In total, 12 people will be selected and will run in their very first Trail race and form part of the EcoTrailBlazers team for 2020.
Each runner chosen will receive a free entry to the 18km or 29km and a free pair of superb trail running shoes courtesy of HOKA ONE ONE.
To be eligible, you must be a new to trail running and that you are running your first trail or mountain race which will take place on September 26th and are willing to share your experiences along the way until race day.
Each team member will also receive a training plan from one of Ireland´s finest running coaches, Running Coach Ireland - René Borg.
Do get in touch with us via IG, FB or email kelly@amphibianking.ie as entries will close on June 24th and we will be announcing our new #EcoTrailBlazers Wicklow team on June 29th with the training plan to begin on July 1st.
Looking for a new challenge....go for it!
We have set up a little challenge / competition to anyone interested in pushing themselves to take part in the David Goggins Challenge. For those that may not be too familiar, David Goggins is an American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, motivational speaker and author. He is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. The 4x4x48 challenge was made popular by David.
The challenge is to run 4 miles, every 4 hours for 48 hours. Simpy tag us in your challenge on IG or FB and we will include your name in the hat to win a pair of carbon runners.
Back in the middle of March this year we were faced with many new challenges. During times of uncertainty we either push on or pull back. AK's Damian McKeever inspired by David's book decided to take on the 4x4x48 challenge. I think the sleep deprivation was the most difficult part for Damian but he dug deep and completed it on March 16th 2020.
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The Clifton 6 is one of their flagship shoes this and the Bondi are by far the two biggest sellers in both Amphibian King stores. They have updated the upper on this shoe, version 5 was prone to rips at the side which would come towards the end of life of the shoe and this has been addressed. The EVA they are using in the midsole is slightly different and definitely has a softer feel under foot. I did find my pair showing wear signs on the midsole after pax 250-300k. They weren't gone at that stage but you could see wear signs on them which wouldn't happen with the brands that tend to use more blown rubber on the outsoles like a Mizuno or Asics. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as some people don't notice that the cushioning is actually gone in the midsole of a pair of shoes so the fact that brands like Hoka and Saucony will show signs of wearing remind people to replace them.
If you've worn the Clifton before I think you'll like the update. The toe box is roomer which was definitely needed and the cushioning is nice and light. This is a daily mileage trainner and is a good option for someone looking to try their first Hoka one one shoe.
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Meanwhile brands like Brooks, Saucony and in particular Hoka have come in and taken slices of Asics market share. Asics have finally come out with a shoe that is different to their everyday range. The Glideride is the start of it but they are essentially building a range that is set to compete with the new comers.
The first thing you will notice about the Glideride is how similar it looks to a traditional Hoka Bondi or Clifton. It has the Rocker look about it and looks very familiar. The fit is more generous than Asics normal fit and that has to do with the Stretch design of the upper on this shoe. I haven't worn Asics in over 12 years apart from the Rep giving me the odd pair of Nimbus to test out but I've ended up giving them away to a friend as in my opinion there was better options out there.
This is the first pair of Asics runners i've liked in years. I've actually worn them out which for me doesn't normally happen with a pair of shoes. Cushioning in them is very similar to Hoka. In the Hoka range I normally run in the Clifton in the wider width fitting. In the Asics I felt ok in the standard width. You can definitely feel the rocker effect in them. The support under your arch is also familiar to me from years ago with Asics.
How long did they last- A lot longer than my Hoka to be fair. I'm big at 90kg so I go through shoes quick enough. The first thing to go in a shoe is the cushioning and I start to pick up niggles typically my Calf tightens up as the runner comes close to end of life. This happened at around 600k for me is a decent length of time to get out of them.
We've sold a decent amount of them in store already and feedback has been good. I think this is going to be a big seller for Asics but it'll take a little bit of time, like any new shoe on the market takes a few years for word to filter out and also the repeat purchases.
Big guy looking for a good cushioned training shoe this is a good option. I'm not too sure you're light club runner is going to like it.
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Here's what we thought after running in the shoe for a little over a month.
First feel on in the shop this is a heavily cushioned shoe. You feel the spongy cushioning coming from the midsole straight away. Some customers don't like this they like to be able to feel the ground but if you prefer a very soft cushioned shoe I think you might like the Skyrise.
Size wise it fits pretty true to size. I had read a few reviews whereby they mentioned fitting a half size up but trying it on for customers in store in Amphibian King we've found it to be a shoe that measures close to size and is consistent to Mizuno's other shoes.
