Me & my Mizuno’s

Every runner needs one essential piece of kit and yes there are those who run bare foot but the majority of us don’t, therefore it’s a good pair of runners.

I don’t like to do things by half measure when equipment is concerned be it mountain climbing, cycling, swimming or in this case running as equipment is vital to success. 

Therefore I went to Amphibian King two years ago, they checked my gait, running style and my feet. There is a technical way of describing their recommendation and findings but I won’t bore you with details.  What I required was a runner with medium support, so I tried on several brands.  The ones that fit me perfectly were Mizuno Wave Alchemy as I am a light runner as are the runners and since then I have never looked back, for me they are simply amazing!

I've had no less than 7 pairs in two years! Bonkers I know, but this is where the story gets interesting, one pair every 3 months or every 650km. You should change your runners every 500-650km. At the moment I am clocking on average 650km every 3 months, or to look at it another way a pair of runners and a bit per marathon. The average marathon training clocks up 1,000km!

As you will see below the beating they take is substantial.  Even though they are designed to last, a road runner will beat up any runners on their feet.

Inside the shoe

Two years worth of runners!

Take a look at some of the photos you will see substantial wear on the inner lining, top of eyelets (for laces) and that’s what you see on the surface so imagine how the compound of the runner is.  In addition to this you can see how much rubber has worn off from the sole which also affects how the foot, ankle, knee & leg perform.

My advice is don’t skimp on your runners, be certain they fit you, don’t be led by an overzealous sales person trying to sell you the latest rocket shoes & don’t forget to buy the correct socks to match. 

A seasoned runner should not suffer much from blisters & therefore choose your socks carefully, personally I favour Hilly Mono Skin anklets, they are light durable and in short excellent. 

Remember if you run frequent long distances you need to change your runners, they may still look clean and new, but are they still structurally intact?

Since investing in the right runner for me, I have had little or no leg injury that could be attributed to the runner, of course I have tripped up but that is because I never learnt how to tie my laces!

Am I a runner?

While we were at an amazing wedding last weekend in Castle Leslie(great food, fantastic music and brilliant fun. Can I do it all again this weekend?!) a funny thing happened, the groom introduced myself and Aubrey as 'the athletes'. I've never laughed so hard in my life. I run, sorry move quicker than a walk, but would never in a million years call myself an athlete(I PRESUME he was joking when he was referring to me!) 


I wasn't sporty in school(my friends will testify! In fact I perfected forging my parents signature in order to get out of PE!) and have been a sporadic gym go-er yo yo-ing between 5/6 days a week to once every 5/6 weeks! However at the back of my mind I've always admired people who run marathons and wanted to be one of those people. I'm not talking Sonia O'Sullivan style but someone who could finish a marathon without the help of an ambulance. 


When I turned 29, inspired by the crazy fit Aubrey I decided right, that's it, if I do nothing this year I'll complete a marathon. I set myself a birthday goal and wrote it on a piece of paper. I told everyone I knew about it, which meant there was no way I could back out of it! I did it for myself to see what I could achieve, no charity involved as if I didn't make it across the finish line I wanted only to be letting myself down.

It was tough, really tough and I'm only talking about the training, nevermind the marathon itself! Barcelona was the marathon I set my sights on which meant training through the winter(horrible idea!) it's cold, windy, rainy and sometimes snowy which means indoor training which is no fun. Trying to run 10k on a treadmill is like torture, every second feels like a lifetime, it's really a struggle. Coupled with that I picked up a knee injury which made training hellish.

4 months of training 4 days a week is torture for someone who likes to be sporadic and go with the flow. The weeks leading up to the big event is nerve wracking, will I get enough sleep the night before? What can I expect? Will my feet fall off due to the amount of blisters I'm sure I'm going to get? What if my legs fall off? What if I actually die because I am the least sporty person in the world?! My over active imagination went into overdrive in the weeks leading up to Barcelona. 

The night before's sleep - if I can call it that was limited, I spent most of it tossing and turning, full of anxious thoughts, Why am I doing this to myself?!

But once you get to the start line you realise why you're doing it. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. The excitment, the smell of deep heat, the banana skins, the anticipation in the air. The start, thousands of runners moving in the same direction, ready for the challenge, the next few hours, the blisters, the pain and the litres of gross powerade! The months of preparation, you've done everything you can do, no room for last minute cramming. THIS IS IT!

All of this for what? A shiny medal that's what! And the knowledge that you beat yourself, you proved yourself wrong - you are a marathoner!

This time it's going to be even better, the crowds in New York, running through those streets, wearing the Irish Cancer Society's logo with pride, knowing this time, I'm not just beating myself and hoping for my own marathon PB I'm helping do something in the fight against cancer.

And I can't wait!

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Check it out!

Ever want a reason to pick up a copy of the Dun Laoghaire Gazette? Well now you have one! Aubrey features in this week's edition, talking about our challenge. Pick up a copy now!

Ironman Galway

Here's a taster of last weekend's Ironman.



Video courtesy of Galwaygirl on http://www.galway.com/video/ironman-703-galway/

2 months! Tick tock tick tock!

So this time two months, myself and Aubrey will have completed the New York marathon(fingers crossed!) All the training, hard work, dedication, pain, blisters... will have paid off and we can't wait!


Training has been going well, last night I had one of the best runs since I started training(I'm not being lazy tonight not running - it's a rest day!) Aubrey's training has been going very well also.

On Sunday Aubrey took part in his first Ironman in Galway and successfully completed it. Not only that he did it in really good time. Conditions were tough, the atlantic was wild - making the swim quite difficult. The 90km cycle wasn't much better as there were 20km headwinds with some of the worst rain I've seen all year. Luckily conditions improved for the run, the sun shone and supporters came out in force. Despite completing a swim and cycle Aubrey had his best time ever for the run! He's set the standard high for not one but two marathons!

He's taking it easy(ish) for most of this week, to allow himself to recover after sunday. This weekend he'll be doing a 20km run this weekend and I'll be doing 18km. Scary mary!

Thanks Amphibian King!

Amphibian King is the place to go if you're in the market for new running gear. In particular runners. These guys know their stuff! According to their website :

"Amphibian King is a run specialist and we perform gait analysis to ensure you get the right shoe.

We have a range of running shoes and we stock all of the top brands like asics, Brooks, Saucony, Mizuno, Inov8.

At Amphibian King you can prepare for your triathlon with a visit to our swim shop and then get the apparel for the long distance running

At Amphibian King we promise to put you in the perfect shoes not the most expensive shoe."

They're not lying when they say they put you in the perfect shoe, but not the most expensive. For my last marathon I headed down to Damien and got my gait analysed(this involved running down a short bit of track in your bare feet while you are recorded.The purpose of this is to see how you landwith each stride) He got me to try on various types of runners to understand why I needed the perfect fit. It's so important to have the perfect shoe for your foot. Wearing the wrong shoe can cause injury and be a complete waste of money!

Damien has kindly sponsored us for our marathon challenge and will be kitting us out!

Thanks Damien and all at Amphibian King! :)