SWim bIKe rUN

It’s out, the Garmin Forerunner 910XT!!!

I’ve only talked to one person that has actually purchased this beaut but I still can’t wait to get my hands on one.  I asked Trish to give it a try in the open water here in Boise but she wimped out.  Something to do with 30 something degree weather and ice run off.

The most touted features that I’ve heard about regarding the new Garmin all belong to the swim.  The 910XT is water resistant up to 50 meters, tracks swim distance, efficiency, stroke count, and even pool lengths.  I’m excited to see what it tracks for pool lengths.  I usually lose count 12 to 15 times per swim.  The 910 even captures the path you traveled so that you can view it in a map later.  The downside to the 910XT tracking the open water distance more accurately is that on the 310 sometimes my 1000 meter swim will look like a 3400 meter swim.  Now it will be a 1000 meter swim.

The run and bike features look to be basically the same.  You can still easily set up your multisport function and select a checkbox to also include the transitions.  The new 910 boasts a 20 hour battery which is just short of the 21 hours it would take me to complete a full Ironman.

It’s official.  It’s going to take a pretty awesome shoe to get me out of my Hoka One One Bondi B.  I’m planning on getting the Maffette next week for our hill runs.  The sole has a harder surface that I think will be better for the hill runs and not wear out the sole on my Bondis as quickly.  Of course with the Bondis you have about 3/4 inch of sole to go through.  I’ve heard people concerned about tread wear on the Bondis.  But really, how much tread do you need on a road run.  I can’t remember a time, when there is no ice, on the asphalt that I slipped because of tread wear.  As long as I have the cushioning and there is no hole leading to the foot, I’m good.

If you’ve purchased a pair of Hokas I’d love to hear your thoughts on them.  I’ve rarely heard of read a bad review on these shoes.  I’ve got over 200 miles on mine so far and there is at least a couple hundred more in them.

So far I’ve logged 78 miles in my Hokas and I’m still impressed by them.  I went for a 20 mile run Saturday and was on my feet the rest of the day after that for my son’s 4th birthday party.  I’ve had little to no knee pain after my runs since buying this shoe. 

My wife has mentioned after both of my long runs that I seemed to have more energy after these two runs than I usually do after 20+ milers.  I’ve mentioned before that they tend to give you a little sticker shock at $170, however, if they can give me a few more good years of running they’ll be worth it to me.

The Ogden Marathon is in 2 weeks.  My previous best is a 3:41.  As usual my goals are in this order.

• Finish the race
• Finish below the 4 hour mark
• Run a PR which, for this run, my goal is 3:40

After the marathon we’ll be getting back into the Boise Foothills.  I plan on getting me a pair of the Hoka Mafates.  I went down to Bandana Running in Boise last week and held both the Bondi B and the Mafate.  The tread on the Matate seems to be more durable and the shoe seems a little heavier.  I’ll need the more durable tread for the foothills considering the Bondi Bs tread is very soft and wears pretty quickly.  I don’t see this as a big issue for the Bondi B considering you have over an inch of sole and don’t really need a lot of tread on the roads.

My 22 mile run Saturday just confirmed what I said before about this shoe.  Right now it is the shoe of choice for me taking over the Nike Vomero.

After 22 miles of running I felt no pain in my knees and very little in my feet.  I am very bow legged and very very flat footed so these are just pains that I have dealt with since I started distance running 5 years ago.  I love this shoe and will continue running in them.  I’ll write updates if I run into any issues with them.

These shoes look like they sit higher than they actually do.  If you look at the yellow line on the men’s Hoka One One Bondi Bs, that is approximately where your foot will be sitting in this shoe.

Most noticeable benefits:

• Lots of cushion and shock absorption.
• Great for downhill running especially if you heal strike.
• Less time to recover since I don’t feel as beat up after the long runs.
• Wide base to help with footing on uneven surfaces.
• I ran over pretty decent sized pebbles and didn’t even feel them.

Downsides

• May be a little warm.  The material the upper is made from doesn’t allow for much air flow.
• Tread is soft and may wear out faster than other shoes.  However, the actual shoe is rated at 500 to 600 miles so for road runs this won’t affect you too much.  I looked at the Hoka One One Mafate and it looks like it has a more durable surface for trail running.
• Runs 1/2 size small.  I wear a 10.5 in most shoes and had to move up to an 11.  Really not a downside but you may want to check the exchange policy, this is a review of where I bought mine, if your order online or try the shoes on before you purchase.
• Not available in a lot of stores yet.

My legs were fatigued before we started the run so I wasn’t sure that I was going to give the Hoka a decent shot at a review but after the run I was impressed.

