Foot Strike

Fred Klinge of RunFreddieRun.com had a great article about foot strike. His post is short and sweet with a lot of useful info! In the article, he referred to lower heel offset running shoes. This is also known as low drop shoes. I previously used running shoes with 12 mm drop and I had a high tendency to heel strike during my runs. After working hard on improving my running form plus switching to 4 mm drop shoes, I still have a light heel strike from time to time. However, I transfer my weight onto a flexed landing leg.

Fred mentioned that having a light heel strike is still ok as long as your landing leg has a little bit of flexion. In my past blog post about running techniques, I mentioned that I try to visualize myself running like Craig "Crowie" Alexander. Videos of Crowie on YouTube show he has a light heel strike, but he also has an excellent running form. In an article I recently read about midfoot and heel striking on RunningInSystems.com, they referred to a light heel strike as a “disguised” midfoot-strike" since its about the importance of having proper running form and not necessarily about midfoot or heel striking.

I'll end this post in the same matter Fred ended his article. "So….run tall, run quick & light, and land with a little bit flexion in your leg. No need to worry about a perfect midfoot strike."

Hammer Nutrition - Save 15% on Your First Order

After testing out several products during my Ironman Florida training, I ended up using Hammer products for my bike nutrition and for the majority of my supplements. I highly recommend Hammer products!

Save 15% on your first order at Hammer Nutrition by clicking on the link or use client# 166528.

My Ironman Nutrition Plan Re-engineered

I wanted to share the major changes I had to make to the Ironman nutrition plan I used during last year's race. So I briefly summarized what I used last year but I was very detailed on what I used this year. Yes people, I'm a wordy son of a gun so very detailed means extremely detailed! I will not go too deep into all of the weeks of trial and error experimentation I had to endure to finally find what worked for me. During those weeks, I was getting stressed out about finding what would work. I finally discovered that my biggest issue was caused by early muscle fatigue due to insufficient sodium intake! I also wanted to provide the details of the race plan I used during this year's Ironman Florida (IMFL). I wanted to share all of this information to contribute to the triathlon community since I have learned so much from the community over the last 2.5 years.

The information I provided below can help more than just triathletes doing Ironman. It could be slightly modified for half-ironman length races. For half-ironman races, the fats that were included in my bike nutrition may possibly not be needed since it is a higher intensity, shorter race. People doing century bike rides could easily follow the bike nutrition I used this year. For sprint and Olympic length triathlons, the plan I discuss below is not applicable! In those short races, simple sugars rule. If you feel any of the information provided below is useful to you, please take heart and consider donating to my Move Your Feet for Loeys-Dietz fundraiser on Crowdrise's website that helps support LDSF.

The nutrition and hydration plan I used last year during IMFL (see my 2013 race report) failed miserably early in this year's Ironman training. I was dying during my long training days as I mentioned in my 2014 IMFL Race Report. Looking back at my 2013 training and race, I most likely was not taking in enough

Thank You For Your Support of My LDSF Fundraiser!

Hi everyone!

Ironman Florida (IMFL) is just two short weeks away! I wanted to update and thank you again for your support and awesome donation to my "Move Your Feet For Loeys-Dietz" fundraiser for the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation (LDSF).

All of my long, tough training days are over! I still have two weeks of training leading up to the November 1st race. Weekday training has remained the same but the long, tough weekend training days have been getting shorter and shorter over the last couple of weeks! I have pushed myself and trained harder than for any prior race. I was also pushed, challenged, and supported by my family, my friends, my training buddies, my coach, and you! Anne and my boys have had to endure me being gone for so many hours. My longest training week was slightly over 17 hours! With two years of Ironman training, I need a little break from the long weekend training days. In 2015, I will still be training hard but just not for a full ironman. I will be concentrating on getting faster and stronger at the sprint triathlons and half ironman races. In the fall of 2015, I will be concentrating on marathon training as I attempt to achieve a personal goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon!

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During my free consultation, I had INFINIT set up three different custom blends: one for my Ironman bike nutrition, one for my Half Ironman bike nutrition, and one for running. 

I am currently only using my run blend and it is working better than I expected! I am training with it for the run leg of my upcoming 2014 Ironman Florida race. I wanted to use a different nutrition on the bike and run based on my experience during last year's Ironman. A change in nutrition is needed in my opinion. As for my bike custom blends, I will start testing them out during my 2015 triathlon season since I will be concentrating on Half Ironman races.

How I Lost 5 Pounds in an Hour (Sweat Test)

Performing long endurance training days in New Orleans' summer heat can be brutal. The heat and humidity will get you; probably more than once! I sweat excessively and during my 2013 Ironman Florida training, I dehydrated often near the end of many 5 to 6 hour training rides when heat indexes were in the mid-90's or higher (degree F). During the 2013 training, I increased my water intake and intake of SaltSticks (electrolytes) as temperatures and humidity rose. Even then, I still struggled to totally figure it all out before race day. 

Recently during three consecutive weekends, I started dehydrating much earlier than last year and, oddly, bonking at or shortly after the 3-hour mark during my long bike rides. My 2014 Ironman training plan is significantly harder than last year so the nutrition and hydration plan I previously used was far from adequate. I was sweating significantly more and burning far more calories due to the increased effort. Plus, August and September are the two hottest months here in New Orleans. This August has not been particularly friendly to me! :)

I was talking to a friend and fellow triathlete, Andre, who mentioned I should do a sweat test to see if I am drinking enough during my rides and runs. I will discuss how to perform a sweat test but first I wanted to elaborate on my test results!