2Toms Blister Shield and Sports Shield

I have just bought some new shoes and have been getting blisters around the heel. I tried a new (at least new to me) product in hopes that it would relieve the hot spot in the area. I used the 2Toms sports shield before my last 2 runs and it was great. I had no irritation in the area or any other areas that usually get a little tender.

I live in Florida so even a short run gets everything soaking wet, and I can feel hot spots start to develop. With another run, I used the blister shield product in my socks as directed. Again, I was impressed with how dry it kept my feet. I did not feel the slipping around in my shoes that I normally do and had no hot spots to worry about.

I would recommend both of these products and the customer service with the company was great. They have a great facebook page where you can enter their "Worst Blister Challenge" and win some free products. I like the company and I love there products. Check out 2Toms and train blister free.

First Run In Vibram Five Fingers

I had my first 1.1 mile trail run yesterday in my Vibram Five Fingers and it was great. I actually had fun running. I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis issues as you all know, and since I've tried almost everything that was offered by doctors and therapists, I decided to try the Vibram Five Fingers approach.

My heel is actually a little better than it usually is in the morning and I do have some sore muscles that I never had before, but overall I feel good. The ball on my left foot is a little tender, but not bad.

It felt really good to run through the woods feeling like I had no shoes on. It is definitely a strange feeling, but after a couple minutes, you tend to settle in and feel like a kid for some reason. Even though it was only a mile, I felt like I got a decent workout and I felt like I could run much longer. I was cautious because I know I am suppose to ease into these and also while still having heel pain, I did not want to overdo it.

As of now I love the new shoes. I will continue to post updates as I gain more experience and mileage in the Vibram shoes.

Triathlon Training and Vibram 5 Finger Shoes

If you have been reading my blog, you know the problems I have been dealing with and Plantar Fasciitis. I have been going to the chiropractor and podiatrist with improvement but it is limited improvement. I have had cortisone shots, physical therapy, laser, botox (yes, Botox in my calf and feet), and have tried every stretch imagineable. Ice and heat help some but not as much as I would like.

After taking 5 weeks off from running and having to withdraw from my Florida 70.3 race, I decided to give the less is more approach a shot. I just bought the Vibrams yesterday so I wore them around the house last night. They definitely are different than any other shoe you'll ever wear. My feet did not hurt as much as in regular shoes and after a while, they actually started to loosen up a bit. The hardest part is getting your feet into them. My first thought was that these would be cool for the sprints this summer with a beach run, but I think my transition in T2 would be horrific. You have to get used to having your toes separated, but it's not all that bad. I'm anxious to wear them outside. Maybe after work tonight, I'll throw them on for a few minutes during my short trail run with the wife.

I will slowly get used to them before trying to run in them too much but I hope to transition to using them as my running shoes in the future. I will keep posting updates on my progress with them. If you have any experience with these, please leave a comment and share with others.

Half Ironman Triathlon Training Plans By Tri Geek

Click here to visit Geek Publishers by Julian Dean

Tri Geek training plans offer all levels of triathlon training for all distances of triathlon. The plans are easy to follow for those who self coach and need the structured workouts written out for them. Check out the site and what they have to offer.

Suitable for all levels of fitness.

Prerequisite before starting the plans:

1. Able to Run 1-2 miles without stopping.
2. Able to Swim 100 yards without stopping.
3. Able to Bike comfortably for 30 mins.

Be 100% absolutely confident that you will finish your triathlon race in peak state and in peak performance when you commit to train and follow at least 80% of this triathlon training plan.

Features and benefits of a Triathlon Geek self-coaching training plan:

All plans include a nutritional guide for endurance athletes.

3 athletic levels of triathlon training per sport (Age Grouper, Elite and Pro Athletes).

Triathlon specific Weight training and Core Strength routines for power and muscular endurance.

Detailed triathlon workout plans each day.

Gradual Increase in intensity and distance to avoid injuries and over training.

Balanced approach to endurance triathlon training so you do not burn out.

Start your triathlon training today. Digital (Adobe PDF) triathlon training plan sent to you via email.

5 Key triathlon training phases to achieve a peak state on race day.

2 Active Recovery phases.

Suitable for all levels of fitness including beginners.

At-a-glance triathlon training plan - one page per week.

Workouts are easy to read and follow.

Time-Intensity grid for each training day - allowing you to mentally gauge how intense or long your workouts will take.

One Day off per week.

Swim, Bike and Run drills.

Triathlon workouts include Brick, Speed Work, Endurance and Power routines.

