Skechers GoRun Ultra Road review

#GoFastGoPlush

The mighty cushioned shoe from Skechers Performance (Malaysia) has just gotten better in the form of GoRun Ultra Road (GRUR). An iteration of the proven GoRun Ultra, which is very much a shoe made for the trail and occasional road; I called it hybrid and indeed it has served me very well until today (my 3rd pair of GRU now).

The cat approved it too

Those of you that has been using GRU would know that this shoe range (the Ultra) is bulky by Skechers' standard. However, despite the outlook, it's light and super flexible. Those of you using them would also know that the sole doesn't hold up too well "on the road".

Throughout the 3-years I've been on Skechers, I have also learnt that while the wear could look excessive, it doesn't effect the performance of the shoe (grip and cushioning). My 3rd Pair of GRU has clocked no less than 400km and still clocking in the mileage. The new GRUR now come with a completely new outsole said to help it last the road pounding.

The Fitting
Now to the usual way of me doing a shoe review. First off is the fitting of the shoe. GRUR carry on the fitment of the GRU. Wide toebox and i took US11 as my feet seemed to had grown over the past two years (hopefully not because I gained weight and the feet spreading out more to hold my weight). I have intention to use this shoe without socks (as usual) and the liner that comes with it should provide sufficient space if I choose to use socks. Over the years I've collected different liner from different Skechers shoes as well.

Same wide toe box between GRUR (left) and GRU (right)

The GRUR is a 4mm drop shoe. Stack height of 30mm on the heel (tall!) and 26mm on the front. Removing the liner doesn't make the show decreases in drop. In comparison, one of the more famous cushioned shoe has a stack height of 33mm-29mm (Heel-Front) and still has a 4mm drop. (if you guessed Hoka One One, you are a shoe-aware person).

Similar persona between GRUR and GRU when it comes to Cushioning. 

Being a bulk of a shoe meant the GRUR too will be heavier than it's other cousins. Coming in at 10.4oz (295grams) for US9, my US11 clocked in at close to 330grams (approx 11.5oz). As heavy as it may appear, the cushioning and the ride more than make up for it.

330grams approx

If you are a heavier person (I would say more than 85kg), you will find this shoe very forgivingly light with the cushioning. (Shoe-aware runner - do you know which make and model comes in at approx 390grams to suit heavier runners? It's named "The Beast" by Brooks).

Does the weight bother my average weight (73kg)? Hardly. In fact, for the bulk (read:size) and weight, the shoe felt snappy and and doesn't seems to give you the sinking feeling. On some occasions, the cushioning gives the perception that it feel sloppy...but you aren't once you realised you are still running at your normal training pace. Deceiving.

Rocker-like stance. Midsole dominates to encourage mid-foot and forefoot landing

Completely New Outsole

The newly designed sole of the GRUR is made up of Resalyte material. The midsole material is plush and provides a nice soft landing . The Outsole layer is a much firmer and resilient material. The design of the outsole works around the existing GOrun series and is much firmer (when I compare to the GoRun4 and GoBionic2, but not as firm when compared to GoMeb). The more resilient GOimpulse sensors were placed strategically around the outsole for added durability. Testing it, the Pods provide good traction and feel as well.

Significantly different outsole from layout to material. GRUR (right) promises better resilient to wear and tear when compared to GRU

The GRUR is a complete revamp of the original GOrun Ultra. The upper of the Skechers GOrun Ultra Road is designed with the Skechers Performance FITKNIT® technology providing a breathable and comfortable fit. It is completely knitted upper without any overlays and seams, save for the bonded logo on the side. It's completely runnable sock-less, which is what I usually do.

Drainage hole

Apart from the different material upper, there are two drain holes noticeable on both the sides. I supposed it is to help with draining of water should you get your feet into puddle of water or if you happen to take a shower at the water station. My thoughts on this is that it may help dispersing water out of the shoe. However, it will also encourage water from going in... so you may want to avoid running into puddles of water if you don't like your shoe (or socks) wet.

The drainage hole looked crude from this photo due to the glue that was used to stick the mesh.

