So Excited

I got my size 35 KSOs in the mail today. I ordered them directly from Vibram because it was comparable in price and the shipping was way faster (three days as opposed to 13 weeks and counting) than the local outfitter.

I walked around a bit. I hopped. I scampered from the living room to the kitchen. I gleefully kicked my tiny little kickers. But I haven't been for a run in them yet. I'm so excited to.

I'll keep you posted.

I've made a huge mistake...

I attempted to go to the YMCA on a Sunday afternoon to go swimming. Though you can probably guess, let me tell you who was using the pool at the YMCA--children. Thousands of them. They were throwing balls, floaty things, handfuls of water, one another...anything and everything. They were shrieking. They were pestering the lifeguard, they were pestering one another, and they were pestering me. They were really good at being kids, but not particularly good at being courteous pool-sharers.

There were three lanes designated for lap swimming. Unfortunately those were already taken with multiple people in a lane, and my patience had already taken a cut upon seeing a foam noodle trespass into lap territory.

The whirlpool was at capacity with the 55+ crowd, and the sauna even had a pair of chatty Cathys.

I've learned my lesson.

thresholds

On swim team, when we would swim a long set or work on a particular kind of endurance, our swim coach would tell us to pace ourselves at something he called 'threshold'. In brief, it describes giving 80-85% effort, not as much as a sprint and yet still just at that border of being all out. The goal, as I see it, was to work at pacing while not completely wearing ourselves down, thus training us for the actual competitions.

The concept of threshold often crosses my mind while I'm swimming, especially these days when my swimming form is not as strong as it used to be. It's extremely tiring to push yourself just so for a long stretch, but somehow you don't seem to notice until you're finished with the swim.

I never thought to apply this practice to running until today. This week, running has been extremely unsuccessful for me. I barely made it past a mile on Tuesday and today was doing well until I let myself slow a little bit, and all of the sudden I was just done. I had pushed up my time to .4 mph more than I'm used to, running about a 9 minute mile for 3/10ths of a mile, and although it didn't feel the greatest, I was doing it. I was running that fast and ticking away distance.

It all ended the minute I let that mph fall. My body refused to continue running, my legs felt so tired, my head swam a bit. It was like the break I gave myself in allowing for a slower speed was the catalyst for complete exhaustion. The threshold I'd allowed myself to run at, while ultimately not my fastest, was definitely pushing the limits of what I can do. And I learned a lesson about speed: don't push it until you're at the end. Save the fast running for last.

Ultimately, I need some running training help. I can get on a treadmill for a mile to two miles but beyond that I'm either bored or exhausted. Is it just a matter of breaking past a certain physical/mental boundary or is there a better way to increase my speed and my distance without destroying myself? How will I do all this after having swam and biked a great distance?

Help. Running is hard. Mer.

Bike Trainers

Thank you , http://www.livingincomfort.com/bictrain.html for the picture.

Have you guys seen these? They seem rad. They allow any bike to be a stationary bike. Your bike, even. Your bike with your seat, your geometry, your pedals, your gears, your sweat soaked into the handlebar wrapping (gross, but even grosser when it's not yours, right?).

It seems like they run between $150-$400 and I'm sure have all sorts of features and components I would care about if I were shopping a little more seriously (say, at the beginning of a long winter) for indoor biking equipment. They're a little odd though--you sit up about 3" off the ground, and while there is no forward motion, the suspension of your rear wheel allows for lateral motion.

So what's the deal with these? Are they helpful? Are they dumb? Are they cool, but not cool enough to justify purchasing one?

Quasi-Barefoot Running

I've written about barefoot running before, albeit on another blog, briefly, and at the beginning of my quasi-barefoot miles, when I was still sort of figuring the whole thing out. I've been running quasi-barefoot indoors now for a few months though now. The short verdict is: I love it.

With hard soles, I got a sharp pain in my knees after less than a mile of running. It was severe enough that I had to stop almost immediately, and often times would find myself hobbling around for days to come. If I wanted to run more than a mile, I was almost guaranteed to hurt for at least a week, preventing me from having any sort of pleasure or consistency in my jogs. It was clearly an awful way to live for a girl who needed to return to her third floor apartment every night, a trek that took twice as long and involved a whole lot of wincing.

With soft, minimal shoes, I have experienced no aches in my knees. None. Astoundingly zero. I can run farther, more frequently, with greater joy and comfort. Not only do my knees lack pain, but my hips and lower back are pain-free after running, too. Instead of leading with my heel, I've learned to stretch my step and lead with my toes--to reach forward and get as much earth between my strides as possible. I feel more efficient and sleeker. Most importantly, though, I feel the wonderful absence of pain.

