Ramon Scott

For short-course triathlons, speedy transitions are pretty critical. One of the ways to shave some seconds is to eliminate time spent putting on socks.

On the bike, that hasn’t been issue for me. The Sidi Genius shoes I use have always been good for me sans socks, but running shoes have been a different matter. Earlier this year I tried wearing some racing flats (Saucony) without socks. It was only a two-mile run, but I ended up with some sad raw spots on my feet. I did indeed have some quick transitions though which helped for an age-group 3rd place.

This weekend, while visiting Pensacola Beach I stopped by a local store – Running Wild – that was having a good sale on last year’s Zoot shoes.

I’d heard Zoot shoes were great for triathlons and made sockless runs possible. For 50% off – who could go wrong? I purchased a pair of size 12 racers. I normally wear a 13, but without socks and wanting a snug fit these fit the bill. They fit very closely, but felt comfortable. The Racer model is Zoot’s neutral light-weight shoe for 5k to half marathon.  They have a pretty low profile and minimal cushioning compared to my regular training shoes (Mizuno Wave Riders). Overall they felt quite a bit like the Asics DS Trainers I use for longer races.

I did my first run in them today (without socks) at lunch. I intended to just do 3 or miles in case they were uncomfortable, but after getting started things felt so good I ended up doing 6. The shoes turned over quickly and cushioning was tolerable for a light shoe. They don’t feel quite as light as my racking flats, but they’re not much heavier. No raw spots or blisters, although at the very end the pads of my toes felt a little scratchy – the shoe liner is a little abrasive. Nothing serious though. Probably a few more runs in them will get the toes accommodated. I may try them for a longer run to see about feasibility for use in an Ironman 70.3 event in September.

Definitely going to use them next weekend for another short course race though.

June 21, 2009
.25 SWIM| 9M BIKE | 2M  RUN

Results: Age Group Men’s 40-44 Third Place (out of 79 people).
Swim (30th place):   8:40
T1: 1:37
Bike:  (6th place)  22:02  averaged 24.5mph
T2:  1:28
Run: (3rd place) 14:16  7:08 average
Total:  48:01

Wow. I couldn’t believe the turnout for this year’s event. Organizers at packet pickup said they had about 1,200 registered. It’s good to see the event being embraced.

The weather has been hot this year with highs in the upper 90’s and lows in the mid 70’s. It didn’t take long after the 8 am start for things to start warming up. Fortunately, Callaway Gardens has an abundance of trees and shade on both the bike and a good portion of the run course.

The swim had 10 waves, I was in the second wave (silver caps) for men 35-44. The younger men went first. My father did the event this year also and was in the following wave (men 45 and up). I warmed up for 10 minutes prior to the swim and took and aggressive (for me) position as we lined up to start in chest deep water. When the gun went off, I started hard and my left foot immediately cramped up – weird. Couldn’t straighten the foot out which made for an awkward couple of minutes until the cramp eased. I guess I need more stretching. It was a mosh pit of swimmers for two-thirds of my swim. No ugly incidents, but it was rare I wasn’t pressing against someone’s side or maneuvering around feet.

I exited the swim amongst a large number of silver caps, crossed the beach and went up a short hill into the transition area at a pretty fast jog. The first transition went pretty smoothly. I went sockless figuring the distances were short and came through at 1:37 for T1 – that included the run from the beach and a good distance out to the bike start.

Out on the bike course things were congested with the tail end of the first wave. I was riding my Kestrel road bike (no aero bars) because the course features a lot of twists, turns and small climbs (fun). Lots of first time triathletes in attendance. I worked my way up to a guy on a Trek time trial bike who was cutting through traffic pretty well. I stayed about 5 bike lengths off his rear end for 2 miles or so until his pace dropped off. After that I was pushing hard and working my way through the crowds a bit more. After about 6 miles, things thinned some as I got past the slower folks from wave 1. Finished the bike with the 6th best time in my age group and a 24.5 mph average.

I came smoothly into the second transition by getting out of my shoes at the end of the bike and riding on top of them to the dismount. I discovered that this technique works well, but because my size 13 shoes are left clipped to the pedals, they bounce off the road unless I lift the front tire while running into the transition. I hit T2 pretty well with a 1:28 time. No socks again for the run. This resulted in my feet pushing the liner up toward the front of the shoe. I ignored it, but next time maybe I’ll try some talcum powder and loosening up the laces some.

I got out to the run with a quick stride.  The first part of the run circled Robin Lake where the swim was held. The legs felt good, and I ended up pushing the first mile faster than I probably should have. Don’t have an official time – but I’d guess around a 6:50 pace. The second mile was harder since I got a little anaerobic. Ended the run with a 7:08 per mile average, which was the 3rd best in my age group.

Full results are available at: http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?pubID=3&rsID=80160

May 17, 2009
Distances: 5k run / 30k bike / 5k run

Hurray for my first age-group placing in a duathlon or triathlon! I got a second-place in the men’s 40-44. I missed first place by 28 seconds. My total time was 141:20. They had no chip timing, so the splits were kind of estimates based on my watch, but I had a fast (by my standards) first 5k of about 20:46 followed by a 20 mph+ bike ride and around a 23 minute second 5k.

I felt good on the first 5k although it was pretty muggy. The bike leg went well, but starting off the second 5k, my right hamstring felt pretty tight, and I felt that I couldn’t run full out without risking it totally locking up. I’m attributing that too limited early season bike training.

Been hitting the bike harder for the last month .

Official results are online at: http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?pubID=3&rsID=78478