Completely New Upper

The GRUR comes with FITKNIT® upper. You may had read about it in my review of GRR Bolt where I even ran a water-holding (or lack off, which was a good proof that the knit doesn't hold water) experiment.

Significant differences in density of FitKnit upper lend superb breathability

Interestingly, the GRUR has two knit "density" as opposed to GRR Bolt. The knit was a lot more "closer" in the support area to provide structure and it is "spaced out" in areas where breath-ability is required like top and side. The dual-knitted density itself lend the GRUR a very distinctive look.

So breathable that even the liner has holes to promote water drainage while allowing hot air to be pushed out
The tongue was thick and is not sewn down. There was initial worry it may bunch up but that was an unproven concern after using it for a few runs. Maybe there is opportunity to reduce the thickness of the tongue to shave off some grams and lend even better (as if not airy enough) breath-ability?



Safety wise, the GRUR comes with reflective marking on the front and back of the shoe, and on the tongue where it allow shoelaces to tread through. Sufficient enough, but I would encourage you to run with lights front and back if you are the nite-runner or early morning type. Better be safe than sorry.

Blings

Verdict
The GRUR is a familiar stranger. Familiar in the sense of the plush cushioning and a stranger with the new material and two different approach to the FITKNIT®. In many ways the cushioning is expected and despite the size and bulk, doesn't hamper your movement or how fast you can run. If you are looking for a pair of cushioned shoe, this may be one of your three choices that I know in the market. By the way, if you have experience with the GRU being flexible...

Roll it all up

The GRUR doesn't dissapoint either... convincing enough despite the new material upper and sole!

Cushioned and flexible

Note: This pair of Skechers GoRun Ultra Road is sponsored by Skechers Malaysia via collaboration with 2ndSkin Asia Athletes program. Thank you Skechers Malaysia and 2ndSkin! This pair is launched this week (today!). Retailing at RM499 for men and RM469 for women (Semenanjung). RM10-20 more for East Malaysia.
Opinion in this write up is my own and not influenced by Skechers Malaysia or 2ndSkin program.

Skechers GoRun Ultra R review

The Skechers GoRun Ultra R is the newer version in the Ultra variants. The design focuses on road running, it has a lot of features reflecting the previous variant Ultra2. The key differences mainly lies on the upper fitknit material and also the improvised outsole which looks more durable. I use Ultras mainly for my LSD and my recovery runs, for speed works and intervals I run in Skechers GoMeb 3 or Skechers GoRun 4. I have about 300km with the Skechers GoRun Ultra2, the outsole has shown significant wear especially around the forefoot area. Most likely I will retire them in a few months' time. Thanks to the collaboration between Skechers Malaysia and Team2ndSkin, I was given a pair of Skechers GoRun Ultra R for my training. 

Unboxing the Skechers GoRun Ultra R, extra laces given. The male version has a few colour choices and I opted for this green and blue one because I do not have this colour in my Skechers shoes collection. My first short run was done inside Suria KLCC like I always do before deciding which shoes to pick. First impression, this is a heavily cushioned shoes! 

Before writing this review, I ran 33km in total under all kind of Malaysian weather. Here are my findings =)

The upper is more structured due to the strategically knitted upper, the knit gets denser for areas require more support. The GoRun Ultra2 has a stretchier upper and also feels more roomy with the spandex like material, doesn't mean the GoRun Ultra R is not roomy. The GoRun Ultra R is just fine for me because my feet is not that wide. The spacious toebox allows me to spread my toes freely while enjoying the breathability of the knitting, perfect for long and hot run. I did my run in socks because the knit is a bit too rough for me to run sockless.

Closer view of the upper. Denser knit for areas that demand for more support. 

The midfoot area is also as breathable as the forefoot upper with the big S glued to the surface. M Strike rockered bottom ease the transition between foot strike and toe off. 

The kind of breathability that second to barefoot. Picture taken in the morning, sun light went through the knit. For weather like Malaysia, this feature is perfect to keep the feet cool and dry. Sweaty feet is the cause of 50 cent sized blisters. 

