Beware the low-hanging fruit!

In the academic world, low-hanging fruit is a metaphor for the easiest targets to grab.  Whether it's for grants, sturyding, or residencies, the low-hanging fruit is the stuff that we grab first before settling in for the longer tasks that are going to take more time.  So, for example, when I grade papers, I will pick those that are the quickest to grade, so I can get feel like I've accomplished something. 

Yesterday, I found out about the dangers of low-hanging fruit... literally.

It wasn't raining when I got home from work, and there was nobody home:  no wifey, no kids, no dogs.  I decided to go out for a run.  Since it is now dark at 5:00 PM, I was going to wear something that could be seen by cars.  I put on a black long-sleeved top.  Okay, so not the best color choice, but I also put on a reflective belt, Nightlife gloves, and a headlamp.  I used to think that the more reflective and bright clothing I wore, the more I was lighting myself up as a target for cars to aim at.  But, since I was wearing a black shirt, I figured I needed a lot to be seen.  My run was pretty uneventful for the first half.  I saw a buck out on the road, and I think he was trying to decide if he needed to get out of the way for me.  Whether it was me or the car that was approaching from the other direction, the buck decided to high-tail it for the other side of the road and safety beyond. 

As I headed up Union for home, I decided to stay on the sidewalk.  Now, if you are familiar with Steilacoom at all, there are places on Union where the sidewalk takes abrupt left and right jogs at seemingly random locations (although it probably has to do with trees in the planting strip).  And, I haven't yet memorized those locations.  So, one second I was running along the middle of the sidewalk, happily trotting along (it was a pretty good run), and the next second I was in the middle of the planting strip as the sidewalk had jogged left.  And then... WHAM!  Smacked right on the nose by an apple (the low-hanging fruit).  Although it didn't hurt, the suddenness of getting whacked on the bridge of the nose by a solid, wet object in the dark was a bit startling.  And since my headlamp beam is pointed at the ground so I can be on the lookout for things that I can step in or get tripped by, the apple was totally unexpected. 

Since nothing was hurt, and all was well, it was good for a chuckle, though.  And I realized that there was yet another danger to running in the dark!

Don't get old if you can help it

It's Hell getting old.  Maybe I should say "older," since, compared to most of my patients, I'm not really old.  Some days, though, I definitely feel older than others.  Take yesterday, for example.  Following my plan of running less, but running faster, I headed out on the track for a ladder of 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 all with a 400 RI.  Because I was a bit busy in the morning, I didn't do this at Noon as I had planned, but ended up on the Steilacoom HS track at 5:00 PM in the dark.  Which was okay.  There were some benches and barriers on the track, but nothing that I would be running into, I hoped, even if it was pretty dark.  It was nearly a full moon, but since the clouds were hiding it, there wasn't much light, except for the spotlight on the flag at the far end of the field.  That, actually, looked pretty cool. 

So, off I went on a 2 mile w/u.  I was wearing my Newtons; I had thought about using racing flats, but hoped that I could still make the intervals easily wearing training flats.  At the 1.5 mile mark, I did some 100 m strides, and didn't feel too bad.  However, I did notice my left hip (more correctly, groin) was acting a bit unhappy.  I had tweaked it during the Turkey Trot (see previous entry for the details), but it hadn't been too bothersome until now.  Still, I didn't think it would be a problem. 

As soon as I started the 400, I knew that my groin was a bigger problem than I expected.  It got progressively more painful after the first 100.  By the time I came around to the start/finish, I wondered if I would be able to continue the workout.  I was having problems planting and pushing off and I definitely couldn't stride out on my left.  To make things even more problematic, my watch was all messed up.  So, while I think I made the interval (should have been 1:29), I couldn't tell.  During my 400 recovery jog, I thought about my predicament.  I decided to run the 600 and see what happened.  I also thought that I fixed the problem with my watch.  I hit the button to start the 600 and took off.  Immediately, I realized that my leg was not going to let me finish the workout (at least at the intervals I wanted).  I chopped my stride, ran the rest of the lap fairly gingerly and stopped at the 400.  And it was over.  To add insult to injury, when I looked at my watch to see what my first 400 time was, I couldn't get it to recall. 

I guess I'm not running for a little while.  I missed my target of 100K for the month, but that's not a huge deal; it was just a motivator.   I'm going to see if I can still ride and swim.  Right now, I'm walking kind of like I just got off a horse.  Seems that things like this never used to happen to me 20 years ago, when I was younger and faster.

Not having a clue

I ran a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot the other day.  The weather was as good as it gets for late November in the Pacific Northwest:  cool, dry, and kind of sunny.  Basically, I looked at the weather forecast, and when rain wasn't listed, I signed up the boys and me.  While a 5K doesn't burn all that many calories, it helped to justify the binge eating that I was going to do later in the day.  And besides, what else am I going to do on a holiday morning, right?

We made the trek to NE Tacoma for the Norpoint Turkey Trot.  After picking up our shirts and numbers ($35 for a short sleeved one color white t-shirt for Ryan?  Really?), we headed over with the McMonigal family.  I warmed up briefly with David and JJ and took my place at the start, several rows behind the front, figuring all of the high schoolers in front of me were going to be going a lot faster than I was.  My plan was to ease my way through the first mile, and pick it up.  The gun went off (it was an actual cannon!) without a countdown, so we were all a bit surprised.  As I got started, within the first 100 yards, some bozo went sprinting by me and cut me off, tripping me.  I struggled to remain upright for about 20 yards, before finally losing my balance and falling, scraping my knee and elbow.  I think somebody else went down behind me as well.  I rolled over, got up and sprinted up to yell at the bozo who tripped me.  As I caught and passed him, I yelled... well, let's just say that it wasn't "Have a nice day."  So much for taking it easy.  I ran the rest of the way without looking down at my knee, because I didn't want to see how badly it was scraped up.  I did look at my elbow, and my long-sleeve top wasn't torn, so that was a good sign.  I decided not to look at my watch for my splits; turns out my splits were pretty reasonable, given the topography of the course:  6:25, 6:17, 7:00.  I probably seeded myself too far back, as I was only passed by two people and passed a bunch, finishing 18th overall and 2nd in my AG (40-49).  Total time:  20:32. 