Many customers coming in store have their own orthotics that they like to put into the shoe. A lot of the podiatrists that recommend Mizuno used to recommend the Mizuno Wave Ultima which took an orthotic very well. The Sky Rise is supposed to fulfil that function but we didn't find that with this particular shoe.
In fact if you were to compare it directly against the Ultima The Sky Rise is a more comfortable shoe to try on straight off the bat. However we have struggled with some of the bigger orthotics going inside it. The shoe itself isn't as deep as the Ultima was.
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My only other result of note was in a previous Ironman when I was second man home from my country. Now in fairness I selected Afghanistan 🇦🇫 as it was the first country on the list, I assumed I’d be the only one from Afghanistan. Until Abdul decided he was going to give Ironman a shot and beat me in the run 😖😖. Then he tried to become Facebook friends with me 😒.
I’m 97 Kilos so I assumed if I lost 20 kilos I’d be sorted and Kona here we come. I told the girls in Avoca I was on a diet and they kind of laughed I don’t think I had buy in from all my support crew. The happy pear were keen to come on board and sponsor me free porridge every morning. It turns out it’s a lot harder to lose 20 kilos than those ads make it out to be. I trained hard but I only lost 2 Kilos by the time race week arrived. Kelly and the kids were still optimistic about Kona ......... me less so. Although I didn’t have the heart to tell them. I trained about 10 hours a week at least 5 of those were in the water so if nothing else I’d put on a good show in the first leg.
I went down to test the water the day before, there were a few Americans there. They were suited booted and gloves everywhere covered I was just in my togs. They found the water freezing 🥶 and never got deeper than their waist. It was 14 degrees roasting 🥵. I sort of knew at that stage the swim probably wouldn’t be happening, in the end it was a rough old day and sensibly the swim was cancelled.
In my previous Ironman I’d never have my bike checked in until the morning of the event and the race director usually knows me by first name because I’m so disorganised. I usually lose numbers bags shoes anything really. The Barcelona race director actually met me on the morning of the race after his staff were frantically looking for my misplaced bike bag and his words when he saw me “not this fu*cking dope again” his English was very good.
This was different though everything went smoothly I even checked the bike in that night, admittedly it was technically after transition was closed around 7 but it was a full 10 hours before race start. 😮
Went back to the hotel Jamie and Neil were getting ready, Jamie is really serious and has proper ambitions in his age group. He writes like motivational stuff on his arm before the race. He had like “Pain is Temporary”I thought about what I could write on my arm that would keep me going “pain is temporary but fatcam will slag me forever”.
So we got there the morning of it. Swim cancelled bikes leaving every 6 seconds. One of my few outstanding qualities is been able to deal with excessive heat or excessive cold my body seems to adapt easy enough. So I thought I’d wait to be one of the last to leave thinking that would give me a good chance. Big mistake the weather got worse the longer we waited eventually about 2 hours after the official race start we were almost kicked out of transition. Reluctantly I started my race.
First 30k relatively uneventful. At about 34k I saw my first one, kind of tanned man standing with his bike taking shelter whilst wearing a trisuit, I don’t want to be called racist but I’m guessing he wasn’t from Ireland unless he’s on the sunbeds. This was a regular enough feature throughout the bike course like every 10k or so you’d see someone with a foil blanket or something.
Bike was shocking bad, like I’m not strong on the bike but I did the first lap handy enough in 3:30 gave the same effort on the 2nd lap held the power the same np 200 watts but took me 4:10🙈. Ger Kennedy shouted at me and ran beside me giving me dogs abuse going up windmill hill. I got to the top alright but then I cried 😭 for a little while. I stopped at the special needs bag, I didn’t have a special needs bag but I decided to stop and have a rummage through the guys bags they’d all passed through at this stage found a nice hang sand which and a can of Coke.
Came into transition with 3 other lads. One was American the other two weren’t very chatty. I went running in to get my bag the other lads had enough weren’t going onto the run. I was at the back of the field spending so much time in the holding pen and not been fast 💨 hadn’t helped.
It didn’t get any better on the run. Just never felt great on the day from the start, I can’t blame the weather as I genuinely don’t think I was that bothered by it. In the end it was walk run strategy mostly walking. Definitely keeping food down was a problem thankfully I don’t get problems at the other end but I just struggle to keep eating and drinking it’s as if my stomach can only hold so much and it can’t process it until I stop moving. The rain ☔️ on the run had me chaffed to bits on the inner thigh despite shorts and body glide.
It really took everything I had even at the last bit you go past your bike on 40k to the finish line at this stage I was walking. I knew once I crossed the line he was going to send me back 2k to get my bike. So I made a deal with myself I wasn’t going back to get my bike I was going to finish go to bed and deal with that shit in the morning. So that’s what I did thankfully Jamie who bizarrely was still buzzing the next day (he’s a pharmacist I must find out what he takes) went down and got my car there wasn’t many bikes left
So the run was just under 6 hours 🙈🙈🙈. The bike was 7:37 that gave me a total of 13:49........there wasn’t too many people behind me.
I got home Kelly had cancelled the open top bus 🚌 that was supposed to take me through the streets of Greystones as the the towns first Kona qualifier. The Happy Pear 🍐 have sent me legal letters saying they were never a sponsor of mine and they want all references of them removed from social media. They claim they give free porridge to everyone, that won’t wash in court. It’s a week out and my family have managed to put this whole fiasco behind them.
Kelly has hidden my bike and said it’s only embarrassing the family by going out in it. Maybe I could concentrate on swimming the channel or something instead next year, just not another Ironman. I told her that there was a very high fatality rate on the channel, she rang one of the boats and secured me a place for 2020.
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The main concept behind the Hoka’s is maximum cushioning. This rocker motion that they have on them which seems to propel you onto mid foot or fore foot a little more is the thing most people will comment about when you get them onto feet initially.
As a brand they do tend to find narrow enough. We have found many people coming in looking for Hoka’s as they’ve read up about them but end up leaving with Altra’s as their foot was too wide.
One of the earlier complaints about Hoka’s was “Hoka blisters” this was generally in between the toes and after longer runs. As you run your foot expands they don’t have a huge amount of space in the toe box compared to say an Altra or even Mizuno so people’s feet tended to blister. I have quiet a wide foot and have struggled for widths on brands like Asics however I found the Hoka Clifton to be fine on the width and didn’t suffer with any blisters.
The first run I did in them was a 5k and they felt amazing like revolutionary type amazing felt like I was bouncing along. I didn’t run in them for two days and whilst they didn’t feel bad they weren’t quiet as “amazing” as the first day. They’re still probably my favourite shoe at the moment of the ones in rotation (Brooks Leviate, 361 degrees sensation 2 and Brooks Ghost).
They’re definitely something very different. When trying them on with customers it’s very easy there’s no middle ground with them. The customers either love them or hate them straight away. Because of the fact that you’re so high off the ground they haven’t been as popular with people suffering with weaker ankles or who have rolled their ankles regularly. Many physio’s are recommending them for patients with Plantar fasciitis and I can see the benefit in terms of cushioning under the heel.
The customers who have purchased have been very happy and we’ve already had a good few repeat customers on them even though we’ve only had them in a little over 5 months.
Next time you’re looking to upgrade the shoes especially if you’re coming out of a more traditional running shoe it’s definitely worth trying them on anyway and having a little run in them. You’ll know fairly quick if they’re for you.
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So we're going to give it a crack on Saturday in Shanganagh park run. Training went ok this week. I was more confident 8 weeks ago when I was giving it a shot then I am this week. That was misplaced confidence to be fair, I'm not sure why I was so confident I hadn't really done many k's under 4 minutes. This time I know I haven't quiet been able to hit the times Gary was giving me so it doesn't bode well for Saturday.
On the flip side i'm in much better shape than I was 8 weeks ago and it's just 80 seconds I have to knock off. I went into the phoneix park this week to do my interval session it was tough. I had to do 1*800 meters at 4 min k pace then 200 recovery then 4*400 at sub 4 min k pace and 100 recovery then 1*800 a 4 min k. My legs just went to jelly after the 3rd 400 and couldn't hit the times after that. I didn't eat well on the day and hopefully just ran out of fuel.
We're trying to get someone to pace us on Saturday so if you're around at 9:30 on Saturday be great to get a hand going around. Whatever happens on Friday i'll be going back to longer slower runs with the Ironman and Brecca looming on the Horizion.
]]>1) Believe it or not your feet don't stop growing in your late teens. As we age our feet tend to splay out and take up more room in the shoe, so it is worth measuring your feet every once in a while to see what size you actually are.
2) The time of day you are buying your shoes can be important. If you are buying your running shoes first thing in the morning your feet have not swollen at all and will usually fit very different to the end of the day when you've been on your feet for the whole day. Ideally if you can try on shoes in the afternoon it gives you a better idea how the shoe may feel.
3) If you are only ever doing a 5k or 10k distance race you can usually allow the shoe to fit pretty tight because your foot won't expand that much during the course of the race. If however you are doing the marathon you may want to leave a little bit of extra room in the shoe to ensure that when your foot expands your not hitting the top of the shoe.