Fat tongue, similar to GoRun Ultra 2. If the tongue was made thinner with softer material, surely can shave off some weight. At the end of my run, the tongue did not bunch up to the side. No issues. 

Heel cup cushion is generous, love the snug fit. The reflectives are awesome features for night/morning run. While standing still, the heel area feels "empty" under the outsole and I feel the rockered sensation. It's time to get going and stop standing still!

Instead of exposing the EVA material, the newly structured rubber pods are placed at higher wear areas for better durability. 26 pods in total for abusive runs! Being a forefoot runner, the outsole is softer at the forefoot than midfoot because the orange pods are harder than the green ones. I have confidence that this shoes will last longer than the Ultra 2. 

What makes the Skechers GoRun Ultra R so maximally cushioned is because of the dual density Resalyte material. The outsole has a heel drop of 4mm due to the 30mm heel and 26mm forefoot outsole. The blue material is softer and the green is more bouncy. Although it looks almost the same as its variants, I find the responsiveness is much better than the Ultra 2. At the end of my run, I noticed that my Ground Contact Time is slightly higher in this big bouncy cushion shoes compared to the other performance range Skechers shoes.

Another contributing factor to the marshmallow cushion is the cushioned sock liner! The holes on it helps to flush out drenching water quickly. The removable sockliner gives runners more option to run with or without it for the desired cushion. 

Here is the most interesting part of this shoes, the holes at the side of outsole. The soaking water will escape from this super smart drainage system. How could the water be channeled out? Let's check it out. 

Hidden water tunnel like the Smart Tunnel under the sockliner =p To confirm the hypothesis, I did another test.

I let the tap run for a minute and captured this photo. Water flushed out through the smart tunnel. The heel cup and the tongue was slightly wet, the rest of the knit area did not retain water at all. 

Overall, I love the GoRun Ultra R for the cushion and breathability. It feels big and heavily cushioned, just like most of the cushion shoes in the market. To get this amount of cushion, it has to compensate on the speed and weight. Cushion shoes are just too sluggish for speed, but I need the cushion for my joints! Every shoes are designed with different purpose. The design looks catchy and I love the moderate responsiveness, it'll be my top choice of gear in weekend LSD. If I were to race any distance below a full marathon, I will definitely go for something more responsive and light such as the GoMeb Speed 3 or GoRun 4. In my opinion, GoRun Ultra R is meant for less technical courses because it was built with neutral cushioning resulting in lesser lateral stability. 

Get a pair of Skechers GoRun Ultra R if you think it is the right choice of gear for you. It is available in Skechers outlet retailing at RM 499 for Men and RM 469 for Women models. Sign up for the membership card upon any purchase more than RM350 to get more discounts in future. 

1st Nongkhai Marathon - Deo's Race Report

Team 2ndskin athlete Deo was not sure if he could run another sub 3:30-hour marathon, after breaking the 3:30-hour barrier in Tokyo Marathon earlier this year. So, he had carefully chosen his next marathon to have another attempt at it and to close the 2015 season with a peace of mind knowing that the Tokyo Marathon feat was not a fluke but it was just the beginning of many, many more fast marathon timing for him. He went to the inaugural Nongkhai Marathon, at the north of Thailand, where the temperature and humidity level on the race day as well as the fast course gave the perfect ingredients for a near-perfect marathon condition, and came back not just with another sub 3:30-hour marathon, but also a personal best timing, bettering his previous mark by 14 seconds. And to make it sweeter, it was a priceless birthday gift for him which fell on Friday before the race.

Read on how the marathon went for Deo...

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Mission accomplished!
Although barely... and I was about to miss it by a whisker but escaped by fate and a little bit of luck.

From the very first time I heard about this marathon, I had put a very serious consideration to run the marathon for few reasons. One, it is held on my birthday weekend and apart from the boring and crowded Singapore Marathon, there were only a few other marathons held during the weekend, one of it is Macao. So, with little options, maybe I should give this inaugural marathon a try. Then, after google-ing the location, it reminded me of Vientiane, Laos. It is the home of the 1st (and the last, so far) AEC Vientiane Marathon, which I ran in 2013 (you can read it here). It was a good race for me, where I clocked my first 3:4x-hour and had a PB, helped by flat route and the cold weather.

