Review Fenix HL26R LED head light

Every runner knows how it is to run in pitch dark in winter time. The change you get hit by a car or sprain your ankle by missing something on the road becomes more realistic than ever. But if you want to go out instead of running inside on a running belt you have to undergo these challenges. But if you are running barefoot in the dark it’s even more challenging. 

When you are running barefoot it becomes a second nature to scan the road to avoid dead animals, snails, glass and stones, something what is very difficult in the dark.

But thanks to the invention of the LED light a headlamp can solve all your problems!!

Recently I bought the Fenix HL26R head light to try out if it works for me. And I am very pleased with it!!! The lamp is specially designed for runners, its light weight and has some great light beams to illuminate the road.

The lamp has two different light beams in several luminance levels.

Floodlight

The floodlight is used for close-range lightning and has three different modes, high, low and SOS mode. The floodlight gives enough light for walking in the dark or to do a job and have your hands free. For running in my opinion it’s not enough light to see everything you want.

Spotlight

The spotlight is perfect for running and it has four modes, low, mid, high and burst mode. Even on the low mode you have perfect visibility during running, and with the high mode you can speed up your run without any problems with visibility of the road. The burst mode you can activate by pressing the spotlight button for 1,5 seconds in any mode and it will turn on for 90 seconds. This mode is so bright that you can blind cars and they are forced to slow down. You can lite the sun for 90 seconds with one push on a button!!

Battery

I always run with the spotlight in high mode and regularly I turn on the burst mode if cars are speeding and they won’t slow down. I have charged the battery one time and I have run over 6 hours and the battery is still not empty.   The level of the battery is indicated by blue lights on the lamp.

Comfort

The lamp weights nothing, you hardly notice there is something on your head. I always wear a cap or a hat if I am running so I don’t feel the headband at all.

Conclusion

A great attribute for a little money and it brings you more comfort and safety during running in the dark. The quality is fine and the lamps feels robust, until now no complains but I just have this lamp for a few weeks.

Website

 http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=2238&tid=27&cid=2#

https://nl.knivesandtools.eu/nl/pt/-fenix-hl26r-oplaadbare-ledhoofdlamp-voor-trailrunning-zwart.htm

Barefoot and cold weather

Yesterday the first snow of the year and it was a lot of snow. A hard gusty wind makes it to a snow blizzard. Normally on Sunday I go out for a one hour run but today I had to shorten my run. Not because my feet were cold but because the snow was flying so hard it hurt my eyes and face. This brings me to running with bare feet during winter. A lot of people asked me if it’s not cold. Yes it’s cold but you can run with bare feet in the snow.

Especially if it’s dry fresh snow it’s pretty comfortable to run, if it’s melting are frozen snow than it’s a different story. Water, cold wind and low temperatures are killing for bare feet. In this conditions you have to be aware of frostbite. Also frozen snow can become very slippery and can cause you injuries. In these cases shorten your run or stay home.

Then comes the hardest part of running in the snow with bare feet, coming home and warming up. This really can hurt. It starts with an itchy feeling and then it start to hurt really badly. There are no tips or trick to avoid this, the only thing is don’t put your feet in warm water or in front of a heater!!! The best thing is to stay in a warm room and gradually warm your feet. Normally this takes about 15 minutes.

So don’t be afraid and get out in the snow, it feel pretty cool (word joke) to be able to run with your bare feet in the snow if everyone else has to put on his or her snow boots!

Time to post

After five years it’s time to pick up my blog. I was busy with study, work and family so the blogging part was not my priority. But I keep on running and yes still barefoot!

Running barefoot forces you to evaluate your running every time you go out, so each time you have the chance to improve yourself, that is one of the best things of barefoot running. How you run is the essence, how far or fast is subordinate.

If you are capable to accept that you will enjoy running more than ever.

I will try, and yes I am not promising, to write regular about barefoot related subjects and I hope this will give you food for thought!

Happy running!!! 

