Asics Gel Enduro 4 - Final look

I have had these shoes since December last year (Asics Gel Enduro 4 - Initial look). I have used them for 5 to 10 mile runs mainly on road with some off road. I may have done about 350 miles in them. For long off road run I normally use my Inov8 flyrocs. The midsole has pretty much had it and the sole is coming unglued. This may be due to the wet conditions but is pretty disappointing for less than a year. The upper is still in very good condition.



Shoes are a very personal choice but from my point of view here are the pros and cons.

Pros
- very good value
- ideal for mix of road and off-road
- durable upper

Cons
- Sole coming unglued
- Tread pattern not deep enough for steep ground
- not enough cushioning for long road runs

What next? Montrail Streaks maybe.

Dartmoor pictures site

I have been looking though this site which has some beautiful pictures of Dartmoor.

http://www.mileswolstenholme.com/photo/667/Towards-Brentor-from-Cox-Tor-Dartmoor

I think Belstone up the valley to Steeperton Tor, might have to be our next trip.

Tent bags

It has become obvious over the years of trying to get tents into bags which are marginally too small that there is a world shortage of tent bag material.


My proposal is that we setup a Tent Bag Cooperative, the name is TBC.

Within this organisation the following rules apply

medium tent owners give their bags to the small tent owners
large tents owners give their bags to medium tent owners
enormous tent owners give their bags to large tent owners

Notes
Definition of enormous, large, medium, small to be defined at a later date.
“enormous tent owners” refers to the tent not the owner

Problems
Enormous tent owners left with no bag.
Left over small bags.

Solution 1
Sell small bags on eBay and use profit to buy enormous bags.
This will only work if tent distribution is biased towards the small end, which I don’t think it is.

Solution 2
Setup a not for profit organisation to manufacture enormous bags
Everyone who enters the scheme has to pay a minimal fee which is used by the organisation
Use the small tent bags as peg bags for large and enormous tents.

Any thoughts?

Dorset Doddle

Some people may be interested in entering The Dorset Doddle as a run. People do, however for the past couple of years I have mainly walked the 32 miles from Weymouth to Swanage along the coastal path.

On Aug 23rd my friend Simon and I turned up in Weymouth with rucksacks full of water, nuun tablets, jelly babies and cereal bars. I was a bit nervous about completing this year because I have done very little long distance training. Most of my running has been 4 or 5 mile lunch time sessions.

We walked the first 6 miles to Osmington and then ran the flat and down hill bits until Kimmeridge, that is not actually a lot of running because there are quite a few up hills. The terrain does get a bit easier from Kimmeridge with only a few steep flights of stone steps to contend with, but by this stage the only option was a fast walk. The fast walk then turned to a slow walk as the temperature rose and the steps up to St. Aldem's Head rose.



Last year I took 9 hrs 28 mins, this year 9 hrs 27 mins. An improvement of 0.18 percent, steady I think we can call that.

The event is well organised by the Long Distance Walkers Association, who provide 5 checkpoints with water and some food as well as a pasty and cup of tea at the end. There is a lime limit of 12 hours and this year the winner finished in 5 hr 24 mins

The best bit about the finish is flat grass provided outside the church hall which you can lie down on.

As one of our nearest and dearest said at the end

“Could you have not done something more useful with 9 1/2 hours”

Possibly but I doubt it.

Upcoming Doddle

On Sunday I am going to have another go at the Dorset Doddle. Last year I cover the 32 miles in 9 1/2 hours. This year I have done very few long distance runs/walks so the strategy (if you can call "walk 20 miles then see how I feel" a strategy) is less ambitious.

The LDWA do a great job organising the whole event and, if you get to Swanage on time, even provide you with a pasty.

I shall be wearing my Inov-8 Flyrocs for the last time. After 4 good year the uppers have finally started to tear. Just hope the shoe and the wearer make it through the day.

That has messed things up ...

Both my current backpacks are ancient POD Sacs, both about 20 years old. The Cragsac pictured is showing some signs of wear. It soaks up a bit of water now and the fabric on the lid is starting to come apart.


The xPod is a 70+ litre sac, which is great load carrier but my ancient version is about 2.6kg. This leads to the obvious question what next. I prefer simple, slim packs that don't mind if I kick them about a bit. In the short-list are:

OMM Villain
Crux AK57

And now this appears

New POD Sacs for 2010

There is not much detail, no weights or volumes ... should I wait?

Peter's Cycle Africa expedition

I met Peter on the train to work a few months ago. He has now stopped work as he is preparing for his next big trip. As part of his trip to South Africa he is raising money for the Against Malaria Foundation.

On his fascinating website there are some great photos and inspiring stories.

http://petergostelow.com/