Longer workouts on the weekend and Shorter workouts on the weekday to balance work life commitments.

Metric system (km) plans for Australia, New Zealand, Canadian and European athletes or those who prefer to train in the metric system.

Click here to visit Geek Publishers by Julian Dean

Nothing To Do With Triathlon Training: One Of The Strangest Books I've Ever Seen

I was watching a show the other night, I don't remember what show but it was Comedy Central so obviously mindless, and they brought up this book. I was really just listening and when they said the topic of the book, I had to look up, and rewind to be sure I heard it correctly. I know this is a triathlon training blog, but I also love to hear odd and sometimes crazy stories.

Here is a description from the book and at first may seem like a joke. It is not. You can actually purchase this book for your cookbook library (I don't know why you would but to each his own).

Semen is not only nutritious, but it also has a wonderful texture and amazing cooking properties. Like fine wine and cheeses, the taste of semen is complex and dynamic. Semen is inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, homes and restaurants. Despite all of these positive qualities, semen remains neglected as a food. This book hopes to change that. Once you overcome any initial hesitation, you will be surprised to learn how wonderful semen is in the kitchen. Semen is an exciting ingredient that can give every dish you make an interesting twist. If you are a passionate cook and are not afraid to experiment with new ingredients - you will love this cook book!

I'm not sure it is for me (I'm actually very sure it is not), but I did find it interesting that there are actually people buying this. It may be a pretty funny coffee table book if you don't have kids. It would probably be a great awkward conversation starter when friends are over. Just to leave it sitting out where they could see it and then leave the room and monitor their reaction. Now that would be priceless. Especially if you came back and offered them a tapioca pudding appetizer. Bon appetite!

No Florida 70.3 for Me!!

I am having to pull the plug on the Florida 70.3 half ironman race. My plantar fasciitis problems have really hurt my training. My bike and swim is good but I have only run once in 4 weeks and that was at St. Anthony's and my 44 minute 10K time turned into an hour long jog/walk.I love writing my blog so I will continue to update with my regular training progress and report on my sprint races.

I also plan to add more funny posts that relate to my everyday life. Please continue to follow me as I rework my blog. I hope to add many more followers. Thanks again for following.

St. Anthony's Triathlon and Half Ironman Training

Click here to visit Tri Geek Triathlon Training Plans

I am so excited for St. Anthony's this weekend. I am a little concerned because my foot still is only about 80% but I'll do my best and enjoy the atmosphere this weekend at St. Anthony's on Sunday. I had a decent swim last night and good spin class this morning. I will probably do a short (very short and easy) swim, bike, run brick on Thursday with a small group of people. The run will be very easy and short just so I get the feeling of what I am in for on Sunday.




It's been a crazy couple weeks with really cutting back on the run to let my foot heal and lots of crazy work stuff. Tonight I have a soccer game for my 6 year olds soccer team. This is my first year coaching and it's pretty fun. The kids are actually getting better and learning the team concept. I knew nothing about soccer before this but I know teamwork and fitness so it was not that hard (and the fact that they are only 6 and have no real expectations didn't hurt). I'll update before the race and of course a race report next week. Wish me luck and god luck to everyone else who will be racing this weekend.

At The Gas Pump

I was at the gas pump this morning and a car pulled up next to me. A woman, not too bad looking, jumped out and approached me. I was wondering where this was going, and then I saw the pamphlets in her hand. Now, I am very open to evryone's beliefs and they have no effect on me so to each his (or her) own. She started to tellme how I could live a better life and have more time for my family and how her reading materials could help me. I was very polite and accepted the materials. I just watched the car she was riding in leave the parking lot.

I wondered what made them stop to talk to me. Maybe because I was on my way to work and was dressed up a bit, they just assumed that I needed their help with living a better life and making time for family. If nothing else, it made me think about things for a few minutes. Then I got right back to the important stuff, you know,the day ahead at work, the evening workout, then tomorrow's 5 a.m. workout, and then the afternoon workout. Saturday morning's long run before I coach my 6 year olds soccer game and make plans with the wife and kids for the rest of the weekend. Then I thought, see they don't know what they're talking about, there is plenty of time for my family. Anyway, I have to go it's time to train before going home to help put the kids bed. Another wonderful day. St. Anthony's next weekend!!

Half Ironman Triathlon Training Update

This weekend was pretty good for training. I got in my first long run in a couple weeks. I did 9 miles on Saturday. My foot was pretty sore, but I got through it. Had to stop a couple times and stretch out the foot and calf. Still ended up with a 8:24 pace so not that bad. My foot was pretty sore the next day.

