Support your local running store

One of the advantages of writing a blog is that occasionally you get free stuff to review. The idea of presents is always exciting so I like it when it happens, just as long as two tests are passed. Number 1: I have no serious reservations about the company. I know commercial companies are commercial companies and their main aim is not to sprinkle good cheer and fairy dust but I need to know they are not shysters and mountebanks (luckily banks have no great interest in running blogs). Number 2: I would use the product. I do not want stuff for the sake of stuff. I want to be polite: if someone gives me something I want to be able to write something nice about it.

Recently I was offered the chance to choose a running jacket from Up & Running  and this pleased me mightily because they are a company I am more than happy to endorse. They run my nearest running shop, in Watford, and every time I have used it I have come away happy. The staff have always been extremely friendly and helpful and that human contact combined with the feeling that the person is both keen about running and knows his stock adds an awful lot to the transaction. It is one of the reasons it is important for local shops survive in the face of competition from online bargains. 

However my sample product came from the online arm of the business and a very strange choice it is. Normally, in summer, I would not think the thing I need above everything else is a windproof, water repellant jacket but such has been the glory of June that is exactly what I thought. Crazy!

Now that I've got it I'm sure the weather will improve and there will be days of blue skies and balmy air with need for nothing more than a T shirt and shorts. I will just check. Oh no - Wind and spitting rain. Looks like my jacket is an excellent choice.

2011 Streak Day 280 (Monday Oct 10th): New shoes

2011 Streak Day 280 (Monday Oct 10^th):Walk 2 miles, Time 45min, Weather grey and a bit windy

One of the advantage of writing about running is that occasionally you get offered kit in exchange for a review or mention. I don't respond to everything, for example I won't accept anything I don't believe in, like magnetic bracelets, or things I don't need, but I must admit to a childish pleasure in receiving gift parcels. The new running shoes I recently received came courtesy of SportsDirect, which offers the big three (Adidas, Nike, Asics) at pretty good prices. As they they updated the shoes I was already wearing I was pretty happy.

It is interesting to look at the changes in design (OK only slightly interesting).  Mostly they are little details like separating the reinforcing strip between the bottom and second lace holes. The new Vomero also looks a bit more boat like and a little higher in the toe box, which might affect their feel. On the whole I prefer the look of the older version as they seem a little bit more flexible but that might change when the new ones are worn in. They are of course far too white - but that will not last long. 

As yet I have not really tested them and so cannot tell whether they will suit because It is one of the strange realities of running shoes that you can never guarantee a new model will work as well as the old. It is why, although I like new shoes, I hate buying them - it takes about 30 miles before I know if I have  if I have bought well.Buying from the local running shop cuts out some of the errors because you can try on a range and eliminate shoes that obviously do not fit but it is not foolproof: some shoes feel comfortable in the shop but start to hurt on a longer run. You never can tell

It is strange that every time I have bought shoes online I have felt slightly guilty. I have done it because its cheaper but at the same time a voice in the back of my head reminds me that I want my local running shop to survive, It is important to have a place where people can try things on and get advice. And my local shop is run by a nice guy who I want to do well. 

My compromise (and it is a rather feeble one) is to alternate: an online bargain followed by a something from the shop. All I need to do now is make sure that my next pair come from him.