Category Archives: Running

Dec 06 2013
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Apps, Events/Races, Running, Wireless

Fuel My Run app helps you stay fully-charged

There are a wealth of fitness apps available for smartphone users now, but so far none has focused on the challenge of ensuring that you stay energised throughout your exercise. However, that issue could well now be solved by new app Fuel My Run.

Nutrition is a crucial aspect for long-distance runners, and with prospective marathon runners getting stuck into their training across the winter period, fuelling needs are paramount in order to get results.

Fuel My Run is aiming to make fuelling up easier, providing distance calculation, fuelling reminders, carbohydrate consumption data, and plans for keeping nutrients in check during long workouts.

Users can input the different types of fuel they will use to simulate a race environment

Based on creator Mark Kennedy’s personal marathoning experience, Fuel My Run provides a fresh new take on a challenging and complex element of endurance sports: keeping carbohydrate levels up during long, difficult workouts. After hitting the wall at the 30km mark, Kennedy realized that he had overlooked his personal fuelling strategy-a common oversight for even the most experienced runner.

“More often than not, its lack of adequate fuelling that causes a runner to hit the wall. All the training in the world will not help a runner in those last few kilometres of a race unless they have taken their fuelling seriously. Fuel My Run is the tool I wish I had while training for my second marathon,” Kennedy says.

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Dec 06 2013
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Apps, Kit, Running, Shoes, Wireless

Meet Project Runsafer – the running shoe that tells you when you’re going wrong

We all love running, but it can’t be denied that it does bring the risk of a wide range of injuries. But how can you avoid overstretching yourself and causing potential damage?

That’s the question that the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) from Germany has set out to answer. It has this week announced that it has, in association with scientists in five European countries, developed the Runsafer smart running shoe, which will help identify potential issues before they become troublesome.

Project Runsafer utilises a number of sensors to gather information on your running style, which will then be sent to your smartphone

The shoe uses a range of built-in sensors measuring G force, direction, and GPS in order to determine how hard, how fast, and how long you’re running, including information about whether you’re on a hard or soft surface, and when you are taking a break.

The shoe transmits this data via Bluetooth to your smartphone, which then connects to a central computer which will analyse this information. Based on this, you will get tips sent back to your phone suggesting ways to improve your workout.

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Nov 22 2013
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Fitness, Kit, Running, Shoes

Nike launches Flash Pack range, aimed at promoting runner safety

With the dark nights now drawing up, coinciding with the beginning of many people’s marathon training, Nike has revealed a new range of kit designed at keeping runners protected from the elements.

The Flash Pack includes a reflective and water repellent line of shoes and apparel. Within each shoe there’s a unique reflective print that hides subtly during the day, but which comes alive under night-time lights. This includes the Nike LunarGlide 5 Shield , available for £90 which features three layers of mesh, which repels water while allowing the feet to breathe.

The Nike Flash Pack features a whole range of products targeted towards running at night

Alongside the shoes, Nike has also designed a range of Flack Pack jackets. The Nike Shield Flash Jacket combines reflectivity and comfort into one sleek design. In low light conditions, the reflective material helps you stay visible. The upper body and sleeves feature Nike’s Storm-FIT fabric, providing breathable wind-and-water-resistance, keeping the water out, allowing sweat vapours to escape and most importantly keeping you comfortable as you’re running.

The jacket’s design also looks to integrate several special details tailored towards runners, including a removable peeked hood and hand warmers for those that don’t like wearing gloves.

[Via Huffington Post]

Nov 13 2013
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Fitness, Kit, Running, Wireless

Jawbone launches the Up24, its first wireless fitness tracker

Jawbone’s Up brand fitness trackers have always been a popular choice for fitness tech aficionados, but in the face of new competition from Adidas and Nike, the company has reacted to announce the UP 24.

Jawbone’s UP24 doesn’t clip directly onto your wrist, but wraps snugly around it

Around two years since the original Up went on sale, the new incarnation of the device finally overcomes what seems like a basic usability hurdle and introduces a wireless charging and syncing capability for the first time. This means that users can now use their device to sync their sleep and activity data without having to be plugged in.

The UP24 is always connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth Smart, helping you achieve your goals with real-time updates on your progress and notifications when you need them.

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Nov 04 2013
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Events/Races, Running

Think you’re quick on your feet? ASICS lets you try your luck against one of the world’s best marathon runners

We here at TechRunner love a clever ad campaign, and ASICS’ 2011 Ryan Hall marathon pace billboard challenge was one of our favourites. Thankfully, the company resurrected the campaign last weekend to promote the 2013 ING New York City Marathon – only this time with a twist.

Two years ago, it was a billboard in a Subway station, allowing anyone passing by to try and keep up with elite U.S. marathoner Hall for just 60 feet. This year, in advance of the 2013 ING New York City Marathon, ASICS set up the “Treadmill Challenge”.

