Thursday, 11 March 2010

Base III Goals

Base III started this week and it is an exciting time. I am coming up on my first triathlon and I am trying to round out my base fitness for the coming build phases. I have a list of goals that will help provide me guidance over the next four weeks. Let's jump into them.

Prepared For First Triathlon

My first triathlon is coming up in a couple of weeks and my primary goal for this session is to be prepared for the race. To meet this goal, I have work to do. My running and biking are in good shape. I am ready to compete in these two areas and put in a respectable times. Where I still need work is in swimming and transitions. I need to take my retooled stroke and start extending the distance I swim. I need to be able to swim 600 yards without any problem. If I can get to that distance I would feel good about a 400 yard swim. I have just started practicing my transitions and they need some work. I have the fundamentals down. I just need to drill them until they become second nature.

Nutrition: Goal Weight Under 155

Up till now, I haven't been serious about weight loss. I thought if I kept an OK diet, the pounds would come off from all of the exercise. Well that hasn't happened. I need to start focusing on what I eat and cut out any unnecessary empty calorie food such as deserts and beer. It is OK to partake occasionally, but the occasionally has become way too frequent lately.

Sport Goals: 400 Yard Swim in 10:00, 75 Minute Run at 5:10 pace, 86km in 3 Hours On Bike

My secondary focus in base 3 will be on endurance. I know I will be working on more than just endurance with my scheduled workouts, but I am setting these values as a baseline for endurance fitness before I head into the build periods of my training. If I can meet these goals or at least come close to them, I feel like I will have complete confidence in my base fitness. The confidence should give me the inspiration to tackle the more challenging aspects of the build phase where intensity goes up and the volume goes down.

Posted by brians at 10:25 PM in Training
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Wednesday Training

This morning, I started off at the FAC for a 40 minute swim. After some short segments working on stroke mechanics, I started doing 100 yard sets. I did 8 of them before wrapping up and heading to work. This is the first step in building up my swimming endurance for a race I have coming up in 3 weeks. Each session, I plan on doing longer and longer sets until I build up to 600 yard sets. That is 50% longer than my first race and should give me the endurance I need to make it through on race day.

One other note about swimming. I have been having difficulty breathing on my right side. Today I figured out how to solve the problem. I started concentrating on staying near the water surface during every stroke. Apparently, I have a tendency during propulsion to move forward and down. Thus when I turn to air, I am too far below the surface and can't get any air. When I focused on staying near the surface I discovered two things. One, I could breath a lot easier. Second, I was in a more aerodynamic position and had less drag. I am slowly getting there!

In the evening, I was planning on riding on my trainer, but fate intervened. First, I had to come home early to work on something that I accidentally left behind this morning. Second, the rain that was supposed to come in today never materialized. I was home before dark and the weather was fantastic. I took a break and headed out on the bike. I could finish my work later that tonight.

My ride was a force workout. That means I needed some hills to climb. I have a nice 3 minute hill right by my house that I incorporated into my ride. The smaller hills in my area I did one gear lower than I would normally ride them to get a good leg burn while climbing. The rest of the ride was done in zone 2. After finishing the ride, I changed into my running shoes and hurried back out for a quick 1.5km run to get used to running after a ride. Surprisingly, I ran a much faster pace that I was targeting. I ran a 4:40 km when I was looking to run in the 5:10 time frame. Oh well, good to know I can run fast off the bike.

Posted by brians at 9:48 PM in Training
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Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Monday And Tuesday Training

Monday

Monday started Base III. In the morning, I headed up to the FAC to continue work on the mechanics of my swimming stroke. I spent 40 minutes working on rolling to the air to breath and stay within my timing for each stroke. Breathing on my left side is coming along, but I am struggling on the right side. I am not high enough in the water to get an easy breath on that side. Otherwise, I feel like I have a good feel for the basic freestyle stroke. I am ready to start swimming longer distances to get ready for my first sprint triathlon in 3 weeks. In the evening, I went back to the FAC and lifted weights.

Tuesday

In the morning, I went out for my first run of the week. After a 2k warm up and a 1k zone 2 effort, I picked up the pace and ran 6k at a zone 3 tempo (4:50/km) pace. I finished the run with another km back in zone 2. It was a tough workout, but I saw my pace stay steady across each kilometer of the 6k tempo run.

In the afternoon, I took my bike out on the road for a 70 minute ride. It feels good to be able to ride outside even if the winds were fairly strong. I did a 10 minute warm up and then spent 60 minutes in zone 2. I made sure I didn't spend much time during the ride in either zone 3 or zone 4. I wanted to keep it at an easier pace because of the hard run this morning. Even so, I was still able to maintain a 30kph average for the ride. I was very happy with the effort.

