Lazy Loretta and Goes-for-it Gus

It's me. I'm the Lazy Loretta.

I have only bad excuses--I was busy, I was out of town, it's just warm enough to be mucky outside, I haven't gotten my bike tuned up yet... All these and more are the reasons I have been slacking this month. Amazingly enough, June 6 doesn't care. Triathlon is going to just keep getting closer and closer until it's here, regardless whether I'm prepared.

So I've been developing a new training strategy for April and May: I will train intentionally rather than whimsically. I will make sure that I'm devoting appropriate amounts of time on each event (instead of avoiding swimming because it's really hard). I will keep records to track my progress (instead of assuming that I must be progressing because that's what happens with practice invariably). I will track of outdoor workouts as well as indoor ones (instead of being tricked into thinking that 10 minutes running on a treadmill is the same as 10 minutes running along the river).

I'll be bigger, faster, stronger. Or...at least two out of the three.

The Goes-for-it Gus in this story is my dad. I learned recently that he did a sprint triathlon (a more intense one than we've signed up for, but back when he was around our ages) and took third. Third. Only two people were faster than him on that course that day. While not at all a realistic goal for me, I'm pretty impressed that it was not only a realistic goal but an achieved goal for my kin.

supplementary

This week I registered to participate in 30 Days of Biking, a month-long event masterminded by some lively Twin Cities folks who want people to love their bikes and tell them (and the world) all about them.

From the website:

The only rule for 30 Days of Biking is that you bike every day for 30 days—around the block, 20 miles to work, whatever suits you—then share your adventures online. We believe biking enriches life, builds community, and preserves the Earth.

Pretty rad. I think I can manage this April to pull that off. Blue Bianchi Friend is sitting on the back porch, spiffed up with a clean gearset and freshly oiled chain, ready to rock it like the bad-ass old lady she is. And until I can get my hands on a faster racing bike, she's what I've got and she's going to get me there.

My main biking adventures are to work- 2.5 miles one way- and around the lakes, parkways, and greenways of Minneapolis. This Saturday, the 2nd, is supposed to be nice, nice enough- and I have the day completely off.

That means you, local riders, should join Kate and I for Brunch and Bikes...details to be announced. It'll be exactly what it sounds like.

Let's go riding!

Game. On.

It's real, people. Kate and Lauren Registered for a Tri.

As much as legal jargon usually frustrates me, the language of this event waiver pumped me up:

"1. I hereby represent that (i) I am in good health and in proper physical condition to participate in the Buffalo Triathlon... I agree that it is my sole responsibility to determine whether I am sufficiently fit and healthy enough to participate in the Buffalo Triathlon. 2. I understand and acknowledge the physical and mental rigors associated with a triathlon, and realize that running, bicycling, swimming and other portions of such events are inherently dangerous and represent an extreme test of a person’s physical and mental limits. "

YES! I am physically fit, and I will be running, bicycling and swimming and I will be testing my own physical and mental limits.

Don't worry about me, waiver. I am extreme, too.

official!

I just registered officially for the Buffalo Tri. It's on now, folks.

win some, lose some

I won a big one today.

My plan was to bike down to Lake Calhoun, 6.5 miles if I went the long way via Theo Wirth Parkway, and then run the lake. Calhoun is a near-perfect 5k, 3.3 miles around in a loop with few twists and turns and only one tiny little hill. It's ideal for training for a sprint tri for all of these reasons.

I wasn't sure that I'd be able to run all of it; I figured I walk the first .2 mi, run 2, walk a bit, run some more, and end up with about 2.5 or so miles clocked running. I'd have to bike back (probably the short way up Kenilworth Trail, 5.2 miles), so I wasn't looking to kill myself before I could get home and die peacefully in my bed.

The other big factor here is my new shoes.



Look how pretty! They are Brooks Ravennas, and I love them. I made a trip to TC Running Company in Eden Prairie on Friday after a brutal outdoor run in my old shoes (some Merrill trail runners) on Thursday left me limping and unhappy. Adam, one of the experts there, watched me walk barefoot, talked me through my questions on minimalist running, and put some shoes on my feet and watched me jog along the back wall of the store. The minute I put the Ravennas on my feet were super happy. He advised me to get through my tri, learning endurance and good running form all the while, before I put some minimalist shoes on my feet and struggle through that process as well as the process of training to run a race.

I'm glad I took that advice. After my run today, my feet were so snug I didn't want to take the shoes off at all. I just want to wear them around constantly and be ready to run at any moment.

