Free Advice and a Confidence Builder

Swim
1 x 200- Warm-up
4 x 200- 100- 5, 7, 9/100- swim
5 x 50- Sideline kick
1 x 500- 50 easy/ 50 hard
5 x 100- decreasing stroke count each lap
1 x 100- Cool down

Run
time- 1:00
distance- 6.27mi

I like the easy/ hard swim set. It makes the swim go by faster and it feels safer to really blow out those sprint laps because you know you can chill it out right after. If I were recommending a set to try out to a new swimmer, that would be high on the list. "Sprint" and "easy" are both relative terms and can be fluidly applied to anyone's workout. Plus, it makes the 500, or whatever set you choose to do with it, go by a lot quicker. And active rest, which is really what those easy laps are, is better than passive rest.
The decreasing stroke count set went well too. I started each 100 with 25 yards at 16 strokes. From there the stroke count normally went 15, 14, 13. Did I have to cheat a little off the walls with a super-glide to get to 13? On the middle two 100s I did. No worries. And the fifth hundred I actually did 16, 14, 14, 13 trying to really get the most bang for my buck. The goal is to balance speed with economy. You may have a low stroke count, but if the speed drops away then its not doing you a lick of good. But too high a count and you're wasting all kinds of energy. Swimming is all about the most bang for your buck.
The run was kind of a shock. I am not a runner and today I was expecting to lay down a fairly easy, slightly shorter run. But once I got out on the road things were moving nicely. The weather was cool and a little overcast, my legs were strong, and my stomach was calm. The latter point is important and if it continues will go a long way towards helping my run confidence come up.
I hit my turn-around at 30 minutes and decided to try and negative split this bad boy. I wasn't really thinking about it and I wasn't consciously pushing much harder than I had on the way out, but I did keep an eye on my pace. Love the Garmin. So helpful. And when I came in lo and behold I nearly cracked an hour. I missed the negative split by 12 seconds. I'm claiming I had to wait to cross one street and calling it even. As a run rundown (ain't I clever?), Thursday I was motivated and had a killed 6.5 mile run, Sunday I put together a decent long-for-me run of nearly eight miles, and today I had a strong 6.25. So either the other Vibram is about to drop right on to my head or I've finally started putting this run thing back together again.

Buying All The Things!

Your favorite Dirtbag is making purchases like I have money! Which I only kind of do!
The first purchase made was a shiny new pair of running shoes. After much talking about it I finally got paid and went to the best running store on the island, Runners HI, and picked out a pair of Vibram's running-focused shoe, the Bikila. I've been meaning to get my toes on these babies for a while now (even before my KSOs decided to prepare for the faux-Rapture) and was quite excited by them. I haven't actually gone for a run wearing my new kicks yet, having been on a one week Sit On The Couch And Not Workout post-training training plan*. So next week, when a run does actually happen, I'll be sure to give a full run-down (get it? Get it!?).
To go along with the merriment of spending money on triathlon stuff, I also bought Kratos a new seat! Why, you ask. That is a good question. Especially if you look back through my many many many posts and notice that not once have I even mentioned needing or wanting a new seat. Well, dear reader, what happened is this: As I was putting my bike up on the rack the day before the Honolulu Tri I noticed a small tear in the seam of the seat. Not a large or even a large-ish tear. Just a small one. But in the sun/rain/sun weather we have here who knows how long it will take that small tear to becoming Epic Seat Fail. So to be on the safe side I started searching and researching new seats. I really like the one that is on the bike now but couldn't find it for a decent price. So google google google, text Cycle Dirtbag, google google, open seventeen tabs on my browser for comparison purposes, aaaaand paypal! I went with a Specialized Romin Expert Saddle, found on ebay. Why ebay? The seller advertised free shipping! Free shipping to The Rock (my Rock, not the Nic Cage movie, which was pretty awesome**) practically means I have to buy it. Why that particular saddle? It's got excellent reviews all around and looks to be similar in shape to the one currently on the bike. I'm also excited about the anatomical groove down the center which is supposed to ease pressure on the, to quote the always eloquent Jeremy Clarkson, "gentleman's sausage" and surrounding areas. Hopefully it gets here and I'm as happy with it as I think I will be.
Bonus best part of the saddle purchase is how I paid for it. I didn't! You did. Thanks to your wonderful donations during the Guess My Time 50/50 Challenge I was able to completely pay for my newest piece of cycling equipment using only my paypal account balance. This is the bomb-diggity, as the kids don't say anymore. And be assured that as soon as it comes in there will be pictures of the Dirtbag Derriere perched atop it. I know, you can't wait.


*SOTCANW training plan designed by Dirtbag Fitness. For more information please donate $500 and send me an email requesting all my tips and tricks

**I would like to point out I could have gone with a wrestling joke right there but didn't. You would have expected that. So instead I went with a movie that the millions...AND MILLIONS of The Rock's fans have seen and enjoyed. Especially the part when Sean Connery takes his boot, shines it up real nice, AND SHOVES IT RIGHT UP ED HARRIS' CANDY ASS!!! *People's Eyebrow*

A Long Run In Blessed Shoes

Run Day
time- 60 minutes
distance- approx. 6mi

The last long run of this training cycle almost didn't happen. Its been pouring here all morning and while I'm ok with running in the rain, I'm not ok with drowning during it. Luckily the rain eased up and I was able to get out and get on the road with only slight sprinkles. I felt good, went easy, and didn't push. Can't say too much about that.

