K-Swiss Shoe Reviews - Kwicky Blade Light vs Blade Light Run II

Runner Background:
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 158-60lbs
Biomechanics: Mid-foot stiker, moderate cadence, slight supination (outside strike), neutral shoe
Foot type: mod-high arch and narrow foot.
Runs completed:  Treadmill and road. Speed work at 5:00 pace and below, easy and moderate paced long runs up to 17.5 miles, hill work, moderate paced running at 6:30 pace, easy runs at 7:30 pace.

Shoe Fit

Kwicky Blade Light (neutral): The kwicky is a very comfortable shoe that "hugs" the foot nicely. Incorporates seem free technology so can be worn sockless if that is a preference. Very comfortable and "broken in" right out of the box. The shoe is made with breathable material including drainage holes in the bottom and water repellant material. There is a noticeable drop from heel to toe (I believe 12mm). Toe box is pretty tight and hugs the foot - my toes feel a bit jammed in these shoes but I size down a 1/2 size and like my shoes very snug.

Blade light run II: Comortable foot bed and plenty of cushion around the heel of the shoe. Incorporates seem free technology so can be worn sockless if that is a preference. Very comfortable upon initial fitting but requires a break in period for running (see notes below). Toe box is much roomier than the kwicky but I didn't experience any shifting since the rest of the shoe hugged my foot quite nicely. Much flatter feel at 8mm drop from heel to toe - very balanced shoe which carried over into run sessions.

Overall, I preferred the fit of the BLR II over the kwicky for an everyday trainer mainly due to the roomier toe box.

Comfort/Ride Quality:

Kwicky Blade Light (neutral): I've heard others make this comment about the kwicky's and I think it holds true for my experience - overall, they provide a soft "spongy" ride and are pretty responsive punchy which I like for faster sessions. Very comfortable for running right out of the box. As a midfoot striker I definitely noticed the beafier heel and the drop to the forefoot. Forefoot padding is a little thin for my strike pattern especially for an everyday trainer but I think this wouldn't be as noticeable for heel strikers. This is really my biggest gripe with the shoe - over long runs it became a noticeable wear area on the front ball of my foot. I'll definitely lean towards these shoes for longer tempo sessions or days wear my legs may be feeling a bit heavy. I'm on the fence between the kwicky and k-ruuz 1.5 over the 70.3 distance.

Blade light run II (neutral shoe): Immediate impression of these shoes were twofold: definitely has a low drop feel similar to the kinvara3 (best comparison I could think of) which is more generous to the midfoot strike crowd and alot firmer ride than the kwicky which I particular notice during hill repeat sessions. The first few runs in these shoes were a little firm but I did notice after a few sessions (25-30 miles) these shoes broke in quite nicely which has been my experience with other shoes as well. K-swiss did a great job with the R&D that went into this shoe adding some additional rubber support in the heavy use areas I mentioned above (forefoot and inner ball of the foot) there is noticeably more support in the forefoot which is a heavy use area for me - bonus!!! It does feel a touch heavier than the kwicky but this may have been due to the weight being more blanced throughout the shoe but definitely not a klunker at under 10oz. I also didn't feel the "springy-ness" of the kwicky in this shoe but I think this shoe holds up much better for long sessions. Not a shoe I would race in at the Olympic or 70.3 distance but I think this would be a good candidate for 140.6 distance racing since the shoe relatively light and holds up well with no "break down" effect over longer runs - 17+ miles.

Overall, I was very happy with this shoes' performance as an every day trainer and will be my staple for training. I'll probably still rotate in the kwicky's for some faster sessions but my strike pattern and biomechanics work much better with the BLR II.

70.3 distance race day choice: Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Note to K-Swiss on the K-Ruuz 1.5: This is a great race flat but would love to see k-swiss incorporate the lower drop profile of the BLR II into the k-ruuz model and add more padding to the forefoot. Fingers crossed that there will be a K-ruuz 2.0 released in the very near future that meets these specs!!!!

Build, Build, Build

I've held off posting for a few weeks to provide the report of my first bigger build week of the year and recovery. First big build week of the year was a success - 21.5 total hours with a bike focus following a big bike block (so a ton of bike volume over a 15 days period). I had been averaging about 13-16hrs/week and a few 18hr weeks so a decent bump in volume to stress the body a bit more. We decided to focus on the bike for this block since late November thru Dec were focussed on bigger run volume (45-55 miles/week). I'll admit I was a little worried my bike was getting behind with all the focus on running over the past 2 months and guess what?! bike fitness was still as solid as ever. The body responded very nicely - no extreme soreness or fatigue. Last season I was really dragging during any week over 20 hours. I really felt like I absorbed every bit of the training during the bigger build week. Kudos to coach Torsten for laying this out in a way to stress my body but not absolutely shut me down. Very good mix of aerobic training with some harder efforts to fire the muscle fibers a bit including a 5K race on the Monday to kickoff the week. The recovery week following went well with no residual fatigue or SICKNESS. With the focus on staying healthy this year so this was huge. Money in the bank for the upcoming season.

Build Week Totals (bike focus):
Time: 21.5 hours
Bike: 260 miles
Run: 34.7 miles
Core: 40min
Swim: 10,000M

Build Block + Village 5K Race Report

With my build block well underway and a 5 weeks of solid swim/run volume it was time for a big bike block (13hours in 6 days). Mentally I was a little concerned about the lower bike volume but every session has been focused on quality and the numbers were looking good for off season base building. Coach re-assured me that my bike fitness would not be a problem and he was right (as usual). Will be interesting to see where my lactate threshold levels are this year compared to last December's baseline test - my guess if a 60-75w increase but we'll have to see what the numbers say. Solid 13 hour block complete over the holidays with a 5K race sprinkled in for fun. Three more build blocks on the bike planned before the end of the February and then we get into race specific work 5-6 weeks out from IM 70.3 Texas. Everything is on track and looking good.

Village 5K Race Report:
I say this all the time but I really hate racing and training in the cold. Well, this race was definitely in the cold category. Doing this race in the middle of a big cycling block I knew my legs would probably be pretty tight/heavy and a good warm-up was warranted. Also, this was an afternoon race which was a little different. I probably ate too much for lunch 3 hours prior so note taken for future late day races. Got in a good warm-up and threw on the K-swiss k-ruuz 1.5 and was ready to rock n roll. The goal was 16:30 but after seeing the course was quite hilly with 2 x 180degrees turns on non-fresh legs I decided sub-17 would be good goal. I really didn't use any strategy for this one just try and go as fast as I could without blowing up mid-race. It looked as though there were a few college XC kids in town for the holidays. One guy got out front and I tried to stay on his shoulder as long as I could but let him go after about 3/4 of a mile (he ended up running a 15:34) and he created a 75M gap pretty quickly. Felt good through the first mile at 5:07 but as soon as we started to hit the uphills my quads got pretty heavy so I decided to try and make up as much as I could on the downhills. I was good through the first 180 turn and then back uphill but saw 2 guys starting to close, same thing at the next turn and then CRAP - caught again at mile 2.5. Two guys gapped my quickly and held pace through the finish to come in about 5 seconds ahead of me. If I could figure out how to race these things a little more efficiently I probably could have held on to second but all in all this is good speed work for the upcoming season. I closed out better than the last 2 races and crossed the finish line in 4th at 16:47 (almost 20 seconds from 3 weeks ago on a similar course). 

Time: 16:47
Place: 4th overall / 1s M30-34

Build Week - 10 Dec 2103

Total Hours: 16:21
Bike: 120miles
Run: 51.3
Swim: 13,342 yds (missed a session due to pool maintenance)

Everything is still going along as planned with operation "optimize run" in full force. This was my highest mileage of 52 miles working up form 40 and 42. Coming off a 5k on Sunday I was able to log some high quality run miles with my key session on Thursday being a good indicator of current long distance run fitness. 10 mile tempo run at 6:15 pace was very well executed with no residual soreness or fatigue the following day. I was super happy with this run and completed it in my K-Swiss K-ruuz 1.5 which will be my race shoe of choice this season for all distances. Finished up the week w/ a very solid 16.5 mile trail run w/ almost 1200 ft of gain. It seems metabolically I'm continuing to improve as well completing this run on water and electrolytes only. I'm still thinking that nutrition played a major factor in my sub-par performances early in the season last year. We'll put this to the test in a few more months. I find it kind of comical that so many people are focused on putting in these killer bike workouts right now but complaining about how bad their run times were last season.