Later that evening, I spent 14 minutes doing some core exercises to finish out the day.

Posted by brians at 10:29 PM in Training
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Monday, 8 March 2010

Base II Recap

I came into Base II setting some tough / unrealistic goals for the four week period. It is time to break down each goal and compare them with the actual results of training.

Swim Goal: Swim 400 yards in 10:00

My swim time coming out of Base I was around 11:30 for a 400 yard swim. An increase of 90 seconds was a bit unrealistic for 4 short weeks. After the first half of the period, I started to really understand the basic concepts behind Total Immersion swimming. I decided to go back to drilling and work on those basic fundamentals.  In the process, I stopped swimming distances and focused on stroke mechanics. I think the back to basic fundamentals is paying off big time. I did some test timing on 50 yards efforts and I was able to swim it in 1:15 which puts me on pace for meeting my goal in final base period.

Bike Goal: 29kph average over 2 hour bike ride

I spent the entire second base period on my trainer. I did get out on the road one time and was able to maintain a 29.37 kph average over the two hour duration. I pushed too hard on the ride, but I was able to maintain a good velocity over distance.  I also did a 20k time trial last week and averaged 32.3 kph. All of this means that my biking status is right where I want it. I didn't know how riding on the trainer was going to work out, but it seemed to do an adequate job. With the warming weather, I should be able to spend more time on the road in the coming weeks.

Running Goal: 5:20 pace for 1 hour / 4:20 pace on 30 minute time trial

I easily met my first goal clocking in at a 5:13 pace for just over an hour. I came up short on my pace goal for the time trial. I clocked in at a 4:25 average. All in all, I continue to make huge strides in my running. I can keep up a strong pace for about 65 minutes. I faltered on the hour and twenty minute run, but I think that was more of a problem with fatigue that endurance. Regardless, I am good for the 5 and 10k runs I'll do this year. Now I just need to start work on running after an effort on the bike to get used to that concept.

Nutrition Goal: Weight Below 156

I failed miserable here. Using my eat watch program I weigh in right at 157.0 pounds which is a pound higher than my goal. I have done a good job cleaning up my eating Monday through Thursday, but the weekends have killed me. I have not only eaten poorly, I have eaten too much and consumed too much beer. With 3 weeks till my first race, i have to get serious about weight loss. I need to get down below 155 to be at a descent racing weight. Time to enforce the food journal!

Posted by brians at 9:44 PM in Training
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Sunday, 7 March 2010

Weekend Training

Saturday

Having built up a lot of fatigue from the end of Base II, I had decided on a pretty easy week. Heading into the weekend, I had only gone running biking one time each. I wanted to get in another easy workout in each discipline, so I decided to do a low zone 2 brick on Saturday to knock out each discipline at one time. I also wanted to use it as a dry run for working on the transitions.

I set up a mock transition and went through the motions performing a T1 transition. I followed it with an easy 20km zone 2 ride. I kept the tempo about 10% off my normal high zone 2 pace. I finished the bike in about 44 minutes. The next step was a quick T2 transition (more on transitions in a bit). I immediately went into my run where I did a 5k run at a low zone 2 pace finishing the run in 26:48.

I learned a couple of things from my first brick of the year. I remembered how difficult it was to transition from biking to running. It takes a little bit before your legs start working correctly. The most important reason for doing bricks is to get used to running after a bike. I am going to add a short run (2k) to at least one of my bike rides every week from here on out to become more acquainted with the transition.

The second thing I learned was I really needed to practice transitions. It seems like simple process, but the speed at which it needs to be executed can be a bit disorienting. You are trying to do everything as quick as possible which makes it very easy to skip something important. If I don't start practicing, I could be really out of sorts on race day.

I now fully understand the importance of drilling on the transitions. The goal of the practice are two fold. One is to ingrain each of the steps that need to be executed and in their proper order. This process needs to be internalized. It should be automatic without any thinking. Secondly, the practice allows you to get used to the frantic nature of the transition. Similar to a quarterback in college football, the game slows down the more you do it.

Sunday

Rest day. I spent some time in the afternoon working on slipping my shoes on and off while on the bike. It took me a bit to get used to it. Taking the shoes off quickly is fairly easy. Pull up the Velcro and slip your feet out of the shoes. Putting them on while riding is a bit trickier. Your hand needs to come down and hold the shoe while your foot slips into it. After about 20 minutes of practicing, I could do it in a reasonable time while still going fairly straight. I still need to work on the technique, but I think I can do it without too much problem on race day.