They didn’t necessarily help the fatigue disappear, which I wasn’t expecting but I had no knee pain after the run at all.  This is unusual for me having bowed legs and flat feet.  I even wore the Forest Gump shoes for 6 months as a toddler to straighten out the legs but they are still quite bent.  I tell myself that chicks dig bowed legs.  This may not be true but don’t tell me if it’s not. 

I was a little worried about them taking away a little power since they are so cushioned but I didn’t see this as a problem.  I also ran a 4 miler last night and didn’t notice it there either and didn’t feel it in the knees.  The way the shoe is designed it gives you a natural roll from the midfoot through the toe.  After the first couple of runs I like them and I hope that the knee pain issue will continue to be improved.  I’ll post again after wearing them for awhile.  This is where I bought mine, mpgear.com.  They had great customer service when I ordered the wrong size and had to send them back for the correct size.  They seem to run a little small.  I wear a 10.5 but had to get an 11.  I’ve also read a similar review where someone else had the same issue. 

These are a great shoe but be prepared for a sticker shock moment.  These beauts run $170.  Good news is that’s after title and docking fees

Review of my first run.

Like I said in Part Deux, the Hoka One One Bondi B shoes that I got were a half size too small.  I was thinking that I was going to have to send them back, wait for the company, www.mpgear.com,  to receive them and then they’d send me the new size.  After emailing them about the return policy I promptly received an email from Zach.  Zach verified the size I wanted and explained to me that I could ship the smaller size back in the box they were sending the new shoes in.  They are also picking up the shipping for the new pair and to ship the smaller pair back.  This after my shipping for the first pair was free because I spent over $45.  I was so impressed with their customer service that I pointed my links to their site, joined their affiliate program and added even another Part to my Hoka One One Review.  I’ll give the actual review after I have run in these shoes.

• Part 1
• Part Deux

Review of my first run.

Sum Biotch!  Well my Hoka running shoes came today so I made and extra special trip home to pick them up during my lunch break.  When I got them back to the office, they were too small.  I was so looking forward to running in them tonight.  So now Part Deux is going to be Part Tre’ and this is Part Deux.

Review of my first run.

OK, so right now the only review I can give on the Hoka One One is that they are insanely ugly. 

I’ve read reviews on this shoe and decided that it was a moral imperative to give them a try.  Out of all there shoes this gray one is the only one that I could muster the courage to wear.  However, if they live up to the expectations that I have placed on them I will wear any color that they put out.

I believe it was Jim, someone that I’ve only had the pleasure of running with once, came out  couple of Saturdays ago in these beasts.  I can’t remember if it was his knees or back that he had surgery on that was hindering his running.  He said since he bought these he hasn’t had any issues.  He outran my ass.  I wouldn’t have really noticed the shoe if someone else wouldn’t have been talking to him about them.  Then again maybe it was just a matter of time.

I went into Bandana, a local running store here in Boise, to check them out.  I didn’t realize that I was going to be 2 inches taller wearing these shoes.  I’m psyched, they are very squishy, technical term.  I ordered mine online from www.mpgear.com.  I found a coupon code that took $17 off the price and they shipped for free over a certain price.  Since the Hoka is $170, I got free shipping.  I would have bought them at Bandana at regular price had I known that they sold them before I went online.

I’ve been a Nike Zoom Vomero guy for quite some time now and it’ll take a really good shoe to pull me away.  I’m hoping the Hoka Bondi B is that shoe.

Stay tuned for Part duex on this shoe. 

My wife bought me this for my birthday and I love it. However, the only thing that I’ve noticed so far that is an advantage over the Garmin Forerunner 305 is that you can swim with it. If you’re not into Triathlons the 305 is probably a more economic choice for you. It has all of the same basic features, minus the swim, at a fraction of the cost. That being said, I do triathlons so I love the 310XT.

I used it in the Boise 70.3 and it was nice to pop out of the water, hit the Lap button and I was into timing my transition. Hit Lap again as you exit the transition and you’re into the Bike. Nice not having to worry about putting the watch on after the swim.

Don’t expect the 310XT to track your distance on the swim. It is just there for your time and has been discussed on the Garmin site and other blogs about the distance being off. This would be because it is in the water so much during the swim.

Good luck with you races and as my buddy Shane says, “Keep Tri-ing”.

Runmeter by The iPhone Mom

Let me begin with a disclaimer – I am not a serious runner. By serious I mean that I do
not track my pace and splits. I do not read Runnerʼs World or carbo load before a race.
My goal is to finish a run and be able to walk the next day and Iʼm proud of my humble
pace. I run because I have four kids and Iʼve got to do something to keep my sanity.
The year after my third child was born I was turning thirty. I made a goal to finish a
marathon before my birthday and I did it and was hooked. Over the next four years I ran
the same marathon, missing last year because Iʼd had my fourth baby just a few months
earlier. This year Iʼm turning thirty-five and I hope to run the race again this fall. So far
Iʼve found that in between the baby and keeping up with all the kids Iʼve been limited in
my time and ability to run away long enough to get the miles in. Weʼll see how the
summer goes.