4) What brand of shoe are you running in. The brands can't even decide if there is a full size between mens UK and US size charts so they are by no means the same when it comes to fitting across all the brands. As a general rule New Balance drop down half a size for the UK sizing but most brands will drop down a full size. So just because your a UK9 in Asics doesn't mean you'll be a UK9 in New Balance.
5) Width- So many people get measured for a pair of shoes and only come away with one fitting the length but you need to have a look at the width. Many of the brands will do wider fitting shoes or just to get a brand that is wider fitting. For example many customers have a wide foot and could be in a very narrow fitting brand.
If you are having trouble getting something that fits you right, make sure the person measuring you up knows what they are doing. We can spend ages getting you into the right type of shoe but at the end of the day it's you wearing the shoe and it needs to be comfortable on your foot only you can know this.
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This is a category that has been really strong for Saucony. The light weight training shoe as opposed to an out and out Racing flat. Saucony have targeted the Kinvara customer who is looking for a lighter more cushioned shoe.
With their new Everrun technology running the whole way through the midsole it is giving this shoe a very good "in shop feel". We've had it in store now nearly 4 months and customers have been really impressed with how it feels in store compared to Kinvara.
The shoe fits a little bit narrower than a Sacuony Kinvara and some existing Kinvara customers have gone up a size in this shoe. This shoe really suits two different types of customer.
1) That heavier runner with a heavy foot strike who is looking at getting something lighter onto his/her feet and is looking at Racing flats. For this customer this would be another shoe to add to the mix which would be used mostly for races and tempo or interval runs but not for long runs.
2) The good club runner who is looking for a lightweight shoe that does everything, their long run and can still do their club sessions in them. This type of runner may only have the one shoe on the go and this would be their go to shoe.
It's interesting how many shoes Saucony have produced in this category in the past 6/7 years they clearly see a lot of growth in this area as opposed to your traditional high mileage shoe like a Nimbus or Ghost.
Available online or in store.
https://www.amphibianking.ie/products/saucony-freedom-iso-mens
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There is a part of it that appeals to the person looking for a more minimalist running shoe, it's light it's very flexible but it has got quiet a high drop for someone who normally likes a more minimalist shoe. 9mm is seen as very high for a racing flat considering most Saucony and New Balance shoes are 8mm drops and their minimalist/racing flats tend to be 4mm drops. So it may suit someone who likes a racing flat shoe but is looking for something with a higher drop than your standard shoe.
Customers who are coming from the Hitogami 3 to this version have commented on a slightly more flexible feel to the shoe and initially it appears to be fitting a little tighter with two customers going up a half a size from their Hitogami 3.
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This shoe has only been with us now a few weeks but here's our intial thoughts on it. Mizuno have struggled a bit with whats called "in store fit". So this is what the brands are calling that intial feeling you get when you put your foot into the shoe, how soft and comfortable it feels. Mizuno rely on the Wave plate as both their cushioning and support system and as a results some consumers can find their shoes a little "firm" in store.
They've changed things around a bit with this. Although this shoe still uses wave for the support and cushioning customers are remarking how comfortable it feels in store. So the reaction it's been getting is more positive than something like a Mizuno wave Inspire which whilst is a great shoe can feel a little firm in store.
Product features:
- Complete new full-length L-Fan-shaped Wave providing moderate support combined with maximum cushioning
- Light and breathable engineered mesh to ensure durability and snug fit
- Soft flexible midfoot reinforcements and bootie gasette tongue construction
- U4icX forefoot and heel wedge
I've got a pair myself that I have been testing, whilst it's early days now having only clocked up 90k's on them they feel very comfortable and i'll do the half marathon in them at the end of the week.
For someone who is coming out of an Inspire it's worth checking out this as an option but even for someone coming from Kayno, Adrenline, New Balance 860 and that type of a shoe I think they should be having a look at this shoe also.
https://www.amphibianking.ie/products/mizuno-mens-horizion
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1. Put a goal down
I know some people say they are only running for weight loss or fitness and they have no interest in "racing". However if there is an end goal in sight and you are running and training towards that the weight loss or fitness comes as part of that. The race at the end of 8 weeks is your way of getting fit.
2. Buddy system.
Ideally join a club or the many running groups that are around now, not only will you get some great advice but you'll also feel on the cold wet January nights that you may have skipped that people expect to see you there.
3. Commit to it.
Stick a few photo's of you out running on social media. You'll be amazed most people will encourage you and want you to succeed, those who don't are just jealous you're out there and they're not.
4. Reward yourself.
Say for example you were in your local friendly running store and there was a jacket that you really liked but couldn't justify paying for it as it was a little too expensive, make a deal with yourself if you complete all you said you would running wise in January than your going to get the Jacket.