At any rate, back to today's story.

Just as I was locking up my bike, my friend Alan called me. He'd seen my post on Facebook and wanted to see if I wanted a running buddy for my Calhoun adventure. He said he could be there in 15 minutes. So I waited for him, and when he showed up it became apparent he was there to coach me. We picked our 'totem', an old sign on a pole near the Tin Fish, and started running.

Running with a friend is so much better. You can talk, and pace, and before you know it, you're halfway there. The distraction and fun of it makes all the difference. We passed the halfway point and I in no way felt like stopping.

I ran the whole way. All 3.3 miles. The last bit, with the little hill and Alan coaching to 'pick up the pace, look up, relax, go go go', was killer, but I made it.

Our time?

30 minutes.

That puts me at about a 9 minute mile, which is faster than I've ever gone on a treadmill, and much less painful, too. I'll be stiff tomorrow but I'm going to relish in what that means.

The loss?

After Alan took off, I sat for a bit and stretched. When I went to get on my bike, I noticed that the chain had slipped off the rear cassette, so I got down to fix it and discovered that one link was stuck between the cassette and the seat stays. Stuck, as in, completely unmovable. My hands were covered in chain grease, with no progress whatsoever, when I finally gave up and called Alan, asking him to come back and give me a ride. The lesson here is: always have your bus pass.

On top of this, my whole ride down to the lake was uncomfortable. My bike is heavy and creaky, and no matter how much love I've poured into it, it still feels like at any moment one of the wheels might just careen off the spoke and send the whole mess, myself included, crashing into a mud puddle. I love my Bianchi; I've had it for over 10 years, but it's just not going to get the job done in a real race, or even for any of my work commute. I need a new bike. A new used bike would also suffice.

Currently, my Bianchi Friend is still sitting down at Calhoun, waiting for me to come recover it in my car. It's a sad state of affairs and I'm almost glad it's going to be a bit wet and cold for the next few days because it will give me a chance to come up with a plan for repairs/replacement.

Still, I ran Calhoun! Go me!

Boom There's the Wall

I feel like I've hit a wall, and that wall is made out of swimming.

It's just so easy to not swim. I'm not swimming right now! Running and biking are a little tougher, because they're a lot less involved than swimming. Sometimes you have to run a few blocks to catch a bus. And sometimes it's really the fastest, easiest way to bike over to the corner store. It is never simply a matter of convenience to swim. It's either necessary or it's planned.

I never feel like swimming. It seems like such a hassle to change all the way into my suit, take a shower, swim, take a shower, dry off, and change back into street clothes. I've been running outdoors more which keeps that part of my routine interesting. But the outdoor jog around town, swinging by the gym on my way back is merely a perfunctory card-swiping experience rather than a real work out. I'm certainly not going to swim at the gym if I can't even muster the determination to be there for more than 2 minutes.

So how do I do it? How do I get geared up about swimming?

don't be buffaloed...go to Buffalo! (not NY)

We have picked our date (tenatively)! Yes! It's True! Kate and I will become triathletes on June 5th, 2011, as we compete in the 6th annual Tri Buffalo.

That's Buffalo, Minnesota, yo.



Sprint course is a 1/4 mile (440 yards) swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run. The friendly countdown clock tells us we have 88 days to prepare!

Hopefully, we'll have a warm enough spring that the water in Buffalo Lake won't be too chilly and we can both go without wetsuits, and the weather will cooperate so we won't have rain! Let's take a look at the average temperatures for Buffalo the first weekend of June:



Hmm, yes, good, yes.

I can live with that.

Runner's Community

I ran outside.

It's 36 feels like 31 degrees and aside from regretting lacking gloves I was perfectly comfortable. I got to use my Vibrams outside for the first time which was exciting. It's very pleasant to run through a wet slab on the sidewalk and see your footprint--toes and all--on the next dry slab.

Here's the best part though:

On my way out, while I was still deciding my route, I hesitated at a corner and ended up nearly running into another (much more serious) runner. He smiled and said, "Hey! Good! You're doing great! Keep going!" How completely wonderful.

I ran my 1.3 miles in between 11-12 minutes. It's always better running outside. I wasn't focused on how fast or far I was going, I was just happy to be making progress. I crossed the river and streets, passed light posts and dodged lunch-crowd walkers.