I went back to find the boys, and David was moving right along, and finished in 24:xx.  Ryan wasn't too far back at 30:xx.  David was 4th in his AG and Ryan was 9th.  Altogether, not too shabby a performance for the Ling family.  As we were walking back home, my left hip started tightening up, and I realized that I probably tweaked it a bit during the fall.  And yes, there was blood and some abrasions on my knee and some abrasions on my elbow, and there is a hole in the palm of one of my gloves. 

So... since we're chip-timed, what was the point of the bozo sprinting ahead and tripping me?  No idea, since he ended up finishing around 25-26 minutes.  I guess I've never understood that.  Why is it that people believe they're going to set a PR for their race by sprinting for the first 200 yards of a race and then dying and moving backwards through the field?  Especially in a little po-dunk race, what's the point of it?  It's not like they're going to be on TV.  It's not like it will matter when they cross the start line, since everything is chip-timed now.  Ah well, maybe the bozo that tripped me will have learned a lesson about seeding himself and starting more reasonably in the future.  Or maybe I just need to get closer to the front...

I don't need a GPS; I need a sun dial

Well, there have been some interesting workouts lately that have me questioning the utility of all my high-tech gee whiz gadgets.  First, I had to swim a 200 IM for time.  Yep, that would be 3 out of 4 strokes that I don't do very well.  I only got lapped once by a 13 year old.  And David didn't really laugh at me when I finished... much.  My second workout was my 5K time trial to establish my baseline workout times.  This goes back to the Run Less, Run Faster protocol that I'm trying to follow.  And it also goes to the Endurance Nation Outseason workouts.  Both want 5K, although RLRF says that I can use 3 x 1600 with 1 minute rest (on the track).  While I would have much preferred the 3 x 1600, I decided to time trial as I thought  it would be a more accurate gauge.  So last Saturday afternoon, I sucked it up and headed out.  It was cool but sunny.  I chose the flattest 5K out of a run to Fort Steilacoom park and back.  This included nearly 1 mile of flat, paved, almost completely straight bike path that I ran out and back as well as some flat sidewalk before and after.  I didn't even look at my Garmin, because I didn't want to know.  When I got home and downloaded it, the truth was ugly.  21:13 for 5K, which comes out to 6:50/mile.  If you would have told me even 5 years ago that I'd be working so hard to run so slow, I would have never believed you.  And if you would have told me 20 years ago that I would ever be this slow, well...

I guess I have nowhere to go but up.  Because I can't get any slower... can I?!

Just an 800

I had a fun swim yesterday.  I'm swimming with David's swim team, and the coach creatively designs an individual workout for me.  I'm still convinced that my swim coaches, past and present, set up IM and butterfly sets for me just for their amusement.  I don't do butterfly... it's more of a bumblebee (if a bumblebee is not supposed to be able to fly due to its aerodynamics...).  Anyway, after a 10 x 100 IM set, I had to sprint kick 25's.  Now, the term "sprint kick" is an oxymoron in my world.  And I was going to ask if I could use fins, but decided against it, since I knew the answer would be laughter and a "No."  But I was actually excited that I was able to sprint kick a 25 between 22-25 seconds.  Before any of you belittle that time, you have to understand that I was barely able to get forward propulsion when I first started kicking back when I was just starting to swim for triathlons. 

So after doing a set of 25's my legs were a bit thrashed.  And then the last part?  Ashley said, "One last thing before you get out of the pool:  swim an 800."  Excuse me?  I repeated that as a question.  And yup, that was the answer.  And so back and forth I went.  And you know what?  It didn't kill me; the lifeguards didn't have to save me; and I got it done.  As I was finishing the last few laps, I thought that something like that is really good for me.  Considering that a sprint tri is usually a 1/2 mile swim, it made me realize that I SHOULD be swimming faster during a race.  After all, if I can swim an 800 at the end of a workout, swimming hard during a triathlon should be reasonable. 

The funniest part of this was when I told my family about my workout while we were eating dinner.  I guess some of David's teammates were complaining about having to finish their workout with 4 x 100.  His response:  "Would you rather do this or would you rather do what my Dad is doing?  He has to swim an 800."  I guess I might have earned a little bit of respect from his team yesterday. 

Something about Newtons

Today is a double-header.  Actually the entry just before this was written yesterday.  I wasn't sure whether I was going to keep it or delete it, and then I figured that this was my blog and I can do whatever I want.

Today's thoughts are less esoteric and more along the lines of what this blog was intended for:  running and triathlons.  I ran yesterday in my Newtons.  It has been a few weeks since I ran in them, since I'm still trying to like the K-Swiss Kwicky's that I got last year.  Because of this, I've been running primarily in them; the other admission is that I haven't been running much at all in the past few weeks.  Truth be told, I haven't been enjoying running recently.  Coincidentally (or maybe not), most if not all of my runs have been with the Kwickys.  My feet have hurt a bit more, my legs have not felt as "snappy," and my body has ached a bit more the following day.  Since the weather has been wet recently, I decided to use my Newton Momentums, which were more likely to keep my feet drier.  The Kwickys have drain holes in the sole, which not only let water out, but also let water in, so not the best choice when there are puddles around.

But... the weather was cool and dry, the roads were dry, and the trails were mostly dry.  I ran from the hospital after work because I had a meeting until 5:00.  As I started on my run, my legs felt pretty good, better than they've felt in a few weeks.  And my entire run felt good and, while not effortless, seemed less of a slog than it has been.  It again had me wondering:  what is it about Newtons that seems to fit my running style so well?  Most of the time that I run in them, I feel better than when running in other shoes.  At first, I thought it was a placebo effect, but it has been pretty repeatable.  I have switched off shoes since the early 80's when I worked in a running shoe store.  And I have always used two different kinds (and usually brands) of shoes.  The first reason is that this is supposed to increase shoe life; of course, that's more the case if you are running every day.  The second reason (and the reason I use different models/brands) is to keep from developing a repetitive stress injury.  Changing the models/brands causes you to run slightly differently, and, theoretically, decreases risk of injury. 

Anyway, by doing this, along with justifying the inner Imelda Marcos in me, I do learn which shoes work better for me.  What I've found over the past several years is that Newtons work for me.  Obviously, they're not for everyone, but I like them.  I'll probably keep alternating shoes, but I think the idea that the Newtons make it easier for me to enjoy running is real.  And I may retire the Kwickys early.

(I am not sponsored by, nor do I have any affiliation with Newton Running... not yet at least!)

