RIP Caballo Blanco & Getting Skunked

RIP CABALLO BLANCO

 

A few days ago someone I know posted on facebook that Caballo Blanco had been found dead in New Mexico after he had gone missing during a 12 mile run. For those who don't know who Caballo Blanco (Micah True) is.  He is one of the main characters in the non-fiction book "Born to Run". I started reading this book last fall while I was recovering from a running injury and the book and many of its characters reminded me why I love to run and opened my eyes to a different way of running that has kept me injury free for longer than I have ever been injury free as a runner. It reminded me that there is a time to run as fast as I can and there is a time to run at an easy pace, enjoy the run and take in everything around me. I enjoy both hard and easy runs but I to much hard running wears me down and catch myself running harder and harder all the time and this does take away from some of the enjoyment of running. I think this happens because I am competitive in every aspect of my life and I am always trying to one up myself and everyone around me.  Okay, I am starting to ramble on. Caballo Blanco was a guy who ran not to crush records or to make money but because it made him feel good. I sometimes wish I could spend all of my time training to be a triathlete but I need to make money so that I can pay my bills and take care of my family, so until I go pro (which will be NEVER) I need to juggle work and training .

The point I am trying to make is that I need to remind myself that it isn't always about how fast I can run 5, 10 or 15 miles. It is about enjoying my alone time. My favorite runs usually take place on trails when I can find them because I don't have to worry about getting run over and the view is a little better in the woods. For anyone who is taking the time to read this, remember to slow down from time to time and go for a long run. Speed work is important and makes you faster but so does running slow. I know this is true because most of my training this year has been done at a slower pace and when I have raced I have posted my fastest times ever.

Go out today and go for a nice easy run and if you haven't had a chance to read "Born to Run", get on it. It is a great book and changed the way I look at running.

GETTING SKUNKED

Last Thursday night I was hanging out with my three year old daughter and our dog Oliver while my wife was at the gym. I thought I smelled something skunky and told the dog to stop farting and took him outside. As the night went on I thought that I might have a furnace issue so I turned it off. In the morning I thought the smell had dissipated some so I left the furnace off. I was home at lunch that day and noticed that the smell had gotten significantly worse so I thought maybe the water heater was going or maybe I had an electrical problem. The smell was skunky but not skunky like you smell when you drive by a dead skunk on the road. I became more concerned about my house as I drove back to work so I grabbed my lap top and headed back home. My wife called RG&E to come out and check the gas and electric and when the tech showed up he looked at me, smiled and said you've got a skunk buddy. At first my wife and I were happy that we wouldn't need to dump a bunch of money into our furnace or buy a new hot water heater. Well, almost a week later we are not feeling the same way.

On Sunday I started ripping boards off my deck trying to find the source of the smell, knowing the smell inside wouldn't go away until the smell outside was eliminated. After removing about four boards I found a hole going under some bricks that looked like they could be part of my house. My wife and I went into minor panic mode at the though of a skunk being inside our house. After a few minutes of poking at the bricks with my shovel I realized that the bricks were not part of the house and just left there from some reason unknown to me. I moved each brick VERY CAREFULLY in an effort to not get sprayed. I moved the first brick and nothing but a stronger odor. I moved the second brick and nothing but more odor. At this point I can't see the end of the hole and I am thinking this sucker is in my house! I move the third brick and I SEE SOMETHING BLACK & WHITE! But it doesn't move. That is good news for me and bad news for my house. I didn't get sprayed but when a skunk dies and starts to decompose they release all of their spray and it just happened to be laying right up against the side of my house.

Today is Wednesday and we have been fighting the smell that has taken over every inch of my home and everything in it since Saturday. We have had to move into my in-laws house because our house now smells so bad it gives us a head ache. My wife has been doing laundry nonstop since Saturday and we have been back and forth going to our house to open windows during the day and close them at night because it has been getting so cold. I have a restoration company working with me to clean up the smell and so far we have hit a brick wall. Today he is coming out to try something new to eliminate the odor outside. Hopefully that will work so we can start getting back to our normal lives.

