May the Forza be With You: Desoto's Miracle Fabric

 for a conservative guy, i have worn more than my fair share of tight fitting, tiny, colorful, spandex in public places.  this is the part of being a triathlete that, in my experience, makes non-triathletes snicker most. grown men, husbands, daddies even,  prancing about in tight spandex and even tighter rubber products, greasing themselves up with lube...is this triathlon or life on the down low?

and, i think, if we were honest, most triathletes would admit that they have had their moments of  self-doubt and embarassment, upon donning their race kit. these are those moments where we realize that we are not craig alexander, we are not chris mccormack, not only do we not run and bike like them, but we don't look like them in spandex either. and we have all had moments when our packages felt just a bit too much out there. or else we felt just too squeeezed. or our kit was just not designed for the mesomorphs among us. not enough fabric holding things in. too thin. too tight. too flimsy. too see-thru where you don't want it to be. 

well, along came desoto, this cool looking triathlon company with extremely attractive models of both sexes on their website, posing on glorious, cliff lined beaches. the models look like triathletes, but somewhat less cachectic than our kona heroes. they have bicep bulges, nice delts, defintion, butts, pecs. wow, these look like clothes made for people with some muscle on them. i thought i would give them a try and i have never looked back.

 wow, these people look great. gimme forza!, that miracle fabric invented by emilio desoto, savior of my pride, my quads and my gonads!

what is this miracle fabric, manufactured by desoto, a small but visionary triathlon garment company based out of san diego? the simple answer, is that, like secret sauce or like kfc batter, we will never know. it is secret. proprietary.  desoto does claim however, to be the first to make compression wear. and apparently the fabric has been studied in university athletic departments and shown to actually increase athletic performance. they also allude to their own proprietary articulating stitch secrets,which bind the forza together in ways which maximize comfort and performance. having worn a number of forza products over the past four years, i can say, first hand, that all of this is true.

the forza line of triathlon garments are my first choice for training and racing. they are comfortable, supportive, attractive, and i don't feel the least bit ridiculous in them. i have worn the tri-suit, the riviera shorts and top, the low-rise forza shorts, the four hundered mile bike shorts, the skin cooler top and loved all of them. they each have their own characteristics and qualities that makes me reach for one or the other on a given day. i may, in fact,  review each of them on this blog on their own. but i thought i would start with a general commentary on what makes the forza line so different, and focus today's blog on the riviera race kit i wore last weekend in New Olreans.



my race kit for  IM 70.3 NOLA

 let's start with bottoms, because this is where i have felt the benefits of forza most. i have worn most other major labels of tri shorts available to me in Canada. i have several major criticisms that are relevant to all of them. 1. they don't support my family jewels at all. 2. they provide very little if any compression. i might as well wear a short cut speedo. 3. they fit way too high in the waist and i either have to wear them like charlie chaplin, pulled all high up my waist, or else fold them over. 4. the inseam is never quite the right length, most often, too short for my tastes. not as long as my bike shorts.

forza compressor fabric does what is advertised. it has a firm, supportive feel on your legs and it really does feel like my compression tights, but i would say, less flimsy and even more supportive. they feel great for running and for biking and the support is really helpful as the miles pile up. in fact,  i have taken to wearing forza shorts as my undergarment for all of my running, whether off the bike or not. there is a distinctive pinstripe running through the fabric, which i rather like. it almost makes the garments look dressy.  the stitching is unobtrusive and provides attractive accents. the cut and the panels allow a great range of motion. the fabric is doubled in strategic places, and it is thick enough not to become sloppy or see-thru when wet.

drying time is fast also. the inseams are just right. not too short. just like my bike shorts.

for me, one area of struggle with tri-shorts, and bike shorts, is the crotch. too much padding can be as uncomfortable as too little. if everything gets pushed up too far, that is just as bad as if things are hanging too low. every pair of desotos i own shines in this department. i don't get chaffing from the pad rubbing me. my privates are tucked away nicely, but comfortably. i have learned from these shorts that support is in many ways more important than padding.

last weekend i raced IM New Orleans 70.3 wearing the riviera shorts and top. i have worn the low waist forza shorts for all my other 70.3 races. i must say, that the heavier pad in the riviera shorts was not invasive, as i had worried about, and it did make a difference for my rear. anyone who has ever ridden in the 400 mile bike short will know the type of comfort that provides. this is basically the same pad, a bit thinner, and comfortable to run in.  i have ordered pair number two, and will likely be wearing these when i do full ironman. they are slightly shorter than the regular forza's, and the waist, while higher, is still a manageable height for me compared to other brands. i wear medium in the regular forza's but ordered large in these. they are a tighter, smaller design overall.

