W2R3 - Shoes maketh the run

[Chewy]

Or at least they made this run. A new pair of Nike running shoes and the pains are reduced by an order of magnitude. Not horribly expensive (less than £50) but worth every penny if this is the result.

Very cold this morning, in the shop on Wednesday I scoffed at a pair of running gloves but the warm up walk this morning made me wonder if I'd been a little too smug. As the runs started and the blood began to pump the cold vanished and the pace felt good. I'll need to check if it was any faster but it felt like I was flying along.

I realise that one run doesn't really prove anything but I so hope that the shoes have done the job they appear to have done. I can stand some pain but elves stabbing me in the shins with every step is hard work.

I guess I'll see on Monday, have a good weekend everyone.

P.S - Checked the figures, my pace is up by 30 secs/km from Wednesday and a PB since I started the program, rock and roll

[suki_007 Graduate]

Brilliant chunk off your time Chewy - glad it was more comfortable!

[Soozz Graduate]

Well done, Chewy. I love my running shoes, they make all the difference! Great to hear about your pace too!

[Fraz73 Graduate]

Well done Chewy! Great to hear you're pain free today. And a PB to boot. Fab stuff

[Chewy]

Thanks guys, I guess I should add that my PB is very slow but it's getting better.

[newstart1 Graduate]

Well done Chewy, i have just completed W2R3 and with new Nike trainers, mine are are for low arch so felt a bit weird but got there roll on week three, i am terrified really.

[Hidden]

But it is your PB, this is personal journey at the begining, so what an achievement, think back a couple of weeks. Well done

[notbad Graduate]

PBs are what it's all about, so well done Chewy. I got a new pair of running shoes this week and they made all the difference, like you I'm now thinking about running gloves - and they say running is free...

[Chewy]

Thanks for the encouragement guys and you're quite right, I'm not in competition with anyone, I'm on my own journey. It does feel like I've improved even in just two weeks.

[janda Graduate]

Hi Chewy. Well done. And a legion of new Nike running shoe wearers hit the roads. How do you measure your pace? I found an app for my smartphone called Endomondo. Forgot to turn on the GPS the other day so it showed 0.00km in 31:16 minutes. I was gutted after my W2R2 outing. Roll on Sunday ... with the GPS this time.

[Chewy in reply to janda]

Thanks Janda.

I've never tried Endomondo but I see that a lot of people use it so I'm sure it's very good. I use a rather convoluted set up but that's somewhat historical in that I was measuring GPS stuff for other reasons before I started running.

How I measure my pace:

- Android phone app called GPSTracker to get the base data from my run

- Dropbox account to share data between my Android and PC (or any device)

- Android app called Dropspace to automatically upload GPS data to Dropbox

- On the PC I use a program called "My Tour Book" which takes the data from my run and analysis it in all sorts of ways including pace.

All of this is free, I'm a great advocate of open software and once set up it requires no intervention. Android apps are available from the apps store and if you Google Dropbox and My Tour Book you'll find them easily.

(I'm sure Endomondo is much easier)