Snow

It has been a while that I write something on my blog, the reason was that I was recovering from an knee injury caused by kickboxing. I have learned to listen to my body and give it time to recover. But sometimes it keeps frustrating! I did not run for almost three weeks until I don’t feel my knee anymore, than I gradually started running, 20 minutes every two days for a week, 20 minutes every second day and then expand my run every two weeks with 5 minutes. Everything was going well and suddenly out of nothing at the end of a run I felt my knee again. At that time I get frustrated, but luckily  it started snowing! When it start snowing you have to get used to this low temperatures so you must shorten your time outdoor. With that as reason it was more acceptable to shorten my runs, in psychology they call this reframing and for me it works. Even a short run in the snow creates a smile on my face and gives me a strong feeling!

Hello Huaraches goodbye Five Fingers !!!

As I told in my last blog I ordered a pair of Huaraches at invisible shoes from SteveSashen. I could not wait for them. But after five days a finally get them by mail. Unfortunately I had no time to modify them ( I ordered a DIY-kit). But yesterday evening I had finally time to make them. First of all this was really easy, I made them in about 15 minutes with the clear instruction video’s from Steve. It was late but I could not wait to try them, so I put them on and I ran a few times up and down the street. I was even more enthusiastic, it felt great!! This Sunday I planned a 1 hour 20 barefoot run so I left and when I came back I  put my huaraches on and did a 3 km test run. Because of the fact I was running barefoot before I tried them on I was able to compare them with the barefoot feeling. It was unbelievable!!! You almost don’t feel them because they are very light weighted, you can feel different surface through the 4mm sole (I ordered the 4mm Contact) and your feet are still bare which is a great feeling and for me very important. Before the huaraches I use VFF’s for harsh conditions (melting asphalt) because I thought they were a good alternative for barefoot. Nothing more is true, comparing with Huaraches the VFF’s feel heavy and the sensitivity is zero. Beside that you don’t have bare feet and that is one of the reasons I like barefoot running!! With this my VFF’s had their longest time on my feet!!

Huaraches instead of Vibram Five Fingers

Every year we go to France to spend our holidays, this year was great. The weather was great, four week blue sky and temperatures between the 32 and 39 degree Celsius. I like the high temperatures like a snake lying on a rock in the sun, also I like to run in this temperatures. It’s a great feeling to feel the sun on your body ( I am working on my tanning while I am running so I only wear my shorts) and watching your shadow on the ground in a perfect cadence. The only thing I don’t like is the France asphalt, it’s a bad surface to run with bare feet. They use very sharp gravel to cover the surface to protect the asphalt from wear and tear. The first time I go out barefoot, after returning from a 30 minute run I had real damage on my feet and also melten asphalt. So there was no other choice than to use my Vibram Five Fingers. It’s the first time that I have to run on my VFF’s. After four weeks running with my VFF’s I am reasonably satisfied with them during training. The protect your feet good against the rough surfaces and the melting asphalt, but the lost of sensitivity is major. The last 10 minutes there was a new part of the road with white stripes on the side, great to run on when it’s hot, so I put of my VFF’s and go barefoot. The difference was huge!! Comparing with barefoot running with VFF’s feels like running with heavy shoes. This experience made me to look for an alternative for the VFF’s, and I decided to order some huaraches, the famous running sandals of the Tarahumara. I ordered a DIY – kit on Invisibleshoe.com and I am waiting for them. I cannot wait to put these on to try them!! If I receive the package I will write about them as soon as I tried them. Until then I will use (if necessary) my VFF’s.

My Vibrams 

Sunflowers Chateau Neuf sur Isere

No heel strike

Sometimes the answers are easy!  Looking at the picture of my last run I was confused, it looks that I landed with a heel strike. But that is almost impossible if you ran barefoot on a surface that is very rough. By chance I met a guy who is working for a company that is specialized in motion sensors and he told me that he had a colleague who is also running barefoot. So I contact the guy and he send me some links to video’s he uploaded, and one of these showed me the answer on my questions about the heel strike. Just watch this video and you will understand why. On this site from Xsens you find a video where they demonstrate how to use motion sensors in sport, at 3 minutes and 10 seconds you will find Vibram Five Fingers in action!