the top is something quite unique in triathlon clothing. it has a firm, even tight fitting, waist, which uses forza fabric to provide lumbar and waist support. i must admit that at first, it seemed weird pulling my shirt on like a full suit, but i quickly got used to that. the top was great to race in. three large pockets, so more like a traditional bike jersey than most tri tops in back! it was fitted, cool, and i didn't notice it at all, which is probably the best sign.  the overall effect of this kit is like wearing a tri-suit, but with less pull in the middle. you get the firm feel of a full suit, but have the added flex of having two pieces of clothing on instead of one. i really liked it. people who like to pull their top up to expose their six pack may prefer another jersey.

finally, i have to add that first on my wife's list of deserted island garments are her 3 pairs of forza capri pants. she says they are the most comfortable things she has ever worn. she looks great in them. they are both sexy and functional for those days when you don't want to show too much skin.

the focus of this review has been on the forza products as a whole. they are all fantastic and it is really the compressor fabric that makes them so amazing to work out in. i may follow up with individual reviews of products over the next few months, discussing in a bit more detail the features that appeal to me in different conditions.

Ironman New Orleans Race Report

Mardi Gras, Not the Race Finish, but Close

Just got back from what turned out to be the Ironman 69.1 New Orleans (the 1.2 mile swim was canceled due to high winds), my first race of the year and a good chance to judge my fitness so far.

I was looking forward to being in New Orleans again, having spent a year there in my late teens on an athletic scholarship at Tulane. That was just long enough ago to be more than  a bit sobering and for me not to disclose how long ago that was...but some things never change, and the Big Easy is just the same way I left it many years ago; drive thru daquiri's, take out drinks, gorgeous latin archetecture, jazz everywhere, parties, drunks on the sidewalk, strip bars, palm trees, lazy moorish courtyards,  18th century antiques, fantastic food (although a bit hard to find healthy choices pre-race and definitely the home of fried, fatty, spicy food and simple carbs; case in point, the waiter at Luke's assuring me there is no butter or cream in the grits and bingo, the grits arrive and they are cream of heart disease on a plate, but really, really good)...New Orleans is a fantastic combination of what is best and most profane about life, and a place that everyone who can should visit. It is probably not the best race destination for those prone to austerity or over-seriousness about anything.

beignetes: not your usual pre-race meal

We stayed downtown in what was a converted masonic hall, a beautiful old and quaint building.they played old style jazz in the elevators, which particularly tickled my daughter's fancy. we never felt unsafe. people were friendly and helpful. Favorites for this trip were: Luke's restaurant, the Food court at Riverwalk, the Royal Street cafe (which had a couch for my one year old daughter to laze about on while we had lunch and eclectic music played on the original juke box on the wall), Jackson Square, Rousse's Grocery, red wine in bed , the coffee at Antoine's and that fantastic combination of rich humidity, wind, fine spicy food, and just the right amount of garbage, cigarette smoke and stale alcohol in the air. Not your usual setting for a triathlon.

Stone Masonry in the Lobby of the Hilton St. Charles

The trip started with some stress making our flight and then my bike did not make it there with us. We spent 90 minutes in the airport entertaining my daughter (not actually that hard) waiting for the baggage person just to show up. In the end, the bike did come, 36 hours, and a few millimeters of diastolic pressure increase later ( air canada should apologize to my arteries). All of this made race prep alot more lax than usual. Two runs by feel alone (i kept forgetting to wear my watch, blame it on NOLA!), and a short bike ride. I suppose you count several miles of walking in the French Quarter carrying my daughter on my shoulders  as race warm up also... but that was to much fun. I really did not feel like I was at a race, and that was good in most ways.

the most inconvenient part of the race was the fact that transition was a 20 minute drive from downtown which made dropping and picking up the bike a pain, and also complicated getting to the race site in the morning. this would not stop me from going back though. 

Race day: everyone was talking about the water and how it would make us all vomit. well, race morning was windy windy windy and cold.  i caught a ride up to the race with a really nice couple from indianapoulos (thanks randy) and we were a little let down to be greeted by various athletes telling us the swim had been canceled.

what ensued was a long wait, several pees, a few short jogs, and a headache waiting for the time trial start of the now half ironman duathlon. lots of good tunes though. sabbath. free. zeppelin. squeeze. saw lots of pros also; dibens, bozzone, bockel, mckenzie, rhoads...kept things interesting.

