The Imelda Marcos of Triathlon

For you young readers who don't know who Imelda Marcos was, please check here for the reference. Those of you who know me, know that I am the Imdelda Marcos of Triathlon. I have a lot of shoes. And, I keep them. I just find it hard to throw away a pair of shoes.

When I first started doing triathlon, I fell in love with the Nike Shox NZ. I think it is a great shoe. It doesn't have a tongue. It fits like a sock. Very light with good support, even for a big guy.

Nike Shox NZ

I loved these shoes. Over my tri career, I bought at least a dozen pairs of them and I have still own two pair. They are too worn to actually wear on a training run, however. Well... I did wear them on a trail run recently. I do wear them at the gym when lifting weights.

Inexplicably, and much to my chagrin, Nike stopped making them. Of course, it was right before a race when I was looking to buy new shoes. So, I had to switch to a Nike Air Max. They do have a tongue. I wore these shoes at Timberman last year and have put a lot of miles on them.

Today at lunch time, I went to Pacers in downtown Silver Spring with my $15 off coupon. Brian Farley (who has a brother named Chris Farley) helped me pick out a pair of shoes and we selected the Nike Air Max Moto+ 5. They feel comfy but do have a tongue, which I'm not enamored with. If found a review of the shoe online.

Pictures of my pair of shoes are below. Now let's see how long I can keep them from getting dirty.

I wore them today for a run after work. I knocked out 6.5 miles in 60 minutes, trying to keep the heart rate in the low zone 2 range, which I managed to do. I ended with an average HR of 133. Shoes felt good and I like them better than the previous pair. But, I still miss my Shox NZ.

Spring Training Continued

The weather is starting to warm up although it is still chillier than I would like. I've managed to get some outdoor bike rides in and am on a consistent running schedule. Swimming is still not where it should or will be but I'm working on it.

A key element to me getting my workouts completed is to get it done early in the morning. This means on some mornings I'm getting up as early as 4:45 am so I can make it to the gym or get out on the bike. I find early morning workouts to be very peaceful. I am more disposed to getting out of bed when it is warm and am eagerly awaiting permanent warm weather in the DC area.

Below is a video of me outside the gym at oh dark thirty.

Easter Training

Kip P. encouraging me on the bike.

Spring Training

First weekend of spring. However, temps were still in the 40s. It sleeted yesterday. Nice. Anyway... got a good hour run in Saturday out in Davidsonville... average HR or 135. Easter Sunday started with an hour run (average HR 137) along the Anacostia River Trail south of RFK Stadium down to Pennsylvania Avenue. We also did a loop in the Historic Congressional Cemetery, a place in Washington DC that I have never been before. Followed by breakfast we then proceeded to do a 40 mile ride out MacArthur Blvd. to River Road and back to Capitol Hill. I feel really good on the new bike and notice three big differences... the acceleration (sometimes, it is almost breathtaking), the efficiency of effort when I'm in an aero position and how much easier it is to accelerate up hills. We did hit a couple of hills today including the hill past Old Angler's Inn. I got a cramp in my calf about a quarter of the way up and the group dropped me.

Where You Been?

Simple... TRAINING.

Been locked in on a regular routine.



Also, I got a VO2 MAX Test done. Did a lot better than the one I had done in November 2005. Check it out: