LAPS

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Track Mafia X Patta EpicReact

Unless you missed all the Instagram posts and articles on Hypebeast (insert smirk emoji) you’ll have noticed that Nike teamed up with some run crews all over the world to celebrate the launch of the EpicReact on iD. This included a collab design between Patta Running Team from Amsterdam and TrackMafia, my team from London.

This is pretty much a dream come true for me (who doesn’t dream of having their brand on a Nike shoe?!) and the response has been crazy. At time of writing, less than a week later, there was only UK size 12 left in men’s and 4, 4.5 and 6 in women’s. We opted for the murdered out, triple black colourway as the standard, but you can choose to change a few accents here and there with some other colours we picked. The black panther of Patta Runing Team’s logo and the blackout look represent the fearlessness and brutalism of running in the city, but the red, green and blue highlights are inspired by the Amsterdam flag and the trails and indoor tracks that also inspire us.

The idea around the shoe is ‘Unity’; Patta and TM have been friends for a long time now and already had some collaboration ideas going before this opportunity was brought to us. Really, we see ourselves in eachother. We speak the same language - we love to run hard, break bread, buy sneakers - I just have no idea how to speak Dutch. We’re all a lot more similar in this world than we think and this collaboration means a lot because we can share it with them. Victory tastes a lot sweeter with friends than it does by yourself.

Get yourself a pair on Nike.com now (if you can)

[lapsmag-blog]

Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 35

The yearly upgrade of Nike’s most reliable running shoe is here and the first women’s colourway is a beaut. The Pegasus is probably the most trusty of Nike’s running shoes - the 10mm drop and neutral gait makes it a great go-to shoe for most runners. It covers long distance well thanks to its cushion and support, but as part of Nike’s Zoom family, its fast-response fibres mean a little speed work doesn’t go amiss in these. Pegs have served me well through long runs and the occasional track workout (I wouldn’t choose it specifically for a speed workout, but if needs be) and the slightly sleeker, aerodynamic looking silhouette brings it in line with the more modern look of the silo. It now sits more in line with its Zoom Fly and 4% cousins and if the early word is true, rides like a dream too. Interestingly, for the first time the women’s iteration has a slightly softer foam specifically designed for female feet (because we’re more delicate?) so I’m keen to see if it really makes a noticeable difference. 

Available on Nike.com now

[trackmafia]

When you realise it’s THURSDAY and you know you’re READY READY.

See y’all TRACKSIDE? TONIGHT, 6:30? Of course we will.

Who’s welcome? EVERYONE - just turn up ready to SWEAT n SMILE.

Shouts to @tomwebb_photographer on the 📸 shutter.

[lapsmag-blog]

TM Workout May

Warmup 1 mile easy 1 mile split 400ms Activation drills

Set Split 1200m - continuous 200m easy, 200m hard X3 1 mile tempo

Repeat X 3

[trackmafia]

[theblackprints]

[lapsmag-blog]

Cut Off My Hair and Gauge Out My Eyes

When faced with a stressful situation, we generally have one of two responses - fight or flight. We either tackle the problem head-on, face our fears and battle through or we run away, preferably as fast as possible.

I’ve always been a runner - whenever a situation arose that proved difficult I would, quite literally, run away. Boyfriend being an asshole? Run. Didn’t get that job? Hit the road. Sometimes I think this is what made me a good runner years ago, my depression and anxiety triggered my flight response so often that I became faster, stronger and more able to deal with whatever life threw at me.

On the surface it looks like I was just running away from my troubles. And maybe in a sense I was, but as anyone with mental health issues knows, running can solve a myriad of problems. The road always has the answers. I came back from a run knowing what to do - the threat was neutralized because somewhere over the course of 10 kilometers I did, in my own way, face the problem. I came back ready to fight.

But what happens when you can’t fly?

Well there’s another response that often gets overlooked because it’s not quite as catchy as ‘fight or flight’ and that is the ‘freeze’ response. That’s right, we forgot all about the deer in the headlights. Instead of running or fighting back we stay put - maybe out of fear, maybe out of acceptance that the other two won’t work.

Over the last year or so I’ve found myself injured and unable to run. Not just a little twinge or tweak, but debilitating pain that meant running hasn’t really been an option for a long time now. My source of power was suddenly taken away from me. This coincided with some more of life’s curveballs and now I seem to be so worn down by life that I am unable to fight, frozen in time. Lately, instead of fighting back at life and doing everything, I have found myself doing nothing, paralyzed by my failures.

Unfortunately, my life is so inextricably linked to running that it’s impossible to escape, and when everyone else is running circles around you (on the track and in life) it’s hard to maintain your sense of self-worth. Other people’s accomplishments are not my failures, but when everything else was falling to pieces before I still had running to fall back on; now I feel like I have nothing.

To be clear, this isn’t really a version of myself that I am proud of. But should being physically grounded really define who I am? Someone with no fight?

Being an athlete was the driver to improve myself, to achieve goals, to be a better person. I know the worst thing you can do is look backwards and compare yourself to your five-years-ago self, but it’s so hard not to because frankly, that version of me was better.

Maybe this is a wake-up call that I need to find another way to deal with my problems. I was too strong for too long and now the mask has finally slipped. I’ll be able to run properly again eventually (I think), but I don’t know whether my fight will come back with it. That’s a reality I need to face, but whether it does or doesn’t I will find another source of power - after all, Samson was more than his hair and I am more than my legs. What I do know is that I can’t stay here.

[lapsmag-blog]

Earlier this year, Nike released what is kind of the women’s version of “The 10″, “The 1 Re-imagined”. 10 of Nike’s best female designers took the Jordan 1 and the AF1 and re-designed them for the modern woman. The result was some innovative new takes on the classics, featuring cut-outs, hi-tops and laceless uppers, all in a subtle bone colourway. 

Well the silhouettes are back, but with a big injection of colour. The Jester, Sage, Rebel, Lover and Explorer now come in vibrant teal, orange, yellow, baby blue and lavender. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but Nike’s take on the colour du jour Ultra Violet in The Jester and The Lover are hard to say no to.

Images from HypeBae

[lapsmag-blog]

Des Linden just became the first American Woman to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years. She ran a 2.37 through 40mph winds and torrential rain to make it back to back majors for American women after Shalayne’s win in New York. 

[lapsmag-blog]

Can we talk about how Serena wore Swarovski encrusted Cortez to her wedding? We are not worthy