The only time I had a bad experience with quasi-barefoot running was my very first attempt. Yes, the first venture with flexible soled shoes was a huge failure in terms of comfort. I had heard that upon trying barefoot running (or something like it), my calves would be noticeably sore. Being the foolish person I am, I took this with a grain of salt. MISTAKE. HORRIBLE MISTAKE. I ended up running about 1.5 miles that day (the first part felt great) and could not walk for the next two weeks. My calves were so tight it hurt to even lay down and think about moving my legs. They ached in a way that made me fear I would never be able to walk again. It was awful.

I got over it though. And thus, became wise enough to offer advice for novice minimalist runners: Go for a shorter run than you think you should. If you're the type to usually go for a 6-mile run, don't cut it down to just 4 miles. Go for maybe 1-1.5 miles. If you're the type to go for a 2-3 mile run (like myself), try .5 miles first. Your calves will thank you.

barefoot is the new black?

Kate and I braved the snow today to do some shopping, in hopes that President's Day would yield some sales that were of use.

It did, but neither of us really walked away satisfied from any one place. We tried a local outdoor store, Midwest Mountaineering, and REI of course, looking for a few things. Kate wanted her five finger shoes in the right size, and I wanted to try them on and see what I thought. I also had serious bike on the brain, and the Hub Bike Co-op is right next door to MM.

I'll let Kate expound on her own issues finding a pair of five finger or similar shoes that work for her, and stick to my own observations. I tried on a few Vibrams, as well as the Merrill Pace Glove, which uses the same working theory as five-finger Vibrams but does not separate the toes individually. That is one nice looking shoe, but on my feet the 38 was too big and the 37 was too small, so I was SOL. Too bad, because I love Merrills. The Vibrams on hand at MM were okay, but it wasn't until I tried a Bikla style at REI that I felt like I really understood what these shoes were trying to get at. Even in walking just around the shoe section, my legs and feet felt different. Not bad-different, but just different. I can see how they would take some getting used to, but I liked them. My step forward from here is to try to simulate barefoot running, perhaps with an old pair of flat-heeled Champion street shoes I have, to see if it helps me make a decision at all. Either way, whether I get a pair of new running shoes or new Vibrams, I'll be spending around $100 for a quality pair, I just have to decide which is the path I want to go down.



In the meantime, this bike was so. beautiful. And on sale! Still, more money than I have right now. But beautiful. My next step toward a new bike purchase is research, and the man at The Hub was kind enough to walk me through what I wanted without pushing me to buy anything.




Suggestions? Ideas?

lauren: week two round up

This week was almost a total disaster, in terms of keeping up with my workout schedule. It took a lot of effort to pull through this weekend and keep things going.

This is a hard thing for me. I get super pumped about a project and then burn out on it if I don't plan out every little thing and make myself do it in steps. If I start to miss workouts or change my schedule too much, I know I will start to fade in enthusiasm. So, when a busy week strikes and a busier weekend caps it off, I have to start making decisions that aren't super popular.

In order to shake a headache and what I thought was a super bad cold coming on, on Friday I called in sick to one of my lessons and took a nap instead. I had a gig that night and work at 8 am the next morning, and it felt right. That meant that on Saturday I had to make a choice: a rehearsal I really didn't need to go to, or my week-end run.

I made the choice to run and I don't regret it. I'd been feeling so sluggish and gross by the end of the week that sweating out some of that crap and getting blood flowing again was exactly what I needed. I meant to swim too, but as usual, the HIlton pool on a Saturday afternoon was full of little kids and sulky teenagers. No dice.

This means I only missed one workout this week, and swimming at that, which I find easy to make up since I always love getting in a pool. I'm not worried.

Meanwhile, though, the spring that Kate spoke of has ended prematurely with 10+ inches of fresh, drifting snow, and so biking and outdoor running are now again distant dreams.

Le sigh.

Spring sprung!

Oh sure, it only sprang for about 3 days, but it still counts! I dug out my spring coat and relished in the triumph of changing seasons as I prepared to go outside wearing only one layer of pants and socks.

With the beginnings of the thaw comes the beginnings of training outdoors. I biked to work on Wednesday (35 degrees and sunny), getting the first real ride of the season under my belt. The upsides far outweighed the downsides, but there were a handful of each.

