First Sprint Triathlon of The Season : Ormond Y Tri

Sunday was my first sprint triathlon of this season. I was very anxious to race because after spending so much of the winter training for my run, I had issues come up before each one of my early season olympic races.

The Friday before Daytona Frogman, I came down with the stomach flu and was down like 8 pounds by the time Sunday came around. I had bad plantar fasciitis issues for 6 weeks before St. Anthony's and had to walk half of the run for that.

I have got back to light running with the help of my Vibram shoes and "The Stick". I felt good going in to the race this weekend.

The swim was a 1/4 mile ocean swim and there was a little surf that made the swim interesting for some of the participants. I am comfortable with swimming in the surf as I have grown up surfing and I'm used to the ocean. I came out in 8:22 (some said the course was a bit long but who cares). I felt good running up the approach to the transition area.

I hopped on the bike and took off. I was in approximately 20th position after the swim. I made a few good passes and kept the head down and gave it all I had for the short 10 mile course. I put in 22.8 mph avg. in 26:20. I came off the bike in 12th position. After a quick transition, I was off on the 3 mile run.

I started off by holding back a little to make sure the foot was going to hold up and slowly increased my pace. I had some really good runners pass me by and held on with what I had. I had a good sprint to the finish and held off a couple runners. I ended up finishing the run in 22:51. In hind sight I probably could have went a bit harder in the beginning, but since I was not sure about my foot, I felt it was smarter to test it out first.

I am in the 35-39 age group and it was tough. I ended up 6th in my age group and 20th overall with a time of 59:35. I was happy with the overall results and it was the first time I have broken the 1 hour mark in a tri. The next one is in 3 weeks and I will be looking to push a little harder and knock off a couple guys that have beaten me over the last couple years.

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.