As a result I have done very little training this week and I am feeling very guilty about that. I guess it isn't the end of the world. I don't have any big races for a few months and plenty of time to get to the fitness level I'll be comfortable with.

I am going to be trying a sports drink that is new to me in the next week or two so stay tuned for my feed back.

Until then train smart and have fun doing it.

THE NEW BIKE, TRAINING & MUDDY RUNNING

TRAINING
Training has been going very well this year.  I haven't had any injuries yet which is a big plus.  Every year by this time I have a problem with my foot, hip or back but so far I have managed to avoid the frustration of not being able to workout.  I did catch a nasty chest cold from my daughter that slowed me down a lot over the weekend and since then I have had trouble getting back on to the training groove.  I am suddenly feeling the need to be lazy or I guess you could say I am not feeling very motivated.  This happens at some point every year and I am wondering what I can do differently to fight that little voice in my head that says, stay in bed.  You can run later and then later comes and the little voice says, you have been working hard.  One more day off isn't going to kill you.  I have only missed a few days here and there over the last few weeks but I don't want to let these little bumps in the road turn into a problem.  I think some sunny 70 degree days would help my state of mind.  I can't complain about the winter weather we have been having because winter hasn't really shown up this year.

THE NEW BIKE
So I have finally come to a decision regarding my new bike.  Yes, I know I have most likely put way to much thought into this but that is how I role when it comes to this kind of thing.  I have been wrestling with the idea of Trek, Felt or Blue since September.  I learned about the Felt DA4 about two months ago and I was intrigued by the integrated front end design.  What I discovered is that the Felt DA4 is a faster bike than the Trek Speed Concept 7 series but not as fast at the 9 series.  The Trek 7.8 comes with a pretty sweet set of Bontrager wheels but I already have my SRAM S60 wheel set so wheels are not an important factor.  The Felt DA4 does come with a nice set of aero wheels that I can use as back up wheels if I need them.  I will put the wheels that come with the Felt on my Serotta and us that bike for cruising with the guys when we are not training or for rides with my wife and daughter.  I plan on ordering the bike from The Bike Zone in Greece and can't say enough good stuff about them.  Chris who I spent the most time handled my thousands of questions without getting frustrated and my thousand questions don't come all at one time.  I think of something and call him then I think of something else and call again.  This went on for about four weeks and he never got sick of me calling.  At least he didn't let on that he did.  If you are looking for a good bike these guys are who you need to go see.  They now their stuff and will give you a good deal. 

What has two thumbs and will be super fast on...



THIS BIKE



WITH THESE WHEELS







THIS GUY

MUDDY RUNNING

I went for a trail run on Sunday expecting the ground to be somewhat frozen only to be surprised by the extreme amount of slop that I had to contend with.  I pulled into Black Creek Park and decided to start my run by going up the hill the kids sled down and found it to be a little sloppy but figured that is was just because of the low lying area.  I got to the top of the hill and started down one of the main trails that turned out to be very messy.  The upside to this was I found some great single track trails to run on for the first half hour of my 1.5 hour run.  After I finished up on the single track trails and got back onto the main trails where I spent half my time trying to avoid the water and mud by walking over logs and running through the brush.  About 45 minutes in I came to one of the larger wet spots and was about half way across balancing on a big fallen tree when this guy came glopping through the mud and water (I don't think glopping is a word but it fits).  He looked at me and said, "can't turn back now"!  At that moment I decided to man up and get wet and dirty.  Wet and dirty is a total understatement but the wet part wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I expected that my feet would freeze but they were fine.  By the end of the run my legs were toasted from pushing through the mud and slop.  I have run on the beach before and this was much harder.  It made this the hardest run I have been on at least a year and a half.  When I got home and showered I could feel the full effects of the run.  My muscles were sore from my feet to my hips.  I have new respect for the Tuff Mudder races.  They are only 10 miles long but running in the mud is no joke!

I am hoping I have a chance to try the minimalist running shoe offered by INOV-8 and give my thoughts.  Until then stay safe and enjoy your training!

2012 RACE SCHEDULE, TRAINING AND THE HUNT FOR DOC BROWN

I didn't do a lot of racing in 2011 for a number of reasons.  I was working 8:00 to 8:00 Monday through Friday and 9:00 to 1:00 on Saturday. I'm not complaining because that is part of owning a business. After spending that much time at work and away from my family I couldn't leave and go train so I chose my wife and daughter. I'd cram what I could into Saturday and Sunday but I over did it every weekend and ended up hurting myself. The end result was only doing a few races last year. I did Musselman but only did the Aqua Bike because of an injury that kept me from running. I did Shore Line and Finger Lakes even though I was injured and did pretty well all things considered.  So in 2011 I limped through three races with results I didn't feel all that great about.

2012 will be a much better year. The business that was bleeding my family dry in many was is thankfully no longer part of our lives so my work life balance is much better. This will allow me to train like I should, be injury free and post some fast times. My schedule is looking pretty good so far.

1) Flower City Challenge Duathlon (4/28)
2) Spring Classic Duathlon (5/19)
3) Musselman Half Ironman Triathlon (7/15)
4) Shoreline Sprint Triathlon (7/22)
5) Finger Lakes Olympic Distance Triathlon (9/9)
6) Ragnar 24 Hour Relay Race (I still need to fill the team roster) (9/28-9/29)
7) Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon (10/7)

If my budget will allow it I will add a race or two out of the area. I have a friend doing a really tough race in Connecticut that I would love to do but I will have to wait and see what happens. I am sure I will add in a few random 10K races with my wife as we figure out what we are doing.

I have been trying to train smarter this year.  I would love to use a coach to train but I would rather spend the money I have a new bike this year.  Who knows what will happen.  Maybe I can get a new bike and use a coach.  For right now the new bike is priority # 1 so I am using the same plan I have used the last couple of years.  I am taking a different approach to the plan this year though.  I am actually using a heart rate monitor and following the suggested heart rate effort per workout.  What I have noticed is that I have worked too hard in previous years when I should have been just taking it easy.  A zone 2 effort workout is one of those runs or rides that you just lose yourself in.  I do get tired but my body is asking me to stop and as I get closer to the end I find myself going faster without pushing my heart rate any higher.  I hope this translates into a faster second half to my run splits this year. 

So far my run and swim are doing much better than at this time in previous years but I can't really make any judgement on my bike fitness without being on the road and that won't happen for a few more months.  I have gotten out on a few random road rides but that doesn't really count.  I did one ride with a friend who hasn't been spinning on his trainer and I was significantly faster than him so it appears that the long hours spent on the indoor trainer are paying off but I won't know for sure until I have put in a few good rides on the road.  If I can stay injury free this year I think this will be the best season I have had yet.

My hunt for Doc Brown is still on.  For those of you who didn't go to the movies during the 80's I am referring Doc Brown from Back to The Future and his time machine.  I am still searching for my time machine except mine won't take me back in time and it isn't a Dalorion.  I am hoping it will help me improve my bike split and prevent hip injuries this year.  I have narrowed my hunt to the Trek Speed Concept 7.8, Felt DA4 or the Blue Triad EX.  I am leaning towards the Trek and Felt  because of the wheels that come on the bike and that makes me lean a little bit more towards Trek because the Bontrager wheels that come on the bike are as good if not better than what I ride on today.  That is important because the SRAM wheels I have been riding for the last two years have broken spokes about 6 times and I had the carbon crack once last year.  SRAM has been great and sent me new wheels and even upgraded my wheel set but I still had problems after the upgrade so the wheels that come on what ever bike I go with need to be as fast as what I am riding today but stronger.  I know Trek can do it.  I am not sure about Felt and the Blue has a nice wheels set but they are not as nice as the wheels on the Trek.  I posted pictures of the bikes.  Let me know what you think by posting a comment.

Trek Speed Concept 7.8

Felt DA4

Blue Triad EX

Train smart and be safe out there!