First, the downsides:

-35 degrees, while 30 degrees warmer than 5 degrees, is still 30 degrees colder than 65 degrees, which is perhaps the most comfortable biking temperature

-Sloppy roads made my ride a little more adventurous than I anticipated, with more than one instance of my front and back tires going in different directions

-After almost 4 months of not biking the same route to work, it turns out I forgot a few key directions along the way

Now, the upsides:

-Chilly temperatures afford me badass status (not according to Minnesotans, but according the rest of the world)

-I didn't wipe out! Not even once.

-It took just over an hour, despite wrong turns, questionable terrain and lapsed time since I last got on a bike

It felt great to get out again, though my next trip may not be too soon...forecast predicts snow and temperatures in the 20s. I return begrudgingly to wearing my winter coat on my way to the gym for workouts.

Boo, pout, grumble.

let's talk..$$$

I've added two controversial items today, and both of them involve money. I know that sounds annoying and so not hipster and cool of us, but...

The fact is, tris can be costly. You need to cover registration fees, gear (which includes repair and replacements as well as new purchases), training and gym costs, and (hopefully not) medical care.

So Kate and I discussed it and we agreed that 100% of any revenue gained from this blog would go toward our registration costs, and in the unlikely event that it exceeded that, we would put it toward gear and general triathlon expenses.

That means, you'll see a little ad bar down on the right there, below our archived posts. For every click, AdSense generates a little revenue for us, and when it gets to a certain point, they send us a check.

In addition, I've added a secure PayPal donate button to the side panel there, so if you're feeling like clicking on ads ain't your thing (oh you silly non-internet robot you!), and you've got a few extra dollars, you can send us some love in the form of sweet, sweet USD. We promise to only use it for good things, like new shoes and bike repair, and only occasionally spend a little of it on beer and cheese fries.

Mama wants a new bicycle. Just sayin'.

If you have any feedback/questions/strongly worded opinions about said moves, please keep them to yourself. We absolutely do not value public discourse.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Rant away, you freedom-of-speech loving world citizens, rant away.

lauren's tiny tri

Yesterday I did all three.

OW!

At the time.

But today I feel alright. Not sore, not exhausted, just good. I got through everything and I felt super about it.

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow this old friend comes out for the bike to work (2.5 miles each way):



It will be a little sloppy but I will be prepared. Hurray!

400 Meters!

I swam 400 meters today! And (though it should be obvious by this post) I didn't die in the process!

Here's the skinny: I swam 400 meters, resting for less than a minute every 100 meters. No freestyle, but plenty of breast and back stroke.

My goggles weren't leaking, my cap was sleeking and I my breast stroke felt easier and more efficient than ever. I was on my way to feeling great on my penultimate lap when I saw the man who had been swimming next to me jumped back into the pool causing some waves. It was then I realized that the man I had been feeling pretty good about keeping pace with only had one leg.

I have some work to do.

proposal

Post Triathlon Prize:



A weekend in Chippewa Falls enjoying fresh beer and mac salad and sunshine. What do ya say, Kate?

lauren: week one roundup

Phew.

This week, all told, I swam 3000 yards, biked 16.4 miles, and ran 3.5 miles (this is according to my training schedule, and does not include warmup/warmdown times). The highlight of the week was the 2 mile run, which was in fact legitimately a two mile run, for possibly the first time in my life. It wasn't easy...but it wasn't hard, either. The best advice I've ever gotten on running is, 'start slowly,' and that's exactly what I've been doing. I made it and could have gone farther, and I think that is a good prospect for the 3.3 miles I'll have to complete.

Swimming was a bit tough this week as the Hilton gym, where I work out for free thanks to a sweet deal through my place of employment, has the tiniest lap pool. The gentleman at the front desk was unable to tell me its official length, although he did give me a very incredulous look. My best guess is that it's about 15 yards as opposed to the standard 25, which completely throws off my lap counting. Let me just say that it's easier to count to large numbers like 1750 and 1250 by increments of 50 than it is by 30s.

And biking. Dang. I finally figured out how to make the stationary bike tell me how fast I go, but I wasn't pleased. I'm already aware that I bike at a snail's pace, but even as I tried to speed everything up, I still only managed an average of 14.3 miles/hour.

Inspired by Kate and by a busy schedule this week, tomorrow I'm going to knock out three of my workouts in one spell and see if I can make it. It'll be a 900 yard swim, 4.5 mile bike, and 1 mile run. This is essentially a full swim and one third both the bike and running distance. Rest assured, you will be updated of my successes and failures in this endeavor.

In other news, look at our forecast for the week:



You know what this means? It means, things will probably get shitty, one more time, but in the meantime, all that snow, all that muck, will just melt away this week, revealing bike lanes and sidewalks and park paths. Outdoor adventures, here I come.