Also starting to show some meaningful improvements in the pool completing my recent tempo sets at 1:26-7/100M - huge improvement here in terms of pace and swim endurance which should also carry over to the bike. I've always kind of poo poo'd master's swim groups in the past but the group I'm swimming with now (mixed with the high school swim team) is really helping improve my swim technique and overall swim fitness. I still hate kick sets though. Not sure I'll ever come to love drills. Ms. Debi (aka Guns) has been such a huge help and she puts up with my complaining.

Now that the Wattie clan is up and running on FB and twitter things are much more entertaining. Really enjoying having this group to interact with - race season should be epic this year.

Build week again this week moving into the holidays. I'll be "run-ning"..

Until next time...

Wattie Ink Elite Team Selection and the Future...

A few days before the wattie ink elite team selection came out I had a little FB discussion about "paying dues" which I translated into working hard to get what you want (I was the first of my German family born in the US so I grew up to this motto). Oh, the irony here leading up to the Wattie Ink selection process and announcement. Needless to say, I was absolutely elated when when I saw my name on the 2013 Elite team announcement. Truth be told, I was afraid to look and someone else had to send me a message telling me I was on the team. Very excited to be part of a great group of athletes all crazy about the sport of triathlon and supporting each other through training, racing and everything in between. I've already been overwhelmed with the outgoing warm welcome the Tina and Sean and the wattie teammates. A good reminder of why I applied to be on this team and was so happy to be selected. Thanks again to Sean and his crew for the selection. I'll be sure to not disappoint.

Why was I interested in Wattie Ink.?

1) It seemed to me that the Wattie Ink boss Sean "wattie" Watkins has a good thing going here and maybe even something that could change the dynamics of triathlon if it catches fires and is implemented correctly (atleast in the US as I know other Euro countries have been doing this for a while). Not sure if this is his vision but... (see below)
2) I also liked the model where there was opportunity for growth as I develop/progress as a triathlete given the likely possibility that I will be racing pro within the next year. I felt like Wattie provided the platform to make this happen and the team is comprised of positive, competitive and outgoing people. Win-Win.
3) I wanted to be associated team of like-minded triathletes with similar goals, ambition, drive and character which is not always easy to find locally. I really enjoy training and helping with the local crew of triathletes but it's always good to have others' to bounce ideas off of and meet at national races.
4) The sponsors and access to the market that Wattie Ink has is pretty impressive. For someone who wants to be more embedded in the industry long term this was really appealing to me.

The Future...

I was doing some noodling on my long run this morning and the brilliance of the "team model" could be a game changer for triathlon, a sport that is already growing rapidly, in terms of how it's organized, sponsor behavior, money etc. Could there be some parallels to cycling teams and professional cycling? Yes but also very different. I think it can be done in a way that brings an extra competitive flare to the sport of triathlon while still maintaining the individualism (and uniqueness) of the sport. We are seeing some coaches use this model, maybe more at the local/regional level, and I think it's something that could be taken more nationally backed by big name sponsors (like cycling) and possibly allow pros to be paid more in line with what they deserve for the effort they put in. Let's face it, when asked most people will say some of the best days of their lives were team sports. clubs or other groups they were part of in high school or college. You're able to re-kindle that sense of "belonging" through a team model and connect people more closely in a world that has become possibly less connected through social media and other outlets. Train together, race together, have fun together. This is done successfully through a wide variety of "get off the couch" training programs across the country but focussed more at the community level. By moving to a team model, you also insert more competitiveness in the amateur ranks and allow for more robust development model for up and coming triathletes all the way up to elites (Elite/Pros, elite amateurs, MOP amateurs, U25 with potential etc.).  In some ways you could "professionalize" the sport a bit more. So, right now you have Wattie Ink, Timex, Zoot, Trisports and others all selecting "elite" teams using different criteria (which is moot for the purposes of this discussion). So, how do you take these teams and create a competitive team based model for triathlon at the national level?? Something I'll have to think about in more depth but certainly an intersting topic for discussion w/ USAT, race directors, race series owners and sponsors.