MY QUEST FOR THE PERFECT SPEED MACHINE

So I started looking at new tri bikes about 3 weeks ago.  I thought by this time I would know what bike I wanted for sure but I am only somewhat sure of what I want.  I can compare this shopping experience to going out to dinner and looking over a large menu with a lot of options that sound really good.  Do I order something I am familiar with or do I go for something I have heard of before but I am not to sure about.  I also want to make sure I am getting the biggest bang from my buck.  That means I should being feeling very satisfied at the end of my meal and like I should maybe loosen my belt.

I first went to a bike shop I have been working with for years and looked at Specialized and Quintano Roo.  This was much different than buying my road bike 5 years ago.  When I bought my road bike the guy at the bike shop looked at my height and put me on a few bikes and asked me what felt the best and I ended up with the road bike I had wanted for more than half my life time.  Luckily for me I picked a bike that fit me very well.  Each shop I have been to has done some fitting analysis and some have been more detailed than others.  I road the Quintana Roo and thought is was okay and that is not what I want for the price or for a 118 mile bike leg of an Ironman.  I am sure the bike is perfect for some people but I didn't ride it and say to myself, "this is it"!

I have used the internet to do some looking around and I have read a lot of good stuff about Felt and Cervelo so I have sought them out at a number of bike shops but I keep running into one common statement.  That statement has been, Felt makes a great tri bike but you really need to look at the new Trek Speed Concept because it is the fastest bike out there.  I didn't listen right away because I haven't really seen Trek on the tri scene but spending some time with another bike shop owner I am about 80% sure that Trek might be the way to go.  Before I had a chance to ride the bike he put me through a much more detailed fitting process than the other guys and that is a plus in my book because the injuries I have had over the last year are partially related to bike positioning and I am hoping to have a much better season this year.

After getting fit and talking about the bikes I rode a Trek Speed Concept 7.5 and a Cervelo B14.  Both are awesome bikes for the money but the technology with Trek is really awesome.  I took the Trek out first and really liked the feel of the bike.  The Cervelo also felt really nice but the Trek seemed to have better shock absorption even though it is a stiffer bike.  So I like the feel of the Trek more but that is only one piece of the puzzle.  I also want to make sure the bike performs better than others aerodynamically.  Based on what I have read and heard Trek has the best aero design based on what I think I heard as YAW.  This refers to how the bike performs with side wind rather than just the head wind.

SOOOOOO....it has been a few months since I started writing this post.  I put my hunt for a new bike on the back burner and now I am on the hunt again.  Everything I wrote above is still true for the most part.  I think Trek makes a great bike but I am considering a few other options.  I am considering Blue and Kestrel.  I have a good friend who can get a great deal on both bikes.  He has ridden both bikes and has great stuff to say about them.  I rode his Blue and had an instant feeling of comfort on the bike I didn't get with the other bikes.  My only concern with the Blue is the fact that the seat post is pretty static.  That means that once you have been fit to the bike when it is built you can't change your seat height very much.  I know my seat has gone up some over the years and it may go up more or come down and I need to be able to make that change.  You could say that I want to make sure I can adjust my bike as my body changes.

The other conclusion I have come to is that the actual bike doesn't make that much of a difference.  Don't get me wrong.  It does help but the person riding the bike is a huge part of how fast the bike will go.  Things to take into consideration are how hard and fast can I push the peddles and what kind of wind drag do I create.

My Shoe Review

It has been about two months since I purchased my Brooks Pure Connect minimalist running shoes.  I have put about 200 miles on them and have nothing but great things to say about them.  When I purchased the shoes the guy at the running store instructed me to take it easy and only do about 10% of my running in this shoe and build up over time.  That concept makes sense but I have trouble listening sometimes.  The day I bought the shoes I came home and went out for a quick 4.5 mile run and come to a couple of quick conclusions.  I realized is that the design of the shoe makes it much easier to strike with my mid and fore foot and forced me to take a shorter stride and increase my cadence.  Also, my feet felt great during and after my run.  My biggest concern when buying these shoes was how would my feet and body feel after putting in long miles.  I have added a few videos of me running in Black Creek Park to try and show what how my feet hit the ground.

