canklecat

Sunday I was torn between the bike and running. Sunny, temperature got into the low 70s. Beautiful contrast with the past week of single digit temps, no electricity, water interruptions for many folks, and some snow and ice.

Unfortunately I was exhausted from the past week and slept late, until after noon. Finally got motivated around 3 pm. It's quicker to suit up for running than cycling, so I ran. Did 7 miles of fartlek style, which is pretty much my approach to cycling training too. Walking to warm up, jogging, strides for about 400 yards to max out my heart rate, jog/walk until the HR dropped, lather-rinse-repeat. Pretty good day, but after running 5-7 miles three days in a row after a full week off for the Big Freeze, I'm cooked.

I'm aiming to do 10 miles by March or April. Depends on my legs. I got too enthusiastic in November, doing tricky stuff like jogging backward for 200-400 yards at a time, sprinting up and down hills. Ended up with very sore fibularis longus on both legs and really sore, inflamed fibula heads just outside the knees.

And I was using the wrong shoes. I usually buy adidas because they fit my narrow feet (size 11, A/B width, high arches). I don't do any research, I just visit Ross and Marshalls discount clothing stores and check the rack of outdated, new/old stock shoes for under $30. I assumed all adidas shoes were serious shoes for runners or other sports. So I bought a pair of EQT Gazelles for around $20, walked the 8 miles home to try them out, liked 'em, and starting jogging. But they're more like lightweight low top hiking/trail boots than running shoes.

And it turns out a lot of adidas shoes now are "lifestyle" shoes, not practical for running or sports, just made to look sporty. Same Boost midsoles. So now I have to do more research to sort out the real running shoes from the lifestyle kicks. I also got some old stock 2018 Under Armour Hovr Sonic for $30, which are fantastic. The right shoe has a Bluetooth sensor embedded in the sole that records data or relays it in realtime to the Map My Run app to show cadence, stride length, footstrike angle, etc. Outstanding shoe.

But I got off to a bad start in November with excessive enthusiasm before building up a good base. My aerobic fitness was great from cycling. But my legs weren't prepped for running. So now I'm dealing with sore legs rather than chronically sore neck.

Some of us never learn. I made that same mistake often in my youth.

Anyway, I'm gonna switch back to the bike for awhile, give the legs a break from running for a few days. I'll keep walking but I'm trying to avoid jogging for a few days.

I'm still considering switching my 7-speed brifters and derailleurs from the carbon fiber bike to the Ironman. I like downtube shifters but brifters will be more stable in crosswinds, keeping both hands on the bar. Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to tinker. Anyway, I planned to upgrade one carbon fiber frame to 8-speed, and the other to TT/tri-bike configuration with 10-speed. Might as well try the 7-speed brifters on the Ironman for awhile.