I was also planning on doing a Yoga session, but I had to travel to Louisville for family stuff. No big deal, I got in a couple of stretching sessions this week already. Next week starts the final base period before moving into the build period.

Posted by brians at 9:18 PM in Training
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Saturday, 6 March 2010

Friday Time Trial

The weather finally warmed up to the 40s so I could get out on my bike and do a 20k time trial to see where my cycling fitness stands. Normally, I would do a time trial all out to measure where my fitness is, but I didn't want to do that with this bike ride. I wanted to simulate a short triathlon race, so I held back a little bit to figure out where I would be if I were doing a 20k sprint bike.

After a 12 minute 6k warm up, I did a high zone 3 / low zone 4 time trial on the bike. I guess my weight training over the winter paid off because my times were much faster than what I was expecting.  I did the 20k in 37:09 for an average of about 20.5 mph. I did that while my heart rate average stayed below 150 the entire ride. Needless to say I was pretty stoked about the results.

Now that the weather is warming, I am looking to getting outside on my bike and improving my form on the bike. Especially the handling. That will only get better the more time I spend on the road. Regardless, I am pretty happy with my progress this year.



Posted by brians at 5:49 PM in Training
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Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Time Trial Week

At the end of each base period in an opportunity to do a time trial exercise in each discipline. It provides one with data to measure current fitness in each sport. After a couple of easy days of recovery, today was my first time trial. A 30 minute full speed time trail.

After a 10 minute slow warm up jog, I picked up the pace for a full 30 minutes My first kilometer started fast. I was down in the 4:10 per km range over the first 200 hundred meters. Now way I could maintain that pace so I slowed to finish the first km in 4:26. I was still a bit worried that the pace was too strong. My next km was 4:22. I was definitely going to fast and wondered if I was going to make it when my 3rd km time came in at 4:24.

At this point I thought I was going to crash. Amazingly I was able to run the rest of the 30 minutes with an average time of 4:27 per km. While the second half was slightly slower than the first, it was still pretty close. I was able to hold pace for the entire run. I was stoked when I finished. I feel really good about my running ability with another base phase to go.

If the weather holds, Friday will probably be my first time trial this year on the bike. With so little time on the road there is no telling how it will go. I haven't scheduled a swimming time trial and probably won't do one. I am still working on the fundamental stroke mechanics. No point it doing a time trial while focused on the basics of swimming. Anyway, I'll keep this blog updated with the results from my bike time trial.

Posted by brians at 7:41 PM in Training
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Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Recovery Week

Last week was the final push for Base II before a scheduled recovery week this week. I must say that fatigue got the best of me the second half of last week and my performance suffered greatly. Therefore it is of the up most importance this week to unload that fatigue. I am going to take it easier this week than originally planned, but I need to be rested heading into the final base period.

Monday was a complete off day for me. I did no training and it felt good to take the day off. I felt much stronger Tuesday morning than I felt Monday morning. Tuesday was set up as a way to slowly introduce myself back to training without pushing very hard. In the morning I went to the pool to spend 40 minutes working on stroke techniques. In the evening, I spent an hour doing Yoga in hope that the stretching will help accelerate my recovery.

Tomorrow I have scheduled my 30 minute run time trial, but I will only run it if I feel that my recovery has sufficiently reduced my fatigue.

Posted by brians at 9:23 PM in Training
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Monday, 1 March 2010

Thinking About Transitions

My first race is March 28th. That means I have 26 more days before I set off on my first race as a triathlete. Up till this point I have focused solely on preparing my body to be in top condition to complete the sprint distance event. With less than a month to go it is time to start thinking about the logistics of the race. One area in which I have done little to prepare is in the transitions.

I spent some time last week going through the web looking at pictures of transitions to get a feel for what the transition area will look like. I expect it to look something like the following.



You basically get room to rack your bike and a small area beside the bike reserved for transitioning.



Ok, so I have an idea of what it will be like. Now I needed a game plan for making it through the transition as fast as possible. I can across a blog entry posted by Sweat 365 that focused on optimizing the transition. The focus of his post was on optimizing activities and parallelizing activities as much as possible. I have adapted his techniques to fit my needs and developed a strategy for transitioning.

