that particular kilometre was ‘trending’. At the actual kilometre markings, I still had the Endomondo app calling out my pace times.

One thing I did better than usual on this race was not over-hydrate, but I still found myself needing to take a pit stop around the 13 km mark. I had increased my pace in anticipation of the rest and lost time, so I don’t feel like this actually cost me anything in terms of my average pace.

With the course having two out and backs, there were plenty of opportunities to see other racers going the other way and maybe even a few high fives. There weren’t as many of these as I would have expected, but I’m one of the worst people for that sort of thing – I was fairly focused on running my race. In fact, I later realized that I hadn’t enjoyed the view of the lake at all, I think the flat light of the overcast day made me forget about the water.

I found that my heart rate was occasionally getting too high even when my pace was lower than I wanted it. The trick I found was to take my hat off; as I cooled off, my heart rate seemed to get lower for faster running.

My Achilles tendons were flaring up increasingly as the kilometres ticked off, but I was keeping the kind of pace I wanted: mostly around 5:40 to 5:45 km. I thought that was the pace I wanted for a 2 hour time, and according to my original plan 5:42 should have been it, but as I neared 16 km I began to realize the math was wrong – upon review I see there were a few 6 minute kilometres. I think I knew it was too late to make changes, but I couldn’t give up either. I started increasing my pace, and after the 18 km mark I really started hauling it (there is no tomorrow!)


At the 20 km mark, I got a call from my wife. I tried to ignore it, but ultimately took the call; thanks to the Jaybirds, I didn’t have to stop or slow down to fiddle with the phone. She was having trouble finding parking and ultimately she and the boys wouldn’t be at the finish line in time to see me cross, but I couldn’t hear a word of that at the time. Nor would she have been able to make out my guttural grunts and gasps as I was giving it my all on the last kilometre.



As I crossed the finish line, I stopped the Garmin and saw 2:02. I was a little disappointed, but not too much, as I didn’t really feel like I had made any real mistakes on the course or done a poor job of training for the race. One of the volunteers handed me a bottle of water, and I think he was checking my level of consciousness the way they do for Ironman finishers… I got my breath back and a hold of myself and thanked him properly. There were good post-race snacks, including PowerBar protein bars, bananas, and juice boxes.

Once I had reunited with my family, we looked for one of the restaurants that would be serving chilli and beer without being to crowded for a family with two small kids.  We found Melodia, and though they didn’t have seating in their main floor area, they were nice enough to open their second floor for us (they would later fill up to the point where they needed that space too).  We added to our meal of chilli (and a Carlsberg that went down soooo nicely) a Mediterranean inspired cheeseburger and grilled cheese (on a pita!).  I tried hard to keep our kids from ruining their nice tablecloths, but it ended up being me who spilled a whole bowl of chilli on the floor… I hope my tip made up for the inconvenience!

I had a Epsom salt bath when I got home and I’ve been taking it easy ever since – I think the last of my muscle soreness will be gone by the time you read this. I’d really recommend this event – I think I might do it again next year. At any rate, I want to make a March/Mid-winter race a tradition; training for it has kept me more focused and disciplined, and the outdoor runs have done a lot to keep my winter mood up.

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Gear Corner: Swimming With Music Part 1

Some facts:

  1. I enjoy swimming.  Really I do, I like being in the water and the way it feels, sounds and looks.
  2. I get bored easily.
  3. Swim training (when it’s not open water) involves a lot of back and forth laps in the pool.  That can get boring, even for people like me.
  4. I’m a tech-geek, and I probably wouldn’t get up to half the exercise and training that I do without toys to play with.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why I’d invest in devices like those from H2O Audio.  I started way back buying one of their earlier editions for the 2nd generation iPod.
Exhibit A: The Accused
My first problem was having the wrong generation iPod Nano… I had a Black 1st edition which I lost after putting it in a jacket pocket in the spring, then not using the jacket again for an entire season.  I bought a 2nd generation one and was off into the water.  The problem with this ‘Waterproof’ Case was that it relied on a rubber gasket to maintain the seal, and this gasket was not fastened to the case with any kind of adhesive; it was up to the user to make sure there would be a seal every time you put the iPod into the case.  You can guess what happened…

Exhibit B: The Victim
Now normally, when burned by a poor quality product, I simply turn my back and walk away, but I guess my gear-head self wouldn’t give up on the concept when I saw later generations of the products.

