Half marathon report

I had an enjoyable half marathon yesterday. The weather was perfect. I was a little worried about wearing my Brooks Green Silence shoes, since I hadn't run all that much in them, but they were fine. By the end, a toe or two felt a little hot, but I didn't get any blisters. My left knee feels just a little tender today, but I don't attribute that to the shoes. At my low level of training, I don't think any shoes would have prevented that.

Those shoes are definitely attention-getters. A number of people remarked on them.

I saw two marathoners wearing Vibram FiveFingers; one wore Classics and the other wore Sprints. I didn't get a chance to talk to them, but judging by their tattoos, they were both triathletes.

Many thanks to Russell, who ran with me. His wife, Mary, alas, was unable to run because of a foot injury. Also thanks to the staff and volunteers for the race -- everything was just right.

Half marathon tomorrow, ready or not

I don't feel prepared for tomorrow's half marathon, but it's a little too late to do anything about it but get up early and put on my shoes. The good news is that the weather will probably be good. It's been cold, windy, and rainy for days and days. Today it's beautiful, and the forecast for tomorrow is for more of the same. It should be around 45F at the start, and no warmer than about 55F by the time I finish. I couldn't ask for much better than that. I happened to see the race director an hour or two ago, and when I mentioned the weather, he smiled from ear to ear. This race has a history of bad luck with weather.

One of the two friends I'm hoping to run with injured her foot, and as of yesterday wasn't sure she would run. Since I'm in no kind of shape to try for a PR, or even aim for any particular time, I was looking forward to just spending the time out on the roads with the the two of them. I'm sure I'll see her at the packet pickup later today, and see how she's feeling.

Cashing in on the Bikila

Out of curiosity, I did a search on eBay for Vibram's newest Fivefingers model, the Bikila, which just now rolling out to a few retail outlets. Sure enough, people are cashing in on the scarcity. I found asking prices as high as $250! Yikes!

I think I'll wait.

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila preview

Justin over at Birthday Shoes managed to get an early peek at the Vibram FiveFingers Bikila, and shares his first impressions.

New shoes: Brooks Green Silence

Brooks Green Silence

I have a half marathon coming up shortly, and I don't think I'm ready to go that distance in a truly minimal shoe like the Vibram FiveFingers. I've been looking for something towards the minimal end of the traditional running shoe spectrum.

I've worn mostly Brooks shoes for the past several years, and have been pretty pleased. I'd read a little about the Green Silence racing flat, and thought I'd give them a try.

I just got them yesterday, and have only run about 5K on a treadmill in them, but my initial reaction is very positive. They're really light and comfortable.

I haven't decided if they're the ugliest shoe I've ever owned, or the coolest. It's one or the other; there's no in-between with these things. One might say they look like Ronald McDonald's bowling shoes -- bright yellow and red, and asymmetrical. One has a red sole and a mostly yellow upper, and the other is the opposite.

The heel-to-toe offset is just 8 mm, which is flatter than most running shoes. Brooks is getting on the minimalist bandwagon a bit, touting a number of models on their web site. They don't have anything close to the FiveFingers, but I wonder how long that will last. Surely the traditional shoe companies notice the attention Vibram is getting.

I'll have an update once I get some more miles on these shoes.

Forerunner follies pt. 2

I mentioned in the last post that I hoped my Garmin Forerunner 205 problems on Saturday were a one-time thing. Well, no such luck. It went from bad to worse for my Sunday run.

As the watch had occasionally been turning off as I put it on my wrist, I decided to do it slowly and carefully, and watch everything as it happened. I learned something -- I saw a slight gap form between the face and the back of the watch. Sure enough, it turned off. Hoping that it had just "un-snapped," I pressed it gently together, hoping to hear a tiny click as it snapped back together. I heard nothing. But when I turned it back on, it behaved normally.

About two or three minutes into my run, disaster struck. The entire face of the watch simply fell off and landed on the ground! I was just running along as I always do. I didn't bump into anything, or even move my arm or wrist in any unusual way.

I could see immediately why it had been turning off. The watch band has the battery and little else; the face contains the electronics, the antenna, and the display. The battery isn't wired to the rest of it. It has contacts on either half that are normally held together by the case.

I was still near home, so I just ran back, left the watch, and headed back out.

After completing my run, I held the watch together and turned it on, and it seemed to be working normally. I turned it off and pulled it apart, though "pulled" is a strong word here -- it pretty much just comes apart now. It looks to me like it's normally just held together by some sort of adhesive that has failed.

I inspected it, trying to determine the best way to fix it. I gently took it apart and put it back together a few times, checking the fit and wondering what kind of glue I might use. Each time I turned it on & off to see if everything still functioned. About the third time, the display showed a seemingly random pattern instead of the usual display, and since then, the display doesn't show anything at all any more.

It still beeps as I turn it on and hit the other buttons, and stops beeping if I turn it off, so it looks as if it's just the display that's not working. I can't see anything obvious that's wrong, like a loose contact.

It's out of warranty, but I see Garmin has a repair program. I'll try contacting them to see if my watch qualifies, and how much it would cost.

I still have my Forerunner 201, but it has issues of its own, which I'll describe some time. I really, really want my 205 to work.

I did some searching, and I found somebody who has taken a 205 apart. Mine looks just the same, except the battery is a different color. If Garmin's repair program can't do anything for me, I imagine I'll be revisiting those pictures in order to attempt my own repair.

Forerunner follies

What a beautiful morning for a run! It was sunny with a light breeze, and about 50 degrees. Absolutely perfect.

Less than perfect was the performance of my Garmin Forerunner 205. I turned it on and put it out on the porch so it could acquire satellite signal while I put on my running gear. Minutes later, I put on the watch, and it immediately turned off. It had done this once or twice before. I turned it on, and it quickly acquired signal again, and turned off again. One more time seemed to do the trick, so I started on my run.

Less than a minute into my run, the watch beeped. I looked at it, and it had taken a 1 km split. Several seconds later, it took another 1 km split. I was setting world records like crazy! My mile time was well under a minute.

It eventually settled down for a while, and recorded some splits that look pretty reasonable. About 17 minutes into the run, though, it went a little crazy again, and took some weird splits again. My 10K split was about 19 minutes -- another world record drops!

Eventually it shut off altogether. I turned it back on, and it stayed on the rest of the way home. My reported average pace was 2:42/km, or 4:20/mi. I wish!

I hope this is a one-time anomaly. I really rely on that watch in long runs to help me keep a steady pace.