And on my way back, I opted to walk the last 3 blocks before I wrapped up my break. The man I had seen when I first set out was just crossing the street approaching me. We made eye contact and I said hello, albeit somewhat sheepishly since he has seen me just a few short minutes ago running and I was clearly already finished. Nonetheless, he said, "S'Alright!" as he stuck out his hand and gave me a high five as we passed one another.

My experience skepticism both tell me that this man is the exception, but I'm well on my way to tricking myself into thinking that maybe the running community really is this encouraging. Maybe they all say hello to one another on the street and bestow little morsels of encouragement to their fellow runners at every literal turn. Maybe they understand that somedays you go on a short run, and it's alright, you're still trying, and that's the important bit.

For those of you who are runners, if this isn't the case, please don't tell me. I like my way better.

shortcomings

I've set this goal of doing six workouts per week: 2 of each sport.

That doesn't seem so unreasonable when you consider that I'm running very short distances, and eventually will be able to bike to work, thus eliminating some of my gym time.

Still, I keep falling short by one workout a week. The past two weeks, it swimming, and this week, I ran out of time to run.

I'm not too worried about it, since overall, I feel like I'm doing really well. My swimming is coming back into shape, and biking is...well, like riding a bike. Running will come, I think, if I'm patient with it. I'm not as terrible at it as I was and it's turning out to be all mental. Plus, I'm insanely jealous of Kate's Vibrams and will probably consider forking over a chunk of my next paycheck to similar shoes.

On top of all this, I have SAD like crazy. Was there ever a syndrome so effectively acronymized? Seasonal Affective Disorder is killing me, slowly, by rotting out all trace of sanity I ever had and replacing it with the steadily building urge to kill everyone in the world one by one with hunks of solid ice I found on the street corner. My demands are simple, if you want the carnage to stop: Rapidly melting snow, 45-60 degree days, and clear bike paths from here to eternity. I want to wear shoes without socks, capris, and light jackets, if no jacket at all, and I want to leave my house and be greeted with fresh, warm air that doesn't freeze me to my very core.

I'll take all of these things by the end of the month, please, Minnesota, and no haggling.

In the meantime, my gym has graciously starting offering free Balance Bars near the towel rack, and my life has been 45% better for it.

Resources

A coworker turned me on to two sites that follow the deal-a-day model, but change the deal every 30 minutes. Here they are--Bonktown and Steep and Cheap. Knock yourselves out.

This site was linked from Vibram's site and so far it's been both interesting and helpful. I have everything I need to be a successful minimalist runner except for 40 degree weather. Come on, Minnesota. I'm counting on you.

Six Little Words

Today a man at the gym said the six words I've been waiting to hear: How do you like your shoes? He was pointing at my Vibrams. My hard-earned, waiting since November, finally got a run in them Vibrams.

"I love them." I said. I explained I had only had them a short while but I'm very pleased so far. I explained why I switched to minimalist shoes and why I chose Vibrams as my next step. He was open, but still a little skeptical, "Yeah, but what about for a middle-aged overweight man like me?" I told him I had never been a middle-aged overweight man like him, so I couldn't say for certain, but that I had less joint pain and fewer aches all around since running with them. The bulk of our remaining conversation was summed up in these points:

Pros

-No pain

-Look silly

-I love running in them

Cons

-Calves are sore

-Tricky to get on my feet

-I have new blisters

The Con list is made up of inconveniences I am certain are temporary. My calves will get stronger, my shoe-putting-on technique will get better and I will get calluses. The Pro list is mostly just a list of things that make me happy like no pain, silly things, and being excited for my workouts. The Pros win. Vibrams win. I win.

I love them.

in french it's called 'la vitesse'

Already this week, workout-wise, has gone better than the two previous. I've made my first running and biking goal, and I've already swam twice. Running is still not really all that pleasant on a treadmill, but I'm gaining a bit more endurance. Still holding out for nicer weather...except that tomorrow's forecast calls for snow and the beginning of next week on my phone weather app simply states 'big storm'. Balls.

The joy of my week is that my swimming speed is coming back. I'm finding my reserves on longer hauls and remembering how to use my legs to propel a graceful and powerful arm stroke. While I was exhausted after both my swims this week, the during bit felt strong and fast. I'm getting better at creating a workout that utilizes the Hilton's incredible short pool so that I don't go crazy trying to calculate distance and times. And it's just so good to be in the water again.

Of course, I don't so much like going outside afterward and having my hair freeze. That bit sucks a big one.