The Tiniest Tri

I intended to focus on swimming for my Friday gym time. However, lap one gave me the beginnings of a foot cramp. Lap two assured me that said foot cramp was not going away. By lap four I was completely unable to focus on anything else, even after an attempt to massage my foot between laps two and three. So I ended up hobbling out after only 1/16 of a mile in the pool. One quarter of a Sprint Triathlon's distance of swimming. A bit bummed with my poor performance, I made my way to the locker room ponder what I should do next.

What on earth could I possibly do after swimming that could also help me train for a triathlon?! If only there were one, maybe two more activities I could do that would help me prepare for--hey wait a second! I've got it!

So I changed as quickly as I could into terrestrial gear and hopped on a stationary bike. I was determined to accomplish the tiniest triathlon--one quarter of a Sprint--right there in the YMCA over my lunch break.

The biking was great. While I couldn't agree more with Lauren on the matter of stationary bikes sucking almost 100% of the fun out of biking, I still feel strongest and most comfortable on this leg of my journey. I ended up between 17-18 mph for the 3.8 miles I biked and then hustled my increasingly tired self over to the treadmill for a run.

I ran so slow. I ran just about as slow as you could while still calling it running. My normal pace was stymied by the fact that I had just exerted my legs on a bike and (very short) time in the water. I picked up my pace after a few tenths of a mile, commanding my legs to keep moving, despite their obvious preference for the opposite.

Taking on all three events--even in quarter size--was enlightening. The challenge isn't just in each event, nor the events in succession, but also the transitions to and from each activity. I got a little closer to the brink of "pukey" than I wanted to, and that was only tackling 25% of what I'm going to be doing come June. And this was in placid water and predictable terrain--comforts I know are going to disappear on game day.

I feel comfortable enough ramping up my individual event skills. But what should my strategy be for moving from one event to the next?

Eh-hem...Introductions

My name is Kate. I have never done a triathlon.

There. I said it.

What's more is that I've never really been a runner (my knees act like they're older than dirt) or a biker (which was largely due to an unshared family enthusiasm for the damn things). Recently, however, I switched shoe styles and bought a new bike, which have significantly heightened my appreciation--growing into adoration--for these means of transportation.

I have been running a few times a week for several weeks. These have been petite runs, mind you--probably about 2-3 miles a week. I made a goal to run a 5k in 30 minutes or less that I quickly forgot about since I got a new bike shortly thereafter...

Since getting my new bike I have been head-over-heels smitten. Smitten, I tell you! Last summer I averaged 10 miles a day, and ended up biking the 28-mile commute to and from work through the early fall. I have been out once so far this year (February 4) and am itching to get back on my beautiful piece of machinery.

Swimming is another story altogether--it's hard. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. We humans have achieved some degree of competency in the water probably due to stubbornness and stupidity. I suspect this because we are terrestrial animals not meant to be in the water as evidenced by our respiratory system.

So that's who I am. A gal in need of advice, attempting a triathlon for the first time in her life.

lauren: why i hate stationary bikes...and some thoughts about lakes.

I hate stationary bikes.

First of all, the majority of the fun of riding a bike is wind. Not biking in the wind; that sucks big time. But the wind you create, the wind you generate from a fast ride down a sloping street, that's the dog's bollocks.

Stationary bikes take this away from you, and replace it with a ridiculously uncomfortable saddle that sitting on is like straddling some abstract sculpture and then pedaling fiercely down a bumpy road. If abstract sculptures had wheels. And gears. Etc.

And the resistance is all off. What a stationary bike tells you is flat, or no resistance, is far too easy. You end up pedaling too fast and it feels like it's doing nothing at all. Then, often with no warning, it'll shoot you up some ridiculous hill and then get mad at you for slowing down.

Fuck that. I can't wait for all the snow to melt. I might stop calling it snow and instead refer to it poutingly as, 'the white stuff that stops me from riding bikes and makes me ride a smelly bus to work' (is there an Eskimo word for THAT?).

Sigh.

And then there's this.

Lakes.

The swim portion will be in a lake.

I'm a good swimmer, right? But I have this thing about lakes. Usually when I'm in one, this thought is never far from the front of my mind:



I'm pretty sure no matter what body of water I'm swimming in, this thing is not far away. And it loves leg meat.

This could make me swim faster, but it could also make me panic, and swim too fast, and then be totally shot for the other two parts of the race. That's why, when ever I'm swimming in a normal, civilized pool, I like to imagine little mini versions of this monster chasing me down so that I get used to swimming like serious shit is going down.

