So the last few weeks have been tough- lot of hours at work, bumpy home life and not enough time to train. But Things always have a way of working themselves out. Work is not better, but I am focused on the things I can control (as well as keeping my eyes open for shorter commute!). My bumpy home life is getting smoother- let's just say we are communicating better and seeing each other's perspective more clearly. And training- I would like 30 hrs a week- I get 10-15. So it is not like I am not doing good things- just not enough.
But what have I been up to? Spinervals Super6. As you may recall, I was a participant and finisher of the first Spinervals 32 Day challenge. An indoor bike focused training event during the month of December. Coach Troy Jacobson (www.spinervals.com & www.coachtroy.com) the genius behind the spinervals series of cycling training videops created the program. And it was great! So continuing on his successful program, he launched the Spinervals Super 6- six days a week for six weeks, but not just cycling- a lot running and weight training (there was a pretty good amount of weight's in the 32D challenge too).
The good news is my daily fitness is way up for this time of the year- the downside is I want more time!
Now you may also recall that I am on a search for the right running/ racing shoes to replace my beloved Saucony Kinvera 1's. The Kinerva 2's are sized wrong for my feet (have tried both the 9 and 9.5 and neither fit right). So I have embarked on a search for my new kicks.
Key requirements are light, minimalist and sockless friendly. In short I need to be able to pull them on during T2 super fast in order to keep my T2 times well be low 1 minute (for everything but full iron- I learned that taking my time on T2 for a 140.6 is worth it in spades!).
So my first attempt was the brooks connect pure- interesting shoe, light weird walking feel, but super smooth running feel. However not the insides are not barefoot friendly. A couple of seems and the tongue is hard to adjust quickly. Plus there are no loops to ease the shoe on my foot. Perhaps I will consider it for full irons, but definitely not for 70.3 and below.
2nd has been a couple of KSWISS shoes- the Ruuz 1.5, Blade Light Run and Blade Foot run. Ruuz had to be sent back since the sizing was off. The Blade Light Run is comfortable, and works with elastic laces & has toe/ heel loops. But it is not great barefoot and a bit heavier than I like. The blade foot run is a slimmed down version of the blade light. First Run with them was great, but I wore socks. This morning- sockless and miserable. Blisters on both heels and my left foot too. Really bummed as I was hoping KSWISS would be the right shoe. The Blade foot run is a strong contender for full irons, but alas likely out of the 70.3 and below option.
So the next shoes up are some from Zoot- I had stayed away from zoot based on some reviews of the TT 4 with the heel collar being too high. But the newest version is much lower and zoot does have a good reputation for sockless comfort and transition ease.
My new zoots will be here in about 2 weeks (shipping on 2/6) so look for my review soon after.
And I ordered from RoadRunner Sports which has a pretty cool vip program- check out the details here
