@Marathoner Gear Review: ASICS Storm Shelter Jacket

"STOP AT NEVER."

That is stitched into the neck flap of the ASICS Storm Shelter Jacket, and today I saw that as I zipped up my incredible new piece of running gear and set out for a 15-mile ASICS LA Marathon training run at frozen Central Park. Those words spoke to me and put me in the perfect frame of mind for my subsequent 3:20 run on icy pavement.

This was one of the most challenging days I have had in terms of gear selection since I started marathon running in 2007. We were just coming out of Winter Storm Hercules' wrath, with record cold temps and huge snowpiles. On this day, freezing rain was added to the equation. So I had to deal with brutal cold, icy surface, and now intermittent rain just to make it more tricky. My old jacket wasn't going to cut it.

I drove straight to Paragon Sports at Union Square and bought the plaid ASICS Storm Shelter for $130. (Women's version here.) I had regretted not buying one at the New York City Marathon Expo in November. I am lucky that ASICS now sponsors me and ships me training gear, but this was me doing what I have done for the last 7+ years -- buying ASICS stuff, because they make the best running gear, simply put.



I parked at 93rd and Madison amid piles of snow and entered Central Park at Runner's Gate, running counter-clockwise.



As I ran, it occurred to me that this is a remarkably well-named piece of apparel. It truly felt like a storm shelter. It felt not like a garment, or an object, but like a place, a safe haven, total insular protection. It felt like I was going inside while running outside. In fact, I can safely say that out of the 100+ runners I encountered on the 2+ full 6-mile loops of Central Park, I won the Best Dressed Award. If I was on an Oscars red carpet, I was the woman in Vera Wang who everyone talked about. It was that good.

Let's start with my video product review, just to cover some of the features.



The first three miles, the freezing drizzle was coming down. The running path was a slippery mess, and it had that crackled glazed look that you see on 24-hour-old Krispy Kreme donuts. You tried to run on any available black pavement. We could span out onto the whole road, because this day was off-limits to bikes. That made it feel like a privilege to run there, actually. I saw three guys on bikes later in the day and one of them wiped out, because they were idiots. It was for #beastmode runners only.

Here's what the surface looked like:



Here's what it looked like running up the vaunted and icicle-bound North Woods Hill, which I ran up twice:

Here's a panorama shot of the icicle-covered walls along the North Woods Hill ascent:



Then the precip stopped, and I was starting to heat up so I pulled off the hood that had been my fortress. I had my iPhone safely tucked inside the zipper in the left breast, with a hole for my earbud wire. I listened to Pandora the whole day. I had two Chocolate Outrage GUs in each jacket pocket, and I unzipped the long vent flaps on each side of the jacket to release my body heat. Under it I wore a base layer and a long sleeve NYRR shirt, and I could have done without the second shirt. The Storm Shelter is lined, so that serves as your second shirt, basically. It has a great sleeve liner also, and the Lycra wrist gaiters have a gap for each thumb so it can double as lightweight gloves. The hood is removable, when the weather clears. They thought of everything, and it has a fabulous reflection pattern so you are covered running in the dark.



This was the finish of Week 3 in my 12-Week Training Program administered by Coach Andrew Kastor, who is guiding about a dozen of us who were invited by ASICS to be in the ASICS LA Marathon Blogger Challenge. I had a tough time in Week 2 with a lengthy cough and sinus issue, but I think I'm back on track. This 15-miler brought my weekly mileage to 30. I am doing the Beginner/Intermediate program rather than Advanced, because I want to go back to the basics in chasing my goal of a 5:12 PR.

In fact, you can see "5:12" on the mirror of my bathroom. Coach Kastor said in a CNN article that runners should post a piece of paper on their mirror with a number that they will stare at every day, so that they can make right choices to achieve that. So mine is 5:12, which would beat my PR of 5:13 set at the 2008 New York City Marathon. I have dropped 20 to 30 minutes from that over recent marathons and want to get faster. Next to my number is "1,000,000" for King Bingley (aka Chub), representing 1 million treats. We thought he would want to go after that mostly.

