Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Parloff Relay

Jenny and I did a Parloff Relay today at Runner's Choice speed work, held at TD Waterhouse Stadium in London today. We did 400 m. loops of the track and passed off the baton to each other. Here were our times: 1:31 (Bruce) 1:42 (Jenny) 1:33 (Bruce) 1:39 (Jenny) 1:32 (Bruce) 1:36 (Jenny) 1:38 (Bruce) 1:36 (Jenny) 1:35 (Bruce) 1:34 (Jenny) 1:33 (Bruce) 1:33 (Jenny) 1:32 (Bruce) 1:29 (Jenny) 1:31 (Bruce) 1:30 (Jenny) 1:31 (Bruce) These times are pretty close to what I was doing a year ago -- except that Jenny was fast enough that I had to do a 9th lap this time. But for the first 8 laps, I was only off last year's total time by 21 seconds -- and 11 of those were in the 8th lap. While I could feel the hamstring, I still felt like I had acceptable speed and strength. I'm now not worrying about potentially pulling it since I don't have a goal race in mind. If I make it sore by working it really hard, it should repair itself to be even stronger.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Mizuno's Mezamashii Run Project

I don't generally talk about my running gear, although I definitely have my favourites. Like my Race Ready running shorts & shirts, my Sugoi "Canada" singlet from Runners Choice in London, and my UnderArmour socks. And my Mizuno running shoes.

I've been wearing Mizuno running shoes for several years, now. I literally run them into the ground. My pair of Mizuno Wave Nexus 4 got me through my Personal Best in the Road To Hope Marathon in 2010. My pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 7 runners got me through the Big Heat of Boston in 2012. And my current pair of running shoes I purchased from the legendary John Ferguson at Runner's Choice -- the Mizuno Wave Elixir 7 shoes -- are unbelievably light. They should either allow me to set a Personal Best in the Road To Hope Half Marathon in November, or possibly (if I decide to do a full marathon then) I can re-qualify for Boston.

Mizuno is currently heavily campaigning on their Mezamashii Run Project. From MizunoCda.com, "Mezamashii is the Japanese word for eye-opening, or brilliant. The Mezamashii Run Project is our quest to deliver a more brilliant running experience to dedicated runners everywhere." And as a long time Mizuno wearer, I can vouch for the fact that these shoes are excellent.

Mizuno's goal is to simply get more people to consider the Mizuno shoes, and they are relying on social media and current Mizuno customers to help them get the word out. You can get more information on the Mezamashii Run Project here.