Once I got home and checked my KSOs I realized that Fail has been brewing and I'm running out of time to prevent it. You may remember my posting a while ago that I had holes in my KSOs. So I ordered new ones. Those came and gave me serious blisters when I tried to run sockless in them. So I have gone back to my old KSOs and I'll be replacing the new ones as soon as I can get to an REI. I thought I would have plenty of time and I wouldn't have to mail them. Not so sure anymore.
Above is how the holes looked when I first discovered them. The two on the toes are the most obvious but there is a teeny tiny one by my thumb that is hard to see.
See it now? Holy holey shoes, Batman! When the hell did that get there?I'm not sure if its been building over time or if I stepped on a sharp rock in exactly the right place and did it all at once but...damn. Also, check this out:
A hole in my sock? Really? Really? I wore a hole in my sock. Gaaaa...
Now, I'll still be wearing these next Sunday. They are my favorite shoes to run in and its not a good idea to switch gear right before a race. But I'm going to have to say goodbye after Honolulu. Sad Dirtbag. Until I get new ones that fit better. Happy Future Dirtbag.

KSOh No!

Swim Day- Recovery Week

1 x 150- Warm-up
4 x 200
1 x 500

total- 1450yds

My biggest problem during recovery weeks is my brain shuts off the hardcore part of itself resulting in underwhelming workouts. I know they should be easy, I know my heart rate should stay down, and I know its important to have workouts like this. But a swim when there is no drive to push is kind of boring. Then it's just laps. So this was an ok, unmotivated, uninspired swim.

Run Day

My Vibram KSOs are wearing out in the toes! Oh no! I love these shoes and I can't believe I've worn through them. This says nothing about the make of the shoe, they are as sturdy as they come. But I've been wearing them a minimal of two times a week for over a year, running, teaching, and just being out and about. These shoes have earned their wear marks. In fact, as soon as I get a good look at the Dirtbag FundBox I'll be heading over to rei.com and grabbing myself a brand new pair. I can't not have my Vibrams.
If you remember, for Christmas I was given a nice new pair of VFF TrekSports. I wear these hiking and to school for the most part. Any trail runs I go on, these will get me through. They were one of the two pairs of shoes that did New Zealand with me, my KSOs being the other. So why not just use these? Because they aren't built for road running and while they would work I don't want to use them for that. It would wear out the tread which makes them trail-worthy and (and this is a minimalist shoe-person gripe) the ground feel isn't as good in them. It's still better than your average pair of, well, anything else, but not as good as the KSOs. I don't think I'll be going with the VFF Bikila either, even though that's the company's "running" shoe. I run just fine in my KSOs, thank you. The Bikila's are on my list, but not at the top.
What about looking outside Vibram, you ask. Excellent question. Normally I am not a whore for one company. But its hard to do better than what I've got. The only thing that looks like it comes close is the Merrell Glove series. Every review I've read has had nothing but positive things to say about these shoes. Unfortunately, Hawaii is just barely part of the United States and as such it takes forever for us to get nifty new shoes. So, while the wife and I have look and looked for a running store that carries them (she's interested too) we have yet to find one. Lame. When I do get to try a pair I see them being on my Christmas list as well.
As for my run today, it was an easy 2.4 mile recovery week run. What made it fun was I did the second half barefoot. I forgot how nice it is to run naked, with nothing between my feet and the ground. Freeing. Can't recommend it enough. If you pay any attention at all to the running scene you plenty of people are doing that for me anyway. ("Running scene?" I'm such a dork.) Right nor my feet are a little tender since I haven't barefooted in a while, but its ok. Barefoot is a form correction mechanism. I feel good.

Gorilla Feets and Bare Foots

Run Day

time- 46 minutes
distance- eh, probably about five miles.*

*my phone/gps/coffee maker/leash/web browser/text machine/illegal immigrant/SOSMS documenter's battery died.

After Thanksgiving, three airplane rides, and then an all day meeting at school, Dirtbag needed a run. Also, I just bought myself a brand spankin' new pair of Vibram FiveFingers TrekSports and my feet couldn't wait to try them out. The verdict? They are a little bit tight still, which is good and too be expected. They fit better than my other pair I think. The tops have some give and they will stretch into a perfect fit. The grippy on the bottoms will be great for all the off-roading the wife and I will be doing in New Zealand. They aren't as great for plain old road running as my KSOs, but they sure beat the hell out of a fancy pair of Nikes. I wish I'd had them during the Haleiwa Tri earlier this month. Would have been great on the trail run course. I've very happy with them and look forward to many miles.
To close out my run today I decided to continue my bare experiment. I waited until the end of the run instead of starting off bare because the side of the road I run back on has sidewalk and the side I run out on does not. So instead of spending nearly all of the ten minutes going, "Ow. Ow. Eep. Oh. Ow," and dodging pointy, evil rocks I got to run fairly smoothly for most of the eleven minutes with very little ouching. Much the better that way. Hopefully I avoided another blister too.
You'd be shocked how good it feels to run barefoot. Free is a cliche, but only because it's true. I felt like a little kid. Especially on the sidewalk or on grass. Its very neat. Without preaching, I think everyone should do two things. a) go try on a pair of FiveFingers and b) go walk around outside barefoot. Trust me, try it.
Tomorrow will either be a day off or a swim, I haven't decided yet.