Friday, April 26, 2013

TIKKA XP 2 Headlamp Review

Being on the hunt for a new headlamp, local running store owner/guru, German Madrazo (of the Valley Running Co.), loaned me a headlamp to check out a few weeks ago. We had a trail night run scheduled for a few days later, so I anxiously awaited trying it out.

It was the TIKKA XP 2 headlamp.

First of all, the specifics for all of us night running nerds:

 - it has a white LED & a red LED
 - 80 lumens of power
 - 3 white lighting modes (high, low and disco...I mean strobe)
 - allows wearer to use long distance beam or flood
 - white light on low level provides up to 190 hrs. of use and high level up to 70 hrs

Going on a little 5 mile trail run at darkfall was a perfect opportunity to try it out.

PROs: It provides quite a bit of light & it is comfortable no matter how big your noggin is. The adjustable band adjusted well and kept it from sliding. The light also allowed to pivot the lamp up/down. The biggest selling point was the re-chargeableness (rechargeable battery option) of it. No more batteries - just usb it & you're ready to go.

CONs:The only concern that I have is not really fair since I haven't checked this out, but I'm curious how long the re-charged battery will last (although it claims up to 70 hours on high) on some of those much longer nite races that may of us will be doing soon. But I guess there's only 1 way to find out.

 Looks good, shines good, feels good...so it must be good. Yep, that's how I see it.

Monday, April 15, 2013

A Repeating Cycle (of running)

I'm due for my yearly physical very soon. I'm actually looking forward to it this time around because I've been incredibly fatigued this year. I'd like blame it on my (lack of a) thyroid (condition) but I think it's the fact that I've been running non stop pretty much for going on 2 years.

I was nerding on my past racing schedule (since I started keeping track of it) and I found that it's been pretty steady since the summer of 2011.

I tried listing the ones I have a record of (finisher's bling, bib, diary (yes, diary), etc), butbthere are some 5k/10ks in there that I'm sure I missed.  On top of everything else, I've been pretty lucky to have avoided major injuries.


July 2011 30k
August 2011 60k
August 2011 30k
November 2011 13.1
January 2012 50k
March 2012 50k
April 2012 50m
July 2012 60k
August 2012 30k
September 2012 60k
October 2012 50k
October 2012 100m
January 2013 100k
February 2013 100m
February 2013 13.1
February 2013 13.1
March 2013 50m
March 2013 30k

Within the last month, I've rested more than ever. Trust me, taking it easy for a month is big for me, but now it's time to start back up. The racing calendar looks pretty full starting in a couple of weeks. I've got either a 30k or 60k starting this month until August...and then the fun begins: CR 100, Bandera, and it doesn't slow down for a while.

Friday, April 12, 2013

How To Fix A Bad Day

had a pretty crappy day at work this past Monday. It wasn't pretty. I kept telling myself: 'just breathe' and 'it's not the end of the world' but it really wasn't working. 

What could I do to make myself feel better? At the top of my list was to go for a run, but I couldn't do that 'til the end of the day, and I really couldn't wait. 

2nd on my list? Drink a strong scalding cappuccino, but I couldn't really get away. Dang. 

I finally thought of something: register for a race!!! Duh, why didn't I think of this earlier?

I registered for Pandora's Box of Rox Trail marathon, and you know what? I suddenly felt better. Much better. 

This could be an expensive solution to my bad days, but I think I'm gonna be looking forward to those types of days...

Tejas Trails