5. Track everything.
There's great apps out there now to keep track of all your runs. It may not seem like such a big deal now but in June when you go back and look at what you did in January you can see how far you've come. It helps keep the motivation up!!
Best of luck and remember now is the easiest time to get PB's so go out there an get them.
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Our Gift Vouchers
Don't have an expiry date as long as you have the voucher we will redeem it for you.
Our Vouchers don't lose value over time the way some stores do.
When the voucher is purchased we try and put it also on the customers account so that if the voucher is lost and we can locate the number we may be able to help the customer. Many stores have a lost voucher is the same as cash and will not look beyond that.
If you only spend part of the voucher we can give you a voucher for the balance.
Here is a list from Consumer help Ireland about what you should be looking for in a voucher
http://www.consumerhelp.ie/gift-vouchers?gclid=CMTTkuT32MkCFSWg2wodqN4MnQ
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So this is Asics newest greatest shoe. Asics have spent a lot of time and money researching this shoe that doesn't always translate to the best shoe ever. Probably the single biggest talking point about this shoe is the price tag, at €250 it is expensive there's no getting away from that. So lets look at everything else.
First feel in the shop.
If you can get over the price tag and try the shoe on it's surprising light, we weighed the uk size 8 at 315 grams which is a good deal lighter than the Kayano. This is not targeted as a light weight shoe so of course if you pick up performance trainers and racing flats you'll have no problems finding something lighter than it.
The Tech bit.
So Asics have bought a lot of new technologies to the market which is good as it's been a while since they have updated a lot of their technologies. Duomax was first introduced to the market in the 90's. They have now changed it really for the first time in this shoe to introduce sloped duomax and adaptruss. Which is part of the Carbon fibre in the shoe that has made all the headlines. So it is quiet rigid on the medial side protecting the overpronator.
They have also introduced XGel which is a new type of cushioning system which will be rolled out in all their shoes going forward. The new EVA (midsole material) is also lighter and more responsive.
Been the only shop in Ireland to have these shoes we've had a few pairs going around amongst the Staff. The general consensus was if you like the Kayano or even the 2000's your going to love the Metarun. If you aren't an Asics kind of guy or girl they are worth trying on to see if you like them as the fit is certainly different.
If your go to shoe is something lightweight like a DS Trainer/Brooks Launch/Saucony Kinvara or Nike Free I don't think your going to like this shoe, too rigid too heavy.
We will receive our full drop of shoes in March. At the moment we just received a limited drop and because there were pre orders down we have some holes in our size run that we can't get until March. If your a common size though we probably have it in stock so drop in store and try them out.
]]>I'm a big runner so I like very cushioned shoes, but I do overpronate and need a little bit of support at the same time. Previously i've run in the Brooks Transcend (which I loved but it wasn't a very popular shoe) and my go to shoe for the past few years has always been the Saucony Omni.
I felt really comfortable in the Guides. I've probably clocked close to 150k on them at the moment so I can't comment on how long the EVERUN lasts but i've been told that it doesn't break down as quickly as previous EVA models.
I haven't been that comfortable at 8mm drop shoes, I usually prefer a 12mm drop shoe as my Achilles tends to flair up on lower drop shoes. I will continue to use these shoes but alternate between a 12mm drop shoe.
We've only had them in the shop a little over two weeks at this stage so it's interesting getting customers reactions to them. Existing customers of the Saucony Guide notice a real difference in the new shoe, it's been all positive so far.
]]>I've tried plenty of Brooks shoes in my time mainly their support ones as I tend to need a support shoe especially for the longer runs. This was my first time trying something new for the Dublin half marathon 2015. I got them about 2 weeks before the half and started to break them in on the shorter runs. I had been suffering a bit with a tight right calf and since moving over to the Ravena with the higher drop it seems to have cleared up a good bit. It wasn't something that was stopping me from training but I could just feel it on the runs. I'm trying to improve my technique but at the moment I still heel strike (God feel like i'm at an AA meeting). Two weeks into it and the tight calf has cleared up, I can't be 100% sure it was the shoes as I was doing a lot more foam rolling also but I won't be going back into the lower drop shoes for a while.
So ran the Dublin half marathon on Saturday with no problems (other than a slow time!!). I found them a bit lighter than what i'm used to, you could certainly feel the higher heel drop but I was happy with that. We have noticed more people coming in store and having tight calfs or Achilles tendon. Not always but sometimes we're finding some of the brands with a higher heel to toe differential is helping them recover.
Damian.
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