When I was putting in the miles for my previous races I was often tempted to buy a
fancy Garmin. I donʼt care about my pace but I do care about the miles. I live in an area
that is semi-rural. Subdivisions mixed with open fields of corn and cows. Most of my
training is done running on the side of the road and I try to calculate my routes by the
“country miles” that run from one main street to another. It works but it makes for
boredom because I run the same routes over and over. About a month ago I went
looking in the iTunes App Store for an app that would help me track my miles so I could
get off my well beaten path. Basically, a poor girlʼs alternative to a Garmin. I browsed
through the App Store and tried a few different running apps out. The most I spent was
$.99, I just couldnʼt purchase any of the $9.99 ones which are probably wonderful.
Eventually I found Runmeter and the $4.99 price tag plus the positive reviews won me
over. Iʼve been using it for a little over a month and itʼs made me a happy runner.
Runmeter takes advantage of the iPhoneʼs GPS and maps your runs, measures your
run time, tracks your distance and will calculate your pace per mile and your average
pace. If you are running a route that youʼve run before using Runmeter then the app will
also tell you how much distance you have left in your run. You can name your routes so
theyʼre easy to keep track of. Runmeter is also not limited to running, it will also track
cycling, hiking, skating, skiing, swimming and walking. Because it tracks my miles I can
explore a bit and move away from my country miles. Iʼm loving that and seeing places
around my home that I was totally unaware of before.

The main screen of Runmeter is your “Stopwatch”. Itʼs here that youʼll be able to view
the key information about your current run. Youʼll see your run time, pace, distance,
remaining miles and your elevation. From this screen you can select your route (or
create a new one) and the activity that you are doing.To start tracking a run you tap the
“Start” button on this screen. When you are finished youʼll tap “Done”.
The next screen is “Map”. This shows a Google map of the route that youʼve selected.
You can view a street, satellite or hybrid map. The time and distance from the last time
you ran this route are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Next comes the “Calendar” screen. This screen displays a calendar of the current
month and will show you the days you have run with Runmeter. If you tap on a run day
the app will show you that runʼs details. Tap on those details to see even more details.
You can see your splits and email/export them out. On the calendar screen you can also
add in a run that you didnʼt complete with Runmeter. This is great for me because
unfortunately the majority of my runs lately have been on the treadmill after the kids
have gone to bed.

The “Routes” screen shows you a list of all the different routes youʼve taken with
Runmeter. Tap on a route to see the list of dates when you ran it. There are icons next
to each run that show if the run was best, better, median, worse or worst than the others
youʼve done.

Finally there comes the “More” section. This section of the app is filled with all sorts of
goodies and tweaks you can give to Runmeter. I like the “Announcements” feature. With
this you can set a time and distance interval to hear announcements over your
earphones. Personally, I like to hear an update every mile and at every thirty minutes.
Thereʼs a list of things you can have announced but I have mineI set to tell me the time
of my run, the mile Iʼve reached, my pace and the calories Iʼve burned. The app fades
out your music, you hear the announcements and then the music starts right up. I also
set up email updates for my runs. I get an email after every run that lists the key details
and gives me a link to the Google map for my run. More importantly Iʼve also set up
email updates to go to my husband after every two miles. That way he can keep track of
where Iʼm at which is great for peace of mind when Iʼm off on a long run. In the “More”
section you can choose a setting that will turn your iPhoneʼs earphone remote into a
remote control for Runmeter. Iʼve done this because I run with my iPhone strapped to
my arm. I donʼt want to have to take it off every time I need to control Runmeter.
The last thing Iʼm going to mention about the app is that you must start your iPod music
first and then begin Runmeter. If you exit out of the app it will stop tracking your run.
Likewise, if you take a phone call or do any texting the app stops. Youʼll have to restart it
to continue from where you left off.

Iʼve been extremely happy with my Runmeter purchase. It does everything that I need
and it seems to have the capability to do the things that a more serious runner would
also want. In my opinion itʼs been well worth the $4.99.

TheiPhoneMom.com is a website written by Heather Leister which is dedicated to helping women and moms get the most out of their iPhones.  The site focuses on app reviews, how-to articles and other commentary about the iPhone, iPad and other Apple products, all from a real-life Mom’s perspective.  TheiPhoneMom.com has been mentioned on TechCrunch,com, ABCNews.com, AOLNews.com, FastCompany.com and various Globe and Mail Newspapers in Canada.  Heather lives with her husband and four children in Boise, Idaho. She can be contacted at mom@theiphonemom.com.