In the last five miles of my 15-miler, it began to drizzle again. I put the hood back on, and used the convenient adjusters to snuggle up. It was fascinating. It was like I was a world away from bad weather. I ran past runners wearing the standard knit cap and jacket look, and they looked so exposed. I didn't want my knit cap to be soaked with frozen rain. That's bad stuff. I am so armed for future #beastmode weather. I cannot recommend the ASICS Storm Shelter enough.

Review: Songza's Marathon Workout Playlist

New music can inspire a runner in his or her training, as well as new apparatus to listen to it along the way: a new device, new earbuds, or some new way of feeling charged by fresh and fast-beat jams.

Last weekend, I was especially stoked for my long run at Central Park, and this time it was because of the music. I had the Songza app's Marathon Workout playlist for a personal half-marathon.

Elias Roman, CEO and co-founder at Queens-based Songza, had graciously emailed me the link when we met last week during his lecture in NYC. I wanted to make sure a review followed.

First of all, I have to harken back to 2007, my first full year of running after I quit smoking. We still used MySpace back then. I created a group called Athletes & iPods, and it grew to a sizable membership. We were runners who exchanged our latest training music. The premise worked great then as it does now. The big difference is the way the music is delivered, and back then, we were the playlist curators.

I love the Songza app because ethnomusicologists curate the playlists. The app learns about the user through continued usage, and then caters its playlists based on your moods at the time. When I found out there was an actual marathon-training playlist, I had to jump on it.

Last Saturday was rainy, but it was a lukewarm rain and that's the best kind of running. After the NYRR Team Championships were through, I started my way on 2+ loops of Central Park. My iPhone was strapped snugly into my Nike biceps band, earbuds in, ready to roll.

Songza delivered one fast-bpm hit after another, mainly blasts from the past. A lot of '90s music mixed with recent fare. Destiny's Child. Ciara. Lady Gaga. Lionel Richie/Commodores. Nelly. Spin Doctors. J-Lo. Christina Aguilera. Songs that made me think about the performers, and in some cases the memories they brought when they were hits, whiling away the tough miles including Cat Hill and the Harlem Hill.

The highlight by far for me came just after I completed my first 6-mile loop. As I was headed under the bridge at Strawberry Fields on the bridle path, in solitary bliss, Michael Jackson's "Bad" came on. It made me fly. I pumped my fist in the air a few times, along with the beat. I spread my arms out like wings, soaring. That moment made the playlist for me.

After two hours, I encountered my first and only issue with the Marathon Workout playlist. It's a big one, but fixable.

Justin Timberlake's voice came on, and I suddenly realized that I had heard that about 6 miles in. Then I heard the familiar "Bust A Move." It was great the first time. Then another, and another. It was repeat time.

That's cool if you're from Kenya. The marathon world record is 2:06, about the same length of the Songza Marathon Workout playlist with no repeating. My PR is 5:13 and I can only hope to do that again this November at the ING New York City Marathon.

Songza's curators need to at least double the amount of music on this playlist. Do this and I will be happy and will recommend it to all my fellow marathoners. Songza: please tweet me @marathoner if you do this.

Once I get into the 3- or 4-hour range, honestly I am frequently tugging at my earbuds, needing a respite from the beat. So I can't predict how closely and how often I will listen to a playlist at that point. But I still want the fresh music to be there that long, so each song is new at least for that day's run. After the playlist became clearly in repeat mode, I bailed on the playlist and listened to iTunes.

Another option would be to create a Marathon Workout 2, although that is less attractive to me, because after a couple of hours on the hills of Central Park in the rain I'm not into opening and closing apps. What I don't want is to be asked to choose a different playlist in the workout genre. Running is running, not weighlifting or spinning or aerobics. If it says Marathon Workout, I'm using it for marathon training.

For my recovery run two days later, I opened the Marathon Workout playlist again, thinking perhaps it would be all new music, a new day. The first three songs were ones I did not recall from the long run. But then came a long line of songs that had played on Saturday, so simply re-opening the playlist was not a solution. It definitely just needs more songs curated and they need to play continuously for 4 hours or so if needed.

I am gradually getting into #beastmode again now, ramping up my training program, long runs on the weekends and speedwork and tempo runs on trails and strength training at the gym. I will need power jams along the way, and Songza's playlist is very promising so far, bordering on just right with a little tweaking.

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