Random thoughts

"Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss."  This is the line from "Wall Street" that Hal Holbrook's character says to Charlie Sheen just before Sheen is arrested, and was likely paraphrased from Friedrich Nietzsche.  And it seems fitting to apply to Tyler Hamilton, based upon his book that I just read.  What does that have to do with me?  The choices that professional athletes make are hard ones.  They are being paid to perform, and, if they don't perform, they don't get paid.  While that doesn't justify the cheating that goes on, it does help to explain it to some extent. 

I am an amateur MOP-triathlete.  I enjoy my avocation, and can look upon it with a purity that a pro has long since lost.  Why?  I don't have the talent to be come close to a pro, but, thankfully, my ability to put a roof over my family's head or food on the table is not dependent on my athletic ability.  Rather, it is dependent on my intellect, which, I assume since I've been doing my job for 20+ years, IS reasonably good.  So, I can enjoy my athletic endeavors, and the only pressure to perform is that which I put on myself.  It doesn't mean that I try any less hard.  It just means that I can try (tri?) my hardest, and if I get beat by someone, it's because they were better than me on that day, and I can live with that.  I can also look myself in the eye and be satisfied that I have not done anything that I would be ashamed of admitting. 

Our culture deifies those that have the talent to do things that we cannot ourselves do.  That's why we pay our performers (actors, musicians, athletes) enormous amounts of money to entertain us.  And yet, I'm much happier being an anonymous member of society who does things, which, while being compensated not nearly as well as a performer, are just as important for the health and well-being of society.

Back to MacGyver units!

I'm watching MacGyver again.  Yes, that means I'm back on my trainer, and it's the off-season.  I decided to give Trainerroad.com another chance, especially because I'm still in the transition phase of my season.  In truth, I'm still in vacation mode after Boards.  I have to recertify for Internal Medicine every 10 years, and this was the year.  I spent the past couple of months studying fairly hard and took Boards just under 2 weeks ago.  Since the last time I took a really meaningful test was 10 years ago, my study habits and ability to concentrate for long periods of time are pretty poor.  And the test was harder than I expected.  10 years ago, it seemed like the test was pretty easy.  This time, there were a lot of tough questions.  Well, hopefully, I passed. 

Now that it's over, I seem to have a lot of free time.  Maybe it's the combination of extra time, and relief that I no longer have to feel like "I should be studying."  I've spent the past week enjoying down time, watching some TV guilt-free.  And of course, now that I can golf, ride my bike and run, the rainy season has started.  That's why I'm back to MacGyver.  Just sitting on my bike pedaling and mindlessly watching MacGyver escape from the brink of danger (usually Cold War oriented) is therapeutic, even if I'm not pushing myself very hard.  Last Saturday was a 1.5 MacGyver unit ride, and was pretty low intensity.  But MacGyver saved a cruise ship, so the universe is orderly once again.

I'm now reading Tyler Hamilton's book, "The Secret Race."  Before all of the doping surfaced, I respected Tyler Hamilton as a rider.  He seemed down-to-Earth, humble, and not a megalomaniac.  Then, the whole "twin" thing came about after he got busted, and I lost all respect for him.  After watching the "60 Minutes" interview, I had a little bit of respect for him again, as he admitted quite a lot.  As I read his book, with all of the Lance brouhaha in the background, he is earning my respect again. 

I never believed that cyclists were clean, but I never realized the extent of the doping.  Today, I took a look at the TdF list of podium finishers, and there isn't a "clean name" from 1996-2005.  Everyone on the podium has been implicated in doping.  In 1994, I had the opportunity to ride with Graeme Obree, and he mentioned that 70% of the pro peloton was on drugs.  At that time, we all kind of nodded and said, "Yeah, right."  In retrospect, he was wrong; the number was certainly higher than 70%.

When contemplating which road one is going to take, the biggest decision really "should" be whether your chosen path will allow you to sleep at night with a clear conscience.

The other day... I met a bear

Went out on a bike ride yesterday.  It was a beautiful Fall afternoon, and, after studying for too many hours, the unbelievable weather that we've been having called me to enjoy it.  I got on my road bike for the first time in who knows how long.  It has been 2 weeks since I got on a bike at all, and I've been spending all of my time on my tri-bike.  While I enjoy riding my tri-bike, there's something special about how my road bike feels that always brings a smile to my face.  In 17 years, I've had 3 different tri-bikes, and the same road bike. 

I decided to go for a gentle ride on Fort Lewis.  With Train buzzing in my ears, and sunshine on my face, it was hard to not be loving life.  Mount Rainier was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  After passing through the gate on my way home, I turned left to head past the pet cemetery.  I saw a black object lumbering down the road about 1/4 mile in front of me, and I knew it was a black bear.  I slowed down, and thought about pulling out my phone to snap a quick picture, but realized that if it got spooked and decided to chase me, I'd be SOL.  And as I got closer, I wondered if Momma Bear was somewhere close and decided that skipping the Kodak (would that be a Kodiak?) moment was a smart decision.  I freewheeled to make sure the little bear heard me.  When he turned and saw me, he jumped and bolted for the fence line, crashing head first into the fence.  I turned right away from the cemetery and bear and rode home.  As I looked back one final time, the bear was sitting up, looking directly at me; made me grin even more.  On Fort Lewis, I saw one car and one bear.  A pretty good ratio, I think.

It is not all about you

There have been a couple amusing threads lately on one of the triathlon forums that I like to read.  While this forum often has really good technical information, there are occasions when threads are started and propagated which reveal the selfish nature of triathletes (and people for that matter).  Most recently, the subject has been about unsupportive spouses or SO's.  While most of us have what I believe is a fairly healthy outlook on the importance of our hobbies (and even most pro triathletes seem to have a healthy outlook on their jobs), there are a few misguided souls who believe that the world (triathlon and otherwise) revolves around them.  Believe it or not, the real world doesn't really care that you were 15th at the Bob Green Mother's Day Triathlon in 1986.  Or even 1st for that matter. 

The reality of it is that most (and some say all) should do these sporting things for our health and leave it at that.  Now, some of us enjoy testing ourselves, which is why we compete.  And there are others who have a "bucket list" (I really dislike that term) and feel that they need to cross things off to feel like they've lived a full life.  I'm not speaking about the bucket list people, because I don't share the same philosophy.  Awhile back, I posed the question of whether someone had a passion or a bucket list, as I think that each has a distinct personality; I fit into the first group.

