On Sunday I ran my eighth 90km/56mi Comrades Marathon but my first time testing the new Pebble smart watch on such a long distance. So how did the Pebble with the RunKeeper app handle a 12 hour, 90km race run in extreme 30+C conditions?

Firstly I realised that my iPhone 5 battery was not likely to last the entire 12 hours, especially if I had live tracking on. So I bought a 2800mAh external battery backup Power Bank cover that I slipped onto my phone to give it extended life. This worked amazingly well, and I ended the day with 50% batter power. However as the drama of the day would have it, I forgot to turn life tracking on at the start of the race, so was not losing additional power on internet activity. I could do nothing about it afterwards without restarting my RunKeeper workout - which would have messed all my race times. So it would be nice if RunKeeper had a way to turn on Live Tracking at any stage, even if an activity has been started. So friends and family were left to follow my progress via SMS updates sent via timing mats or using "Find my iPhone".

SO HOW DID IT GO?
For some reason my RunKeeper displays a strange block when displaying the distance on the Pebble. So instead of 10:27 it shows a block, as depicted alongside. This is a minor annoyance. What I am a little disappointed with, considering I really am a big fan of RunKeeper, is there support. As an "elite" customer (you pay to be elite), I reported this to them on May 15 (now 3 weeks ago) and have not heard anything from them!

Also I found as the distance got higher and higher it started to drop the decimal numbers and displayed, for example, 63:...km. However, this too was not a big deal as I mainly needed my pace, time and distance.

HOWEVER, at about the 70km mark...my brain is a little fuzzy of the exact distance due to pain and suffering, disaster struck! All of a sudden the RunKeeper app stopped displaying on my watch. I was suddenly without any information. I could of course have tried to look at my iPhone, but that is not a realistic option at this stage. Fatigue is so great that attempting to do this is just not feasible. So I was stuck with only the time of day and the distance markers on the course. This was nearly my undoing. With about 15km to go I realised that I could not, as with previous years, walk and finish, I would have to in fact do quite a lot of running in the final part. Not a thought I relished. And so the last part became an intense battle against fatigue, nausea, and blasting hot winds to reach the end.

THE VERDICT
This is new technology. I was so pleased that my Pebble arrived literally 2 weeks before the big event AND RunKeeper integration happened at about the same time. The timing was awesome, but the technology new.

There is still quite a bit of work to be done to make the integration of RunKeeper and Pebble robust. Besides the strange display and going off near the end, it also would not let me start and pause, which it has always done. Race day nerves for the app?

In terms of the Pebble watch - Pebble Rocks! One of the BEST things was being able to see text messages from friends and family on my watch during the run. You are too tired to grab your phone and read them but I could see their messages as I was running and this made a huge difference. It would have been nice if Facebook messages had also come through, but again this integration does not seem to work properly.

The future of Pebble + RunKeeper + SMS + Facebook + Other is amazing for running. It's still not stable and while cutting edge technos, like myself, love it, for the rest you might want to wait a few more months for the dust to settle and the shiny pebbles to emerge.

...and I finished...just, with about 7 minutes to spare! Crazy...until number 9!

Yours in running easy
Craig

I am always a little nervous when I change my running shoes, but then again I’m always keen to try something new, especially if it is pitched from some tech, new-fad angle. I just can’t resist. So when I first laid eyes on Reebok’s ZigTech shoes I was immediately wooed. I could see me in a pair of these, computer designed with enough research to develop a fleet of shuttles, and so on. Quickly I was on the Web trying to see what people thought. But as is typically the case there were only a few reviews – but mostly by those who blindly followed Reebok and said “of course they will be great” or those who were anti-Reebok and said “they are junk (even though I haven’t tried them)” – of course the part in brackets was not included.

However, I could not take this decision lightly. I am busy preparing to run the big 89km (56 mile) Comrades Marathon in May. I can’t have shoes that will not work…but then again, the tech, the possibilities…so I took the leap and got a pair. Tentatively I took them out for a short 8km run, as this always gives an early indicator if something is not right…and my feet returned happy. But the real test is only when I run over 2 hours, as then any strange rubbing, weird footfalls will be revealed. So a few days later they got to go on their next big outing, a 30km training run. Once more my feet returned happy. Subsequent to that I ran in my Reebok ZigTechs multiple times as we prepared for our Comrades long training run, the 56km Two Oceans marathon. This would be the real test where my Zigs would be my close companion for nearly 6 hours.

How did they do? The Zigs went unnoticed! I did not even realise I was wearing them…not once. This is the ultimate testimony to a great pair of running shoes. They should not make themselves noticed. They should feel natural on your feet, and just do their job. And then I did notice, as I slipped them off at the end of the race. For the first time in all the years I have run marathons and ultramarathons, I had not a single blister – and no black toenails! This time my feet were really smiling.

So, in short, for me, my ZigTech Reeboks have been superb. I had the best race (and fastest time too) for the 56km Two Oceans marathon. The ultimate test is still to come, when they join me on the 89km Comrades journey – the ultimate human race. But I’m confident my feet will be in good company. If I have a complaint, its that the Zigs are not designed for off road running. They have a voracious appetite for stones…as small stones get embedded in the zig design and then you clunk along sounding like tap-dancing zebra. But, use them for what they are designed for – road running – and you’ll give your feet (and legs) a great party! These Reeboks Rock!