My scalp feels funny...

Yeah, I’m almost thirty, and I still act a goofball from time to time. Last night, packed in with my copy of Zinn and the Art of Triathlon Bikes, I got my set of Moose Antlers.

Come to think of it, I will probably need to get the Zinn road bike repair book as well, since it seems that it’s more in-depth. The triathlon book seems to be more about aero fitting and how to pack, reassemble, and fix triathlon bikes and their specific components.

ANYway, I wanted to touch base on my least favorite part of a triathlon – the running portion. Well, I wanted to touch on POSE, Garmin, and the Vibrams more specifically.

The past few weeks, I’ve been working a bit on some pre-base training. Quite a bit of cavorting through the underbrush, so to speak. My first priority has been to get the hang of this technique for the POSE method. While my first instincts are to run on the front part of my foot while wearing the Vibrams, I’m still a ways away from getting to the actual core portion of the technique.

My head still bobs a bit – I can feel it and see it in my shadow when I run past a light source. I also know that I’m not getting my ankles up under my hips where they need to be. This is where one of the training belts might come in a little handy.

I’ve been reading over the POSE for Triathletes book, and I’ve got to say that it reads like a dry psychology textbook. There’s a lot of information on running physio, gravity, and science in there before you even get into the drills or technique sections. Then again, who picks up books like this and actually reads the first few chapters, anyway?

The reason I am doing it is fairly simple: I’ve never really been a good runner at all, so this is the first time I’ll actually be learning a full running form technique from the ground up. I also want to completely understand the principles behind it because I really want to become a level 1 POSE coach after I get my ACSM Personal Training certs. A clear understanding of the method is paramount.

But I will credit the technique for one thing right away – those annoying ACL issues I was having over the summer (aching knees, tight hammys, etc…) haven’t come back at all. I’m WAY less fatigued that I would be running normally, and since I’m so tall, using gravity to my advantage isn’t all that hard.

The first few runs killed my calves, though. I still feel them get a little tight after a mile or so, but the recovery time has diminished greatly. (Last Monday, I ran and I was only sore for two or three days. I went last night, and today, I’m not even sore at all.) I guess it goes to show you that the more you condition your calves, the more it works in your favor. I have also been stretching a lot more before and after runs, as well as doing calf-presses and leg lifts at the gym. I’m hoping that this running style will really help my cycling, as well.

The Vibrams… oh, the Vibrams. My goofy little shoes…

They feel like you’re running in socks or slippers, like they aren’t even there at all. They are really comfortable to run in (if fitted to your foot right), and path-based trail running is pretty nice. Once in a while, I will step a small, sharp rock – you feel it, but it doesn’t hurt like it would if you stepped on it barefoot. It just feels like you’re stepping on a small rock. I have yet to bruise my foot in them, but as summer gets closer, and I start taking to the trail runs, I’m probably going to switch over to the KSO Treks, which have a thicker sole. The group I run with often goes over some pretty rough trails.

I would recommend them to anyone, really. Well, as long as you’re willing to adapt your running technique. I can’t imagine it would feel good to heel-strike in them. Actually, after talking to me and asking scads of questions, a lot of my friends are getting or have gotten Vibrams, and the results seem very positive.

One friend had to get a different style of POSE shoe due to a hammer-toe issue. He really likes the POSE method, but the Vibrams just don’t work right for him. This is why the fit is so important. Each toe needs to fit in each little sleeve for them to work right, and unfortunately hammer toes and webbed toes won’t fit right into the shoe.

One concession here, however. Having big hooves, I have long toes. My second and third toe from the hallux (big toe) are a bit syndactyl-ish – but only webbed to the first bend or set of metatarsal phalangeal joints (toe knuckles). The divides in the vibrams shoes doesn’t go all the way to the crooks of my toes, so they sit comfortably against the crook in toe three and four. If you have syndactyly in your toes, the best way to know if the Vibrams will fit is to find a retailer and try them on. If your feet are webbed like mine, then they might work fine for you.

REI is one of the major outlets that carry them in stock, if you’d like to try them on. They are gaining major popularity, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them start showing up in other places, or to even see a few knock-offs on the market. (I’ve spotted people at the gym and in the park wearing them.)

Training with the Garmin is a lot of fun. It gives me an excuse to go out and run, and when you use the built in training mode, it’s almost like playing a game. I can’t wait to increase my anaerobic threshold, though – when I’m doing a Zone 1-2-1 workout, even while at a brisk walk, the Garmin beeps at me, and the screen reads “SLOW DOWN!” like it’s the end of the world, and I’m careening at high speeds toward a brick wall to my own doom.

Hey, walking is dangerous.

