New Gear!

I've read that the fourth discipline in triathlon is buying cool shit, and I have to agree. Between the three sports there are so many potential avenues for spending - bikes and associated componentry can easily be the biggest contributor, but with swimming there's wetsuits and assorted training aids, and then there's that huge running shoe market. There are many blogs out there that can cover the reviews of such items in much more detail than I care to (Runblogger is one of my favourites, and I've heard good things about DC Rainmaker), but I still wanted to share some of my latest purchases and my opinions of them.

I should also add - although I'm not really cheap, I pretty much refuse to pay the retail prices I see in shops here. I would like to largely blame this on pricing in NZ being hugely inflated in comparison to many other countries (which I'm gonna talk about a bit further down), and the fact I want to get as much cool shit as I can without bankrupting myself. The result of this is that a lot of what I buy is second-hand, from NZ's only worthwhile online store (Torpedo7), or imported.

ISM Adamo Racing saddle

ISM saddles are a bit funny looking at first, but for me the shape seems to make perfect sense. The design allows the rider's weight to be supported on the tuberosity of the ischium, aka the sitz bone or sitting bones (thanks Wikipedia! BTW If you look that up, have a good look at the second picture, it's quite startling when you realise what you're looking at!).

I found that as I had adjusted my bike fit to have a large drop from saddle to bars causing my hips to rotate forward, there was increasing pressure and discomfort on my perenium, that seemed to be greatly relieved by sitting slightly offset to one side. The Adamo line of saddles achieve the same thing but with the weight supported on both, rather than one sitz bone, and the cut-off nose seems to allow the wedding tackle to sit in a more comfortable position too. The saddles are unisex too, and I would imagine they would be even more of a revelation for a woman, as my guess as to what I would've been sitting on in the old (also unisex) saddle if I had lady parts suggests high levels of discomfort.

It is usually suggested that there will be a bit of an adjustment period after switching to an Adamo saddle - my first ride was around 2.5 hours and it felt great! There was some discomfort afterward (similar to light bruising), but after about 300km on the saddle I seem to be fully adjusted to it. The saddle is not quite as cushy as my old one when riding in a more upright position on the hoods or flat of the bars, but I do 90% of my riding on the aero bars anyway, so this doesn't really bother me (and when I'm grunting up a hill my legs are screaming louder than my ass anyway).

I don't see myself changing to a different style of saddle anytime soon, and would definitely recommend the Adamo line of saddles to any triathlete who has a roughly horizontal-torso aero position.

Saucony Progrid Kinvara running shoes

When I first started trying to run about this time last year, I suffered terrible shin splints that prevented me from being able to run for much more than 5 minutes. After taking a trip to a local running shoe store, and outlaying an awful lot of money ($270NZ) I was running in Brooks Adrenalines - moderate to heavy pronation control shoes, and I was cured!

Having run somewhere around 700km since then, and recently done a considerable amount of research into running biomechanics (another post I hope to make, when I have time!), I decided I wanted to give the Kinvaras a shot. The key reasons being the excellent reviews they've received, reduced heel-to-toe drop (4mm vs the 12mm of my current shoes), ridiculously low weight, good pricing and absolutely blingin' appearance! The hope was that with all the running I've done over the last year, I will have been through sufficient anatomical adaptations that shin splints should no longer be an issue and could handle a "neutral" shoe, while the reasonable level of cushioning would make them more forgiving than my VFFs while I develop my stride.

I bought the shoes online from the US for about $80NZ, and the total cost to have them air-freighted here was $130 - a mockery of the retail pricing on them in NZ (if you can find them). Although I appreciate that local retailers wont have the economies of scale nor the relatively low overheads of a large online store, I don't see where the extra $100NZ+ comes from when you buy them locally.

Anyway, onto my impressions of them...
First run in the shoes was great, I did 11kms at 4:40/km which is a reasonably quick training run over that distance for me. The reduced weight (about 40% lighter than my old shoes) was nice, and I definitely felt I was able to more easily land roughly on my mid-foot, although I think I was still heel-striking to some degree. The nice thing is that as the shoes are still quite cushioned, this wasn't punished as heavily as it would be in my VFFs. I suspect the fact there is still a bit of heel-lift prevented me from being able to get a really nice landing on the forefoot like I can with VFFs.

The sizing and fit felt pretty good - similar to my Adrenalines in the way they felt perfectly matched to my foot (the few other running shoes I've tried have felt just a little odd). I did feel a little cramped in the toes; this may be improved by running sockless, will have to try that next time. I also suspect they will stretch a little.

I have recently been experiencing a bit of a niggling pain in my left knee - it almost feels a bit swollen and like it's been getting jarred a bit; that was non-existent while running in the Kinvaras, and I hope this is due to the shoes. My calves felt a bit tight but I'd been experiencing that a bit recently, so not sure if it was due to an altered landing or just normal. At one point my right ankle was a little sore but that was while running on a laterally sloping path and it went away pretty quickly.

My current running shoe collection

Overall, I'd say - so far so good. I look forward to putting more distance on them, and I'm particularly looking forward to doing a 5K and my first Olympic distance triathlon in them next week.

Brooks Trance 9
The Brooks Trance is basically a more expensive (better?) version of the Brooks Adrenaline, designed to perform the same job for the same type of foot. I bought these because the online store I got the Kinvaras from was clearing the old stock at a ridiculously low price (~$75NZ), my Adrenalines are due for replacement and I was concerned I might not be able to get through my planned winter marathon training solely in the Kinvaras. Given the price of Adrenalines here vs the USA, I would expect the Trance to retail around $350NZ. Again, ridiculous.

Malcolm, shut up and tell me about the shoes

Trance on the left, Adrenaline on the right

Ok. Looking over the shoe and comparing it to my old Adrenaline, it looks like there was a design group working on each shoe, except one group spent the first 6 months drinking and then copied the other group's design, making small changes to make it look different. I think the group that was doing the drinking were the ones that designed the Adrenaline, because they're half a size undersized compared to virtually all other running shoes.

Comparing with my well-worn Adrenalines, the Trance have a certain stiffness/firmness to them, which I presume is mostly because they are new. They feel a bit more cushy under foot. Otherwise, the fit is very similar between the two, although my old shoes feel much more like they are perfectly shaped to my foot (again, probably due to wear).

I took the shoes out for a 12km run this morning, and I feel kinda like I've been spoiled by wearing the Kinvaras. The Trance felt a little clunky, the landing was frustratingly heel-heavy, and the upper felt so stiff. My left knee was feeling a bit dodgy again by the end of the run, but I'm hesitant to blame that on the shoes. I did the run sockless (which I prefer to do when possible), which was possibly a poor choice in a new shoe; I ended up with quite a bit of rubbing along the top of on my little and 4th toes on my right foot, where the edge of a stiff piece of rubbery material is on the shoe.

I think I will try wearing the shoes around a bit more to try and break them in and loosen them up a little. I love the comfort of my Adrenalines, and would still like to give these a chance to be a replacement for them.