Clumsy Ten Toes - Friday 27th of August, 2010

When I ordered the Brooks Cascadias from the US, the store I was buying them from had some great deals on nice socks. I was never really a believer in expensive socks, writing them off as "for the rich" only, but after my mum sent me a pair Thorlos Experia, I became a convert (similar story for compression gear actually). Anyway, since I was already getting the shoes shipped over, I took advantage of the deals they had and picked up a couple of different socks including a pair of Injinji Performance Socks, with their main selling point being individual toes on the socks. So, the Injinji's got a maiden run today.

Today I ran what is probably my favourite route. Through the jungle along the trails, down to Po Lam, and back up over and around the hill to UST. The same route as on the 12th and 9th of Aug.


Emerging into the bright sun.

I can't say the Injinji performed very well on the trails. They didn't bunch up or bite between my toes at all, but seemed to be made of a material that slipped around in the shoe a bit. This meant that I didn't feel as sure-footed as usual, and felt like I was sliding around a little. I probably won't wear them for running on the trails again. I'll give them a chance on the roads, but can't see them one-upping the Thorlos there.


Old concrete steps

After coming down these steps I managed to drop my waterbottle twice (!) on the narrow section after this. Suddenly I was wishing that the drinking part had some sort of cover!


Impressive clouds, but they didn't offer any aid today, only forming out at sea.


The little track that links the dead-end roads, and allows me to stretch out the elevation gain over a longer distance, making things a little easier!

All-in-all a very hot run. Just before starting up the incline out of the valley I was feeling pretty beat, wondering if I'd make the full hill, but I just tried to relax and keeping peddling. I was pretty thankful for a quick break to snap a photo here and there though! I'm not sure how well the stopping to take photos will mesh with my desire for good times when the weather gets good enough for me to push the pace, but I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

Hiking tomorrow out on Hong Kong's MacLehose Trail. Should I include photos from that on the blog? See you on the trails!

Cheers,
Joe

http://thephotographersbiathlon.blogspot.com/