Anyway, back to my original thoughts.  The idea that your spouse or SO is unsupportive is an unfortunate one but sometimes that's the reality.  The concern is that the lack of support may be related to a deeper problem with the relationship and is only exacerbated by the hobby, so improving the relationship is probably what needs to happen.  Triathlon is not the scapegoat in this case; it is simply the "canary in the mineshaft."  A further problem that also speaks to a problem with the relationship is keeping triathlon to oneself.  There are examples of triathletes buying expensive  pieces of equipment and never telling their SO or hiding it.  Again, this speaks to a problem with the relationship.  And, lest you think that "well, it's my money, so I can do with it what I want," um... again, since you are sharing your life with that person, well, I've got news for you:  it's not only YOUR money.

What about the idea that one is spending too much time with their hobby and it is all-consuming?  I see this more in the newer triathlete, who "gets the bug" and can't get enough of it.  All triathletes have some amount of obsessiveness; that is their nature.  But, getting too wrapped up in any one thing is never healthy.  I preach moderation in all things in life to my patients, and I try to live my life that way.  So, balancing things in your life is a key to keeping things on a more level plane, and, usually, after the initial infatuation with the new hobby that is triathlon, things calm down to a more reasonable level.  What about the person who never balances it out, to the detriment of spouse and family?  First off, it's usually the male.  Males, myself included, are a selfish breed.  We're used to looking out only for ourselves.  From firsthand experience, though, what snapped me out of selfishness (for the most part) was having children.  All of a sudden, the universe no longer revolves around the male, but around their kids.  And if that doesn't change the perspective on life, I don't know what else will.  Second, that again speaks to someone who has other personality issues, and they're likely to find themselves alone.

And finally, there is the thought on how to bring your spouse or SO into the circle of triathlon.  I was fortunate in that my spouse knew that triathlon was important to me, and so she embraced it.  She even did two triathlons and realized that it was not her thing.  However, she didn't belittle it.  Rather, she encouraged me, even when I decided to do an Ironman (or two), helping to keep me well-fed and healthy.  Tracy's only rules were that 1) I tell her when I was leaving and when I'd be back from a training session, so that she could reliably plan things, and 2) I would be functional after a training session or race and wouldn't be a worthless lump on the couch.  So, yes, she accompanies me to most races, even at O-Dark thirty in the morning, although I have gone to races on my own.  She is even more likely to go to races now, since David is racing as well.  I decided to give up on Ironman races for the present, since I couldn't spend the time necessary to train adequately and get enough rest to keep me healthy.  But that was the choice I made, rather than one that was forced on me.  And besides, I like to go fast, so going all out for an hour has more appeal to me than going at a moderate (or slower) pace for many hours. 

What about getting the kids involved?  How did I "manage" that?  That's a topic for another day.

End of the season, and is it the end of the line?

This year's triathlon season is over for me.  I'm happy that I was able to race after being hurt for all of last year.  And I'm hopeful that, as I get farther away from last year's crash, my fitness will continue to improve.  Yesterday was the Black Diamond Sprint Triathlon.  I did this race 6 years ago, which, when I look at the times from then vs. now, was a lifetime ago.  Same course, 4 minutes slower.  Hard to say whether the slowing is related to age or fitness; I'm hoping it's fitness, because that means that I can actually be faster next year.  But... when I look at how fast I ran then vs. now, it's a reality check.  Back then, my split was 3rd fastest, and if I had run the same time yesterday, it would have been 2nd fastest.  Instead, I had the 8th fastest split.  It doesn't sound like a lot, but it was 1:30, which, to me is pretty significant.  Couple that with 1:30 slower on the bike, and there it is.  I still ended up 8th overall and won my age group, so I'm not terribly disappointed, but the distance between 1st and where I am now continues to expand.

The strangest thing, I think, is that I get absolutely pummeled during the swim.  Tracy mentioned to me that, at the green buoy (probably 150 meters out), there was a bunch of yellow caps (my wave) just bobbing in the water.  I know that I got hammered in the first 150, and then had clean water for the rest of the swim.  Since I came out of the water 14th, my guess was that the same bozos that beat me up in the initial part of the swim then became hypoxic and had to stop swimming.  I can't figure out the idiocy of swimming the first 100-200 yards of a swim as hard as you can, and then having to stop and rest, but I guess it's the same idiots who go out and sprint the first 400 yards of a 5K or 10K run and then are toast for the rest of it.  Guess I might do some work on my sprint speed in the water this winter.

On the positive side, it took me awhile to catch David on the bike.  Even though he was only 30 seconds faster out of the water (which I took to be a good thing for me), I think it was about 3 miles before I caught him.  And he definitely was the smallest and youngest one out there on the pointy end of the race for a long time.  It would be very demoralizing to people if they knew how little he rides.  And that he doesn't run at all.  I'm curious to see what happens next season when he finally starts to do some running, and has another year of riding under his belt.  Maybe the day that he beats me is not as far into the future as I once thought.

Over the past week, I started wondering if it was time to stop racing.  After all, I'm not getting any younger, and it gets harder to stay motivated, knowing that the likelihood I'm going to win a race, or even be competitive for the overall, is pretty low.  I've been racing multisport for 17 years, and only have a few friends that are still competing.   I still have fun doing the training, and staying fit is something I'll never give up, but the big question to me is how fit do I need to be?  My guess is that if David wasn't interested in racing, I'd be done.  Well, I have an entire winter to contemplate my racing future.

Shoes!

I've been running a long time.  How long, you say?  Well...my first

running shoes were New Balance 320's, I had Nike LDV's (one of the "big" distance shoes Nike had BEFORE there was "Air Everything."  And I remember when Nike came out with their new technology, the Air Tailwind.  Yes, I even remember the Waffle Trainer, although that predated my running days by a couple of years. 

My shoes have run the gamut from very minimal to monstrous.  Some of my favorite shoes were in the early-mid 90's by ASICS:  the Gel-Lyte series.  They were more of a minimal shoe, eschewing even a tongue in some models, with mostly blown rubber outsoles.  And I ran the Army 10-Miler in a pair of Nike Niobe's, which were basically a track spike for the roads (minus the spikes and spike plate). 

And now we've kind of come full circle in our technology.  The latest and greatest idea is the minimalist shoe.  (I'm going to differentiate this from the barefoot idea, since I still haven't bought into the 5-Fingers a

nd Tarahumara Huarache idea, although I do like the Nike Free's)  I'm sittng at my desk, having just completed a run in Saucony Mirages, which have a 4 mm drop from heel-to-toe, a minimalist shoe.  My other running shoes are Newton Motus', which also have a 4mm drop, but still have a fair amount of cushion.  And my new racing flat is... TA DA!  The Saucony A5.  These are really light, a little over 5 ozs, and also have the 4 mm drop.  I've done a few track workouts and one race in them, and I really like them. 