Nong Khai is a city in northeast Thailand, lies on the Mekong River, where the city is about 4km from the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge. Just on the opposite of the Mekong River (although not directly opposite) is Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The city is is 626km north of Bangkok and 60km north of Udon Thani. So, from Kuala Lumpur, you may fly direct to Udon Thani (with a transfer in Bangkok) by AirAsia. From Udon Thani, you may take a public van outside the airport at THB200 per person. The journey to Nong Khai takes less than an hour and the van can send you direct to your hotel. In my case, as I wanted to arrive in Udon Thani via the first flight in, I flew out from Kuala Lumpur on AirAsia's last flight to Bangkok, arriving in Don Mueng Airport around midnight and spent overnight at the departure hall before taking the first Thai Lion Air flight out from Bangkok to Udon Thani. For accommodation in Nong Khai, I stayed in Asawann Hotel, just about 1.3km from the race venue. And for Muslim folks, there is one Muslim (Halal) restaurant located along the shop houses a few blocks away from VViang Lifestyle Mall (the race venue). It is owned by a Paskitani (if I'm not mistaken) guy whose wife is a Thai. They can cook any Thai food and for breakfast, you can have roti naan or whatever you want to have (just like how he answered us when we asked what he can cook for us).

In front of the Thasadet Market - one of the main attractions of Nongkhai. The marathon route also passed this place on its way back to the finish line.

At the Wat Mi Chai Thing, one of the many temples in Nongkhai, during my Saturday morning run. The temple is also located along the marathon route.

With the registration done and logistic arrangement made, the challenge for me back then was to look for a traveling buddy. Convincing friends to go to a race at this remote place and non-popular race like this was quite challenging but I knew one friend who would buy into this idea. And true enough, I had Shahidan with me in Nong Khai just like how it was in Vientiane, although I wasn't sure if he would make this trip only until a few days before the trip started. Then, it was to train for the marathon. Post BUTM100, my training went down south and I gained weight. Deep inside, I was quite relieved with the cancellation of SCKLM because I wasn't sure if I could run a good race with my condition that time.

But for Nong Khai Marathon, I had planned it to be a special marathon, probably as a gift for my birthday and was eyeing quite a high target from it. Based from my experience in Vientiane Marathon - the flat routem the high altitude, and the cold weather, I had specifically picked Nong Khai Marathon to try to go for no less than a 3:39:59 marathon, if not a PB (better than 3:29:15, Tokyo 2015). I was in dire need to try to run a sub 3:30-hour marathon again, to see if I'm worthy to be in the league and that the one in Tokyo was not a fluke. In between the cancelled SCKLM and Nong Khai, I focused my training on mid-distance speed (those of 20-25kms) by trying to hold to sub 5:00-minute pace as long as I could, and on the hillworks for cross-training. On weekends, hillworks were done in Gunung Broga and Tokwan but when back then when it was hazy, treadmill was my best friend, set it up with 15-degree elevation and tried to run it. For LSD, I only had one run of more than 25km which was during the Ricky Lightfoot Borneo Challenge where it was a very slow race with combination or lots of hills. I had two other races in between to test out my speed - the 22km 2XU Compression Run and the 15km LHKSNS.

At the race pack collection with the traveling buddy, Shahidan

Done with the bib collection. Hopefully 31 will be the lucky number for my 33rd full marathon.

As expected, it was a chill morning with temperature around 18-degree Celcius (slightly higher than in Berlin 2012) and remained cold and cloudy until race ended (even until noon). Nong Khai, just like Vientiane, is located some 150m asl, and that explains the cold weather, I think. As our hotel is just some 1.3km away, we decided to walk/run to the race site, instead of taking a tuk-tuk ride. We arrived at the race site with some 20 minutes before the flag off at 3am and the place was not crowded at all. Even there was no queue for the drop bag, and even the public restroom inside VViang Lifestyle Mall. After we're done with all that (bag drop and toilet break), we headed to the start line just outside the mall and on the main street. The set-up reminds me of Hatyai Marathon. Again, it was not crowded at all at the start line. From my judgement, I think there were less than 200 runners at the start line (from the race results, there were 125 total full marathon finishers). From there, I knew it would be a lonely run where runners will be spread apart from each other, especially when you're doing sub 3:30- or 4:00-hour pace.

