Product Review: Princeton Tech Vizz

I've been looking for a good headlamp recently, one with a bit more power than those you find at Menards. 100 Lumens minimum with at least a 48 hour run time, even on the brightest setting. Connor, Ryan, Nora and I stopped in at REI a few nights ago to do just that. I didn't spend too much time mulling over my decision, since the store was closing within 15 minutes of us arriving there. Petzel lamps were there, as were others, but I settled upon the Princeton Tech Vizz headlamp. It had the right price point at $49.99USD, the correct brightness of 150 Lumens, and 110 to 150 hours of run-time, or burn-time as their site refers.

Princeton Tech Vizz (copied without permission)

The lamp is controlled by a single button on the top of the housing. A single click turns the pair of red LEDs on. A double-click turns on the narrow, bright beam. A long-press of the button turns on the dimmable pair of white LEDs. Three quick clicks from off will lock the lamp in off-mode to prevent battery drain.

I've now had two occasions to run with the lamp, as I execute my late night #runstreak strategy of crossing the midnight hour to qualify two days in one run. The lamp is exceptionally bright and easy to operate. The one thing I noticed right away is that the lamp tended to bounce as I ran, which I was quite surprised about at first. However, after short examination, the reason was quite obvious. Three triple A batteries in the housing makes it a bit front-heavy. Although the hinge to the mounting bracket seems to take the bouncing without moving (something that may change with age), the whole unit moves up and down on my head while running. To combat this, I tightened the strap. Finding a happy medium between comfort and smooth operation was a challenge.

Now I understood why some runners seem to prefer lamps that use a third strap over the top of your head and house the battery pack at the back. Lighting the trail is a much smoother experience by isolating the bouncing away from the actual lamp. Going from my Rayovac Sportsman, which has this type of strapping and battery housing strategy, to the PTECH VIZZ is a distracting, albeit much brighter experience.

For me, the PTECH VIZZ gets a 3.5 out of 5 Stars. The bouncing is pretty distracting to me, but everything else is spot on.

Reaching for the Jack Daniels

With as sore as I feel, my 17th day #runstreak turned out to be stellar! Although I don't have any concrete plans as to how far I should be running (other than 1 mile per day) or how fast, I still have some inkling as to where I would like to be. 30+ miles per week seems like a nice round number, as did the 10 miles I ran today. I know it's not a big number for Long Slow Distance, but it's where my body is letting me be right now.

If you've read this blog, you know that a while back, I purchased the Daniels' Running Formula a while back. I really like the book and think it has some sound training principles. Identify your current fitness level and train to reach the next one. Train for time on feet rather than distance. Include at least two quality workouts a week, with easy running in-between. Build up your distance gradually. These are all horribly paraphrased from what I took away from the book, so don't quote me specifically. If you're a rabid do-it-yourself'er, this is definitely one for the bookshelf.

The title I chose for this blog post is accredited to my desire for a more structured program. A runstreak takes away the guesswork as to whether or not you're running for the day, but it doesn't really give much more than that. I've been loosely trying to get at least three one-hour runs in per week, with half-hour runs in-between, and a long run on the weekend. Using the long run over the midnight hour trick, I've been able to squeeze in some "rest days" despite running each day.

I'm sore. My muscles ache. My tendons are strained. I've been switching between shoes and barefoot, especially when my feet feel pounded. I was dreaming of an ice bath tonight, so things must be bad. Last time I tried one, I couldn't keep my legs submerged for two minutes. I could go buy a couple bags of ice and sit in the tub, but that brings up the next factoid: I'm tired. I just want to crawl into bed and not get up until mid-afternoon. It won't happen, of course, but at last I'll get eight hours tonight.

Most of the Daniels' programs have a 7-day running program per week, so it covers the #runstreak. Additionally, most days include at least one hour of running. I'm working up to it, reaching for it. Now that I'm consistently running every day, I'm realizing the flaw in my logic about running in longer and longer races without really building up my strength and endurance appropriately. Sure, I complete the race, but it's always at what seems like a death-march pace. I go out strong-ish but basically crawl to the finish. For my first 50 miler, I want not only to complete it but also do so with some gas left, as if I know what I'm doing. I don't of course, but wouldn't that be nice? This Fall. I don't have a race picked out yet, but I'll put a fuzzy circle around mid-October to early November.

I Should Take More Pictures

Nephew Michael (6), Ryan(6), Nora(1), and Connor(8)

I recently added an application on my Android phone that randomly chooses photos as a background, and it has had an interesting effect: dragging up old memories. Some were very good memories, and others I would prefer to forget. Some were "notes", such as photos of white boards at work or photos of wishlist items I wanted my wife to buy me, recent "newsworthy" events, or even the adorable observations my children make. Here are a few more examples:

Recent News

Connor is making new discoveries!

Explaining DKIM

Fruit Snacks

I love fruit snacks more than my children, and not just any fruit snack. I like the generic brand from Target, their "Market Pantry". Why? I don't really know. Maybe it's because they're very much like gummy bears or gummy worms, but because they're in the "snack" isle rather than the "candy" isle, they're marginally healthier. It's a comforting thought that I tell myself after I've just opened my fourth bag in a row.

Twinkies? No, you can keep your cream-filled sponge cakes. You would not include me in the throngs of people complaining that Hostess went under. Good riddance. Twinkies just took up shelf space where better eats could be displayed. I want something with a bit more "chew" to it, more flavor. You'll find them in my fuel belt along with my gels. Shot blocks?! Meh. Is there really that much wrong with a little corn syrup and vitamin C, especially when you're already taking maltos and dextros gels? I simply can't leave behind these little baggies of goodness!