Just go home, strap on my RoadID and Firefly lights, and hit the trail. (I look like an airplane taxiing on the tarmac!) But I always look forward to going home and uploading my data to TrainingPeaks. It’s fun to see altitude charts, heart rate and speed data as well as the maps. Sometimes, I’ll randomly cross the park, zig-zag, and turn around. (My goal is to write out “moose” in cursive in the middle of Washington Park using the GPS map. Heh.)

Now, if I could just stick to this damned diet!

PS – If you look to your address bar, you may have noticed that Mooselegs.net has changed to blog.getmoosed.com. In the coming weeks, a new layout and some fun video blogs will be appearing here.

The rocks were a little intense on the way up from the base of the hill to the turn off, but after that, it clears up pretty nicely, and then when you’re past the canyon, you’re romping around in the tree-line in some very pretty forest. When you’re running with a group, someone could be a hundred and fifty feet in front of you, and you wouldn’t even know they were there unless they were talking or laughing. The guy I was running behind was wearing a red shirt, so once in a while, I would catch a little red movement ahead of me and know I was going the right way.

Lots of mountain bikers up there.

So, the climb was stealing the air from my chest. I was sweating like mad, but I just kept trotting along at the rate of continental shift. But I kept a jogging pace the whole way, and my knee didn’t bother me that much, so I was determined to finish all (roughly) six miles of the run.

The real fun was when we got to the top of the loop and the trail turned off to Apex. Apex seems to be more gradual than Enchanted is, but I started down, and I got to cookin’. Every once in a while, I’d throw in a little Monty Python style jump or leap over a rock or jetty, and everyone behind me would chuckle as I went “WHEEEEEEE!” Aside the Ministry of Silly Walks thing, the descent was awesome. I went from trot, trot, trot to CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP!

We came into this meadow just under the tree-line, just above the canyon, and I almost had to stop to behold the beauty of it all. It had been cloudy and rainy all day yesterday, and the clouds seemed to have parted just for the run. It was nice, cool and humid. When we came out of the trees, there was a fog settling in on a hill off to the left, and it was just beautiful. It was one of those times I wish I had my camera on me. It was just so quiet and calm that it was surreal.

Gosh, I love Colorado.

Sorry to gush. But on my way down, more like flying than running, some funny thought struck my noggin, and the math goes a little like this:

The inertia of a laden m00se (times) the gradual incline of the apex trail (divided by) the velocity of a rolling bag of bricks = x.

Solve for X.

The suit that wasn’t anymore.

Oh, my!!1! (Swimsuit malfunction, indeed!)

I’m by my very nature a swimmer. This explains why the art and science of running seems so ellusive to me. I’m always interested in the cool new developments at Speedo Labs, and I love the heated discussions on all the new tech suits that come out. Actually, by COMSA next year, I hope to have a FastSkin Pro full body suit (since the FSII has been discontinued, and the LZR’s cost $Liver or $Kidney depending on which variation you get.)

My daily trolling of CNN yielded an interesting off-beat topic. No, it wasn’t the 2009 list of FINA approved suits. The headline was Swimmer rips suit, reveals tush.

Tush? Really?

Well, not that this is the first time a suit has ripped in a world class event (think Beijing, when a some lady’s LZR ripped and Dana Tores asked for the event to be stalled for a few minutes while the lady put on a new suit. God, Tores is an awesome good sport!!) and it probably wont be the last. Now, we’ve gone from “wardrobe malfunction” to “swimsuit malfunction.”

The Victim, Olympic Medalist Ricky Berens.

Ricky Berens was leaning over to take the block and ripped the butt out of his LZR. By the time that it had finished ripping, the buzzer had already sounded and he was on his way into the water, showing off his assets to the swimming community. I think the funniest part of the whole video is not the circumstance of it all, it’s that every woman on the street that the CNN reporter talked to could only comment on (ogle, drool over, comment, critique) Berens’… assets. Even funnier was the old Italian lady who was old-school enough to say “it makes me sick in my gut.”

No cheeky grandma here. I just hope Berens is taking it all in stride. Hey, that little faux paux probably just scored him a date! We should all be so lucky!

A little Friday humor for you, and you’ve been m00sed!

Whatever...

Yeah, I spelled it wrong. I was trying to be cute.

I came across this handsome fellow (left) and realized that this is about how my last three weeks have been. I try not to let stuff get to me, but try as I might, it’s always darkest before dawn, or to put it in more realistic terms: it’s always cliche-ier before… erm… something even more cliche??

Work has been the source of much stress, but I won’t even bring that mess to light. I think, in terms of training, the worst part of it is this little knee ache that I’ve developed over the last two weeks. Wednesday before last, I went running with my new friend Josh, and about 5 miles into the run, my knee started hurting.