On Sunday I rode with a small group that I rode with last year. It is a good group of people, but they ride at a slower pace than I have gotten used to. This is good I guess, as I can now see that my training has definitely improved my cycling and after riding with them for 25 miles, I headed off on my own for another 20 miles. There was a lot of wind so I really had to put my head down and grind it out for awhile. Coming back was great because I had a strong tailwind so I was cruising at about 25 mph for most of the 10 miles back home. The ride felt good and I felt strong. No run after because the family was waiting for me.

St. Anthony's is coming up so I need my foot to get better so I can redeem myself of last year's poor performance.

Half Ironman Triathlon Training: Weekend Plans

My foot is feeling better today and I hope to get a big weekend of training in. I have a 2 hour trainer ride planned for tonight. We will be watching my nephew tonight so it will be a little crazy around the house with 3 kids, but I'll get the ride in after they settle down for bed.



Tomorrow I plan on a 10 mile run (easy to test the foot) before our second soccer game at 9. We lost the first game (I coach 5 and 6 year olds so it was an accidental shot) 1 - 0. It is actually pretty fun to watch the kids. Maybe 8 of the 16 on the field actually have a clue. I need to get a swim in after practice or in the afternoon. I may go to the ocean for some open water training. St. Anthony's is coming up fast and I want to feel confident going in.

Sunday is a 3 hour long ride. I will probably join a small group for the first part of the ride. They are pretty relaxed and it will be a good warm up. I'll do the last couple hours on my own. I would like to do a short transition run after the bike, but I'll see how my foot feels after the ride and long run on Saturday.

Triathlon Training Update and Popular Triathlon Training Books and Products

Here are some popular triathlon training products to help you get the most out of your training:



I'm feeling better after my stomach funk and race let down this weekend. Did spin class yesterday and felt pretty good. I was a little slow to start (it was 5:15 so I usually am anyway) but it ended up being a really good workout. Planning an interval session with the wife tonight. Our plan is a 40 minute run set up like this:

10 min Warm up
3 min threshold pace
3 min recovery pace
3 min threshold pace
3 min recovery pace
3 min threshold pace
3 min recovery pace
10-12 cool down

I plan on a brick in the consisiting of 1hr 20 min bike followed by 25 min tempo run just under race pace. 4 weeks until St. Anthony's and I want to have a good race so I want to pick up a bit more. I'm counting on the fact that I'm able to keep my foot feeling at least tolerable.

Daytona Frogman Race Report

I started my weekend on Friday feeling great and ready for my race on Sunday. I was very excited to see where my fitness level was because I have been traing hard and I feel pretty strong. When my wife called me Friday afternoon and said she felt horrible, I was a little concerned (of course for her) that I may pick up some of it before the race. She was sick all night and I took care of the girls, 6 and 14 months. The youngest was the first one to come down with the sickness. I did my best to wash my hands obsessively but something must have gotten through. I started to feel the yuck at 2 a.m. When Saturday morning came around, I was down for the count. I spent all day Saturday feeling horrible. When I weighed myself Friday night I was 193. When I woke up Sunday morning, I still felt sick. I weighed in at 186. I was down 7 lbs from Friday night. Not good. I just tried to eat some toast with peanut butter and drank some water.

This race was to benefit the families of retired and fallen Navy Seals, so the race was started by the Seal parachute team dropping onto the beach right in front of us. Pretty awesome sight and gave a huge shot of adrenaline.

We got lined up on the beach for the start and were a bit delayed while they tried to get the buoys to stay set. They finally started the race and we were off. I felt good getting through the surf and was on my way. I fell behind the lead pack and was fine with that. I just wanted to keep an easy pace to see how my stomach was going to feel. I was doing okay. Water was rough and was tough to sight at times. I was between the lead group and the rest of the men, so no drafting for me. I ended up coming out at 16:42. The course was obviously shortened due to the times that were put up. It was probably more of 1200 yd course. As soon as I hit the beach and started my run to transition, I knew I was going to have a long day. My stomach hurt right away as soon as I started to jog. No problems with transition. Wetsuit off easily and helmet on.

Shoes were on the bike and no problems mounting the bike. It was about 1/4 mile when I strapped in to my shoes, no problems. I did not practice transitions as planned due to being violently ill on Friday and Saturday. It worked out okay. I dropped my chain going over the bridge. My fault, I waited too long to gear down. I put it back on mid bridge and still got over it rather quickly. I Took it easy with the headwinds and tried to reserve my energy for the tailwind portions. Started too lose my steam about half way through the ride due to my stomach funk. I ended up with a bike split of 1:10:01 (21.3 mph) so not too bad after all.

