New shoes

I normally have two pairs of running shoes on the go at the same time. Rotating between them so they have time to recover between runs as well as apparently being better for my feet since they won't become used to just one pair.

My old running shoes were well past the date when they should be replaced. The rule of thumb is to replace them after every 400 miles. Mine had both gone past 600 miles. Time for a couple of new pairs.

Recently I've worn Brooks and Asics. This time I've decided to go for Nike and Asics. I fancied the new Lunarglide 6 since they've had good reviews. Here's a couple of photos of me wearing them before I take them out:

Nike Lunarglide 6

The Nikes have a great feel to them. Very responsive. I took then out for a 10 miler on Sunday, they passed with flying colours.

Asics GT 2000 v2

The new Asics are very similar to my old pair and respond exactly the same. I've worn them twice including for a speed session. They should both last until the marathon at the end of April.

My training schedule is tough but not beyond me. I still dread the Tuesday speed sessions but I've not failed one yet. Next week is 5x1k at 5k pace. That will be hard and was my breaking point last year. Fingers' crossed and all that.

Here's my training schedule for January:

As you can see, it's quite intense!

I've also decided to weigh myself in every week. I'm carrying a lot of extra timber since Christmas and I'm hoping that the running combined with not drinking (1 week so far with no drink!) will help me lose weight. My target weight is 78kg although I'll be happy to get down to 80kg with a BMI of less than 25. Also, I'm going to measure my waist/hip ratio as this is also a good indicator of health. It should be below 95% for a male, and ideally below 85%.

Saturday 10/01/2015

Weight - 85.6kg - BMI 26

Waist/Hip - 96/100 - 96%

If I can reduce these figures over the next few months I'll be extremely happy and it should help my marathon time too.