At the start line with few minutes before flag off. Not pack at all! You can walk to the most back of the pack and still walk to the front again to start your marathon :p

The race was flagged off at 3am Thailand time. It was just a short run in the city as we headed out from the city towards Tha Bo, a neighboring town. At about KM3.5, we were on a 2-lane, intercity road that connects Nong Khai and Tha Bo. I've studied the route map and I knew it was a long straight route up to KM18 before you make a u-turn for another long stretch before entering the town with some 8km before the finish line. The long stretch reminded me again about Hatyai Marathon where a major part of the route was ran on a long highway. But for Nong Khai, it was not a highway but a rural intercity road, just like the old road from Tanjong Malim to Bidor, for example, where you can find houses, villages and shops on both sides of the road. The only thing is that, you could barely see much because it was still dark. On map, you could see yourself running along Mekong River but the truth fact is that the the river is behind those houses and villages and you can't see it from the road until you get back into Nong Khai city.

And I decided to start from the front...
[photo by Amazing Field]

As expected, the route was pancake flat and you wouldn't feel the slightest incline. True enough, upon checking my race details in Garmin Connect, total elevation gain was just 29m while elevation loss was 28m. A great recipe for a PB run! But eventhough it was pancake flat, one has to be mentally prepared for the long 30km out-and-back route as I mentioned earlier, and you have to constantly put all your efforts to move your foot in front of another, and repeat throughout, as there was no downhill to give you momentum, and in most time you'll be running alone along the whole course. I entertained myself by calculating my pace with several target finish time, expected finishing time, how much time I have to rest or allowed to have walk breaks, all those things. There was nothing interesting to tell in the first half of the race except that I noticed that water stations were placed every 2km with the local energy drinks served every 6km, if I'm not mistaken. Some stations served fruits but I didn't bother. I was good with Hammer gel which I consumed a pack for every 45 minutes.

My run was great at the beginning. My first 10km was done in 46:35-minutes and the second 10km was done in 46:37-minutes. At that moment, I thought of achieving a lot better than my PB in Tokyo, only if I could maintain the same pace. I even achieved PB for my half marathon, 1:38:38-hour, four minutes better than my HM PB in Sundown JB 2015. The goal at that time was to maintain sub 5:00-minute pace for as long as I could. I was still doing great up to the u-turn at KM18. Approaching the u-turn, I could already saw the front runners making their ways on opposite direction towards the finish line. There were not that many though and I was in 13th position at the u-turn which is not bad, I told myself. Not long after the u-turn, I saw Shahidan on the other side and I reckoned that he was doing a 5:30-minute pace at least, not bad either. But it was not so surprising as he has been training on the high altitude environment in Africa.

I continued running towards the city, still trying hard to maintain the 5:00-minute pace. It was same story about the route and the water stations. At one point, the HM and FM runners merged but it didn't give much problems as the number of participants were small. Only problem was that, I lost count on my position as some runners overtook me whilst I overtook some but I couldn't distinguish which categories they were running in. As much as I wanted to smash my PB by few minutes, my legs wasn't thinking the same. By KM28, my pace started to drop to more than 5:00-minute. Next goal kicked in - which was to maintain my average pace to sub 5:00-minute for as long as I could. I think the legs started to tire early due to the lack of 30km+ LSD training. I slowed down, but I tried as much to minimize the manage by keeping the pace to under 5:10-minute now and it worked. It kept my average pace to be under 4:50-minute all the way up to KM36. My third 10km was done in a slow 49:40-minute, that gave me 2:23-hour for 30km. That means, I have about 1:07-hour for the next 12km+ to finish under 3:30-hour. On paper, it sounds so doable but with the weary legs, I wasn't sure.