T1

My goal heading into T1 is to have my goggles and swim cap already off by the time I get into the transition area. Once I get to my transition area, I am going to quickly wipe my feet off. Next I'll spread part of a packet of body glide between my big toes so I don't get blisters on the run. I'll follow it up with putting my socks, watch, and helmet on and off I go with my bike. Notice I didn't mention putting my shoes or sub glasses on before exiting the transition. My goal is to get on my bike with my shoes already attached. I am going to use the shoes as a platform to begin pedaling. I'll put my sunglasses on while pedaling. Once I get away from the transition start, I'll slide my shoes onto my feet while biking.

T2

Before entering T2, I plan on taking my shoes off right before entering the dismount area. I'll pick up my bike and run with it to the transition area. Once back, I'll take off my helmet and put my shoes and hat on. As I run out of the transition area, I'll adjust my watch for the run.

I have my plan in hand. All that is left is to spend time practicing these steps over the next 4 weeks so I can become proficient at each step. Unfortunately, I need to be outside to practice the toughest part which is slipping my shoes on and off while riding. Hopefully the weather will warm next week so I can begin practicing.

Posted by brians at 9:23 PM in Training
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Sunday, 28 February 2010

Final Weekend of Base II Training

Heading into the weekend, I could tell my ability to perform was fading. I knew I was going to have a difficult time putting in a long run and bike on Saturday and Sunday. It turns out I was right. The trouble started on Saturday. I felt tired all day long before heading out for the long run in the afternoon.

I started my run doing okay. I was running in my typical zone 1 - 2k warm up and I felt fine. But as soon as I picked up the pace to get to the high end of zone 2 I knew I was in trouble. I was having a tough time maintaining the pace. I had to force myself into the pace. On top of that my heart rate was higher than normal. The only question remained at what point during my 95 minute run would it all fall apart? That point occurred at the 70 minute point. The final 25 minutes was a frustrating attempt at trying to go again but not having the legs respond. The pace fell from 5:15 to 5:45 over the last couple of kilometers. It was a horrible feeling and the second run in a row were I broke before the end of the run.

We will see in the coming weeks if it was more a symptom of fatigue or lack of base fitness.

Sunday wasn't any better. I went down to try and do a 3 hour ride on the trainer which is a daunting task any day yet alone when my fatigue was draining me. I last about 90 minutes before I was done. It was frustrating. There is no doubt about it. But it is part of pushing myself to the ends of my capabilities. I only hope it is a matter of fatigue and I am not getting sick. I guess we will no move after the recovery week next week.

Posted by brians at 5:07 PM in Training
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Saturday, 27 February 2010

End Of Week Training Update

Wednesday

In the morning, I got up and did 15 minutes of core work before heading into the gym to do a 30 minute weight lifting session. I was really weak this morning. I was able to do some weights, but I struggled on about half of the routine. I was tired afterwards and it carried over into the night ride. I think I am going to cut back my weight training to 2 days a week. 3 is just too many. Although I still plan on spending 3 days on core exercises because they aren't as taxing.

In the evening, I got on the bike trainer. After a 15 minute warm up and 25 minutes in zone 2, I did 8 sets of 90 second big gear force work. Each set had 90 seconds of recovery time. I finished with 15 minutes in zone 2 and a 5 minute cool down. I really thought I was going to struggle because I was tired heading into the ride, but I really did well and felt really strong after the 90s big gear sets.

Thursday

I was pretty tired this morning. I could feel the fatigue building up in me. I told myself I was going to have to really dig deep to make it through this week. I went to the pool for 42 minutes of drill work. I feel a lot better about using the hip drive to push forward and move into a stream lined position.

In the evening, I was back at the FAC to get in my run before volleyball. The loop at the FAC is 1 mile long and it is hilly. The hills aren't particularly tall or steep. The loop just has a couple of long sections were you are definitely going up a hill. It was a great opportunity to work on hills, but it was very taxing on my body.

It was the first run that has broken me this year. What do I mean by broken? It was the first run I wasn't able to maintain my pace throughout the run. I was off by 10% by the end of the run. It also kept my heart rate in the mid to upper 150s which was too high for a base run.  The FAC loop is probably a good course for build, but a little too difficult for base training.

After the run, I got myself together for volleyball only to find out I was late and it started 15 minutes before I thought it did. So no real rest between the run and volleyball. Afterwards I was really tired.

Friday

Back to the pool in the morning because it was going to be closed over the weekend for a big swim meet. I felt really good about my swim stroke. I felt like I was beginning to really put all of the pieces together. Then I made a mistake.