I thought about gradually working into the new shoes but decided to listen to my body.  So far my body has told me that it likes the new shoes so I haven't gone back to my cushioned running shoes.  My calves were a little tight for the first couple of weeks but that passed and my hips, knees, ankles and feet have all felt better than they have in a long time.  I am not going to give all of the credit to my shoes but they do help.  The other reason I am feeling better is because I am running the right way.  I have a lot of friends who are struggling with injuries right now.  I have struggled with the same injuries in the past and think anyone who is sick of injuries getting in the way of training should give what I am doing some serious thought.

I can't say going out and buying minimalist style running shoes is going to fix every ones running related injuries.  I think you need to understand why you have the injuries and make the needed adjustments.  In my case I knew that I was a heel striker and that was a huge part of my problem.  My posture was another problem.  I was doing what some people call chasing my head, meaning I was leaning forward to far with my head down and in front of my feet.  Now, did I know this right away?  No shot!  I did my research and worked on my form which is still not perfect but much better than it was.

What I have noticed after making adjustments to my running form, technique and footwear is that my ailments have all gone away.  I have been gradually increasing my distance and the difficulty of my runs and I have continued to take note of some other positive changes.
1. My cadence has increased due to my shorter stride.  I thought this might make me feel more fatigue earlier in the run but I have come to notice that I feel better later in the run.  If I start feeling sluggish I pay attention to my cadence and make sure my stride isn't getting to stretched out.
2. My legs don't feel hammered at the end of a long run.  That is because my feet land under my hips and not out in front of me so I am hitting the ground with less force.  I am still tired at the end of a long run but minus any aches.

One question I do have is when do I replace my shoes?  Do I wait until the soles are worn out or do I do it sooner?

I am not saying this will work for every runner but if you are experiencing injuries every year it is worth looking into.  If you have an injury right now look at this hard and give it a try.  What do you have to lose.  I you have any questions let me know and I'll do my best to give you an answer.

My First Minimalist Shoe (Brooks Pure Connect)

Today I purchased my first pair of minimalist running shoes.  They aren't a true zero drop shoe due to the 4mm of heal lift but that is a huge jump from what I have been running in.  I tried on and ran in a few different shoes and it came down to the Brooks Pure Connect and the New Balance Minimus.  The New Balance Minimus was truly a zero drop shoe with nothing other than a little rubber between me and the road and that is why I decided to start with the Brooks Pure Connect.  The shoe does has some cushion and I would call it a half way point between a traditional running shoe and a full on minimalist running shoe.  The Brooks Pure Connect is considered a minimalist shoe but again due to the 4mm heal lift and the cushion I would call it a flat.

The first thing I noticed was how the shoe allowed me to strike with my mid and front foot much more naturally than my old sneakers during my test run at the shoe store.  When I got home and let my wife take a look she liked them just because of the color.  They are VERY GREEN.  They also feel very fast. 

I went out for a quick 4.5 mile run to see how they felt.  If they killed me I could take them back and  I really hoped they wouldn't kill me.  The good news is that they didn't kill me.  I so far LOVE them.  I felt very natural and could feel my foot working more than I could in my other running shoes.

What I noticed most what that I was keeping a nice pace.  Actually a little faster than what I have been averaging lately but I wasn't working as hard.  At least that is how I felt and that is was my heart rate told me.  If I had pushed it harder I would have dropped a good 30 seconds per mile off my normal pace.  Needless to say I am sold....so far.

Tomorrow I am going for a trail run and really looking forward to testing these puppies out off road.  Here is a shot of the bottom of the shoe to give you an idea of how it works naturally with your foot.  The shoe allows for great flexibility all over and also gives your big toe some true wiggle room. 

As I log more miles in these shoes I will give another update.  Until then, train hard and safe.

Minimalist Running

About two months ago I was trying to find information that would help me minimize the amount of injuries I was getting due to running.  I looked over a number of articles that all told me that heel striking is bad and not the way we were meant to run.  The way I understand it is our heel works more like a kick stand when we are not moving and helps us stay on our feet.  When we are running we are meant to strike with our mid foot or on the ball of our foot with a nice straight back and slight forward lean at the ankles.  At first I wasn't sure about the validity behind what I was reading but I kept on finding more good data to support it.

