Sneakers and tri bikes and gadgets... oh my!

Scott & I made a trip up to Sarasota yesterday. I was in desperate need of a new pair of running shoes and Scott wanted to visit the almighty Village Bikes shop.


First stop- Fit2Run for new shoes!
I had my foot analyzed with iStep technology and then my running gait was videotaped. I have very high arches... no surprise. I also learned that I overpronate, more on my right foot than my left. This was a surprise. Often, high arches = supinator or neutral gait. To have high arches AND overpronate, well it creates a weirdish foot type that doesn't have a lot of shoes marketed towards it. After trying on 7 or 8 different pairs of shoes that were made available to me by the sales associate, I left with a pair of Mizuno Wave Nirvana and some Lynco inserts that they suggested. Not as comfy out of the box as my Nimbus IX's were, but I figured I would deal.


I ran 4.5 miles in the shoes & inserts on the "thrillmill" (thanks, Teacherwoman) last night and all I felt was clip-clop, heavy, LOUD, argh! Not happy! Returned home and told Scott that they were going back to the store. This morning I woke up and figured I would give them a few more runs to decide. I removed the new inserts (which I think may be too cumbersome), put my old arch inserts in, and will do a short treadmill hill run in them later. Since I have 30-days to return, I'm reserving final judgement on these shoes until late next week... which is the next time I have to make a trip up to Sarasota.


Second Stop- VillageBikes
In one word... Village Bikes is pretty darn awesome. Sarasota has a rather large amateur triathlete population and this particular shop is local resident & Ironman Champ Heather Gollnick's choice. Before I go on, I must admit that our sole reason for visiting VillageBikes was to check out their collection of tri bikes. How could we resist being that we were in the area? :o) So Village Bikes lived up to its rep. Ed Levins, the owner, was terrific! He asked me a series of questions about my goals and current riding style such as:

1. Do I cycle b/c I enjoy cycling or do I cycle to mainly train for tris?
2. Do I take part in group rides or do I cycle solo?

Thinking about moving on to a tri bike has crossed my mind for a while now. Since the only reason that I ride is to train for tris AND the only person that I ride with is Scott, I probably should have thought about a tri bike from the get-go. Anyway, I'm thinking about it now... I've fallen head over heels for this sport! Of course when dreaming about a new bike, I also find myself dreaming about new shoes, a new helmet... I'm going to have to take up a second job!


Sticking with the plan
I've done really well with sticking to my training plan this past week. I had a miserable day on Tuesday and almost decided not to complete my scheduled swim, but I managed to shrug my funk off enough to get in a little bit of speed and stroke work. Today's training features some cycling and a short hill run.