Rather than continuing to practice the stroke, I decided to time how fast my improved stroke was. It was cool that I had increased my speed enough to be able to swim 400 yards in 10 minutes, but I began to lose focus on my stroke and lost a bit of my feel for it. I should have forgotten the clock and stuck with drills. Of course now that I know my speed, I can return to focusing on making the stroke an ingrained muscle movement.

In the evening, I jumped back on the bike for another 90 minute ride. Since my first race is in about a month, I decided to begin working on the transition. One of the things I want to be able to do is be able to get in my shoes while on the bike. I spent about 5 minutes taking off and putting on my shoes during my 15 minute warm up period.

After warming up, I did 6x6 minute zone 3 interval rides with 2 minute recoveries. I finished with about 10 minutes in zone 2 followed by the cool down and stretching. I struggled with the interval work because I was fatigued going into the ride, but I got it done and was able to finish the ride.

This weekend will be very challenging with a long run and bike on the schedule.

Posted by brians at 2:54 PM in Training
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Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Food Journal

I have been having a difficult time losing weight in the base period. I am trying to get down into the low 150s by race day and right now I am sitting around 157. Which is about the same weight I was two months ago. That is a problem. One that is easy to identify the root cause: I am eating too many calories. I need to start being more selective of what I eat if I am going to make my goal weight.

How am I going to do it? I have decided that I need to keep a food journal. A food journal does two things for me. First, it makes me think twice before I put food in my mouth. Do I really want to write down a cookie in the journal? Secondly, it allows me to see what I am eating and make decisions on where to cut back.

Normally, I would just keep track of what I eat during the day, but I think I am going to try a different strategy. I am going try the food journal suggestion from an article I read recently on http://triathlon.competitor.com. I'll let you know how it goes.

Posted by brians at 9:46 PM in Nutrtion
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Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Monday and Tuesday Training

Monday

At lunch I was supposed to do my 90 minute bike ride but work pushed it back until almost 3. When I did get on the bike, I didn't have any legs after Sunday's bike ride. I rode for about 55 minutes doing several spin ups and isolated leg drills, but I didn't feel like I had anything in the tank. I decided rather than struggle to just cut my ride 30 minutes short. I am not really happy about that, but it was the price I paid for going to hard at the end of Sunday's bike ride. A few hours later, I headed up to the FAC for 30 minutes of weight lifting. I felt fine during the session. I am at a loss for why my bike training was so poor.

Tuesday

In the morning, I went downstairs to get in a 15 minute core workout before beginning the work day. At lunch, I went out for a 60 minute run. I started with a 2k warm up (6:05 km pace) and another 2k in zone 2 (5:18 km pace) before accelerating into a 5k zone 3 tempo pace (4:58 km pace). I struggled in the last 1.5km with the tempo pace, but I didn't falter. I finished my run with 2.5k back at the zone 2 pace. I definitely struggled to maintain a strong zone 2 pace.

In the evening, I went to the FAC for a 42 minute swim session. I spent the first 2/3rds of the time working on the zipper skate drill. The last 1/3rd was spent extending the drill to include ear hops and into a swimming motion. The drill work is definitely making me faster, but I am having a difficult time putting it all together.

During the drills, I would feel fast for a stroke or two and then horribly slow the next two. I can't seem to consistently hit the correct stroke mechanics. I'll just have to keep working on it until I can figure out what specific set of motions cause me to squirt forward in the water and which ones don't.

Posted by brians at 9:54 PM in Training
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Monday, 22 February 2010

Weekend Training

Friday

In the morning I did my second core routine I developed which took a little under 15 minutes. Before lunch, I took to my bike for a 75 minute workout. The goal for the ride was zone 3 tempo intervals. I started with my traditional 15 minute warm up before transitioning in zone 2 riding for 10 minutes. At the 25 minute mark I switched to 6 minute zone 3 tempo intervals with 2 minute recoveries. I did 5 sets in my allotted bike time before going into a cool down ride and some off the bike stretching. In the evening, I went up to the FAC to get in a 30 minute weight lifting session before going out for the evening.

Saturday

Just before lunch, I took to the road for my long zone 2 run of the week. I did a 2k warm up and then spent the next hour and five minutes running in zone 2. It was a great run! I was able to maintain a 5:14 kilometer pace while maintaining a steady heart rate throughout. I have already met my goal for the base period as far as fitness for running. With another period to base, I should be well ahead of where I hoped to be coming out of base.

