The Saucony Kinvara 3 is honestly the most comfortable running shoe I have ever put on. The Flexfilm technology, which is a pliable material welded onto the upper, sort of locks the runner’s foot in place. It almost feels like the entire shoe shrinks around your foot without squashing it. It really is a shoe worth trying on. Even if it is just to put a smile on your face.
Below there are 2 videos and so pictures to give you a better idea of what the Kinvara 3 is all about. You can also read more about it on Saucony’s Community Page.
So it’s been a little longer than usual. I’ve just hit the refresh button and taking a while to boot up again. I just felt it was time to clear the mind and the body of everything competitive, everything training and everything triathlon. So I’ve really been surfing and reassessing my life as an athlete. I have still not come to a conclusion just yet, but let’s not get too carried away. I know how you lot can start/spread rumours. (Laughs… laugh with me).
Now I don’t usually post much personal stuff but today I’ll mix it up a little for you.
It’s been a busy season and I have made some serious progress. My running is finally where I need it to be and although it could be better I know that I can be competitive on the run now. This did take time with a lot of focus on my running form and some help from Saucony getting me into the right shoes. Finding a mid-foot strike, increasing my strike rate, reducing contact time and lifting my knees higher were all part of how I set out to get running faster.
On a competitive note, most recently I competed in the Cape Town leg of the BSG Energade Triathlon Series held at Brandvlei in Worcester. I raced in the elite category and realised that racing elite is another ball game altogether. The gap between the slowest elite and fastest age group racer is quite significant. Having said that however, I do personally feel that that gap is 80% experience. With more racing and perhaps more opportunity, there are several age group athletes that could make the jump. Unfortunately, being a sport that does not involve a ball, there is not much support or opportunity. It would be good to see a mentorship programme established. I have no idea what that involves though so it may just be wishful thinking.
Finishing the run at BSG Energade - Image: Chris Hitchcock
As far as my race at Brandvlei went, I lost the pack from the start. My swim splits would suggest that I can exit the water with the big guns, but I guess that swimming alone or with 2 or 3 other guys at the front of an age group race is not ideal preparation for setting off at the frantic pace set by the elite athletes. Unusually for me, the run was the best part of my race and although I did have the second slowest run split, I was only a few seconds (less than 10) off the pace of a seasoned elite triathlete, which was fairly comforting.
As for now, I have only been doing pilates, surfing and some gardening. I do plan on setting things back in motion soon but there is no date or any specific intensity level set. Right now, I find it fairly comforting to know that things will happen as they need to.
See you all soon, if not before Christmas, please enjoy and be safe.
So yesterday I headed out to the 3000 ha of the Koeberg Nature Reserve on the Cape West Coast (Eskom Power Station) and had my first run in the Saucony ProGrid Peregrine. Sandy, grassy and loads of gravel, the Peregrine ate it all up.
Built on the same platform as the Kinvara, the Peregrine boasts a 4mm heel drop. Traditional running shoes or the type of shoe that most people run in or are familiar with have a 12mm heel drop. Trust me, the 8mm difference is epic and I am loving life in my flatter shoes. I only run in 4mm heel drop shoes or complete flats.
The Peregrine has unbelievable traction. The sole is pretty stiff and these shoes are certainly not for the on/off road kind of race. These are serious trail racers that will give you all the grippy confidence of flat out hiking boots at a fraction of the weight. Having said this hey are still responsive and deliver enough feedback but the soles and the lugs were certainly not developed for the urban warrior.
If you steer clear of the tarmac and head for the rugged, not-for-sissy-boys stuff the Peregrine will be hard to compete with.
Involving a 4km swim, 120km bike and a 30km run; Brendan talks to me about his preparation, equipment, motivation and the people involved in making all this possible.
Hey Bren, let’s start off with “How are you?”
I am in a good space, recently married as you mentioned, to a lovely girl! Looking forward to the new season as well…
Talk us through your equipment and any tweaks you have made and where to give you added comfort and more importantly, speed.
In the water, I am currently using an Orca Apex 2 wetsuit, probably due for an upgrade soon, but it keeps me honest (and hopefully like an arrow through the water).
On the bike, I ride an Argon 18 E112 TT bike, what I enjoy most is the transfer of power into the frame which is in proportion to the output of speed…In other words, I don’t lose any power that I put into the bike due to the bike being too flexible, etc. It’s very stiff which promotes added speed.
On the run, I am fortunate as you enjoy yourself, with racing in Saucony’s lightweight personified… I use the A4’s for sprint and standard distance races whilst opting for the Kinvara’s for the longer runs and training.
As far as comfort is concerned, ensure that you have had a professional bike set-up, to avoid injuries down the line. I have had niggles with calf strains in both legs so I know how frustrating these type of persistent injuries can be.