I got what is now branded as the Amphibx Armband.  What I liked about this piece was that different size devices could be fit into it; they kept in simple and it was easy and flexible to be able to connect the speaker/headphone jack.
Once the original iPod Nano had been recovered (it’s probably gone through at least another two cycles of long-term loss and recovery), it had been eclipsed by other devices as a prime music device.  So it was a great candidate to be potentially sacrificed to the Water Gods in another experiment.  No issues, the armband hasn’t leaked yet.

The problems weren’t over yet though.  I still had the first generation earphones.  These things looked like the speakers from a telephone, only somewhat miniaturized.   They were hard to fit into my ears, and got uncomfortable after a while, but even worse, they’d let plenty water get between them and my ear canal.
My hands are pretty average size, so you get an idea of how big the speaker is…

So I would typically start playing music at a given volume, then start swimming.  As water got in my ear, the volume would seem to go down to the point where I couldn’t really hear the music (I would have thought I’d hear the music better due to water being a denser medium than air, but I’m telling you what I experienced).  I’d turn up the volume to compensate, but the second the water cleared (if I took my head out of the water for sighting, or to take a break or anything), the music would be deafening.  



Someone told me there was a newer better model out so finally this year, I got a pair from Amazon*.  The Surge Sportwraps seem to be marketed for Boardsports more than swimming (probably because the band around the back doesn’t play well with a swim cap), but I like that they hug the head; it’s what I look for in running earphones too.

On my last Trifecta Tuesday, I went for a swim.  I was a little tired from a 16km run plus the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race 5k (PR!), so I decided I simply wanted to crank out 1.5km in the pool without drill sets or anything complicated.  The perfect setting for the new kit.

Though I ended up stopping a few times in the first few hundred meters to adjust the phones in my ears and make the Sportwrap play nice with my goggles and swim cap, I can tell you the audio experience was better than ever before and the volume stayed at a fairly even level so I was able to enjoy music throughout the swim.  I’ll revisit what effects that had on my swim experience in Part 2 of this series.

*H2O Audio has been re-branded to X-1 Audio with some new (yet again) product lines.  There still seems to be a Canadian Retailer using the H2O Audio Brand though.
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Race Recap: Kyle’s Krusade 5k Virtual Race

While I had initially planned on using the Yeti Snowshoe Race as my 5k for the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race (to Lisa of RunWiki.org’s great excitement), its cancellation left me looking for another 5k I could use.  The Training Plan said that Monday was to be a 5.6km run, so that would have to do.

The days had been cold of late, but my 16km run on Sunday had gone well so I decided to Race with a Capital ‘R’… even though there was no-one else there.  If young Kyle had to fight cancer, could I offer any less than an all-out effort?  I hoped for a sub 25 minute finish, but I had a few factors against me: I had left both my Garmin and my water bottle belt at home.  I’d be relying on my Endomondo app to track my pace and distance.  Figuring that I’d be working hard, I skipped a thermal layer, and didn’t bother with face protection.  I can’t say that it was a mistake overall, but it did make the start a little uncomfortable.



As I ticked off the kilometres, I stayed under 5 minutes per kilometre, which was what I needed to stay under 25 minutes overall.  My lungs were burning a little, and some of the sharp turns were not ideal for ‘racing’.  You can see the fatigue (and incline) kick in on the 4th kilometre, and for a few minutes I thought I’d have to overshoot my starting point due to some kind of miscalculation, but I heard the 5 km indicator right as I got to the intersection.  24:39, a personal best.

Me with my Race Bib after it’s finished


I want to thank Lisa for devoting her time and effort to such a worthy cause.  Not everyone wants to do this kind of organization and logistics for the enjoyment of others.  Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Races can be done all through February and you can do 5k, 10k or even a half-marathon.  Or you call simply donate… just follow the links!