The run felt horrible from start to finish. I stopped sweating at mile 2 and got the goose bumps. Not good. I was intent on finishing, so I slogged through the miles. Every time I started to run, my stomach knotted up and was very painful. I ended walking probably 3 miles of the 10K. I was so disappointed because my run is so much improved. My last open 10K was 44 and change so obviously, I was not happy with an 1:01 10K. I watched the people pass me by on the run that I have beat all winter in the run races and I felt worse with each one. I finally got to the finish line and kept running straight to the bathroom. 10 minutes later I emerged to see my beautiful wife and 2 daughters waiting for me. My oldest said, "Great job Daddy. You finished". That brought a smile to my face for the first time all day.

I am glad I finished the race even though it was probably not the smartest thing to do. I spent the rest of the day in bed and in the bathroom. Good times. After beating myself for a little bit, I focused on the facts that were positive. I had a good swim, and decent bike even though I felt horrible. Transition times were fairly good and I got through them rather quickly. I will take these positives and prepare for St. Anthony's next month. If nothing else, this will keep the fire going to continue training harder for St. Anthony's next month and Florida 70.3 in May. I am taking today off, and getting back into training tomorrow.

Thanks for following.

Triathlon Training Plan: Daytona Frogman

Daytona Frogman is Sunday and I can't wait to race!I will go for a swim tonight and probably just rest tomorrow. I have bike check in on Saturday, so maybe a short ride to check everything out before I go. I will do some transition training tonight and tomorrow morning to get a little of the rust off. I haven't had a tri since last August so I need a little refresher. I am curious to see the results of my training this year and I hope to get a good gauge on where I will be for St.Anthony's next month. Even though I am using this weekends race as a "tune up", I want to do well because it is my hometown and I do every race as an "A" race really. I give all I can at every race otherwise I would just do a training session for free.

I also need to see where my foot is because I have only ran twice in the last week so I could take some time for my plantar fasciitis flare up to calm down. It feels better, but not 100%. I will baby it until race day and see what happens. There is an expo on Saturday and I am sure it will be fun. I'll let everyone know my results and if anything comes up over the weekend, I'll throw up an update.

Triathlon Training Schedule: Swim Bike Run Session This Morning

This morning our spin teacher, who is also a triathlete coach, decided today would be a full (not quite) swim, bike, run brick. we started with 20 minutes in the pool, ran to the spin bikes and did a full hour simulated race day, and then quick transition to a 20 minute run. There are a few of us in the class that are racing The Daytona Frogman on Sunday so this was a nice workout for us. I felt good and the foot held up pretty well (I have been fighting with plantar fasciitis for a few months). I hope to have my bike back in action today and have a good trainer ride tonight. Tomorrow will be intervals for my last hard workout before the olympic distance race on Sunday. I AM READY TO RACE!!

Weekend Triathlon Training

I had to go to plan b, literally because Plan B is my local bike shop, because I tightened my seat on Friday night and broke one of the screws on the clamp. The screw broke off in the clamp. Arggg! They managed to get the broken screw out, but they had to order a new screw. That meant no bike this weekend.

I did manage to run the 10K for Daytona Frogman on Saturday. I took it a little easy because my foot is feeling a little better and I did not want to aggravate it. Ended up with a decent 7:27 pace and I hope that I can hold that pace on Sunday off the 25 mile bike.

There was an open ocean swim clinic yesterday and we had a decent turnout. There were a lot of beginners but some experienced people as well. We basically did beach starts and swam out to a buoy that was about 100 yards off the outer sandbar and came back in. We did about 10 of these heats and it was good to get the feel for the ocean starts again. I felt good and was able to keep out in front of most of the others. I feel confident for sprint distances, but a mile swim is totally different. I'm hoping to be able to relax and get into a good rhythm for the long swim and not get out of the water too drained.



Tomorrow we are doing a 400 yard swim before spin class, then a 2 mile run after class for a nice full brick. I plan on doing a couple hours on the trainer tonight, if I get my bike back together, and then Wednesday will be an interval run. That will be my last hard workout of the week. I will do some transition practice after work this week. Probably at least 2 days at about an hour each. Transition practice is like getting free time in the race. I learned the hard way last season that transition can mean the difference between 3rd and 4th. transition training can take off precious seconds with minimal training time. Try taking 1 minute off your swim and see how long that takes. You can easily get your transitions down to at least 30-45 seconds if you train for them correctly (olympic and sprint distances). Have a great week everyone!