Eliminator 24 Goggles Review

I tried out the Eliminator 24 goggles from Global Vision during an extremely cold and windy run on Fire Island.
The goggles are photo chromatic so you can wear them for wind protection day and night; they also have foam gaskets for a good face seal and are vented to reduce fogging.
It was well below freezing and blowing like crazy during the test so the temperature difference between my face and the lens interior must have been in the order of 70 degF. Hardly surprising then that running with the wind behind me resulted in fogging within 30 minutes; however, after de-icing them for the return run into the wind I was able to run for over a hour and a half without issue, suggesting that, when given a chance, the venting is certainly up to the job.
With a comfortable fit and good photo chromatic performance these are excellent value for money (you can pick them up for around $30) and I will certainly be packing them for the MDS.

Frozen Bottles

You know it's cold when your water bottles start to freeze in the first 60 minutes.
Tuesday was a tough run along Fire Island from Smith Point to the Moriches Inlet and back, not made any easier by the icy wind blowing spindrift from the northwest; I tried to capture what it was like.
It's surprising how little you notice the cold when you're running, but it does make me wonder how much of a challenge acclimatization is going to be.

Lunch for the next few weeks

A quick trip to the shops has yielded an interesting mix of freeze dried and dehydrated meals.
I have to carry at least 2,000 calories per day (competition rules), but I will probably take more than that to avoid starving myself: the average dinner for two in these packs is 800 calories: I burn more than that on my longer mid-week training runs.
I tried to choose only savory options (I'll be eating sweet stuff while running) and avoided rice (which never seems to rehydrate well); the next thing is to find out how they taste...

Fire Island Beach Run

Here are a few photos from my run along the beach at Smith Point last Friday.

I though it might be a good idea to get in a few long runs on the sand and Fire Island provides miles of uninterrupted level beach. I did a run in the soft sand further west during the summer, all that's left following super storm Sandy is firm to hard packed sand, but the run was still very satisfying.

The wind was an icy blast from the west, but as the sun came out and half my run was with the wind behind me it wasn't so bad; having the beach to myself more than made up for it (I didn't see another soul on the sand the whole time I was there).

I started into the wind, but had to turn around after less than a half an hour where the island had been cut in two by Sandy; heading east I ran for another hour and three quarters before once more heading back into the wind to return to my car.

As I ran I found huge empty sections where the dunes had been swept away and large patches of purple, perhaps the remains of ground up clam shells.

Injinji Socks Review

I got a few pairs of Injinji crew length socks (photo below) for my birthday and have been running in them over the past few weeks. I had a shorter pair before, but found they were too short to prevent rubbing of the shoe cuff on my longer runs. There are many MDS runners that say these socks are perfect for the race so I thought I'd give them another go.
I asked for dark colors and, while this doesn't stop them getting dirty, it does hide the results of multiple muddy trail runs. They do a good job of separating the toes, which reduces the chances of blisters from toes rubbing together. They are also quite thin which perhaps helps emphasize the noticeable increase in awareness of the trail texture but does little to protect the big and little toes and the tips of the toes from rubbing against the shoe. I also asked for both wool and coolmax socks: from experience with thermal tops, wool is a lot less stinky over time; but, with the availability of laundry facilities I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between the two materials (maybe I should try a sniff test after letting them mature for a couple of post run days).
After four weeks of testing I'll probably take both types to the race, but I think I'll use them as liners socks with a second regular pair over the top: on the advice of previous competitors I'll be wearing shoes half a size to big to allow for swelling later in the race.

Cambridge River Runs

While staying in Cambridge, I took the opportunity to get in a couple of runs along the trails next to the Backs and then out by the river Cam. The first, a night run, was punctuated by the sound of fireworks from the Bonfire Night celebrations; the second, in the early morning before visiting a customer, was much more peaceful, with the boat crews at their practice on the river.

I must say that, although I knew a lot of people rode bikes there, I was completely unprepared for the scale of usage. The big advantage for a runner is that this creates a network of paths that can be used to avoid the cars.

Shalden Round

While in the UK on business I had the chance to do some running along the trails between the fields and woods south of Basingstoke.

It was extremely muddy, at one point I had to wade through a puddle that came over my knees, but I had an excellent time and logged around 18 miles in a little over 3 1/2 hours.

Following a good hosing down outside, a warm shower and some dry clothes, I had a cracking Sunday lunch laid on by my brother and his family for my parents and me; needless to say, I felt very relaxed after such strenuous exercise and a large meal.