 After adding in some Xtenex laces, I've found my short course triathlon shoes.  (If you haven't tried the Xtenex laces, they're really nice; best elastic lace idea I've used).

It's funny.  As I've said, I've been running a long time.  There was a period, though, a few years back, when I didn't really enjoy running much.  The cumulative mileage was starting to wear on me, and I was running more out of necessity (hard to do a triathlon well without running) than because I enjoyed it.  It seemed that everything kind of hurt when I ran:  my feet, my back, my legs.  After trying my first pair of Newton Motus', my running felt easier and better, and things stopped hurting.  I may be back to the enjoyment phase thanks to the minimalist shoes that I'm currently using.

Working hard... running slow

I stepped out on the track yesterday for an interval workout.  I've been trying to follow the Run Less, Run Faster program that was started by the FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) at Furman University and popularized by Runner's World.  Basically, it boils down to 3 key workouts/week, which is really all that most running programs have.  What it does is takes out the filler miles, and replaces them with 2 cross-training workouts/week, so a total of 5 workouts/week.  Figuring that running 3 times/week would fit perfectly into a triathlete's schedule, I thought that the program would work well.  I was cautioned by Dave that the workouts are hard.  And I've learned that they are hard.  Not toss-your-cookies hard, but just up to that point.   I've always kept in the back of my mind that as long as I did an interval workout, tempo, and long run each week, I'd get faster, and at worst, maintain. 

Last week, I ran 400's.  It had been several years since I'd run anything that fast, and it showed.  Yesterday, I ran 800's.  It has been awhile since I tried to run 800's fast, and, again, it showed.  I was also trying out some new racing flats, which I found I really liked:  the Saucony Type A5's.

Hacked!

I woke up this morning to find out I couldn't access my e-mails on my phone.  It said my username or password was wrong.  Hmmmm.  I then went onto my computer, and it turned out that someone had hacked my e-mail account.  Great.  So, I sent out hyperlinks to who-knows-what to everyone that is on my contact list. 

I sat there and contemplated a couple of questions:  1.  Why would somebody do this?  Clearly, it isn't for the notoriety, since the hyperlink was just to some random piece-of-garbage website.  2.  What's the point?  Just to make life a little bit more problematic, and create some uneasiness about how secure you feel about life in general?  Well, that worked. 

I'm not sure what's more frustrating to me:  the fact that I feel just a bit more vulnerable and violated, or the fact that some bozo has nothing better to do with their time or intelligence than to create random mischief.

So, today's title is a double entendre.

MacGyver Units

I'm trying out new software (Trainerroad.com) to work with my Computrainer.  I'm not completely sold on it, but it's not bad.  While I was using our old desktop to run my CT, I would need to bring in my laptop if I wanted a distraction.  The new software didn't work very well on the desktop, so I loaded it onto the laptop.  Then I plugged the monitor into the laptop, so I had a bigger screen.  Worked pretty well last week, so I tried to add Netflix to it this AM.  One of the pluses that the software has is that you can run it while watching streaming video on the same screen (vs. two different screens which is what I was doing previously).  I had gotten into the habit of watching MacGyver while training, so that's what I did this AM.  Since each episode is about 40 minutes long, my workout lasted 1.5 MacGyver units today.

Why do I like MacGyver?  There's always some action, always some humor, and MacGyver always manages to creatively figure out a solution to a problem.  Plus, it's pretty cheesy.  Previously, I did a lot of my AM riding while listening to the news or my iPod.  When I was using the CT software, I could stare at the Spin Scan and be mesmerized by it, all the while listening to the news; however, the news kind of repeats itself.  In an hour, you hear about the top news stories, the traffic, and the weather several times.  With the new software, since there really isn't much to watch, the news isn't enough of a distraction.

The good part about the software is that you can't cheat and it's brainless.  No matter what gear you're in, the wattage (resistance) remains constant.  And you simply enter in the program you want, and the resistance changes as the stage changes.  So, today's 2 x 20 with 5 minute recovery was non-thinking.  The bad part (to me) is that the wattage remains constant, no matter what gear you're in.  So, while I could previously adjust wattage by changing gearing and cadence, I don't have that option with the new software.  Is that good or bad?  I guess it depends on your perspective.  I like the idea that you can't cheat.  But I like the idea that by manipulating gearing and cadence, I can keep wattage constant while allowing my body to react in different ways, similar to a race situation.  Knowing that 53 x 16 at 90 RPM and 53 x 15 at 85 RPM are similar wattages (and are right at threshold for me) is helpful information when I'm racing. 

I'll probably use a combination of both of them for a little while longer, and then see if I want to keep the Trainerroad subscription.

A brain addled by the cold water... or how coordination and riding straight are affected by a cold-water swim

The title of this entry may be the longest blog title in the world but you get the idea.  The Race Director had sent out an e-mail earlier in the week saying that the water temperature was in the low '60's, and the expected air temperature on race day was 65.  And now you know why being a meteorologist in the PNW is like playing darts with your eyes closed after a few beers.  The trip over to Moses Lake was uneventful.  We saw a very pretty sunset behind the windmills above Vantage.  I'm not sure whether you call those things windmills, but you get the picture.  It was fun traveling to a race with my son.  He's quite a bit more laid-back than I am.

It was a bit strange having a race start at 10:00.  It was nice to sleep in and have a nice leisurely breakfast before the race.  As David and I sat down to breakfast, I noticed that the wind was picking up and it was overcast.  We were able to see the swim buoys on the other side of the lake; funny how the distance always looks greater from that viewpoint.

We drove the 1.5 miles to the race site, and, as we were unpacking the van, saw Doug, then Alycia, Hill heading out on the bike portion of their Olympic distance race.  Doug was wearing his old-school sweatshirt, and since Doug dislikes the cold even more than I do, I understood why he was wearing it.  But still, my first thought was, "Not a very aerodynamic bike outfit."  As we were setting up, we saw Ali and Monica Rios, who were both doing their first triathlon.  In fact, they were the reason that David and I were there, so that we could provide support for them on their adventure.  After warming up on my bike, I headed down to the water's edge.  My first thought as I swam out to the first buoy was that it was not low '60's in the water.  I later found out that the race official had measured the temperature at 58 degrees.  Even though it wasn't exactly warm, my hands and feet never went numb.  David's last words to me before the race started?  "I'll see you somewhere on the bike." (we both knew that he would beat me out of the water)

The swim was fairly easy.  By the first turn buoy, I had clean water.  I was in no-man's land:  in front of some people, but too far back to get on faster toes.  I'm not sure if the cold water was messing with my equilibrium or if the wind was affecting me, but, after the turnaround, I would be swimming in a straight line, and then look up and be swimming nearly perpendicular to the course.  I ended up sighting a lot more often because of this. 

