Adidas Boost Ambassador!

I have been chosen by a danish sports store called Kaiser Sport to become an ambassador for the new Adidas Boost trainers!! How cool is that? I get to run around Copenhagen while promoting the new Boost trainers and wearing Boost training clothes :-)

I'm very excited about trying these trainers as I love what I'm reading about them and was thinking about giving them a go anyway. Don't get me wrong, I am still loving my Brooks but I'm always open to seeing if there is something better out there! So when I read yesterday that Kaiser Sport were looking for 10 women and 10 men to be ambassadors for the new Adidas Boost trainers I wrote an application straightaway and they have chosen me :-)

As well as running in them I also have to write about what I think of them. So I'm kind of reviewing them too! I will hear more in March about what I will be doing.

Adidas Boost Teaser Video

This is going to be a fantastic experience and I can't wait to get started......

Rock 'n' Roll Lisbon Half Marathon!

It's still cold, snowy and dull in Copenhagen so I've just been out doing my half marathon training sessions once a week and some hill training 2 times a week. Nothing is really happening here right now....

A while back I entered the Royal Parks London half marathon lottery as I didn't get a place in London marathon this year. I didn't get a place in the Royal Parks run either :-(

This has actually turned into good news because I am going to run Rock 'n' Roll Lisbon half marathon in October instead! Because I would have run two Rock 'n' Roll European runs I will get a special medal in Lisbon :-)

I will be running Rock 'n' Roll Nice 10 miles in 2014 if they still do the run that year and probably Rock 'n' Roll Dublin as well unless I do it this year ;-)

I LOVE My Brooks Trainers!

After running in my Brooks around 15 times now I feel like I'm ready to talk about them.

These are the best trainers I have found yet!!!

My Nike Lunarglides hurt my toes, my knees, and my arches. They had to go and I was so unhappy that I didn't want to use Nikes ever again!

My Asics Nimbus 12's were good and I have to admit I was a little scared to change brands but no matter what size I bought in them I'd still end up with squashed toenailess toes! (That doesn't look like a word to me but I think I've earned the right to use it).
A few American friends (and the Brooks guys at Berlin Marathon expo) suggested I try Brooks so that's what I did :-)

My Brooks Defyance 5 trainers are great! They are lightweight, have great support and  fantastic ventilation. My toes actually feel a little cold for the first few kilometres but this is only going to be a good thing for my toes (and toenails) once I start running the longer distances in them :-)
And the arch support for me is absolutely amazing!

From the very first run in these shoes I knew I was going to love them! My knees especially seem very happy about the change.

I know that Brooks are a sponsor of the Rock 'n' Roll Edinburgh half marathon so I'm planning on going over with a half empty suitcase and filling it up with Brooks goodies at the expo :-) And the free t-shirt? Yes it's a Brooks!

My New Trainers are Brooks Defyance 5

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted some new trainers as my old ones didn't seem as cushioned as they used too which isn't good for my knees. I wanted to change to Brooks and had already found out while at the Berlin marathon expo that Brooks Ghost would be best with Brooks defyance being a close second.

I'm a member of Løbeklubben on Facebook (running club on facebook) and because of this I found out about a great pre-sale yesterday at a sports shop in Copenhagen. I couldn't find any Brooks ghost trainers in my size but did manage to find some Defyance. I was a little sad as I really wanted the Ghost ones! This changed once I had tried on the Defyance as they are so cushioned and I could feel that these would be the trainers for me.

They are neutral trainers just like my Asics Nimbus 12's. I'm not a neutral runner but have found out why these type of trainers suit me best. Basically I have high arches (so high I actually have to lace my trainers a certain way for them to be comfortable) and I also overpronate. This is a very strange combination (kind of like me).  I've found out that the overpronation comes from either my legs, knees, or hips. The most common being due to instability in the muscles of the lower leg. It would seem that if I learn the chi-running method and land mid foot I can solve this problem and stop my heel striking at the same time which will be a great relief for my knees. I'm going to give it a go and see what happens. You never know maybe I'll become a faster runner! I can always dream :-)

Tomorrow my training for Rock 'n' Roll Edinburgh half marathon starts and I can't wait to take my new Brooks out for a spin :-)

Rock 'n' Roll Edinburgh Half Marathon

And so at last I have decided on one of my half marathons next year. I've signed up for the Rock 'n' Roll Edinburgh half marathon :-)

My friends Ciry and Greg ran it last year before the Madrid marathon and gave great reviews of it! It's on 14th April and I didn't really want to travel until at least May but what can you do?

I have come up with a new goal for myself as I'm not planning on running many (or any) marathons for a while. My next goal is to run all the international Rock 'n' Roll series races! Right now they have them in Nice, Lisbon, Edinburgh, Madrid, Oslo, and Dublin. Oslo and Nice are new ones so it will be fun to see which other cities join the series year by year.

I've only run Madrid right now so have a few to go.....I should be kept busy for a while :-)

Which Race in Europe Next??

I need some help and suggestions on my next race as I can't decide and in 2013 money will be a little short as I've bought a house which I move into 1st March 2013.

This means that Spring races are out of the question as I'll have to spend money on house things. I'm already on a trip to England with my younger son the last week in July which counts out any races in June, July and August. There are no races nearby where I'm staying in England while I'm there.

Basically this means I need a race in Europe that's not longer than a half marathon either in May, September or even October.

I found this great race called Race the Train which is in England on 17th August but can I really go back there 2 weeks after I've just been?

I also found this other race the train run which is in October http://www.cotswoldcare.org.uk/train/details.php

I'm open to any ideas at all :-) Help!!!

Valencia (my 10km) Marathon 2012

As you can probably tell by the title I didn't run the whole of Valencia marathon! I was very close to changing my mind and doing it anyway but thought I might end up doing more damage to my knee and not being able to run at all.

So I decided to meet my friend Ciry just after the 30km marker and run up to 40km with her. From there I could cut through the park and watch her run into the finish :-)

I arrived in Valencia on the Saturday evening and went down to the Science and Arts area which is also where the start and finish lines are. Then I went back to hotel to meet Ciry.

At 9am on the day of Valencia Marathon I went and stood downstairs of my hotel and watched the start of the marathon. I actually cried because I wanted to be running with them (I was glad later on that I wasn't as it got very hot again).

At 11am I waited at the 41k marker and saw the two marathon leaders come running by! That is something that I normally don't get to see :-) From there I walked up to 30k and waited for Ciry.

Once she arrived I jumped on the course (I had last years bib number on minus the chip so I wouldn't get sent off again) and joined her for the next 10k. A lot of the spectators that had been there on the walk up had now disappeared, probably down to the finish area. It felt really strange running in a marathon which I wasn't really running in! Ciry was doing great and only started getting tired around 37k (from what I could see anyway).

At 40k I said goodbye to her and ran down to the finish area. She came running past about 13 minutes later looking very tired but very determined :-)

Ciry finished in 4 hours, 36 minutes and 9 seconds!!!