Category Archives: reviews

TheRun Review

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Last Tuesday, Julio and I took advantage of the free promotion that TheRun was offering Brooklyn Half Marathon runners.

IMG_3192.JPGFrom TheRun’s website: “TheRUN is not just a run. It’s a Revolutionary Indoor Running Concept of Group Classes with a Supportive Community. Using Treadmills with State of the Art Technology and a system developed by a Professional Running Coach, TheRUN delivers an elite level workout suitable to everyone.” I was very excited to try TheRun especially having been to Mile High Run Club earlier in the year.

We called ahead to the studio at 5PM for the 7PM Endurance class to make sure there were spots available for us since with the free class we weren’t able to sign up in advance. We were lucky that there were still spots available, so we planned on meeting around 6:45 at the studio. The studio is easy to find on West 25th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. When I arrived, I signed a waiver and was given a post-it-note with a pin that I would later use on the treadmill. The pin is to track my running stats each time I come.

IMG_3184.JPGThe studio has Digilock lockers, perfect since I don’t love carrying around a lock. I put my stuff inside a locker and we were ready to tackle the class. There is a water refilling station inside and roughly 18-20 treadmills (I didn’t count them though, so I could be wrong). It looked like there was still room for more treadmills eventually. We were not pre-assigned treadmills, which was nice as it allowed us to walk around and find the two we wanted. I can imagine when it gets more crowded that pre-assigning or selecting in advance may be a better option.

IMG_3187.JPGThere were a lot of TheRun studio workers coming around to make sure we were okay. Everyone was extremely friendly too. We got a flavor for the treadmills by doing a light warm-up while waiting for the class to start. Our coach for the class was Greg Nieratka who was great at explaining what was to come. The Endurance run is a 55-minute class that incorporates intervals, tempos, and progression runs. We did some light stretching and before putting in our pins into the profile, we were to run at a pace that is comfortable for 3 minutes – something we could hold for 60-minute run. Once we figured out what that pace was (for me, it was 6.2 mph, which  is around 9:45ish min/mile), we entered it into our profile (this is when we used our pin) and we were ready to start and upbeat music started playing.

IMG_3191.JPGThe treadmill will self-adjust pace for each interval based on the original pace that we entered in. This is the main difference from Mile High Run Club or even just running on your own inside or outside. The pace adjusts itself but the runner can always increase or decrease it and incline but the prescribed speed is meant to challenge you. There is also a chart on the treadmill that I was following for most of the class that showed pace and incline per interval. We started the class with 3 quick pick-ups and then spent most of the class running 1, 2, 3 minute intervals with easy recovery in between at 0.5 incline. There were 4 sets of these intervals at different paces with a hill climb at 6% for last.

IMG_3190.JPGYou can see from my graph that there were many points, where my pace dipped slower than that of the prescribed speed. This is when I was extremely tired and couldn’t even fathom a 1-minute recovery. On the last interval though, I tried to push myself harder and was able to increase the pace slightly. After the run, we were able to see the stats from the class (which are now saved to my profile for the next time I come back) and Coach Greg walked us through some stretches.

Both Julio and I agreed that the class was much harder than we expected and for me, perhaps being on a treadmill in a dark room made it felt harder than doing similar intervals outside (or maybe it’s because I was still recovering from full and half marathons?). I was completely covered in sweat, so I grabbed my bag from the locker and went to the bathroom. The showers and bathrooms looked nice and clean with great amenities. This looks like a great option if you’re on the way to work or out after the class.

IMG_3193.JPGAll in all, I was impressed with TheRun. The studio is clean and everyone is extremely friendly. John Henwood (link to the article about him and the studio) was around greeting everyone asking about the class. I like adjustments for pacing as it takes the thinking and self-motivation needed out of the run, though I can imagine this may not be for everyone (especially if you put in a higher or lower initial comfortable pace, it can throw off your workout). Overall, it was a great workout and I look forward to returning again.

Have you taken treadmill classes? What do you think of them?

 

CLIF Organic Energy Food Review

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Hi from me! I’m back to blogging more regularly now, I hope. I promised an update in my last post about my fueling for the Brooklyn Half Marathon, so here it is!

I struggled in London with fueling and it seems like every training cycle, I change it up. Some things work okay, but nothing works perfect or even well for me. I’ve tried the Jelly Belly Sport Beans, Mint Chocolate GU Energy Gels (they don’t sell this flavor anymore, but it was the only kind I found that I could stomach), Generation UCAN (pre-fueling with this and then taking limited other fuel along the way), and the Honey Stinger Organic Chews. My main problem is that I can’t really eat while I’m running. Chewing usually leads to excess air (and then the need to burp or throw up, sorry too much information) and the gels just gross me out, they are too sweet to take all at once and I’m definitely not coordinated enough to drink water and take one at the same time. In the half marathon distance, I can get by a little easier since I don’t need to fuel as much or sometimes at all. So maybe the answer is that I should only run half marathons?!?

oef_bm_heroAnyway, I found CLIF Organic Energy Food at The Running Company (by the way, this is the best store ever with its location right by Central Park and free bag check) the week leading up the Brooklyn Half. When I looked at the ingredients of the Banana Mango with Coconut flavor, I was shocked that I could actually read and understand all of them: Organic Banana Puree, Organic Mango Puree, Organic Coconut Cream, Organic Coconut, Sea Salt, Citric Acid. Real food, who knew? I chose the Banana Mango with Coconut flavor over the others because I was afraid I would not like the other ones in a gel/smoothie form (there’s Pizza Margherita, Sweet Potato with Sea Salt, and Banana Beet with Ginger).

I tried one of the packets on my shakeout run (on a treadmill though) the day before the race and it tasted great and my stomach seemed to react okay to it, so I was excited to give it a try during the race. I only used one packet on race day and probably only ended up finishing a little over half of it. I haven’t had a need to try them again since the race but here is my pros/cons list:

Pros

  • Easier to eat than GUs/gels because it is less sweet and tastes more natural
  • Consistency is also not as thick since there is a higher water content
  • Which also means I don’t need water immediately after eating it or flushing it down with water
  • Cap is screw top (kind of like kid’s food) which is nice if I can’t finish the packet at once

Cons

  • Packets are bigger than that of GUs/gels and are tougher to carry
  • Down side to the screw top is that it is bigger and does get in the way if you’re trying to store multiple packets for a longer run
  • I’ve read many reviews where other people really liked the pieces of coconut, but for me since I don’t like chewing on a run, I didn’t particularly love them. I would have preferred the whole consistency to be in liquid form.

Overall, I love the idea of fueling with natural ingredients and I think this will be a great alternative to the typical energy supplements out there. I am looking forward to being able to try different flavors, testing it out as a fuel alternative on marathon training runs, and hopefully CLIF will change the packaging to be more compact.

Have you tried any new fueling options lately?

Any one try the new CLIF Organic Energy Food too? What did you think of it?