Here I Go Again...

I don't know where I'm goin'

But I sure know where I've been

Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday

An' I've made up my mind,

I ain't wasting no more time

Here I go again, here I go again

Man, does this song say it all! I have it in my head to go forward with a 70.3 race in October. So my training plan will actually start Monday, and here is a news flash, I am actually looking forward to it. I am looking to go long again, but not 140.6 long, but a half is doable. So I went and designed my training plan and I will be putting on it the blog weekly to help me be more accountable.

I designed this schedule with the idea of a three week build with a one week recovery. I designed it to have 2 swims, three bikes and three runs. The reason I chose the 2-3-3 is because I think 2 swims a week will be plenty for me. I am pretty comfortable in the water and I think the opportunity cost of adding another swim would not benefit me in the long run, so 2 swims it is.

The bike during the week should be something that I can do on the trainer if needed, but I think I might be able to get out of the Greenline once in awhile. For me, the bike is all about being steady and consistent. I am not going to average 25 mph on the bike, but I want to ride steady for the 3:30 hours I expect it to take me.

The run is always my opportunity, and I think it will be even more of an obstacle with my knees. This is the main reason I am giving myself a rest day on Friday. It is basically like I am starting over with running. I am running a 5K tonight with the family that I will use as a baseline of where I am at. I am not expecting it to be fast at all, but we all start somewhere right?

So, I am excited once again. I know this will be a challenge for me and I know it is one that I know I can do! So, come on and follow along on this ride.

Hoka Stinson 3 ATR- Sorry, But I Really Tried!

For Christmas, I got some Christmas money and I wanted to get some new running shoes. I have been hearing all these great reviews about Hokas, so I thought I would take a chance and I went to the mall and tried a pair on. I admit they felt pretty good and made me stand about an inch taller than normal, but I just couldn't will myself to pay that high a price for shoes. (I know running shoes aren't cheap, but the ones I was looking at were top dollar).

So I waited, and waited and finally broke. I went on to the net and purchase a pair of Hoka Stinson 3 ATR shoes. I was really excited for them to come in the mail.

The STINSON 3 ATR features signature category-defining HOKA ONE ONE cushioning and support, and has been redesigned from the ground up. Updates include a more precise late-stage Meta-Rocker for improved forefoot support, and tuned underfoot geometry for improved ride and stability off-road. The upper features ComfortFrame in the heel and midfoot for improved fit, and light padding on the tongue for increased comfort. The Stinson 3 ATR is designed to be durable enough for the roads while providing ample traction on the trails.

That was the sales pitch from the web.

Now I know it usually takes a few runs in a shoe to really know if you like them or not, so I really tried to take my time in determining if they would work for me. And I really, really wanted them to be the best shoe I had ever ran in, but that is just not the case for me. Here are the issues I had:

• The heel really slipped pretty bad on me. I tried to re-lace them several times and finally got it laced right, but it seemed to always be on my mind that my heel slipped. It wasnlt a good fit for me.
• It actually made one of my feet hurt after running. Now this may be a "that's the way God made me" issue, but the shoe never really molded to my foot like other shoes did and I think it made me alter might stride or footstrike, which is never good.
• The shoe felt tight on one foot vs. the other foot. Not sure how to explain that and again I went in search of different lacing methods to help, but I never got the right shoe feeling "right"
• Knee pain. Now I cannot say this is 100% due to the shoes, but I did do an experiment. I ran with my Hokas, and then I came home and changed into my Brooks shoes. My knees did not bother me in the Brooks shoes like the Hokas.
• To be fair, I did put about 30 miles on the Hokas before I made my decision.

So I am going back to my Brooks shoes that I love. I should have asked my buddy when I asked him about Hokas, he response to me was to "stay in what got you where you are". I wish I had listened to him and stayed with Brooks. I really did want to love those shoes, but they will not be my running shoes.

Like an Old Rusty Lever...

Don't worry, I am not going to do a week by week of my training, but I had to blog about my first week back into the triathlon world. It was not epic! The running was hard, the swimming felt like it was fairly new and the biking reminded me that I have not sat on a bike seat in awhile.

I guess the best way to describe this week would be like this: imagine you have an old lever that is supposed to shift back and forth with ease. Now imagine that lever all weathered and rusted. It takes a lot of effort to get hat lever to move like it did when it was a newer younger lever. So you really have to work to get that lever to move. And you do not want to give up on that lever because you know about the goodness that will flow after you release that lever. So you slowly inch that lever forward, and then backwards, until it loosens ever so slightly.  Sometimes it takes multiple sessions to get that lever loose!

Well my body is that lever if you did not catch my attempt at symbolism. Day 1 was tough and felt like I had not run since October, probably because I had not run since October. My first bike was only 7 miles, but this was 2013 post Ironman JFORD thinking "it's only 7 miles", not JFORD who hasn't been on his bike since June. My first swim was probably the easiest of the 3 disciplines, but it was nowhere close to what I remember swimming, speed wise. So it was a wake up call. I always tend to think like "2013 post Ironman JFORD" and now realize I have work to do.

One new thing to share is that I bought my 1st pair of Hoka One One and they arrived the other day. I admit they look weird, but they seem so comfortable and I can't wait to get them out on a run. I am hoping the Hoka's will help like WD-40 does on old rusty levers.