Photo shoot, sore back and 5,400 lbs of savings!

Good Morning all!

I have my "photo shoot" today for their business / athlete section of the St. Louis Business Journal(sounds funny doesn't it) because I am the farthest thing from from being a supermodel. The good news is that he wants to photograph me swimming so that should make the photo sufficiently fuzzy enough to be okay. I have no idea how he is going to do it but we shall see. I have decided to go with my St. Louis Tri Club suit because my logo is on it and in the picutre I will not look like a woolyworm swimming with all of my harryness.

I am glad that this is a recovery week because my lower back is messed up following my race simulation on Sunday. No actue injury just really sore. Just to put it in perspective, I don't like people touching me, no spa treatments, no back rubs, and only on occasion of real pain do I visit a chiropractor however today, I have a message at a local place because my back hurts and I have a hard time standing up straight. It has been improving every day but it still isn't good. The only time it has felt good is my 30 minute run the other night. I don't know if it is the form or the "running tall" that coach Jennifer has me doing but again, it was the only time I felt good all week. That was a fun run, I had a meeting and had to fly home, Rene had the kids at Nathan's football practice which, believe it or not, is just under 4 miles from my house. I got home at 5 til 7, changed really fast, and went on my run to get to the field for a ride home before practice ended and to complete my 30 minute run. Rene called me from the driver seat of her car as I was running into the parking lot so it worked out perfect. This Ironman stuff has really made me become a better time manager. There literally is not a minute of my day that is not planned.

I ordered a new pair of running shoes online that should be in today. The are the Zoot Men's Ultra Speed racing shoe. They are really light and hopefully sturdy enough for me to use in the Ironman. In a marathon, I want to wear the lightest shoes that I can get away with without sacrificing comfort. When you are taking over 43,200 steps during the marathon every bit of weight you can save helps because you actually expend less energy. These shoes weigh 2oz less than the ones that I am currently running in. 2oz is the same as .125lbs. If you multiply that weight savings times 43,200 steps that equals 5,400lbs of less weight that my legs have to lift over a 4 hour marathon. As I have said before, these endurance events are all about nutrition, training consistency, and economy. Anything that can make me more efficient without undue risk is a bonus equating to an all around better day.

With the decreased weight I hope they are sturdy enough to take the pounding. I will not use these to train very much and will try to log a few long runs in them to see how they will do for a marathon. The good news is that I still have 2 months so I will not break the rule of "nothing new on race day"

all for now

Tracy