2012 Review

Well its a few months since my last post - lets see whats been happening?

After almost making it through the year I eventually succumbed to the dreaded shin splits in November and have only just started running again since Christmas.

Looking back on 2012 and when I started some gentle running again in February, due to my history of shin pain going back 5 years now, I would never have contemplated making it through to November relatively pain free along the way completing a number of races.

I like to think that much of the success, if I can call keeping the shin pain at bay for 10 months a success,  is due to a number of factors;

1, the strengthening work i have been doing at the gym this past year,
2, regular stretching
3, gradual build up in my running mileage , including plenty of walking breaks in the first half of the year,
4, self awareness and listening to my body. By that I mean taking extra days off if i feel too 'tender' in the shin area. I try to maintain a 3 run in 8 day schedule if I can , ie 2 full rest or cross train days between runs,
5, sports tape - no idea of this helps but if it stays put it seems to provide some support!
6, where ever possible I'll choose to run on the softer grass verges rather than the pavement,
7, the lose of 10kgs of weight in the last 14 months no doubt reduces the stresses that can running place on the muscles, ligaments and joints.
8, plenty of ice and self massage

For some reason though despite all the above I did eventually succumb and had to take a six week break from running as the shin pain became too much to ignore.

I expect this will be an ongoing issue for me and I will need to continue to manage my running to try and avoid too much down time.

If I get another recurrence it may be time to seek some medical help.

So in terms of mileages , last year.   I ran 433 miles,  in a total of 69.5 hours. 

I an in 3 5k races , a 10K and an 11K. 

Goals for 2013 are to build on the work I did last year.  Keep running and building up distances including some longer distance races

If I can stay fit I have a couple of races in my calender for February, March and April.

Whether I make the start line will remain to be seen.

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Review - PROwash Activewear Detergent

I've seen a few reviews around the blogoshere in recent months for Prowash Activewear Detergent and then one day a few weeks ago I was invited to try out this product for myself. I thought what did I have to lose so I took them up on their offer of trying some of their fancy new detergent out in exchange for writing a review on my blog. A week or so later the Prowash Detergent arrived in a nicely packaged box all the way for the USA complete with a handy little gym towel in its own little pouch.



photo from marathonmaritza.blogspot.com

The marketing material supplied with the detergent states that it is designed specifically for washing of activewear such as Nike Dry-Fit, Under Armour and Columbia Sportswear ACtivewear. It's stated to remove embedded odors from wicking fabrics of activewear better than ordinary detergents and also prevent fading.

Prowash detergent is suitable for top load or front load washers and comes in an eye catching environmentally friendly pouch.

The hot summer temperatures we're experiencing in Auckland over the last few weeks have made for the perfect testing conditions. My bike shorts and activewear tee shirts are well drenched with sweat these days so the Prowash was certainly going to have its work cut out dealing to these clothes.

I'm not normally one to do too much washing but I thought if I was to be writing a review I had best write it with the benefit of some first hand knowledge of the product. After piling my sweaty cycling gear into the washer I poured in two caps of the Prowash and let it do it's work.

Now as I said before, not really being one that normally handles the washing too frequently I was not able to compare the feel and smell of the newly washed clothes with the feel and smell that we get with our ordinary washing powder. My good wife Michelle tells me however that the Prowash detergent had indeed given the clothes an increased level of softness together with an appealing fresh smell that we did not usually get with our ordinary detergent.

So if you're desperately in need of a washing detergent with muscle, one that can rid your clothes of unwanted odours and leave them looking and feeling like they're fresh out of the sportswear store, the you need to try Prowash Activewear Detergent.

Prowash can be bought online at Amazon from as little as US$26.64. Now I'm not sure how that compares with your average washing detergents in the US but I gather it's possibly slightly on the expensive side. With our weakening NZ dollar it certainly not worth my while to purchase it online, but if you're finding that your ordinary detergent is not working for you then you could do worse than try Prowash Activewear Detergent.

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