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Race Recap: Kyle’s Krusade 5k Virtual Race

While I had initially planned on using the Yeti Snowshoe Race as my 5k for the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race (to Lisa of RunWiki.org’s great excitement), its cancellation left me looking for another 5k I could use.  The Training Plan said that Monday was to be a 5.6km run, so that would have to do.

The days had been cold of late, but my 16km run on Sunday had gone well so I decided to Race with a Capital ‘R’… even though there was no-one else there.  If young Kyle had to fight cancer, could I offer any less than an all-out effort?  I hoped for a sub 25 minute finish, but I had a few factors against me: I had left both my Garmin and my water bottle belt at home.  I’d be relying on my Endomondo app to track my pace and distance.  Figuring that I’d be working hard, I skipped a thermal layer, and didn’t bother with face protection.  I can’t say that it was a mistake overall, but it did make the start a little uncomfortable.



As I ticked off the kilometres, I stayed under 5 minutes per kilometre, which was what I needed to stay under 25 minutes overall.  My lungs were burning a little, and some of the sharp turns were not ideal for ‘racing’.  You can see the fatigue (and incline) kick in on the 4th kilometre, and for a few minutes I thought I’d have to overshoot my starting point due to some kind of miscalculation, but I heard the 5 km indicator right as I got to the intersection.  24:39, a personal best.

Me with my Race Bib after it’s finished


I want to thank Lisa for devoting her time and effort to such a worthy cause.  Not everyone wants to do this kind of organization and logistics for the enjoyment of others.  Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Races can be done all through February and you can do 5k, 10k or even a half-marathon.  Or you call simply donate… just follow the links!

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Gear Corner: Hoorag Review

Disclaimer: I was provided a free sample by Hoorag in exchange for a review.  I was not asked to write a positive review and these experiences and opinions are my own.

Being outside especially while exercising can carry a lot of demands for clothing and accessories.  You need to keep sweat out of your face and eyes.  You need to tie back your hair.  You need to protect your face and/or neck from the wind, or from the sun.  Hoorags claim to be the better bandana.

My first run in a Hoorag was an easy run with a couple of hill repeats in light drizzle, just above freezing temperature with 20 km/h winds.  I wanted head insulation, but didn’t feel like I’d need my winter hat or any other face protection, so I wore the Hoorag ‘Bandana’ style.

Pic not taken on run day.

It felt comfortable and did a good job of keeping me warm enough – I never felt the cold.  It’s breathable so I didn’t overheat either, and it stayed on without me having to fiddle with it.  I think it even looked OK on the day… this pic notwithstanding.

When temperatures dropped below freezing, I considered wearing it ‘Balaclava’ style (think ninja-mask) but I couldn’t get it to work… I ended up with extra material around the eyes mostly.  That’s OK, because I’ve always wanted to look like Strider-Hiryu…

…minus the threatening sword…

The ‘Face Mask’ style is my favourite way to wear the Hoorag.  I grew up using ‘Tube Sarves’ to protect my face (especially mouth and nose) from the cold and wind.  The problem I always had was that the elastic was on only one end of the tube… wear the elastic at the top of the scarf and it cuts into your face – uncomfortable.  Wear it at the bottom (the better choice) and the top of the scarf is somewhat loose and not protecting your face as well as you’d like.

Hoorag doesn’t have this problem – it’s stretchy top to bottom but both ends have a gentle elastic.  I could get it to hug my face however I wanted; I got a peak right up to the bridge of my nose, but it sloped down past my cheekbones far enough that it wouldn’t interfere with my earphones if I wanted.

If I did any really heavy breathing (like sprints or hills), I found it interfered with my breathing and I would get gassed.  The good news is I was usually warm by that point, and I could easily pull it down to my neck (known as the ‘Neck Gaiter’ style).  On one occasion the moisture trapped in it from such breathing got flash-frozen when I pulled the mask away from my face; other than that, I like wearing it this way and do so for most of my winter runs.