The treadmill challenge pitted contestants against the pace of one of the world’s quickest marathon runners

The company took to its website to promote,” a treadmill that only runs at the speeds of America’s fastest marathoners”, driving it around New York to let people jump on and see how long they can keep up.

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Oct 29 2013
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Lust List, Running, Shoes

‘Tech’d Out’ version of Puma Future Disc Blaze Lite hits Foot Locker stores this weekend

Puma is taking a step into the past this week by re-introducing its iconic Puma Disc running shoe with several modern twists.

Coming complete with a glossy cage, light breathable upper and a lightweight Fass bottom, the Puma Disc “Tech’d Out’ is the latest design masterpiece from shoe maestro Ronnie Fieg and will be available in Foot Locker stores this week.

Available in four colour schemes, the new Puma Discs are a welcome reintroduction of a classic

First introduced in 1992, the Disc was the first laceless running shoe on the market. It had a unique design consisting of an internal wire system to ensure an enhanced custom fit with Trinomic cushioning technology for long mileage. All it takes is a turn of the dial and the wires tighten to maximise fit and comfort.

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Oct 23 2013
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Kit, Running, Shoes

Fancy a quick brake? La Sportiva’s Ultra Raptor shoes offer a unique way to trail run

For those of us that are lucky enough to live in the countryside and get the chance to trail run, there are a dearth of running shoes that allow maximum grip and comfort. But with the uphill trails also come the downhill, and the chance of injuries from trips and falls.

The Raptor features sophisticated sole technology that allows for a quick stop

That’s where the new shoes from La Sportiva – the Raptor, comes in. Made of thermoplastic urethane tops and sticky rubber outsoles, the shoes have small tooth-like lugs on the bottom of the sole that are intentionally aimed forward to cut into the dirt when you’re trying to slow down, rather than speed up. The company calls the design its “impact brake system,” and it can deliver a tenacious grip.

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Oct 22 2013
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Kit, Running, Shoes, Walking

Skechers reveal glow-in-the-dark ‘Nite Owl’ running shoes

In probably the least tech-y story this website will ever publish, U.S. footwear manufacturer Skechers  has announced the launch of its much-anticipated glow in the dark Skechers Nite Owl shoes. Available in a limited and exclusive release for both men and women, the Nite Owls luminescent style will provide runners and walkers with the ideal footwear for those dark winter evening (or morning) runs.

The shoes to be seen in this winter?

Charged with exposure to any natural or artificial light source, the shoe will produce an intense glow that can last for several hours, depending on the power and duration of light charge.

The pigments used in Nite Owls’ advanced glow technology are incorporated directly into the raw materials used to produce the footwear, so the photoluminescence won’t peel, fade or rub off with use. It is physically bonded into the product using materials that are designed to endure what dedicated runners will do to them—lasting as long as the shoes themselves.

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Oct 16 2013
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Fitness, Kit, Lust List, Running, Wireless

Adidas reveals new smartwatch to take on Nike FuelBand SE, launching November 1

Following Nike’s unveiling of the company’s new FuelBand SE yesterday in New York, Adidas has today also decided to show off its take on wearable technology.

The as-yet-unnamed smartwatch was revealed at GigaOm’s Mobilized conference in San Francisco today and will go on sale for the rather pricey sum of $399 (£250) on November 1st.

Adidas’ smartwach will be released on November 1st for $399 (image via CNET)

From what we’ve seen and read, the Adidas smartwatch has several neat features that will set it apart from competitors such as the FuelBand SE. First off, the smartwatch can figure out your heart rate from the pulse in your wrist, and then factor that in with various onboard movement sensors as well as route tracking. The watch will then cook up a custom exercise program with personalised training suggestions, and give prompts for that routine on the colour display.

As well as the GPS and Bluetooth, there’s WiFi and an accelerometer, though no digital compass. The stats the watch collects will synchronize with Adidas’ existing miCoach fitness cloud where there are thousands of pre-configured fitness routines and programs to work through.

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Oct 15 2013
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Apps, Fitness, Kit, Running, Wireless

Nike launches second generation FuelBand SE

As reported earlier in the month, Nike has today unwrapped the new version of its FuelBand activity tracker, the FuelBand SE , at an event in New York.

Nike revealed the new edition of the FuelBand in New York today (image via CBS Interactive)

Described by Nike as “the smart, simple, and fun way to get more active”, the new device addresses criticism that its earlier device failed to recognise that some activities use more energy than others.

In a start-studded unveil featuring Olympic gymnast Shaw Johnson, US track and field athlete Ashton Eaton and New York Giants football player Victor Cruz, the FuelBand was given a thorough run-down by Nike representatives as well as members of the press, who took part in an interactive challenge onstage. This was to demonstrate how the upgraded device regulates the energy expended on different kinds of activity, from running to rowing to boxing.

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