Virgin Voyage of the Brooks Cascadia 4's

I recieved my new shoes in the mail yesterday from Running Warehouse. I busted them in this morning on a flat 20 km mixed surface run. They felt awesome. It is amazing to crank out 12 miles in a new pair of shoes and experience absolutely zero problems with blisters, hotspots, or rubbing of any sort. I had no issues with chin splints and knees which I was struggling with as a result of my last pairs midsole breaking down. I still need to take them on a Mount Doug Gutbuster training run and really push their limits to see how they handle the nasty terrain. So far so good, and I am thinking they are the shoe for me. They don't quite wrap my ankle as well as my asics, and so my only concern is ankle support from the upper. They are a very stable shoe and most likely will lessen the ammount of ankle rolls anyway. I will really push them on the slopes ofDoug next run to see how they handle the slick rocks, mud, steep desents, tricky side slopes, and loose gravel. I can't wait. The final test will come in the form of a 30 or 40 km on Elk Lake this week or early next. I will have a good idea what to expect from these babies by then.

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"The Van Aaken Method" vs. "The Lydiard Method"

I just finished reading a book by Ernst van Aaken Called "Van Aaken Method". I am a huge proponent of long slow distance and started working towards the "Lydiard Method" way of training earlier this Spring. Van Aaken was experimenting with long slow distance before Lydiard, as early as the 40's. Though both methods are quite similar there are some slight differences. I experimented with both over the last bit and have merged the methods into a plan that works well for me, with my plan resembling Lydiard's method the closest. These endurance centered methods are the extreme opposite of the tempo or interval training methods that experienced popularity in the middle of the last Century, the premise of which is to run many anaerobic intervals (using more oxygen than you can breath causing lactic acid to form) without full recovery between intervals. What is Long Slow Distance? In a nutshell the theory involves running every day and running as much mileage...

Running Syncope (Losing consciousness after running)

I went for my Saturday morning run today just like any other weekend run in the past. I had planned on running with a small group of people in the morning but thought I had missed them when I noticed their cars were at our meeting spot but no one was around, so I ran on by myself and thought I would see them along the run. I felt pretty good this morning and had a really fast pace. I haven't been sick this week but I could tell I was just a bit off the last 3-4 days. I blamed it on stress from writing my PhD proposal but now I am wondering. I saw someone running quickly about a full Km ahead of me (it is a very straight and flat course). I thought I could catch them in the next 10 minutes so I pushed pretty hard. I met my goal on caught the runner about the time I veered off to run a different side trail. I hit my turn around point and decided to cruise back to my car. I was only running 6 km in the morning and was planning on a steep and technical 20 Km run in the evenin...

R.I.P. Asics Trail Trabucos Jan 8, 2009 - April 24, 2009 (800 Km)

My shoes have finally bit the dust. I have ran about 800 hard core trail Km's in them and have decided it is time to retire them. They have been a good shoe but I feel that they didn't fit my foot exactly right. Following is my review of these shoes. Sole : Advantages - The tread on this sole has a nice bite and seldom slipped. The sole was also extremely rigid and I never felt any sharp rocks through the sole. Disadvantages - The tread would sometimes hold onto pea and marble size gravel and then they would slide on harder surfaces. I feel that a larger further spread out lug may be the better tread design. Mid sole : Advantages - I felt that the mid sole had plenty of cushion and the Gel was nice. I only have started to feel problems from the cushioning breaking down. Disadvantages - The arch support would rub on the inside of my arch where it transitions into the ball of my foot. This is more of a problem having to do with my foot not fitting right and not the...

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