To quote the whole Monty Python she turned me into a newt thing, “Well, I got better.” A little bit, anyway. This past Wednesday we headed out at ran again, this time only doing one lap around the park as I’d just finished a bout with the personal trainer, and she knows how to kick my buns. ANYway, got about 2 miles in before the darn thing started hurting again, and by the last little stretch – the last 300 yards before my car – it hurt so bad that I had to limp to an area where we could stretch.

I’m about to get a leg stabilizer- the sort that you’d see a lot of basketball players running around in. Hopefully that will help until I can get to Doctor Dan again and have him assess things.

Yesterday, some asshat opened their door a little too hard on their passenger side. I now have five dents in my door, and big, unsightly scratches on my door handle and the window. This slightly displeases me, because that lowers the value of my car, and also, I have to go through the steps of contacting the insurance company to see if they would cover something like that.

I meant to post something last weekend about our ride in Boulder, but I didn’t get around to it. I sent out an email to the swim team and invited everyone to come along for a dry run of the Boulder 5430 course. The plan was to do two laps, just like the course is set up. Overall, there were six of us that showed up (five who are actually doing the 5430 LD). The fun started as Patrick and Andy got there, and Pat’s tire somehow got a flat between Denver and Boulder. We scrounged around for an extra tube, and got him all fixed up.

Then the ride was on.

The first six miles of the course are false flats, then a lot of rolling hills, a good downhill section, then a pretty good sized hill as you’re heading back toward Boulder Reservoir. It’s not really a hard ride, all things considered, but that first six miles is a good way to blow out your legs if you aren’t paying attention to the incline.

We got about seven miles in, I’m just cruising down this hill, enjoying life, then SPOOOOOSH! Back tire goes flat. So I tell the group that I’ll catch up, I get my tire changed out fairly quickly, get the wheel back on – only to discover that my derailleur isn’t working. I’m stuck in low gear. I’m sitting there thinking, crap, now I’ve got two broken bikes.

Everyone turned around and rode back to me to make sure everything was okay. I figured there was no harm in going forward. The fixed gear would be a good workout for the legs. I got out in front, right behind Guillermo – a triathlete who swims with us occasionally and who has done the 5430 series before – and rocked forward.

The group got way ahead of poor Patrick, and he thought we’d already turned off. He started toward Longmont on one of the roads heading east, but we were still going north toward the St. Vrain turn-off. We stopped at the turn and waited: no Patrick. We asked a guy who was passing us up, and he said he spotted someone a few miles back with mechanical. So we started back. Me and two other guys got ahead of the group (you’d think we’d learn) and meanwhile, Patrick called John and told him he made a wrong turn. We got back to where I met back up with the group after changing my flat, but we didn’t see Patrick anywhere, and John and Andy weren’t coming over the hill.

I came to the conclusion that Patrick called Keith (my friend who was in that bike accident. He came up, but went hiking with his dogs while John rode with us) and had Keith come pick him up, then Patrick called John, so John and Andy turned around. We decided to turn around and move on. We came to the intersection where Patrick made the wrong turn, and there they were. Kind of funny when you think about it.

So, we decided to finish out the first loop and call it a day. If any of us blew out another tire, we were going to be hosed. Not to mention we were tempting fate with the myriad of issues we were having. Got back to the parking lot uneventfully, but it was a great ride, and I can’t wait to really open it up and try the course with Aethon.

Helmets are for special people…

I... am... MOOSEMAN!!!

I finally got around to getting my aero helmet – you know, one of those helmets that, no matter WHO you are, you look ’special’. Even more so if you wear it backwards and pose like a super hero with a dip-ity-do in your hair. I’m seriously lacking a cape, but as Edna Mode from the Incredibles suggests, NO CAPES! (Can you see me getting sucked through my back wheel? Can you?)

There have been a lot of studies done with helmets and the aero principles of the teardrop shaped helmets, especially with top riders. I am not, however, a top rider.

But research suggests (and correct me if I’m wrong) that an aero helmet is akin to having a) an aero-designed bike, or b) really nice aerodynamic wheels. If you have all three, I just figure it’s just that much more wind resistance you’re cutting down on.

Obligitory FaceBook shot? I think not!

Behold! I’m not the most aerodynamic person out there. I mean, seriously, I have the slipstream of a semi-truck. Even though the aero properties of most bike accessories are moot until you get to certain speeds (certain faster speeds), I can use any aerodynamic advantage I can get.

I originally wanted the red and black Giro Advantage II helmet, but the only one the bike shop had was the display model. While it fit okay, the issue with it was that it had been sitting on the display (resting on the ear covers) long enough to put stress cracks in the corners where the ear covers connect with the helmet. No bueno.

I settled for the helmet that was Matte Titanium. Still looks pretty bad-ass, and it doesn’t look so nerdy when you’re actually down in aero-position. I did get a little chuckle last night at team dinner, though, when I mentioned the helmet to Daphne. She just smiled and said, “Oh, you got one of those sperm helmets?”

