Pimp my Camelbak

A few years ago I got a Camelbak for a good price through a friend who was in the army. It is an old school camelbak classic, with a ~2L bladder and not much room for any cargo (a small pouch for phone, money, keys, 1 museli bar). The perfect size for most longer runs. Problem is it bounces around too much, especially as it empties and the weight distribution changes to being more to the bottom of the bag. It is not designed for running, but none the available running camelbaks have quite enough capacity for my liking (usually 0.8-1.4L)

The camelbak I have is a backpack style with a sternum strap. But it has no waist strap, I think a waist strap is ideal in stopping bounce (not a hip strap which are only good for carrying a lot of weight, not reducing bounce). So I have added a waist strap to my camelbak.

I have a $15 black wolf 'bumbag' that I got a few years ago from a factory outlet, quite a large heavy duty one with a large waist strap that I use just to hold a change of clothes and toiletries at work, that I don't actually run with, so i butchered it to take the waist harness off.



I took the waist harness down to a shoe repairer and got them to sew it on to my camelbak. Voila! Went for a run with it yesterday, it was perfect!

Taping boobs with duct tape

Problem: Normal sports bra just doesn't do it for you support-wise. Or perhaps they just don't make them in your size. You could try an Enell bra which are very good, but here is an alternative if that is not available.

Solution: Duct tape! In Australia it is PVC tape without the cloth backing. It is generally water resistant, flexible, heavy duty so it should hold if you sweat a lot.

Ingredients:

A sports bra (or normal bra, the best, most comfortable fit you can find)
Duct tape (available from the hardware store)


Method:

1. Put bra on as per normal

2. Apply first layer of tape. Start under one arm, tape 360 degrees around the fullest part of the bust, following the strap that goes around your back. Do not pull the tape tight, but let it sit naturally. Do not tape to your skin, but tape onto the bra.

3. Apply second layer of tape. Tape 180 degrees around fullest part on the front only. Tape should go from under one arm, across boobs, and finish under other arm, near or on top of the first layer of tape. You can pull this layer tight if needed, but it may not be necessary.

4. Test by jumping up and down. If necessary, apply another 180 degree tape across top of boobs to stop them bouncing out of the top of the bra. Try to minimise tape stuck onto the skin.

5. Finish off with sports lube such as sports shield or bodyglide on any chaffing problem areas. Or maybe you could try WD-40!

If you find it too tight (you cannot breathe or get uncomfortable stitches), you can easily remove the front 180 degree layers while you are running. This is why you shouldn't do the first layer too tight because if you need to remove that you will not have much left.

Back again...

OK so it's nearly been a year since my last post... whoops.

I had my eyes lasered just over a month ago and it has given me a renewed outlook on life. Including running. It was a new-years resolution to get my eyes done, and I did quite a bit of research on it (a friend thought I was going to do the surgery myself with all the medical journal reading I was doing). I went to a few different clinics and ended up opting for epilasik with Diana Conrad at Queensland Laser Vision. I was out of action for a week because surface procedures take longer to heal than with lasik. Overall I am very pleased with the result, my vision is very good with the exception of some night-time dryness which is usual and should resolve after a few months.

I have been trying to save money to make up for all the money I spent on the surgery, and I needed a new pair of shoes and decided $220 for my usual Mizuno Wave Riders was too much, so I have gone back to Nike Pegusus shoes, I picked up two pairs in the end of financial year sales for $130 each. These shoes are fine, not as schmick as the Wave Riders, but who cares with a saving of $90. Just hope they last.

I picked up a Nike Sportsband with the shoes and some socks (so ended up spending the same amount as if I just bought the Mizunos). I LOVE my sportsband, it logs kms run and session info, so you can just go exploring on a run and still know how far you have gone. Unfortunately, I have problems with the display (as in I can't read it at all) after I ran in the rain yesterday and water got into it, so I will exchange it. I won't run with the next one in the rain (even though you are supposed to be able to). If it rains I will put the reciever in a ziplock bag and put in pocket/bag or something like that.

BTW my weight is down to 65kg, probably from a bit of running and not pigging out for a few months. So I am not concerned with that anymore and now I just want to keep fit.

Weight loss

I jumped on the scales a week or so ago and I now weigh 69kg, which is officially overweight for my height BMI-wise. So I have freaked out a bit and am now running just about every day.
Another thing that shocked me into action was missing Townsville marathon. I have done 3 in a row, and now missing this year I have blown my streak, and now I have not done a marathon in more than a year (i did that 50k last september though).
So I have really cleaned up my diet, watching portions, cutting out junk food, eating regularly, running and doing weights regularly. My aim is to be in shape again (lose 10 or so kgs, or at least some significant waist inches) by the end of the year.

Anyway - these next few days may be a challenge, I have a conference - Tech Ed on the Gold Coast. Have to be strong and stay away from the pizzas and cola which I am sure all the geeks there will be eating. On the plus side there is a gym at our accomodation, and there is a nice long beach to run along.

20070605

Morning run, 5.73km (+500 or so meters while the gps got a lock), 00:45:19

Very slow, but I can feel that I am getting into a good rhythm, once I get my rhythm should start improving quickly. Had that funny period-pain thing at the start, but as usual it went away after the first 20 mins. It is funny to get up in the morning when it is so dark.

Saw Pat's group while I was out too. They went over the Goodwill bridge then along southbank.

I have been doing jump-rope as cross training and when it is too dark to go for a run. Yesterday I learnt a new trick, it involves holding one arm under the opposite leg and skipping, I can only do it for 2 jumps. I did 6 consecutive double-unders, my record is 12. I can do normal jumps for about a minute and a half before tripping.

N95 - from a runners perspective

So I just got a new phone, it is the Nokia N95 and it is top of the range multi-device phone that does everything.

It is a bit big to clip on your shorts, in fact it doesn't even have a clip. It is a little bit bigger than an ipod mini. I find carrying it with one of those pouches that you put the little water bottles onto fine.

Things a runner can use it for;

- Nice MP3 player
- Maps and GPS so you can go exploring and not get lost
- Nokia Sports tracker application; tracks your run, makes a google earth file so you can see where you went, also keeps track of average speed and lots of pretty graphs while you are running
- 5mp camera in case you see something interesting on the way
- if you are really keen you can www upload the photos while you are still running
- update your running blog
- organise your events in the calender
- have an emergancy phone on hand when you run

So if you want a new running gadget, here is an idea, but it's pretty expensive at the moment, wait till the price comes down as it only came out in April.

Back for a bit

OK so have just signed on for the first time in zonks... mainly because i just got a new phone and want to play with photo-uploads and see what else I can do.

Running-wise, have not been running much. Have entered the whitsunday run again for this year.
I want to do Townsville marathon again this year, but having trouble getting motivated to train. Maybe if i blog more i will feel guilty about not having anything to write and then will have to run.

OK - thats all for now. BTW the phone i got is a Nokia N95 and it's pretty trippy, should do a post on it and how it can be used from a runners perspective.