Archive for November, 2006

After purchasing a fancy new pair of shoes, you are keen to hit the trails. The shoes felt great in the running store’s tame, carpeted environment, but hitting the rocky trails for the first time, you notice your heel slips a bit, forefoot feels a bit pinched or your big toe hits the front of the shoe.

Before slinking back to the local running store with muddy shoes in hand and asking for an exchange, try these clever lacing techniques to fine-tune your shoes’ fit.

GET LOOPED

Loop lacing works wonders for snugging up a shoe’s overall profile, especially if you have narrow heels, or when running downhill, your toes hit the front of the toebox.

Take the laces from the second-last eyelet and feed them back through the top eyelet on the same side, creating a small loop on the top of each shoe. Then cross the laces over your foot and feed them through the loop on the opposite side. Pull on the lace ends to snug up the loops over the laces, enough to secure your heel.

SPACE OUT

This technique will help trails runners who have a high arch, wide forefoot or bunions or a “hotspot” resulting from inflamed nerves in the foot.

Unlace your shoes either to the midfoot or all the way to the forefoot, depending on where you need the extra space. Then instead of passing the laces across your foot, feed them through the eyelet on the same side, leaving a gap over the wider or bulging area of the foot. Then finish by cross-lacing as usual.

LOCK AND LOAD

If you find loop lacing puts too much pressure on the top of your foot, another way to snug up the fit is to use an overhand knot, crossing the lace over itself three times (also called a Surgeon’s Knot), and pulling it snug to secure the foot.

Combine this knot with the hitch-lacing technique to keep a secure fit despite the looser lacing below it.

This technique is also effective for locking down the heel in shoes that don’t offer twin eyelets suitable for loop lacing.

In perhaps the biggest change in its 110-year history, the Boston Marathon will start at 10 a.m., two hours earlier than its traditional starting time. “An earlier starting time will benefit the runners due to the cooler temperatures, while allowing all of the communites to reopen roads to traffic earlier in the day.” said Guy Morse of the Boston Athletic Association, organizer of the race. “Also, due to the efficiency of the “Wave Start” program which we implemented for the first time in 2006, the majority of runners will not be transported from Boston to hopkinton much earlier than in past years.” The first grant recipients in the Saucony Run for Good program have been announced. The program targets childhood obesity in the U.S. by supporting community based programs that encourage physical activity among youngsters. Seven programs, from GirlsCAN!., a running club of 30 girls in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a new Marathon Kids initiative in Los Angeles serving 25,000 children, recieved grants. Further information is available at www.sauconyruforgood.com.

“Race, Ethnicity and Sports Participation in the U.S.,” a survey of 25,000 runners reveals some interesting statistics about the running community. While the running population in many communities is predominantly white, the report implies that running is more popular, or at least more prevalent, among other ethnic groups. Among white responsdents, 12.4 percent were runners, less than African-Americans (14.3 percent), Hispanics (18.0 percent) and Asians (21.6 percent)

The other day a user asked if he could import his running log data from another program. Unfortunately, there is no automatic way for this to happen right now. But, don’t despair! I had the user email me his data in a CSV file format (comma seperated list) and within a couple of hours I had his 2 years worth of data (over 200 log entries!) imported into Favorite Run. The nice thing about the user sending me his data is that I was able to see additional fields that need to be added to the log to make it an even better tool.So, if you have some running log data you want imported to Favorite Run, go ahead and email me a copy of your data and I’ll see what I can throw together. Also, if there are additional fields you would like to track, let me know and I’ll see about getting them added.

I’m pleased to announce that Favorite Run now has a blog!I plan on using the blog as a way to keep you informed of Favorite Run updates, new features, upcoming features, and bugs. I’d also like to post any articles from members that they might want to share (marathon experiences, running group news, etc), so please let me know if you have something you’d like to share and I’ll get it up on the blog. Also, if you have any good websites sites you’d like to me to review, let me know and I’ll take a look.As always, please feel free to send me an email.