Just passed one of the water stations on my way back to the city. At this point, the FM runners were already merged with the HM runners.
[photo by Amazing Field]

We got back into the city with 8km to go. It was a 4km run by the river to the end of the city, make a u-turn and another 4km along the main road and shop houses on left and right to the finish line. My legs got really tired by KM36 and it got worse after the u-turn. The last 4km was like forever and it was so dreadful. I was moving like my legs were strapped with heavy chain that they could barely move. My thighs were tight, my glutes were sore. Thankfully cramps stayed at bay throughout the race. I regretted for missing my LSD runs. It was a mentally long stretch, like never ending. Just like in Hatyai. There were a few times that I stopped to walk for some 15-30 second before picking up my run again. My mind was calculating the pace required in the last two to three kilometers and sending the message to the legs but the legs just couldn't process it and make it happen. The mind got frustrated a bit and just let the body goes with the flow. During those walk breaks, I was even content to finish outside 3:30-hour as it was still a good effort, I think, to finish with the timing. I was ready to accept the defeat, to accept the fact that I was still not a sub 3:30-hour marathon material, that I'm still not ready for this.

It was a very slow 53:11-minute for my fourth 10km split. Something that I need to work on.

I was cursing the never ending stretch, when all shops on left and right looks exactly the same to me, and with my body started to feel cold (which I never felt that way before) like I want to faint, I saw the finishing arch from afar. But I just couldn't gauge how far it was but I was sure that the race will not be over distance or over distance by much (like in Tokyo). Looking at my Garmin FR920XT watch, I thought there could be a possibility for me to PB by the slightest margin. All I had to do was just run until the finish line. In the end, the earlier pace I had made up for the slow final 4km of the race. I was also thankful that the race didn't go to over distance, just ngam ngam 42.22km, again similar to Vientiane, as I didn't have enough buffer time for sub 3:30-hour if it does. I was glad that it was a PB! although by just 23 seconds from Tokyo. 3 hours, 28 minutes and 15 seconds - this is a new time to beat for me. Pace wise, I actually did better in Tokyo as it went 1km longer.

That PB moment! Crossing the finish line feeling all satisfied. But still there is a slight painful expression on my face...
[photo by Amazing Field]

It was all jolly after the race. I could not hide my satisfaction and my happiness that I messaged my team breaking the news to them first. I was grinning from ear to ear although the legs were quite in pain. The results came out not long after that, I finished in 13th position overall and 5th in Men's 30-39 age category. No trophy or prize for me as it was just for top three runners in each category but I was more than happy to bring back this PB with me. If in Tokyo, I wasn't sure when I could do sub 3:30-hour marathon again or even coming close to the mark, but after Nong Khai Marathon (and Kuching Marathon), I was sure that it will come more often from now.

Until the next race!



For overall results of 1st Nongkhai Marathon, click here.
For my race details on Garmin Connect, click here.

Garmin Forerunner 225 - Test

Inspired by the debate of capability of optical heart rate monitor has inspired Team2ndskin athletes to highlight some of the interesting features in Garmin Forerunner 225. The conventional chest strap tracks the heart rate closer to the heart so some athletes argue that it is much more accurate than the wrist optical heart rate that read the flow of blood. Eager to stay relevant in the HRM market, the chest straps now are installed with more sensors for more data collection which the wrist optical sensors are still catching up. Since both have its own strength, let's do a reality check to confirm.

Team2ndskin Athlete Tri Stupe wrote the Unboxing and Review for Garmin Forerunner 225 here.http://www.tristupe.com/2015/08/garmin-forerunner-fr225-unboxing-and.html

The Garmin Forerunner 225 needs to be strapped properly to get an accurate reading. Get the green light nicely sealed, the heart rate reading is pretty much comparable to the chest strap. Those days when the the chest strap dominates the market, there's not a choice for us to read our heart rate. In terms of comfort and convenience, definitely the wrist optical heart rate wins the battle.

Garmin Forerunner 225 is equipped with a detachable soft silicon seal surrounding the optical sensor for better light sealing. It cups on the wrist nicely and seals the green light from leaking. It's quite comfortable to be worn over a long period compared to those HRM without silicon seal. 