After reading I went in search of some running videos to see how this looked so I could try to do it myself.  I found what I was looking for and I also found a bunch of videos that were linked to some of the articles I had been reading, which helped me get a visual of good and bad form.  I decided to put new technique to use when I was able to start running again because at the time I was still injured.

About a week later while at the airport on our way to California I picked up a book to keep me busy on the plan.  To my surprise the airport book store actually had "Born To Run" for sale.  I had heard a lot about the book but never took the time to read until that morning.  The book started out pretty slow.  The writer spent a lot of time talking about his running injuries and a trip to Mexico to find this crazy... well not crazy but awesome tribe of running people.  Once he finds them in the book gets good.  I don't want to talk a whole lot about the book just in case you haven't had a chance to read it and want to which I highly recommend.  What I will say is that the book touched on everything I read and more.

When I say it touched on more I mean it talked a lot about minimalist running and bare foot running.  Now...I am not going to rip off my shoes start running bare foot.  I did try it once on the road and I didn't like that to much because the road is rough and hard and my feet are not.  I know there is at least one guy in Rochester I see at some races running bare foot and he is really fast but it's just not for me.  I did try it in the grass and ran about a mile and I did like that and will continue to add it to my routine a few times each week as long as the ground isn't covered in snow.  All of the researchers and running coaches say this is good for your feet.  Running barefoot in the grass helps stranghten the muscles that our running shoes don't use.  By making your feet stronger you should have few foot related injuries.  Keep in mind that you shouldn't run out to your local park and bang out a 5 mile run in your bare feet.  Take it slow and work into it.

Anyway, when Rose and I went for our first run in California I tried to make a conscious effort not to land on my heel when we went for both of our runs in California.  Later the first day I didn't have any extra pain associated with my injury.  That was the first time since the early spring of this year I could say that.  I knew by the end of the trip I was on to something.  For the last month I have run almost every day.  At first I had to cut my mileage back some because this new technique was causing some calf pain but that didn't worry because me everything I had been reading said that this would happen.

What I have noticed is that my thighs don't get as tired on long runs, my pain is gone and my hip tightness is slowly going away.  I went for 7 mile run trail run last week and really focused on trying to feel smooth.  I didn't want to feel like I was bouncing down the trail but more like gliding down the trail.  By the fourth mile I was starting to feel it and over the last 3 miles of my run I dropped a minute of my average pace and only saw my heart rate rise a few beats per minute.  My legs felt great and by the end of my run I wanted to keep going but I had other things to do that day so I stopped and got in my car and drove home.  What I noticed is that I had shortened my stride and leaned forward a little bit.  I felt like my legs just reloaded when they hit the ground under me and kept me moving.  This got me thinking more about one other change I have been thinking about making.

I don't want to run on my bare feet but a number of companies make a "zero drop" or minimalist running shoe.  The shoes don't have the raised heels running shoes have had since the 70's.  The goal of the shoe is to make you run like you were meant to run by landing on your mid foot or ball of your foot because you won't have all of the heel cushion.  The shoe is also much more flexible and allows your foot to work like it was meant to work.  I have not yet been to the running store to try them out yet because I am not ready for new shoes and if I like them I will want to buy them right away.  I have done a lot of homework and I think I know what shoes I want to try out.  The Vibram Five Fingers look pretty cool but I know they won't work for me.  I have some pretty crazy looking toes.  My toes are ugly enough that my older brother Todd would tell me to keep my socks on until I was married and one of the first things my wife looked at on our little girl was her feet to make sure she didn't have my ugly toes.  Fortunately my daughter has nice normal looking feet.  I am interested in trying what Saucony, Brooks and Merrell have to offer and would love to hear from anyone who has already tried minimalist shoes.

As soon as I try the minimalist shoes I will write more about them.  Until then be safe and watch out for all of the people on the road who are not watching out for you.