Timex Ironman Triathlon Shock

前に使っていたタイメックスのバンドが切れて、やっと新しいウォッチを手に入れました。サンタさんからのプレゼントでした。まだレースペーストレーニング はしないけど、するようになったら役に立つでしょう。
Yes, I know, Christmas is over. But I was without a computer for the last month so I am posting this now. I didn't get a lot for Christmas, which is fine since I'm 35 now but my kids did get plenty of new toys and children's educational DVDs from my parents and their aunts and uncles and great grandmothers. As for my wife and I, we both got pretty much what we asked for. What other time of year can you expect that someone will buy you something that you want?

The band of my previous Timex Ironman watch, which I just loved, broke after over two years of use. Timex does not sell replacement watch bands. So I put this watch you see here on my wishlist for Christmas and, look what Santa brought me! A new one! Yeah! Of course, this isn't the same watch as my old one, which was much cooler, but I can replace the band on THIS watch with a band from Voguestrap. However, for the life of me, I could not find a replacement watch band for my old Ironman.  Vogestrap's watch bands are also available at Target and Walmart in the US, so if you have one of those stores nearby buying one there could save you a bit on shipping. However, when you order one directy from Voguestrap they come with a special tool for replacing the watchbands.  Also, the watchbands for the Timex Ironman watches are more expensive than the one's for the Casio sports watches but the one's for the Casio watches also fit the Timex Ironman watches and look fine.  I got a Casio replacement band at Walmart first to use instead of the velcro watch band that came with it and it looks like it is the band the watch is supposed to have.  Later I found a watchband at Target for my watch and it was 5 or 6 dollars more but I bought it too.  So now I have three watchbands for this watch should one break and I will dutifully keep them out of the sun in hopes that they will still be good when I need them.

Note:This watch takes an 18mm watch band. 

Update: I found the Casio replacement band on the Voguestrap website too.  The band I bought that was sold for my watch broke when I was trying to put it on and have been using the Casio band ever since.  It has been almost a year since I got the band and now the rubber in the band is starting to get stiff.  I can tell that it doesn't have much life left in it so now it is time to think about getting a new strap, or a new watch.  

My new watch is a Timex Ironman* Shock 30-Lap Full and it came with a Fast Wrap Velcro Strap.  With the other one, I could not find a replacement band for it. So, I carefully put watches on my wish list that I knew I could get replacement bands for. It is not the color I wanted but beggars can't be choosers and I will cherish it and my extra watch bands for as long as they will "take a licking and keep on ticking"!

It is water resistant up to 200 meters, shock resistant, has a timer and a chronograph with a 30 lap memory. It also has two time zones. Just a few less functions than my old one. It is also slight less bulky and a lot less cool. But one of the things I like about this one is that it reminds me of the original Timex Ironman watch, the one that I really wanted as a kid. It just looked so cool back then. Now, I know there are a lot of more advanced watches out there from other brands, watches that have GPS and heart monitors and watches that can store many runs and as many laps as you want, but I'm a simple runner and this watch meets all my needs.

My new watch
Timex Ironman* Shock 30-Lap Full

My old watch

Timex Ironman Triathlon Shock 30-lap Full with Flix System

Voguestrap

http://www.voguestrap.com/

First Impressions: Screw Shoes

Yesterday it snowed.  It snowed about 20cm and when I went out the snow was fresh and deep.  "Yes!  This is my chance to try out my new screw shoes" I thought. I put them on and took them out for a test.  I ran 8 km through the fresh snow and this is what I found.  They didn't help much.  When running on that much fresh snow, the snow compacts under your foot and the screws never reach the packed snow and ice underneath.  So if you are over the ice you still slip because the screws can't reach the ice to get a grip.  Also, I found that I could really feel the screws that were placed around where the inside ball of my foot is in the shoe.

