Merry Christmas
Friday, December 25th, 2009
Merry Christmas Everyone!
I hope everyone was good this year and everyone’s 2010 is filled with PRs, sunshine and fun post-race parties with great friends.
| Posted in Triathlon | 1 Comment »
Archive for December, 2009
Introducing the FrankenShoe
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
This last weekend Boston (but more accurately, the entire East Coast) got hit with our first big winter snow storm.
In preparation for the storm, and with the intentions of not letting a few feet of the fluffy white stuff getting in the way of my Ironman training, I dragged my butt down to the local hardware store for some new winter running gear. Sheet metal screws.
Yeah. Screws.
I remember back when KT the PT wrote about screwing her shoes last winter, and decided to figure out what she was raving about. I’ve seen a lot of people rock YakTrax, but I’ve also seen them get pretty torn up by lots of running on asphalt, so they were out of the question.
Running in the snow has never been an issue, but when the sidewalks get packed down with snow and then it melts and refreezes, it isn’t pretty. It pretty much forces me to run in the street or hug the sidewalk, taking tiny little strides and hoping that I go flying on my butt and crack my head open. Neither sounds very appealing, right?
14 screws in each shoe and a speedy test run around the neighborhood and I’m a big fan. FrankenShoe. Get it?
Bolts in the neck: Frankenstein :: Screws in the sole: Frankenshoe
And yes, I just formatted that like an SAT analogy. NERD!
Running with screws in my shoes was actually a lot more comfortable than I expected (but I’m glad the screws I got weren’t any longer). I even make a little click-clack on the sidewalk as I run. Now I’ll be a little bit more confident when I’m bounding over snow banks with no idea what the terrain is on the iter side. They are like the cyclocross equivalent of running shoes, they are just begging to go off road and tear it up. I can’t wait to take ‘em out on the trail.
Originally I was hesitant about tearing holes in my shoes, but after one run, I’m sold. This should be fun.
Tags: screw shoe | Posted in Running, Triathlon | 7 Comments »
Vote For Sonja!
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Hey triathlon peeps.
One of my fellow Trakkers teammates just got nominated as one of the best endurance sports blogs of 2009, and she totally deserves it.
Seriously, if you don’t already subscribe to GoSonja.com, you are missing out. She is a certified B-A-M-F.
See?! She chases big horn sheep up mountains on her training runs…
Need I say any more?
If you have two seconds to click through and give her a vote, head HERE:
| Posted in Triathlon | No Comments »
Rite of Passage – Snowball Ambush
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
From the first day that I started this whole swimbikerun thing, I’ve been mentally building a list of the “You know you are a triathlete when…” moments.
Until last night, the list looked something like this:
- It is strange when your shower doesn’t smell like either chlorine or pond water
- You don’t blink when yet ANOTHER driver yells “Run Forrest, RUN” from their car
- You regularly start workouts before the sun comes up
- You master the art of bike ride snot rockets (without blasting a goober all over your shoulder)
- You plan vacations around your racing/training schedule (not the other way around)
Last night, there was an unfortunate addition to the list:
- Getting hit in the gut by a snowball thrown from a passing car
WTF! I was just moseying along, only about half a mile left until I’m back at my doorstep when… THUD! A big ol’ hunk of snowball whacks me in the gut as a car passes me by. All I catch is the suspicious arm slide back into the window. I turned around and had some choice words to share, but they were already long gone by the time I figured out what had just happened.
And this wasn’t one of those powdery soft cotton-ball-like snowballs. This was one of those ice-snow blocks from when it snowed six days ago and had all week to melt and refreeze into a hardened block of pain.
To be clear, it wasn’t so much the unwarranted smack to the stomach that pissed me off. I was more upset by how much I let it get to me. I was having an awesome easy run around the neighborhood, soaking up holiday spirit and all the well lit houses, dripping with Christmas lights and decorations when I let it really get to me and ruin my run.
Namaste…
Serenity now…
Damn punk kids…
Let’s be clear. I’m no scrooge and am ALWAYS down for a fair snowball fight. If I was running through some fresh powder and got ambushed from some kids hiding behind a snow bank, THAT is fair game and I would be prepared to defend myself.
Throwing an ice ball from a moving car is just being a coward.
I’ve got mad snowball making skills, just like Buddy the Elf. Just try me. 
Tags: rite of passage, snowball fight | Posted in Running, Triathlon | 5 Comments »