Now every season any competitive triathlete tries to improve a specific area or discipline of their race. What area or discipline have you worked on the most leading into this race?
Definitely my swim! You are quite right, the last two seasons I have concentrated on my run and bike respectively… This year I thought I would try and work a lot more on my swim so as to be a little more competitive, especially at the start of a race.
Congrats on the marriage by the way. Surely balancing the married life with triathlon isn’t easy but I know Carole is no slouch herself around a triathlon circuit. Just talk a little about the wedding, training and the “new’ life in general.
Thanks! Ja, the more I look back on things I realise how important balance becomes in your life. It’s easy to get too absorbed into something, especially a phase that works well for you, without knowing that suddenly you have blinkers on and become oblivious to things happening around you – this can lead to being self-absorbed and a bit selfish.
So I am enjoying the balance and in Carole, I have a constant reminder of that. She is really talented herself, probably more so than me with ultra distances where I tend to prefer sprint and standard distance.
The wedding was a great day – friends and family from all over! We laugh at times looking back on the day, wishing we could have spent more time in the moment, but it passes by so quickly.
Is Carole going with you?
Unfortunately not. She will be holding the fort back at home so to speak. The cost of getting to such races is probably the biggest burden we have to deal with as athletes, even over and above the training required. So after having recently bought a house and having just had a wedding, the budget did not allow for both of us to travel.
Give us a little insight into the race course. Is it your kind of course?
Honestly, it is probably not my kind of course in distance, although it is cleverly positioned between a 70,3 distance and a full ironman. If I break the course up, I reckon I will be competitive on the day, however Las Vegas is notorious for its heat and that could squash any ambitions of good positioning if the thermometer goes through the roof!
The swim is pretty straight forward (out and back), whilst the bike ends with some serious climbing over a pass called the “3 sisters” and the run is 4 laps with some rolling hills which should help break up the monotony.
Having said that, I realised that this race and the training involved for it would give me a great platform for the rest of the season and hope that results that follow this race will be indicative of that…
Are you staying on afterwards and doing a little sightseeing; perhaps a little visit to Vegas baby? You can give the world your version of “The Hangover”.
A little sight-seeing would be great, so fingers crossed time will allow for that. I think my version of The Hangover will be the condition I will be in straight after the race - knackered, slow to react, possibly dehydrated and not making much sense… I see the similarities!
So the USA isn’t all that close and getting there isn’t all that cheap. Who helped you out, who is looking after you?
I am very grateful to my company (Everite) who have shared in my passion and desire to be competitive not only in the workplace but also out of the office. I have also forged a great relationship with Cipla & PVM, ensuring I am fit and strong as well as healthy in mind and body. Saucony, Glider Eyewear & more recently 2XU have been fantastic from a product perspective and without their assistance, my scope to think and achieve big would be that much smaller.
You’ve also got a blog. Where can we find it online?
Yeah, I have a blog, simply called Tri-Bren. It’s essentially a link between beginners and seasoned multi-sport athletes. Of late I have been a little slack, possibly from winter hibernation, but it will be far more active as the season progresses.
I have never really enjoyed running. I always experienced some form of discomfort. That was until I was given a pair of the Saucony Kinvara. Now Saucony have developed a trail shoe “built on the same foot form as the Kinvara”, the Peregrine features a 4mm heel drop and weighing in at only 257 grams this is a light yet still rugged fully capable trail shoe.
For those of you who don’t know, running is not my strong point, even though I used to win just about every race I entered at school up until I was about 15. What happened after that? Shoulders and chest happened. Anyway, I am wanting to run like used to so I am paying quite a lot of attention on my running. I came across this video and thought it was pretty good. I find this to be working well for me. Just replace the Brookes he speaks of with the Saucony Kinvara.
Ready to go for world triathlon champs in Beijing my preparation has been good. There are areas where I could have worked more, but being an age group racer with a full time job, it is difficult.
As lucky as I am to be in a position to be able to afford some of the best equipment and have more time than most, there is a very good reason why there is such a huge gap between the pros and the rest. Pros get time to train, time to rest and time to eat properly. Not to mention being sponsored the majority of equipment required.
It would be great to be able to take full advantage of the good weather days, which are usually on a Monday (which some believe to be Murphy’s day since, on the 8th day, God said: “Alright Murphy, you’re in charge.”)
I stayed fairly committed to the cause though, waking up at 5:30 most mornings to get 1 and half or so hours of training in and then training again in the afternoon roughly for around the same time. Weekends too saw me getting involved, usually on the bike and in the running shoes.
Just to break the monotony, surfing comes into the mix fairly often, just as it is going to later this morning. There aren’t any waves in China, so I’ll have to get a surf in today.