After getting out of the water, I ran up to transition and saw David just starting to run out with his bike (he was 5th out of the water).  I grabbed my bike and headed out of transition.  It took me a few more seconds than normal to get wetsuit off and helmet on, because I wasn't really thinking that straight.  After mounting my bike, I tried to get my shoes on.  The right went on fairly easily, although my fingers weren't working that well, but when I tried to get my left shoe on, it came off in my hand.  I stopped to put my shoe on, and nearly fell over.  That's when I realized that my equilibrium was a bit haywire.  My neck also was a bit stiff.  And that's when I remembered that I don't like cold weather.  By that time, it had started to sprinkle.  Great.  After getting my shoes on and remounting my bike, I headed out on the course.  We had a pretty stiff headwind, and there were a couple of gradual turns in the road.  Not trusting my bike handling, the roads, or my equilibrium, I was off the aerobars for the turns.  Yes, I'm still very skittish from last year.  I tried to settle into a rhythm, but was working hard to go pretty slow.  I looked down at my SRM as I was climbing up a little grade and my power was in the 250's and I was going 16 MPH.  Sheesh.  I passed David after a couple of minutes, and shouted out some encouragement to him.  As I was nearing the turnaround, I saw the leaders coming back the other way.  They were a long ways in front of me.  As I made the turnaround, I felt the tailwind, and was able to fly on the way back.

I reached T2 in 6th place and headed out on the run.  Somewhere when I wasn't looking, someone poured wet concrete on my run course... or at least it felt like it.  Maybe it was the cold weather, or maybe I'm just not in very good shape at the moment, but boy, did it feel slow.  I saw David on his way out, as I was heading back and gave him another shout of encouragement.  I finished the run where I started, still in 6th, but having given up some time to 5th and having 7th breathing down my neck. 

Was I satisfied with my race?  Well, an age-group win, no crashes, no disasters, and I got to race with my son (who also won his age group).  I also saw two first-time triathletes, Ali and Monica, finish with the euphoria that one gets when one accomplishes something for the first time.  I later heard that Ali was the first woman out of the water, and she ended up winning her age-group; she's anxious to do another race.  So, yeah, I am satisfied.  I'm hoping that my fitness will improve as the season progresses.  We'll see.

Finally!

When I started doing triathlons all those years ago, I had a friend whose teenage son started riding with us.  I thought that was pretty cool at the time, and, this year, have had the opportunity to do some riding with my own son.  Last year was supposed to be the year that we started doing triathlons together, as it was his first season.  Unfortunately, that never happened, since I managed to start and end my season on the pavement during a Fort Lewis triathlon.  So, I stood on the sidelines and watched David race, taking pictures but not being able to race. 

This weekend, we finally get to race together for the first time at Moses Lake.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Why?  Maybe it's because David really seems to enjoy something that I really enjoy doing.  Whether he continues to do triathlons or not, I hope that I've instilled the good feeling that comes with exercising hard, regardless of the outcome.  He already enjoys the feeling after a good hard swim workout.  Speaking of this, we went for an open water swim last weekend.  We got in the water together, and he was gone.  I couldn't even stay on his feet.  We ended up swimming together, but that was because he slowed down to keep me company.  I'm figuring that he will beat me out of the water by a minute or two on Saturday (we're in the same wave, and I told him that he better be out of the water in front of me!).  He fully expects me to catch him on the bike (I'm expecting it, too), but I don't think it will be too long before that is no longer a forgone conclusion.

I once posed a question to my friends:  if I'm racing and my child (I didn't have kids at the time I asked the question) is in front of me on the bike, and I see him/her stopped on the side of the road with a flat, would I stop?  The answer everyone had was a resounding, "No!"  I answered this by saying that, if it was my daughter, I'd stop.  If it was my son, I'd make sure he had everything and could change it before I left him.  Since he is riding tubulars, and doesn't know how to do change or fix one yet, if he flats this weekend, the answer is that I will stop.

Riding shouldn’t be a pain in the butt!

(Note:  I originally wrote this over 18 months ago, as one of my columns for FLATS, but never sent it out.  I have updated it several times, as there have been several different tries (tris?) at finding the best saddle.  Read on...)  Or numbness for that matter.  A very good friend of my once said that sitting on a bicycle seat is not comfortable… sitting in a La-z-boy recliner is comfortable.  But I definitely spend more time on my bicycle seat than I do in my recliner.  So, what do you do to find a (relatively) comfortable bicycle seat? 

You could get lucky.  My first bike had a Selle Italia Flite saddle.  During the 1990’s, that was THE lightweight saddle to have.  Fortunately for me, it fit me very well.  I didn’t have to try a bunch of different saddles to get comfortable.  In fact, it fit me so well that, until 2005, that was all that I rode.  Yes, even for triathlons.  Yes, even for Ironman distance.  And yes, even with just a swimsuit on.  I was told that, once you found a saddle that worked, you should use it on all of your bikes.  So, with the exception of my current triathlon bike, all of my bikes still have Flite saddles on them.  Sadly, Selle Italia, just like most running shoe manufacturers, decided to “upgrade” their Flite saddles a couple of years ago, and they appear to be nothing like the original Flites.  If I ever need a new Flite, I may have to do a lot of shopping.

Well, then, why does my tri bike have a different saddle on it?  Okay, I’ll be honest:  riding a long-course triathlon on the Flite was not the most comfortable I’ve ever been.  So, I decided to change my saddle when I changed my bike.  After trying a bunch out, I ended up with a Fi`zi:k Arione Tri.  That seemed to work pretty well for me.  Even with that, though, I kept wondering if there was a Holy Grail of saddles.  So, I am now on a Cobb V-Flow Plus.  I’m tweaking it, but it seems to be working out.  I’m not sure that it is the Holy Grail, and we’ll see how it pans out.

