Running Commentary

So 2015 did not go very well. After deciding to cut down on my racing schedule to peak better for my key marathons, I ended up running 2:49 in Seoul, and 2:52 in Frankfurt, which were some of my slowest marathons despite being billed as relatively fast courses. Tokyo is a relatively flat course, though I still consider it slower than the likes of Berlin and Dubai and maybe even GCAM now that I’ve done both. There were also anecdotes of the course running a little long, and the last 5km being the lumpiest on the whole course. The main appeal of Tokyo for me is the weather. It has historically been very cold, which suits me just fine. Knowing the course profile helped shape my training plan for this cycle. The build-up would be short; I started preparing for Tokyo in early December, knowing I had to change things up and hopefully regain some of my old running form. This cycle I focused more on doing shorter repeats with less focus on tempo efforts, and choosing to go back to more ro...

The original Brooks Launch was one of my very first pairs of Brooks shoes, and I loved it so much I went through 3 pairs of them, and even ran one of them to a podium position in the 2XU Megatri O2 Triathlon in 2013. Fast forward to 2016, and Brooks already revised the Launch once last year and again this year. I never got around to trying the Launch 2, but I recently got the opportunity to try out the Launch 3 and here are my thoughts.  Before we begin, bear in mind that the Launch is meant to be a neutral uptempo trainer, rather than a daily trainer like the Ghost or Ravenna. I’ll start by saying the Launch 3 feels like a different shoe entirely from the original Launch, at least to me. It's more plush and cushioned in feel. It has gained a few grams, primarily because more effort has been invested in the upper.  The extra padding around the tongue and heel, as well as more eye-catching designs in the mesh all add up. The outsole also feels a tad more substa...