Blue and Gray 5K Race Report

Coach and I decided to get back into road racing during the triathlon off-season this year to work on my run and pick up some more speed for next year and get my 10K under 33min. I hadn't done a road race in 2 years and quite honestly forgot how painful they can be. I also have no clue what I'm doing tactically during these races so trying to improve on this from race to race observing other racers. My first two races (hilly 10k and relatively flat 8k) went pretty well but I really goofed going out way too hard out of the shoot and racing out front which resulted in a steady drop off each mile and not really a consistent effort. So, the goal for this race was to run a more consistent effort and no jack rabbit starts. I knew the course was going to be hilly and wasn't quite sure how much strength I had in the legs following a 3 hour ride the previous day. No taper for this race. The competitive side of me hates this but these races are to improve training so I've had to accept the fact I won't be 100% fresh.

Race day: I still can't get used to the concept getting up at the butt crack of dawn for races. I have to eat before morning workouts or races which meant 0500 rising to make sure everything was settled. Ate breakfast, drove to the race site in the fog but the temperature was a pretty mild 50F for December.

Checked in a then caught a quick snooze in the car. Then some EFS drink + pre-race powder (aka "Race Crack") for a little rocket fuel and 10 min warm-up. Hamstrings were a little tight so made sure to stretch well and get in a few pick-ups. Everything was revved and ready to roll. Saw a few guys warming up and figured out who was probably going to be running out front (one guy tricked me though). Gun went off at 0745 and we were off. One guy decided he wanted to run out front so I looked at my watch and we were right around 5:10 which felt comfortable so I stuck right behind is right shoulder to observe a bit. Everyone else was about 30-40M back. I noticed he was breathing like and Ox plowing the field on the first hill so figured I would gap in on the downhill - success. It amazes me how many people can't run downhill. Took the lead out through the turn hit a few more hills. Not knowing the course was a bit of a disadvantage here - one guy bridged up to me right before we hit a big hill around mile 2 and then gapped me on the hill. Made up a little ground on the down slope but couldn't close the gap. He and another guy (JMU CC and UMC CC jerseys) got out front of me by maybe 15-20M heading into the final turn. My lack of experience hurt me here (I couldn't decide what to do and then made my decision too late) and I didn't try to bridge the gap soon enough before they started sprinting for the finish. 7seconds off first and 4 seconds off second. Lesson learned for next race. Still very happy with the effort on a hilly course. Fun to see my wife and baby boy after the race. Colt had on his "daddy's little runner" shirt, no doubt the little dude will be out running soon enough.

Final results:
Time: 17:04 (5:17, 5:35, 5:41)
Place: 3rd overall out of 268

Training Week 26 Nov 12: Laying the foundation

Weekly totals: 15:09
Swim: 11,000 yds
Bike: 137 miles
Run: 42.7 miles

Another good week of higher volume running (40+ miles/week over the past 3 weeks) and swimming. Targeting some consistent/increased off season run volume mixed with some 5k/10k road racing to get me running 75-80min off the bike this year. Everything is progressing as planned. Love it when that happens. Such a drastic difference between last season and this season with all around fitness and ability to recover. Aerobic zones are down, watts/power on the bike are up and running times are down - all good things. Not progressing on the swim as quickly as I would like and was starting to get really frustrated with myself so decided to change my mental approach towards swim gains relative the analogy on how to eat an elephant - "one bite at a time". Celebrate the small wins on the swim. Setting the foundation for a few build weeks over the next few months.

Blue and gray 5K this weekend in Fredericksburg, race report to follow...