Where am I going with this?  Riding a bike should not be painful.  Nor should it be numbing.  And you should be able to get back on your bike on back-to-back days without dreading it.  Some of that is saddle time.  You just gotta get your butt in the saddle for awhile to toughen it up.  I know that after I’ve taken time off, it takes a while to get back into shape where my behind doesn’t hurt during/after a ride.  That’s not what I’m talking about.  If you are not comfortable on your saddle, you are going to be moving around a lot.  In a triathlon, staying in a clean aero position will save you precious time; however, the best aero position is worthless if you cannot stay in it.  So, if you are finding yourself constantly squirming or standing up, or if there are certain parts of your anatomy that are numb after you finish your ride, you may want to look at a change in your saddle. 

UPDATE:  After trying out the V-Flow Plus for an extended period of time, I’m sending it back.  I found myself squirming around continuously trying to find the right spot.  While it has been very good for some people, it wasn’t right for me.  For me, the answer seems to be the Fi`zi:k saddle that I have been riding.  To paraphrase Regis Philbin:  Final answer?  Maybe it’s not the Fi`zi:k, but the Fi`zi:k is the best one so far. 

What have I learned from this latest experience?  Other than that my butt may not be like the majority of triathletes out there.  I think I’ve finally drilled into my mind that the cut-out type saddle just doesn’t work for me.  I have no idea why not, but each one that I tried, bothered me more than those that didn’t have a cut-out.  When I look at the saddles that have seemed to work out best, they all appear to be more of the minimalist saddles as well.  While the Arione Tri does have more padding on the nose than the regular Arione, it is still a bit spare in terms of size and overall padding.  I think I’m done looking for now.

ADDITIONAL UPDATE:  I first penned this approximately 6 months ago when my behind was unhappy with sitting on a trainer.  Since then, I spent the majority of my time on my triathlon bike outside, and I stopped having issues with the saddle (Fi`zi:k).  BUT THEN… I went back to my regular road bike after the season ended.  And I’m now complaining about my aforementioned Flite saddle.  When I rode a different Flite saddle 1 month, I wasn’t as uncomfortable as I am on this one.  It makes me wonder if I need a new one.  Interestingly enough, as I started to write this, my first comment was that it seemed odd that it would become uncomfortably hard after 15 years of use.  As soon as I wrote that, it started to make sense.  Perhaps the support has gone out in it, and I am now getting pressure points in the wrong spots.  Or, maybe  I just need to spend more time adjusting to the road vs. tri postion (this was my original thought, but didn’t quite make sense as I had just ridden the same saddle without any problem). So, my first plan is to change to a different Flite saddle.  And my second thought is that my saddle needs have changed in the last 15 years, and that I need a different shaped saddle.  I always heard that things started heading south as you got older, but maybe it’s actually true! 

Update May 2011:  I’m back on the Cobb V-Flow Plus.  After making the rounds on most of the Cobb saddles, I went back to the Arione Tri. (yes, after the first update, I decided to give the Cobb SHC-170 a try.  I KNEW this was not the right saddle immediately) And then I realized that the Arione Tri wasn’t feeling right for me.  Even though the Cobb saddles didn’t work out very well, I did notice that there wasn’t any numbness with them that I did experience with the Arione Tri.  That got me thinking that maybe I needed to look at another saddle.  I even briefly thought of one of the ISM saddles, but I decided to call Cobb Cycling and talk about my experience with their saddles.  After speaking with Warren, I ordered the V-Flow Plus (again), and put it on my bike.  This time, though, I made sure the measurements were exactly where I put my Arione Tri, and I used tri shorts.  After the first ride, I did notice that the most comfortable riding location for me is just back of the nose, so I moved the saddle forward just a bit.  Overall, though, the saddle seemed more comfortable than previously.

Update March 2012:  I bought a new saddle.  After a long trainer ride on the V-Flow Plus saddle, there was a problem.  While I do have the ability to give you a pretty graphic description, I’ll just say that the issue was “down there.”  I wasn’t sure if it was due to the saddle/short combination on that day, but it was a problem I didn’t want to repeat.  Since I haven’t been ecstatic about the V-Flow Plus anyway, I decided to try an Adamo.  Now, I have resisted trying one of these, because they are… well, frankly, they’re hideous-looking.  But I decided that I’m not looking at it, I’m riding on it.  So, after looking at the website and being thoroughly confused by the fact that all of their saddles look similar and there’s no good explanation about the differences, I decided on a Breakaway.  This saddle wasn’t supposedly designed initially for triathletes, but, when you look at it, it’s hard to understand why it wasn’t.  It certainly seems like it should have been.  While it’s not a La-Z-Boy recliner, it’s definitely better than any other saddle I’ve ridden on a tri bike.  And it gets me wondering:  have I really been uncomfortable for 16 years?  And do I need to see if an Adamo will work better for me on my road bike?  What is different?  Well, there seems to be a definite position where I’m comfortable and nothing seems squished, constricted, or otherwise out of place.  And after riding on it for around two hours, I felt fine.  The acid test is extended time on a trainer, and I’m going to try it this weekend. 

Update April 2012:  And now we’re back to the V-Flow Plus.  After a weekend of riding on the Adamo, I came to the conclusion that it is too wide.  The recommendation is that if you think it is too wide, you need to move it further back and sit farther forward.  The problem is, if I sit any farther forward on the saddle, I’ll be on the very, very tippy tip of it.  And I actually found a sweet spot on the saddle that I kind of just settled into while riding.  Better?  Certainly than the Fi`zi:k or the Adamo.  Maybe I’ve found “the one.”  I’m more convinced that the previous problems that I had with the V-Flow were due to the confluence of overly padded shorts and sitting in the wrong position for too long.

I think it’s finally over.  By “it,” I mean the quest for a saddle.  After getting fitted at BikeFit and trying out a variety of saddles, I ended up staying on the V-Flow Plus.  I retried the V-Flow Max, SHC-170,

ISM Adamo Road

and Breakaway, and the Plus was the best.  And after getting my position changed and riding on it for a little awhile, I might have finally found the sweet spot of the Plus.   Interestingly enough, for a career “nose rider,” the best spot on the Plus is much farther (or is it further?  It’s farther) back than I’m accustomed, but, hey, if it works, I’ll take it.   A long ride is in order to find out if it will really work.

