Monthly Summary - October 2011

Here's October:

Swim: 7,500 meters
Cycling (outdoors): 0 miles
Cycling (indoors): 2:00 (hours)
Run: 216.3 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 6 sessions

Approximate monthly total training time: 44.75 hours

Weight: mid-150's

This month has been almost exclusively about running. Lots of running. My biggest running month since last summer. And, for the most part, it's felt great. Little aches and pains here and there and a couple days where I was worried that the "little" ache might be developing into something more real, but (knock on wood), so far so good. As I wrote wrote the other week, I've been spending a ton of time in the Santa Monica mountains.  These pictures are from Saturday's run through Temescal (photo above), Eagle Rock (first photo below), Garapito Trail, the Backbone (second photo below) and Rivas Canyon.  Most weekends, I've been out in the Santa Monicas on both Saturday and Sunday (and Tuesday and Thursday during the week). This past weekend I logged over 33 miles (21.6 on Saturday, 12 on Sunday). That definitely qualifies as a big weekend for me. Catalina Eco Marathon is less than two weeks away - one week of moderate training, one week of taper.

Other than running, the only other training I really did this month was the "Swim-X"/swim bootcamp class that I mentioned before. It's been a perfect compliment to the running and a great off-season workout. The anaerobic strength training is fun and I'm learning some new swim strokes and technique that should be helpful once I get back into the endurance swimming in December or January.

I didn't spend a single minute outside on the bike this month. November probably won't be any different!

Now, since it's Halloween, I'll end this post with pictures of the boys in their costumes:

Bumble Gus:

Super Charlie:

Training Update

In late September when I decided that I was going to spend the next seven weeks running and running and running to prepare for the Catalina Eco Marathon on November 12, I was a little worried. I felt good coming off a decent run at the SOS Triathlon, but I also knew that seven weeks might not be enough time to get from there to marathon shape. With that in mind, I just started running.

I started with three building weeks (33.6, 44.7 and 47.4 miles), then a recovery week (34.7 miles). This week I'm shooting for somewhere north of 50 miles, then I'll do another hard week and a half, before I finish with an eight or ten day taper.

I'm happy to say (knock on wood) that the running is going really well. Since the Eco Marathon is hilly instead of super fast, I've been spending a lot of time climbing hard on the trails. Most weeks, I've been doing serious climbs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (mostly with some combination of Jimmy, Lukas and Tyler) and doing recovery runs with some tempo mixed in on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The other bonus of all the running is that over the last few weeks, I've seen the sun rise from up high in the Santa Monica Mountains about a half dozen times. Starting at the base of the climb in the pitch black darkness, running up the trail with headlamps while the sky slowly gets a bit more light. Then, no matter how tired I feel, seeing that first bit of the sun peek over the horizon instantly energizes me and reminds me exactly why I'm out there. I wish I had pictures to share, but trust me it's a beautiful sight.

I'm definitely not in marathon shape yet, but I feel like I'm making good progress. Now I just need to stay healthy!

In order to get the running miles in I've pretty much abandoned my bike. A few minutes on the trainer once a week is all I've been doing. I was going to hang up the swim goggles as well, but instead I've been going to this sweet "Swim-X"/swim bootcamp class that my friend Evan is starting up. It's upper and lower body strength mixed in with swimming. Swim 50 meters, jump out of the pool and do some push-ups, swim 50 meters, jump out do air squats or lunges or shoulder presses, etc. It definitely doesn't do much for my swim endurance, but it's huge for core strength and I love getting some anaerobic work in every week. Also, since I'm definitely the weakest swimmer in the group, I'm able to get some tips and watch some good swimmers swim, which should help my form once I turn back to the endurance swimming sometime after the marathon.

If you want something badly enough...

When the K-Swiss people at the Malibu Triathlon told me that unless I went to Kona, there was no possible way to get my hands on a pair of the new K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5s until February 2012, I first got angry but then put a plan in action, and voila:

And these aren't even ready for sale:

I like that K-Swiss debuted them on their pros at Kona and made them available to the public on the island at the same time!  Good move!