I did try wearing a balaclava once for contrast; the full face mask is the protection of choice for the coldest of cold weather.  Wearing a balaclava means extra headaches putting on headphones, and I found it interfered with my field of vision too, so I prefer the Hoorag, though if it gets cold enough, I wear both!

as well as a hat.

The Hoorag can be worn in ladies’ styles too. When I asked my wife to model it, she was a little overly concerned with how she’d look, and more pertinently: “When was the last time you washed that thing?”

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Gear Corner: Review of the Yaktrax Pro

While putting a lot more running miles in the snow, you can’t help but wish for more traction.  I used to have a pair of traction devices (the brand name of which I can’t remember now) that I could put on the soles of my shoes.  They were made of rubber which would hug the outline of your sole, and had little studs on the bottom for gripping snow and ice.  The problems were:

  • The studs felt funny when you weren’t on soft snow.  When you run in the suburbs, you’ll be running over cleared sidewalks sometimes too.  Whenever I was on harder surfaces, I could feel the little cleats pushing back into my feet, like some annoying acupuncture.  I’d actually take them off and carry them or strap them to my running belt if I could see there would be cement for an extended stretch.
  • The little studs could break off.
  • Besides the elasticity of the rubber hugging the outside of the shoe, there was nothing keeping them attached.  I eventually zoned out on a run, noticed one of them was missing, backtracked for nearly a kilometer, and gave up on trying to find it.  I threw the other one in the garbage.


Still, I don’t think I can keep running in the snow without a little help, and based on a little research, more people seem to swear by Yaktrax than any other.  I like the idea of Yaktrax, which puts steel spring coils running horizontally across the soles – I figured that would feel nicer than little pointy bits under my feet.


Yaktrax Run

I went to my local Running Room to buy a pair.  I saw they have a model called the Yaktrax Run, but that had the pesky studs under the ball of the feet, so I stuck with the more basic, classic Yaktrax Pro.
Yaktrax Pro

I was really happy to see that strap on top, which would prevent me from losing them on the run, but how would they feel?  Would they work?  I took them out on a 12km run.

What I noticed:

  • Running on cement or pavement did feel better than with the studs.  You do notice the coils, but they’re not wholly unpleasant, just different than running without.
  • If the snow has been packed down by other people walking/running/skiing on it, and the terrain is flat, IT FEELS LIKE THERE’S NO SNOW AT ALL.  The feeling of running on my usual trail was indistinguishable from when it’s dry.  I step and move forward without any sideways lateral slipping, or lack of traction.
  • Going uphill is still tricky.  As soon as the trail climbed a little, I had to step more carefully again and remember that running in the snow is still simply different, Yaktrax or not.  I do think they helped me get up the hill (and back down again), the difference just wasn’t as stark as on the flats.
  • They can give you a little overconfidence.  When the snow got deeper I simply carried on.  There, the problems go beyond slipperiness and beyond what the Yaktrax can help you with.  Deeper snow means wet shoes and feet, and the resistance of pushing snow aside as you stride.  Another rude reminder that the snow changes your run.


The way this particular run turned out, I hit the deep snow at the furthest point from the start, and having to slow down nearly ruined my schedule; I wanted to be back home in time to go to a haircut appointment.  In spite of the fact that it was supposed to be a long, slow distance run, I hauled it on the way back, and ran nearly a minute per kilometer faster.  The Yaktrax held up fine; that doesn’t mean that you can use them for speed work necessarily, but I got a reasonable variety of paces out of them.  If you’re going to run in snow and/or ice, these are the product I would recommend.

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Gear Corner: Jaybird Freedom Bluetooth Headphones Review

I had bought these headphones as a replacement to my Motorola S9 Bluetooth headphones (seen here) that had long since broken… beyond all repair.  I had worn them once right out of the box and found that they didn’t stay in my ears well.  The guy who recommended them to me further advised me to try some of the ear hook accessories.  






I tried the ones that are intended for the middle ear (which is how my friend wears them); I did this the night before my run and needed both the illustrated instructions and a bathroom mirror to figure out how to best implement the correct fit.  I went out the next day for a fairly brisk 8 km in the freezing cold; this meant the Jaybirds had the added advantage of being held in place by a hat!