To wrap things up, I have a few fun pictures from two weekends ago. Enjoy!

m00se

You don't need a helmet to be "special"!

Argos knows how to rock them shades! Rawk along now, little dawgie!

This is the squid I made for our booth. We changed his name from Inky to Lumpy.

I dub this workout: Montclaire Middle Distance 3K

• Warm-up:
  • 200 Swim
  • 200 Pull
  • 200 Kick
  • 12 x 25 on :30
    • 1-4 IM Order, full stroke
    • 5-8 IM Order, drill
    • 9-12 Free, descending by 25
• Main:
  • 3 Times through the following:
    • 400 pull – long and strong (Getting a little faster each 400 through) Leaving at the next top or bottom – no more than :30 rest.
    • 50 Free at E1 on 1:00
    • 50 Free at E2 on 1:00
    • 50 Free at E3 on 1:00
    • 2 x 25 Free Sprint on :30 – All Out
    • 50 EZ (Only the first two times through, third go right into warm-down)
• Warm-down:
  • 200 Choice

This is a pretty quick workout if you can keep with the intervals. It’s built so that it should be workable by those of medium proficiency. I was hitting the 50’s at :35, :30 and :27 respectively. A medium lane should be able to pull at least a :50, :45, :40 with no issues. Not a lot of rest, but it’s meant to keep your heart rate up.

For your reference, E1 is 500-800 race pace, E2 is 300-500 Race pace, and E3 should be a 200 or so race pace.

I woke up early this morning to go Running with Brandi at the park. We had to cancel our coaching session on Wednesday night because of sucky Colorado weather. (Same reason I was ticked last night, because after the storm, it was nice and sunny.)

She worked with me a lot on technique, form and speed intervals. The start was a nice 20 minute warm-up run, followed by a few drill exercises to loosen up the ankles and the hip-flexers, then we did a :30 on :30 off interval run based on an 8 minute mile time. It felt a lot faster than the 8 minute mile than I did in the triathlon, especially since this morning’s fast sets felt like sprints.

It was really nice to have the company there to kick my duff along, since normally I wouldn’t think anything of walking along for a moment to catch my breath. Not to mention, we had one really old guy that we passed on intervals talk to us when we turned back for the car. He said “what are you doing? I almost caught up to you!” This is the first time since I started working out anywhere that someone has randomly come up and talked to me! Most people are too off in their own little world to even notice there are other people around them, unless they’re about to run into them OR a bright shiny object (ie. fabulous rear end) has caught their attention.

(Hey, I’ve caught myself a few motivational stares here and there, and there is plenty of eye candy to be had running around the park. So, meh! …)

Probably heading in for a run on Sunday. Saturday is off since my niece has a dance recital (awwwwwww!!) and I’m to go to a wedding with Mom, since she’s in town. Going to miss swim practice, although I probably would have opted for an open water workout with the other half of the SQUID group. Thinking, though, I might get in an hour on the bike tonight after my dentist appointment.

Bah! Dentists.

m00se

This morning I got up to do Fartleks in the park. (Tee hee.) Seems very similar to interval training… well, it is to an extent. Fartleks (tee hee) is a basic routine with a slightly funny name that would turn even the most uptight runner into a giggling high school student. Run about 200-300 meters, slowly jog for a minute. It’s a pretty good way to build your stamina, and at this stage, I really need it.

For the time being, the iPod was keeping me company. Argos’ legs are still a little too short to come along on a long run, and I get the feeling I’d have to carry him back to the car after a mile or so.

Brandi also told me to stack my running days with my cycling days, to work on my slow twitch muscles. I’m keeping an eye on the weather today, since we’re supposed to be in for some late afternoon rain storms. Other than that, I think I finally have a decent training calendar down. Now if I could just keep with the diet.

I got around the park in decent time. Went about a heavy seven minute mile (a dime under eight). I did have to walk after a couple of the sprints because of a side-stich that decided to bother me. New glasses fog up pretty easy, too.

When I got done, I stopped to stretch and do some press-ups on the park bench. Larry, the cousin to Squirrel of Doom, came off his little tree and watched me. When I walked past his oak, one of the tallest in the park, he followed me from one side of the trunk to the other, and just chirped once in a while. It was like he knew. After watching me finish a set of elevated one-armed planks, he was scared back up the tree by a passing dog who was undoubtedly thinking “… … … …SQUIRREL! … …”

Have a bit of cycling to do tonight. At least 30 miles of it. I really need to find a better ride than Washington Park to do these mid-distance rides on. It gets downright repetitive. Just head right out the front door and hit the pavement. Huzzah!

PS- Fartleks (tee hee) is Swedish for speed play. Just thought I should throw that out there.