Post-Wildflower thoughts or The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

It has now been nearly 2 weeks since Wildflower, and I'm still not fully recovered, I don't think.  I swam this morning, and felt really good in the water (read that last phrase again, and realize how bizarre that is coming from me), but my run yesterday felt very sluggish.  Both of those were the first time I had done either activity since the race.  I'm scheduled to have a bike fit next weekend at Bikefit.com.  So, some broad assumptions can be made from this paragraph:

1.  I think a combination of a very hard race, and not being in great shape is why I am taking so long to recover
2.  Something is not quite right with my bike position

Wildflower is a definite race to do for any triathlete.  I find it hard to believe that you can pack 7500 triathletes in a weekend of races and still make it seem like a small race, but Wildflower manages to do that.  Maybe it's the fact that it is not really corporate (read: WTC).  Or maybe it has to do with the mentality that pervades Wildflower.  But having unofficial aid stations along the route that are offering hot dogs and beer or a beer bong, and having them remain rather than have some corporate no-fun rules enforcer telling them that they need to leave?  Yup, I want to go back to Wildflower, but maybe when I'm better trained.

The Good:  my swim was good.  While I do think the course was short, I'll take the fact that I didn't get beat up and had fairly clean water.  Taking Dave's friend's advice about riding the flume was key.  I basically felt like I body-surfed out to the first buoy.  33:19 is by no means fast, but I'll take it.  I like the fact that my swim exit picture has me coming out of the water in front of a few people who were in the previous wave.  When I passed people who started 10 minutes in front of me, I realized that, no matter how bad I think I swim, there are others that are hurting worse than me.

The Bad:  I rode the bike course very conservatively.  My time was slower than I expected, but I was worried about burning too many matches while climbing.  And I now descend like an old lady.  I guess a bad crash one year ago can make anyone a bit skittish; I'm hoping that I'll get more confidence as long as I stay upright.  Of course, seeing a guy lying on the road at the bottom of the steepest downhill on the course with his bike in a ditch and pieces/parts littering the road can also make one a bit nervous.  Flashback to IM California 2001 when I passed the first fatality in an IM on the road.  It does make you realize your own mortality.

Even though I went easy, I still started to feel my quads tighen up at mile 36.  Hence, the bike fit plans.

The Ugly:  Getting off the bike and having both quads and my left hamstring cramp was no fun.  And I couldn't run uphill because I would cramp whenever I tried.  So, I walked uphill.  And there's a lot of uphill. The back half (miles 3-6) is a killer with its hills.

The Funny:  I can never do a race without having something comical happen.  Almost crashing into the fencing as I pass the grandstand just out of transition because I'm looking down at my watch qualifies.  I abraded my right shoulder on the netting, locked up both brakes, hit a sandbag with front wheel, coming to an abrupt stop with my rear wheel leaving the ground.  Yup, that was me.  Of course, I had to do that in front of the grandstand where everyone was watching.

Final thoughts:  There was carnage on Beach Hill, the first steep uphill which occurs within the first 2 miles.  I saw broken derailleur hangers and broken chains.  I'm not sure how you this is possible if you are taking care of your equipment, but it was kind of crazy to see at least a half dozen people whose race was over within the first 2 miles due to equipment failure.

And my sunburn is nearly gone now.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

What's worse than waking up before the crack of dawn to go for a swim?  Waking up before the crack of dawn and finding out the pool is closed!  I had good intentions this morning to swim, but it turns out there was an "issue" with the Lakewood Y pool.  Rats.  Wasted a good extra 1+ hour of sleep.

Last week was a trip, both literally and figuratively.  I was in Bend, OR for a few days and went for a swim.  Even though it's not a tremendously high elevation, Bend is at altitude.  I have enough trouble swimming that I don't need to be sucking air because the oxygen molecules are farther apart.  But at least it is a great pool and I had a good swim, 3600 meters' worth.   Other than my legs feeling a bit like concrete, my run in Bend wasn't bad.  I ran along the Deschutes River Trail, and it is quite scenic.  It's nice to be in the middle of town doing this, and feeling like you are a million miles away from civilization.  I also had a rude awakening, as I was passed on my run.  I'm not the fleetest of foot (never was, but I've gotten slower), but I am not used to being caught from behind when I run.  So, whenever that happens, it suprises me.  And the guy was not one of the lean, runner types either.  He just was a pretty fit regular-looking guy that was moving faster than I was.  Time to play more golf.

4 weeks 'til Wildflower!

Uh-oh! 5 weeks 'til Wildflower

Um... Yikes.  Several months ago, I signed up for Wildflower, figuring that it would be a good way to motivate myself to get back into shape.  Now, I'm less than 5 weeks out (33 days as of today).  I think it's going to be ugly.  The weather has not been very cooperative here.  The rain has been a constant, and it has been cold.  Saturday, I was going to ride for 3 hours outside, but when I woke up, it was pouring, and 39 degrees.  Not wishing to relive the Great Hypothermia ride, I chose to spend 2.5 hours on the CT, riding the Wildflower course.  It's hard!  I have ridden the CT course several times before, but found an updated one, which looks like the course profile on the website, so I uploaded it on Friday. 

Right now, I know that the swim is doable, but won't be in record time, and the bike is doable, but also not in record time.  My concern at this point is the run after the bike.  I haven't felt much like running in the cold rain, so haven't been doing enough of it.  I'm planning to try and put some miles in while in Bend this week, and see if I can get a bit of confidence off of that.

Hungry!

I actually swam this morning.  Not just kicked back and forth, but actually swam... and then I got hungry.  I had forgotten how hungry swimming always makes me.  Mind you, I didn't swam that far or that long, but after eating breakfast and heading to work, I was hungry by 9:00 AM.  By 10:00 AM, I had eaten almost all of my lunch, and was still looking for more.  It did feel good to get back to some real swimming.  I can't believe I just wrote that. 

I learned a few more things this past week in the snow and slush.  I don't think K-Swiss had winter in mind when they designed their shoes.  I decided to run last week, and chose the Kwicky's, figuring that, since they don't have a mesh upper, they might keep my feet a bit drier.  When I stepped in the first slush puddle, I got a cold jolt of water on the bottom of my foot.  And then I remembered that there are drain holes in the soles.  Similar to my Cervelo, the drain holes, unfortunately, don't have one-way valves.  So, just as water can exit easily, so can it enter easily.  Kind of funny when I got home, since my shoes weren't all that wet, but my socks were soaked. 

Running in the snow brought me back to my days in Chicago.  I remember running through the snow in Nike Sock Trainers.  Why?  Because my big toes hurt from playing basketball.