The Jaybird Freedom was easy to pair with my Blackberry.  I wanted to use Endomondo’s (my running and exercise tracking app) built in access to music to play my running playlist, but the audio option for ‘BT Stereo’ didn’t work, and when I used ‘BT Handsfree’ the sound quality was terrible.  Once I accessed the music from the normal Blackberry Music App, things sounded great.  So this is more of an Endomondo problem than a Jaybird problem.  After mucking about with the controls for so long, I finally got going.  The instruction manual requests that you wear your phone/media player on your arm and not in a pocket for best reception.  This is annoying because tucking the thing away would have been one of the benefits of having wireless headphones.  I compromised and clipped the Blackberry to my belt.

The way out (4km) was blissful.  No skips, and the buds stayed in comfortably – I even liked the pace I was keeping (which is neither here nor there).  Things got a little worse on the way back and not just because I had trouble keeping the same pace due to fatigue.  My current theory is that my ear canals shrink due to expanded blood vessels, because in-ear buds always exhibit the same behaviour – they seem to get popped out like a bar of wet soap out of a squeezing fist.  The ear-hooks (and hat) did a decent job of keeping them from falling right out, but having to mind where they were in relation to my ear and occasionally push them back in to secure them became a minor chore.  I also started experiencing some skips… but I think I can say that on that front their better than any other Bluetooth product I’ve run with.

To make the earbuds maximally secure I decided to add the over-the-ear hooks.  One problem: I couldn’t find the ones that were sent with my original package.  Jaybird sells replacements, but I got lucky in that the friend who recommended these said he didn’t want or use his (in fact, he wasn’t aware he had them until he dug through his gym bag) and so I got his.




The next time I took them out on a run was for a quick 5km.  Unfortunately it was cold, so I wore a hat again, but I did get a lot of confidence in the buds’ ability to stay in.  The other problem was that I had opted to try an armband I found.  This thing was large enough to hold my Blackberry Bold 9900 as it was designed for an iPhone 4, but I had a lot of problems with sound when I wanted to wear the armband; my suspicion is that buttons were being pushed causing the volume to go up and down, the music to skip ahead to the next track (or back to the previous one).  I ended up giving up on wearing it on my arm and sticking the whole mess into my jacket’s back pocket – expressly against the recommended use instructions.  Thus… more skipping.  I would have to try one last configuration on Friday, the day of our company run group’s 10km race – not ideal for experimenting with an optimal set-up  but I want to find something that will carry me through this winter’s many long training runs.

Well, as luck would have it, everything came together on Race Day.  I had the Blackberry in its holster clipped to a water bottle belt, and I experienced no significant skips.  The ear hooks kept the buds in place and I was able to focus on my pace and not have to fiddle with them… much.  One small exception was that if you look at the photo above, the cord connecting the two buds is draped across the back of my neck, which got more than a little sweaty.  This caused the cord to stick to the back of my neck, and put a little pull on the buds when I’d turn my head, which I have to admit, I did more than the regular amount since it was a race, and I was being chased by someone who is usually just a bit faster than me on training runs (I beat him!).  More on that race in a future post; but at the end of the day I found I could have a great run with wireless Bluetooth ear-buds, and I’d even credit them with a better than expected time, since I was *really* feeling the music.

Beyond their performance, I also like that they came with a hard-shell carrying case, which should spare them the fate of the S9s… being smashed up in my gym bag.  And here’s the kicker… my boss just brought me a replacement phone to keep me up to speed with the rest of my team… The Blackberry Bold 9900 will be replaced by a Samsung Galaxy SIII (LTE and Android).  Which is something else I’ll address in a future post.  

Looks like this review will have a sequel once I get the new phone up and running (no pun intended) to see how the Jaybird Freedoms play with an Android phone. Still, with the caveats of a steep learning curve and time spent getting acquainted with the product, I’d recommend the Jaybird Freedoms as a pair of running earbuds for those who want to be free of the wires.