I used to run in full on motion control Adidas throughout school, until I eventually developed chronic compartment syndrome. I them had the operation, known as a bilateral subcutaneous fasciotomy which releases the overdeveloped muscles by cutting the fascia/sheath which encases them. Part of the reason for this is a muscle imbalance due to the raised heel on the common running shoe most of us know. Since my operation I have run in shoes with nothing more than a 4mm heel-forefoot drop; the Saucony racing flats and more recently the Saucony Kinvara.
The Development of Engineered Running
Standard running shoes have around a 12mm drop from heel to forefoot. Yet this style of shoe encourages us to heel strike, and land on a squishy marshmallow. Try stand on your heel and only your heels and then put a squishy marshmallow under that. You see how this developed?
Shoe manufacturers made squishy heels for “protection”, which led to instability and hence an uneven progression though the gait. This led to the introduction of “motion control” in the form of heel cups, arch support, pronation blocks and torsion bars. And so engineered running was born.
There are about 20 muscles within our foot and 12 muscles from our leg that attach to our foot. While wearing cushioned, “motion control” shoes only a couple of these different muscles are needed to facilitate human locomotion. That means that certain muscles aren’t working. The body then lets them shrink to maximize efficiency. This, coupled with the elevated heels, cause your calves will shorten too.
Arch Support
You may now wonder about arch support. Just ask any engineer what happens when you exert upward forces on an arch. It weakens the structure and can longer bear weight from above, which it was originally designed for. Basically if you want to destroy an arch, push up on it from below. An arch is designed to withstand forces from above, compressing it (and in the case of our feet) allowing it collapse and rise thereby not only providing natural shock absorption but also assisting in propulsion.
Shoes with arch supports prop you up and lead to weak, atrophied foot musculature. Your feet aren’t grasping, pulling, pushing, and flexing inside a pair of athletic trainers
The Argument against Barefoot Running
The argument against barefoot running is born out of making the transition too quickly. Remember the foot no longer has a cage of support and protection around it, and is forced to act as the interface between your body and the ground. The torque generated from pushing around all of your weight at speed and high repetition is a lot to ask of your newly awakened feet.
Many people make the transition too quickly, without allowing their smaller, weakened muscles to develop and function as they used to, or were originally designed to. All of the argument against barefoot running comes as a result of the increased injury risk with making the transition too quickly.
You will be using those calves much more now, go slow or you’ll risk developing antagonistic shin splints, calf strain and even Achilles problems.
We have been Barefoot running ever since we started walking upright. Since when did barefoot running become a bad idea? Perhaps since tarmac become the only surface humans could run on.
The barefoot running debate will continue and athletic footwear manufacturers will continue to make unnatural shoes. People may tell you how bad it is for you. Just get into it slowly and you will see how much your running will improve and how much more you will enjoy your running.
Companies like Saucony for example are decreasing the heel-forefoot drop and with good reason. If you are looking at making the transition to barefoot running, let’s talk and get you into a pair of shoes that will allow you to make the transition painlessly.
I will be testing the new Saucony Hattori soon and I will certainly keep you updated.
The Saucony Hattori is Saucony’s answer to the Vibram 5 Fingers. The Hattori is a super lightweight “barefoot” running shoe. I have just received a pair and will be reviewing these in the next week or so. Until then please enjoy the video.
Xtenex (indeXed-TENsioning-nEXus) is a worldwide patented elastic lace technology that produces adjustable tensioning between shoe eyelets. Xtenex laces have an elastic core and a series of knots along the entire length of the lace at consistent length intervals. Stretch the lace and the knots disappear, allowing you to thread the lace through the eyelets. Release the tension and the knots reappear. More knots between eyelets lessens the tension; fewer knots between eyelets increases tension.
Currently, most laces are not able to provide variable tension as laces are tied by creating a knot at the top end of a shoe. The problem with this way of lacing is that all of the tension sits around the ankle area and that results in a restriction of blood flow and circulation. The problem is compounded by people creating a double knot so as to avoid their laces coming undone.
With Xtenex laces the shoe contours to the unique form of the foot by adjusting the tension between eyelets producing a custom fit every time. Once you have your perfect fit the laces will stay in place and your shoes slip on and off with ease. Xtenex laces eliminate the tightening and restricting pressure at the top of the shoe that leads to foot fatigue, pain, numbness and restriction of natural foot swelling. The Xtenex flexible core expands and every laced shoe becomes a comfortable slip-on.
One of the major problems that I experienced with many other elastic laces was the pressure they placed on the bridge of my foot. Since using Xtenex, I am able to reduce that pressure thanks to the fact that the clever technology allows for adjustable tension at any point along the lace. If you want the most comfortable fit from any shoe, I’d suggest fitting Xtenex to them.
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