The run also set a new first for me. It was the first time I have been hit by a car while running. I was coming into a curve and a car with a boat trailer had just passed me. He slowed down for the truck heading my way. (This is probably 1 of maybe 3 times in the last year that I had two cars traveling in opposite directions meet at the same spot I am running). Anyway the driver swerved in to avoid the truck and boat causing me to jump off the road. But my arm still got swiped by the back side of the truck.

The car barely brushed me, but I wasn't very happy about it so I made an obscene hand gesture. Next thing I know the truck had put on its reverse lights and started backing up to me. He pulled even with me and slowed down to roll down his window. Of course I kept running. He pulled up a second time and I stopped to see what he had to say. He was very heated over my gesture and yelled at me for making it. He then said he was just trying to miss the car and that he didn't see me. I rebutted with you hit me with your car and maybe he should have "slowed down".

He then went on to say I should be ready to back it up if I made gestures. I looked at him and he was in his late 40s early 50s and was a bit rotund and thought to myself.. seriously. You want to have a throw down in the street with someone 15 years younger and in superior shape to you. Instead of saying that I told him whatever and continued on with my run. I think he was happy to vent and continued on to his destination.

That afternoon, I went up to the pool to get in a swim. Except for having kids mucking around in my lane the session went very well. I have decided to fore go the swimming and get back to drilling. It was a wise decision. Now that I have a better understanding of how the total immersion swimming concept works I have a better feeling how the drills work and are more meaningful. Time well spent! I will probably continue the drilling all this week.

Sunday

The weather turned nice for a change with the temperature into the mid 50s. A perfect day to take my bike out for a ride. Other than the melting snow causing me to go through a lot of mini-rivers the ride was perfect.

More importantly, I am on track for my biking fitness. I did a two hour and fifteen minute zone 2 ride and was able to maintain a 29.4 km average speed throughout. My only problem with the ride was I pushed a bit too hard into the wind to hit my goals. I probably spent to much of the last 20-30 minutes of the ride in zone 3. I was riding so well and I wanted to keep my pace going. Wind be damned. I have been out so little it just seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Regardless, I feel much better about my bike and more confident about how I am progressing on my trainer.

Posted by brians at 8:14 AM in Training
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Friday, 19 February 2010

Nike Free 5.0

When I started running about a year ago, I picked up some Nike running shoes at a Nike Outlet store in Gatlinburg. Running shoes were running shoes. Right? 

While developing my ability to run, I became a huge fan of Evolution Running. Evolution Running was developed after studying the great Kenyan runners who have dominated distance running.  Rather than discuss pros and cons of the style, the primary tenet is to get the runner to have a running motion similar to barefoot running.

At this point I began to realize that running shoes aren't just running shoes. I began researching shoes that were good for barefoot running. I came across some articles about Nike's attempt at creating a shoe that mimicking barefoot running. That was the Nike Free 5.0. I became intrigued and started looking for the shoes in the stores. I was told by store reps that they get one shipment a year and they are usually gone within a month. That was problematic. I wanted to try them on before I invested the money in a pair.

After coveting for some time, I decided to bite the bullet and just order a pair. That decision was made around Christmas last year. So I went on-line to find a pair. The only on-line store that carried the shoe was Finish Line. They had a pair in my size and at the time were offering free shipping. Unable to find them elsewhere I purchased a pair. I want to give kudos to Finish Line for getting the order delivered in a timely manner. Especially in the busiest shopping time of the year.

What about the shoe? First thing one notices when picking the shoe up is that it is incredibly light. The second thing that sticks out is how flexible the shoe is. It literally can be rolled up into a ball. The incredible flexibility of the sole provides complete freedom of moment for the entire foot making it considerably easier to run barefoot style than traditional running shoes.

Once I had the shoe on my foot and laced up, it felt like a foot glove. The material is outstanding and felt very comfortable walking around the house. I took the shoes out for a run the following day and they felt great. My foot felt really comfortable. The only thing that took some time to get used to was the lightness of the shoe. After a couple of runs, I was easily able to make the slight adjustments. Now, I can't imagine running without them.

A note on sizing - These shoes apparently are sized the same as other Nike shoes. I normally purchase an 8.5 when buying Nike shoes so I went with that size on the Free and they fit perfectly.

As a final note, a week ago I tried running in my old running shoes because of poor weather conditions outside and I got about 300 meters before I had to stop and head back inside to switch back to my Nike Frees. The old shoes felt like heavy boots compared to the Frees. I think it is fair to say I really like my Nike Frees and recommend them to anyone wanting a shoe for barefoot style running.

Posted by brians at 3:29 PM in Running
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