This is a good watch for the gym goers post office hours, save the hassle of digging the gym bag searching for the chest strap. Surprisingly, it is still able to give me reading with my long sleeve shirt underneath! This GPS watch has a built in accelerometer to capture distance and pace for indoor workout too. Other than functioning as a GPS watch, Garmin Forerunner 225 doubles the value by working as an activity tracker (distance, calorie burned, steps).

Will the Garmin Forerunner 225 give reading underwater? The answer is YES!

I made my mum dip her wrist inside a bucket of water, this is the evidence.

If a bucket of water is not enough to convince u, here is a workout I did in Gunung Keriang Indoor Pool just to get the heart rate data. Disregard the messy GPS because indoor pool swim's GPS data is definitely inaccurate. 

Coming to the ultimate battle between a chest strap HRM of Garmin Forerunner 920xt and wrist base Optical HRM, team2ndskin athlete Lt Chan Jun Shen ran a 20km to test both of the hottest watches in Garmin's product range! 

In general, the pace, cadence and elevation give nearly the same reading. However, the main concern is the heart rate. The first 10km, the Garmin Forerunner 225 was worn slightly loose which gives spiky heart rate graph due to the possible optical light leak during arm swing motion. The 2nd half of the run was done with a tighter fit, proven to have smoother graph and as smooth as the data gained from chest strap of Garmin Forerunner 920xt.  

*the heart rate zone for Garmin Forerunner 225 was not set to max heart rate because I did the test after my teammate Tri Stupe used it so it explains why the zone is different. 

Hope the test clears some of the doubts on the ability of Garmin Forerunner 225. This unit of FR225 is sponsored to Team 2ndSkin by AECO Technologies, the authorised Distributor of Garmin Malaysia. RRP for FR225 is RM1299 including GST and available at all authorised resellers. 

Team2ndskin Garmin Clinic Revision - High Intensity Interval Training

Dear Participants of Team2ndskin Garmin Running Clinic,

The High Intensity Interval Training has been successfully completed today with plenty of new knowledge especially on heart rate, pace management, training program and running posture. The 5km HIIT is a very useful tool for you to kick start and juggle around to find what kind of HIIT is best for you. There are so many types of HIITs out there for you to try, I'd suggest all of you to try out and experiment what is best for you. In case of uncertainties, we are always here to help.

Do some revision with the notes shown to you guys just now. 

The workout could be improved and pushed to a new limit by correcting some of the very minor mistakes which are:

Breathing Rhythm

Do not restrict yourself from breathing. The air is free of charge so why refrain from breathing? Get the rhythm right, either 1 inhale 3 exhales, 2 inhales 2 exhales and so on. There is no single method works for everybody, so find what suits you best. Once the breathing is corrected, chances of getting side stitches could be reduced and definitely you can go faster to score your Max Heart Rate in your next HIIT. To cure side stitches, slow down and exhale hard as the opposite foot strike the ground.

Breakfast

I am not a breakfast guy but I take breakfast prior to all major races because it is too important to be neglected. The best time to have big breakfast is around 2 hours before the race. Late breakfast can cause side stitches. Optionally, take light breakfast such as bananas before the workout. 

Posture

Maintaining a good posture is a great challenge in HIIT. As the body gets tired, it will be a huge challenge to maintain a good running posture. Remember the 4 points and the centerline, stay focus to maintain it. A good posture is the key to avoid major running injuries. 

Remember the lines and points.

Go Hard or Go Home

HIIT is meant to be intense. You will need to put in maximum effort to make the workout to be called HIIT. Upon completing a fast interval, check your Garmin to see if you've hit zone 5. Normally I'd set my Garmin to alert me once I've get 5 beats closer than my max heart rate. Don't call it a HIIT if it's not max effort.  

Max Effort! Very well done! 

Garmin Malaysia is being very generous for bringing so many different models for all of you to try. As the saying goes, early birds get the worms. Come early and you get to pick the watch first.  Come back to us if you need any assistance. Overall, job well done and plenty of room for improvement. Rest well and come back stronger.

Photos courtesy www.limiteart.com

Best Regards,

Chan Jun Shen

Team2ndskin Athlete

5 X Ironman Finisher