Today I ran 8km over rough frozen chunky ground and really FELT the screws in my shoes on several occasions! Ouch!  I had some other words too that came involuntarily out of my mouth.  Words that I'm too shy to put here. Psychologically, it was not good to run with the worry of being stuck!  Whenever I stepped on a chunk of ice, the chunk would push that screw and the shoe would compress enough right there to give me a little prick.  I will have to rethink the placement of the screws around the ball of my foot or take them out right there.  I might also take all the screws out and put them in a pair of shoes with a thicker front.

Diet wise I am holding at around 73 kg I think. I still want to get down to 70 kg but I realize that will be difficult this time of year.  I am happy that I am holding.   We have been staying at my in-laws for two weeks now and I haven't been able to get on my scale at home but my mother in-law's scale said I was at 72.5 yesterday.  My goal for December is to run 200 km for the month and 160 km by Christmas.  I think I will need to do some longer runs to reach my goal.  I am at 95.77 km for the month right now and I have 9 days left till Christmas.  If I run at least 8 km a day I'll reach my goal but I can imagine that there will be a day or two when I can't run.  If it was easier to take care of laundry then I could sneak in some runs here and there but.... no... actually I probably should use that time to get what needs to be done, done.

Oh well, if you want to try to make some screw shoes yourself, check out Matt Carpenter's skyrunner.com page on the subject and as he says "happy screwing and running:-)"

The Screw Shoe: the best way to run on packed snow and ice.

Thought for the day:
The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.

Winter Running Ready

I thought about this all winter last year but didn't do anything about it. However this year I decided to get my old shoes winter ready. Actually, until last year, I had never slipped and fallen during a run. Living out in the country the roads really don't get that bad. However, since I had an old pair of shoes at the end of their life anyway, I thought I try it out this year. What am I talking about? Making a pair of screw shoes.

I first came across the idea when searching about winter running and was eventually led to Mat Carpenter's page, The Screw Shoe: the best way to run on packed snow and ice! on the topic.

It looked simple enough. I didn't have an electric drill but I was sure I could borrow one from someone. And the screws I could just pick up down at the hardware store, right? Wrong! I'm living in Japan and I don't know if this is a Japan wide thing but the type of screws that would work best for this project are not very popular here. Almost all the screws here are flat headed plus or minus (philips or flathead) type screws. Some stores had none and some had just a few that were too big. The big stores though, had screw shoe sets for sale! They had 9 mm sheet metal type screws being sold in packets of 6 for about 300 yen! This was clearly too expensive considering the high possibility that they will fall out of the shoe and end up flattening someone's bicycle tire somewhere.

I was finally able to get one store to order me some screws of the size that I wanted, 10 mm. So I ordered 50 and they sold them to me for 500 yen. Still a little expensive but a whole lot cheaper than the screw shoe sets.

I borrowed my father in law's electric drill and Aspen and I set to work on making my first pair of screw shoes. For starters we put 10 in each shoe.

With the power drill it was really easy.  If you would also like to try and make your own and get more details on the whys and hows check out Matt Carpenter's site  at http://www.skyrunner.com.

I also bought an Asics Reflective Tasuki.  It is a band that you wear like a sash.  I got this to make sure that no one hits me on my runs in the dark.  If you buy running gear that was made for running, especially by the bigger brand names, it will probably have some reflective materials on it.  Most running shoes do too.  However, if you buy the cheapest stuff that you can find, then they might not have much if any.  So, just to be extra visible to sleepy motorists I got this reflective band to wear.  I brought it home and proudly showed it to my mother in law.  She then told me that she got one at the 100 yen store!  100 yen?  I paid almost 800 yen for mine!  Oh well. 

My motivation for running this winter is high.  Now if only I can get rid of the sniffles! 

Waiting Apps

Have you ever had this problem? I've noticed that a lot of people have because I found their pleas for help in various forums when I was trying to find a solution. Some people said to reboot. Some people said to use iTunes to remove the apps. Some people said to tap on the waiting apps. None of these suggestions worked for me and I see that I'm not the only one with this problem.