I owe thanks to Tyler who was there to spectate, not race (this year at least).  I got my pair on Thursday and took them out for a little test drive this morning. My initial impressions (it's hard to comment on anything other than aesthetics and basic feel at this point):

• I dig the red and yellow color scheme, they're flashy but not too gaudy and look fast!
• The upper is way improved over the original K-Ruuz, it feels lighter, softer and more flexible and doesn't have the annoying, toe-destroying vinyl piece over the toes.  I wore socks today, but will definitely try them sockless soon.  
• Like the originals, they're still light and low to the ground.  These feel lighter than the originals, but that could be extra weight from accumulated dirt that I'm feeling!
• The toe box feels a little roomier. I did go up a half-size, but my toes had lots more room than in the original.

I've done all my racing - and lots of training - this year in my pair of the original K-Ruuz, and they're showing their age.  I'm sure I could eke out some more miles in them, but they badly want to be retired and now they can be.

And when it rains it pours. After not getting any new running shoes for six months, I've gotten three new pairs in the last two weeks. The Brooks PureConnect, these K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5s and a third pair that hasn't even touched the ground yet. More details on that third pair to come soon.

Seeing as how I've run 95 miles in the first 15 days of the month, I guess it's good timing to get the new shoes!

New shoes, plus a hike in Griffith Park with Elizabeth, Loren, Charlie and the dogs, makes for a great Saturday morning!

Brooks PureProject Pure Connect - First Look

After months of anticipation, Brooks finally released their PureProject line of shoes on October 1.

As a member of the Brooks I.D. program, my pre-ordered pair arrived a couple of days early. But due to my running schedule, I wasn't able to take them for a test run until today.

One six mile run isn't nearly enough to post a real review, but since the shoes are brand-spankin' new and getting a fair amount of press (among running nerds, anyway), I wanted to get my initial thoughts posted right away.  To be super brief: I liked, but didn't love the shoes today.

Here are some initial bullet point thoughts:

Pro:

• They're pretty rad looking. I'm a huge fan of the green and grey color scheme
• The mesh uppper is light and breathable
• I wore socks today but I'm pretty sure that I could comfortably run sockless in them
• The 4mm heel-toe offset feels good and natural
• Roomy shape with a wide toebox

Con:

• At 7.2 ounces, they're about the same weight as some of my other favorite shoes like the K-Swiss K-Ruuz, New Balance MT100 and Brooks Green Silence, but for some reason they feel heavier than any of those
• In addition to feeling heavier than my other shoes, it's "more shoe" than I'm used to running in - I think that's because it has a bulkier sole and more structure than those other more racing-focused shoes
• It's very stiff
• The insole has more arch structure and support than I would prefer
• There's a hard, stiff structured piece that surrounds the toes and another that cups the back of the heel; I'm not sure what the purpose of these are and again would just prefer less structure
• I knew this shoe would fit between a racing flat and a trainer, but I was hoping it would fall closer to the flat than the trainer.  But today at least it didn't feel like a "fast" shoe which will relegate it to training instead of racing for me

One other thought: Despite the fact that it's light and has a low heel-toe offset, I wouldn't consider it a "minimalist shoe" by the usual definitions.  If you look at Runblogger's 8 key characteristics, the PureConnect meets 1, 2 (though I'd like an even lighter shoe), 3 and 5. It sort of meets 6 and 7. That's all pretty good on paper, but it's too structured and stiff and you really don't get any feel of the ground in these shoes.

Despite some initial misgivings, I like the shoes and I'll keep putting miles on them. I'll update here as I do.

Brooks came out with four models in the PureConnect line, including the "PureGrit" trail shoe. If you're a trail runner, definitely check out L.A. Runner's first impression of the PureGrit trail shoe.