----

In all seriousness? I have a question about the mechanics of the swim portion. Is it going to be mass chaos at the starting line? Will I struggle to swim properly because I'll be splashed in the face constantly by a hundred other athletes? Can you see where you're going, or do you have to pop your head up occasionally to judge your distance.

Help a sister out. What's the lowdown on triathlon lake swimming?

lauren: day one, week one

So it begins.

I used a treadmill for 25 minutes today, completing a total of 1.98 miles. I think I actually ran somewhere between 1.3 and 1.4 miles, which was a little under my goal of 1.6.

It wasn't as hard as I thought!

Hurray!

...

I went pretty slowly though.


The fastest pace I managed was a 10 minute mile, and I think I held on to that for about 7 minutes. Still, that's pretty good for me.

Then I swan for about 20 minutes, and sat in the jacuzzi for 5, and then wobbled around the Minneapolis skyways on some errands. At Target I bought a bunch of heavy shit, and carried that to the downtown bus stop, then from my home bus stop a few blocks to my place, and now I will sleep forever.

----

Speaking of running, Kate's into barefoot running these days. Anyone else have any opinions? I'm in the market for a new pair of running shoes, and I'm wondering if I should look into the whole Vibrams craze and see if it would work for me. Running causes me a lot of hip/lower back pain if I'm not careful about it, and I'd like to prevent that if at all possible.

lauren: the plan

So, hi folks.

Here's the deal. It's been a goal in the back of my brain for a few years now that I've wanted to do a triathlon. Nothing in particular has held me back, besides a general dislike of running and time frames that somehow excluded me from doing any local events.

But this is the year. This year, I have the terribly important motivator of a friend committed to the same goal, and it's our hope that with a collaborator, we'll each have the focus and drive to keep going even when things seem difficult or grim.

This year, I leave in July for six months aboard a cruise ship as an orchestra musician, and I'd like to be, frankly, kinda smokin' hot for the men of Europe. And also for myself, ahem, of course.

This year, winter's got me down, big time. Cabin fever has reached an all time high and I often go down to the basement to just sit by my bike and talk to it in a slow, soothing voice.

Kate and I are still in the process of picking exactly which tri we'd like to do. Our time frame is anywhere in June, basically, minus a weekend or two, and our distance is Sprint (1/4 mi swim, 14 mi bike, 3.3 mi run) We have a few picked out but if any fellow Minnesotans want to throw in their two cents, we'd listen. Promise.

I've set up my training schedule using this website: Beginner Triathlete. Basically, it's given me a 17-week schedule with increasing distances on the three events, and allowed me choose the number of workouts per week and where I want to place them. I work three jobs, and at one of my jobs I have access to a hotel gym with a pool, treadmills, and stationary bike, as well as weights and various machines. I've tailored, at least for starters, my schedule around my hours there.

I'm a strong swimmer, an obsessive but very slow cyclist, and an ungainly and cranky runner. I need to regain my swimming prowess, speed up my bicycle times, and basically just learn to get through a run without thinking my world is falling apart around me. Here goes nothing.

lauren: the specs

Age: 29
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Favorite Food: nachos

Strengths:
four-year varsity swimmer in high school, specializing in long distance events
an obsession with all things bike
free access to a swanky hotel gym/pool'
113% lung capacity for age, height, and sex (thanks to ten years of professional trombone playing)
a romantic partner(?*) with professional massage training
all the tenacity of a two-year-old with a vendetta against bath time

Handicaps:
has never run farther than a mile and a half at any stretch
C2 vertebrae finicky and in the re-alignment stages (thanks to physical therapy)
terrified of severing an Achilles tendon
20-25 lbs overweight for height and frame
complete and total financial instability
all the tenacity of a two-year-old with a vendetta against bath time

Personal accomplishments:
at age 12, won the swim-a-thon hosted by her club team by swimming over 13 miles over the course of two-hour sessions and five days
advanced degrees in music performance and musicology
climbed to the top of Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, NM and mountain surfed^ nearly the whole way down
once found $20 on the floor of the crew mess on the cruise ship she was employed on and spent the whole thing on crab legs and biscuits in Juneau, AK


What She Hopes to Achieve By Participating in this Tri
Total smokin' hotness
Professional Bad-Ass Badge
Completion


*the terminology here has yet to be determined
^a phrase coined by my friend Chris, mountain surfing is the act of allowing your forward momentum to carry you down a steep mountain trail rather than picking and climbing carefully.