Why do you......

Compete?

Most of the runners I know, and most of the magazines that I read focus on competing. I wonder why people compete, is it to beat the person in front of them, or to use them as a way of getting a PB? Maybe it's just the chance of running somewhere new?

So, why do you compete?

I've had it with dogs and their owners

In all the years that I've been running, uncontrolled dogs have never been so bad.

I trail run to get away from people, towns, traffic and everything associated with them. So when I'm out in the middle of nowhere, minding my own business and someone's bloody dog decides it wants me to stop running, what the hell am I supposed to do? The law is clear:

Any dog is dangerously out of control if:

• it injures a person, or
• it behaves in a way that makes a person worried that it might injure them.

The law applies everywhere the general public is allowed to go and anywhere your dog goes where it is not supposed to be.

In other words, if your dog bares it's teeth, barks and runs at me, it's dangerously out of control. I have no interest in whether it's "just having fun" or is "just a big softie" if it bares it's teeth then as far as I'm concerned it's about to bite and I will defend myself.

I'm tired of having obnoxious owners tell me that I'd better not hit their dog, just after they've had a go at me. What the hell do I have to do to escape from these bloody people and their pests? Maybe I should just carry some mace spray, that'd work on the dogs and their owner.

Fueling for fatties

Damn it's hard.

I'm currently 213lbs dripping wet, and I've been around that weight for a long time. It doesn't stop me running fast or long, but it does prevent me from running fast and long.

Now most people realise that stopping eating is a bad thing to do because your body just switches into starvation mode. So, just up the phys rate and you'll burn it off; but you need to do a stack of exercise to burn off the excess and so try and combine the two. This ends up with either not enough fuel, giving poor performance along with dizzyness etc which is a pretty stupid place to be especially as the quality of exercise is poor.

The solution.. eat more food.. and don't lose any weight!

It really is a fine balance, and I keep swinging either side of the line, which can be pretty frustrating.

"..get out, cruise around and boost endorphins"

This is a great film, showing what a relaxed attitude to training these people have, even though they have vastly different regimes.

The high point for me is at 25 mins when Anton Krupicka comments about his evening flat runs: "get out, cruise around and boost endorphins". Works for me too, although I'm a little way off 160mile weeks!


Boulder Trail Runners - Q&A with Scott Jurek, Anton Krupicka, Dave Mackey and Geoff Roes from Alpine Works on Vimeo.

Running late in the day.

That good old runners high can be annoying at times. I enjoy running at the end of the day, when it's dark; wrapped up warm, with a head torch on, in blizzards, gales, and monsoons. But the high I get from the run keeps me awake for hours when I'd dearly love to be asleep, resting for a run the following day.

Shouldn't moan really should I, at least I'm able to get out there and do something, many can't.

Running on nails?

The snow and ice has been hanging around far too long this year, and normally I wouldn't even venture out; but Tommo blogged about carrying Kahtoola micro spikes for running in and as I was climbing the walls desperate to get a few miles in, I bought a set.

They are superb.

The pair fit in the palm of your hand, or a stuff sack.

Have spikes on the forefoot and heel.

...and they give you serious grip.

I've put about 20 miles on them and it's as if they're not there, and there's no snow/ice around. They don't slip or flap, take about a minute to put on/off and they just are what they are and do what they're supposed to do.

Just this morning I've seen some blogs about putting screws into the sole of your shoe to give you the same effect. What a waste of a running shoe! These spikes are serious kit and will probably last for decades.

Which camera should I run with?

My crappy old Canon has had it, and my HTC Desire isn't exactly ideal, mainly because it's a phone with an afterthought camera built in.

I'm after something small and light that I can put in my waist pack, and it needs to have decent optics, that are suitable for landscapes. Of course, these days cameras can take video as well, but that's not really on my list of needs.

So, what do you use, and what would you recommend?