Bike: a little cold at first. quickly warmed up. it was windy as hell. the course was quite beautiful to start, riding beside lake ponchartrain, which is more like an ocean in appearance. the scenery quickly gets quite ugly, industrial, even slummy, before heading onto a highway (yes, a dream of mine come true, biking on an actual freeway, past a derelict amusement park, cool).
the first half was full of brutal headwinds. the second half was like flying.  the course is mostly flat with several small bridges in the first part and at the end. not the most beautiful bike course. the roads are quite bumpy and not the best quality for most of the course. it was not swept and there were plenty of opportunities to flat, although i did not see too many people pulled over.  not the most rewarding for personal best times, given the wind this year. i put out my best watts ever at this distance but was still two minutes slower than my best bike time.

me on the pretty part of the bike

Run: what the bike lacks in terms of scenery, the run makes up for. it starts beside the lake and then meanders past million dollar homes, and beside a waterway before going into a long sojourn through audobon park.  i was running like hermes for the first 7k, my shoes were wings and then reality set in and i started to suffer a bit. no negative split here. i held on pretty strong with a couple brutal splits in the last 3rd, but still was able to PR for the distance in a half ironman...not bad.


there were plenty of aid stations along the way and they were all well stocked with sponges, water, gatorade, food, ice etc. there were also lots of people cheering most of the way.
the best part of the run was coming into the old city and turning a corner and there is the french quarter there in front of you. suddenly you are running past centuries old buildings on cobbly roads and there are hundred of people cheering you on, police on every corner, horses, jazz music, a melange of color, sound and excitement. definitely the most exciting finishing chute i have ever run.

high energy finishing chute

overall: a great experience. new orleans is loads of fun. it does take some discipline to remind yourself you are there to race and not to party! at least for me it did. the race was well organized. it was a bit inconvenient getting to the race site but other than that, everything went real smooth. expect high winds and so even though the course is mostly flat you may not get your best bike time. i would recommend this race to anyone. would i go back? yes...but there are so many other places to race!

 not a fanstastic day for me, but a solid first out fitness test. the least serious i have ever felt at a race, but the most fun i have had, and also a fair scoup of suffering on the run to remind me it was half ironman race. my best combined bike/run time, top 15% overall out of 2200 people and top 15% in my age group (which had over 300 men), so not too bad for a start to the year.

"LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULEZ"

GPS throwdown: Global Trainer vs. 310XT

A GPS THROWDOWN!!!

okay, so i watch food channel. probably too much.  hence, i am calling this a throwdown, although no-one really officially  challenged anyone; i would say, that garmin are akin to  the local, ethnic guys who have mastered the traditional dish, and timex are definitely Bobby Flay here. ie. they are the challengers trying to beat the originals at their own game. but enough of food channel references.

what follows is my head to head review of the garmin 310XT and the Timex global trainer.
why do i have both? a good question. but no real good answer. i like toys.

COST:
the Global Trainer lists at 375 bucks with HR monitor. the garmin is listed at 349. no real difference.

come to think of it,


you could buy a large take out pizza for the price difference. or it could put you in starbuck's for close to a week, depending on what you drink. come to think of it, i am liking the garmin here.

ASTHETICS:

this is personal, but i start with it, because the look of the watch is the first thing you will notice and it does impact on how and when you may use it. the garmin is more colorful, smaller, more square. it does not look like a watch. it looks like a gps device on your wrist. a little boxy. a little bit like a miniature tv set or laptop, whereas  the timex, looks like one of those giant ironman watches at a swim exit in your local triathlon. it is, in reality, almost that big. that might bother some,but not me. it is, in my opinion, more masculine, more attractive, and much more suited to daily wear. it looks like a giant wristwatch. if you ever had one of the ironman digital watches it will be instantly familiar to you. it is his big brother...on steroids. if hulk hogan had a gps watch, this would be it. no way would he be caught dead in an orange and gray boxy garmin.  and giant wristwatches are kinda cool right now, just watch MTV. 
winner: TIMEX

FUNCTIONALITY/FEATURES:

this is like comparing a navigator to an escalade. both are ridden with features one would expect. waterproof. multisport ready. choices of metrics per screen. scrolling functions. virtual pacing.  both watches can sync with a power meter and provide power data. both can be mounted on a bike.  no real difference in features. not enough to choose one over the other.
winner: TIE


EASE OF USE:

i am a techno dummy, and i never read user manuals. both units can easily be figured out using the intuitive techno dummy approach by me, and that is saying lots.
there are a few differences to point out however:

1. transferring data: the garmin uses a wireless ANT device, like a flashcard that sits in a serial port on your computer. when you are done your workout, press reset, and the data will magically transfer automatically to your computer and your garmin connect account. pretty cool.
except: getting it to work is not always seamless. the ant device takes up valuable port space on my computer, and i am paranoid about losing it. over the past a year i have lost several key workouts for no explicable reason. a bit of a pain. the transfer times for long workouts can be mind-numbing and the connection can sometimes break down. this is one situation where i prefer a cable to wireless.

the timex uses a cable which connects to the watch and data transfer is almost immediate. i have never lost a workout. no waiting. the data transfer cord is also the power cord, so, great. it is bigger, not so easy to lose. doesn't need to sit in the computer.  it synchs with Training Peaks which gives you a nice platform to view things on, and is quite convenient if you have a coach and use TP alot. i don't like the interface quite as much as garmin connect, but that is just me.

2. the buttons on the timex are bigger. they require less force to trigger them. they are easier to find while running. easier to use with gloves.

3. the wristbands are different. the timex is bigger and easily fits over my base layers and gloves in winter. the garmin is often stretched to the max and cannot quite get over my biggest, fattest, warmest pair of run in minus 10 gloves. after six months the wristband clasp on the garmin broke off and i now use an elastic band. (see below)

4. the screens: the garmin wins here. the screen writing is bigger and more bold making the characters are easier to see. the timex gives way too much information when you are using automatic splits by time or distance and the text is so small i don't even try to read it while running, so i never really do. and the frustrating thing is they give you no way to dummy it down. you can't choose what info you get on the screen when you hit the lap button, and that kinda sucks. with the garmin, what  i get is the time of my split. period. easy. i know what pace i just ran for 1k. that is ALL i want to know while i am running.

5. the warning chimes:  the garmin is louder and easier to hear. i ran with both watches on  my arm the other day and this was quite apparent. half the time when the GT is telling me a split i don't even hear it. this never happens with the garmin. nice, loud chime.

6. use as a daily watch: near impossible with the garmin. the battery burns out faster. it takes more work to get the gps off. it is just not set up to be a daily watch.
 the timex battery can last 5 days with GPS off. it is much easier to use with GPS off, in the pool, for example. it is quite easy to get your swim splits with the global trainer in the pool. not so with the garmin. the global trainer works just like a basic timex ironman watch for the preset alarm functions, which is nice, and better than the garmin.
 the timex is just basically more like an every day watch, but really big, and with gps when you need it.

7.open water: i have yet to use the GT in open water. (lake ontario is pretty cold right now). however the garmin has a new software update that will allow you to estimate swim distance and pace without putting the watch in the top of your swim cap. nice. no more buzzing on my head to let me know i went 500m! the timex has no such function, so i imagine it will suck in the water and give no reliable GPS data.given how it struggles to find satelites on cloudy days (see below), i wonder if it would lose signal in the water.

8. GPS: i will say more about this in the next section, but basically the timex takes way too long to find signals at times, which leads to lots of standing about, stretching, and getting cold. if it is mid-winter, it leads to freezing your ass off and starting your run without gps because you are so fricking cold.  it also has the irritating habit of turning off and going to sleep mode if there is no gps signal for a while. it will ask you if you want to continue without gps, but when you are on the move do you have time for this? i am really paranoid about struggling with this watch to find signals during a race.


EASE OF USE WINNER: i would say a tie, with a slight edge for the garmin on the things that really matter to me race day. i prefer the Global Trainer as a watch i can wear every day, so no need to switch watches between workout and office and i can use it as an alarm. the garmin is not so user friendly in that regard. so i would probably like the gt for day in day out wear and just be prepared for a long pre-run stretch while it calibrates. for a race, i am too anxious. give me the garmin. 

HEAD TO HEAD ROAD TEST:

yes, i have done a couple of road tests head, to head. i am that deprived of things to do, and this in spite of being too busy all the time. go wonder.

first off, both runs were on cloudy days. the garmin found satellites within 1 m. ready to go!
the timex was struggling.  this has been my experience with the GT almost every time.
i have done more stretching since owning the global trainer than ever before. i stretch, i point  the watch to the sky. nothing. i start getting cold. nothing. five minutes into the run. the garmin is fine. the timex. no signal.
this happened on both runs. the fact is that the garmin just finds the signals faster and more efficiently. and, it is a major pain to be standing there on a frigid morning waiting for your gps to kick in. (let alone stressing about this at a race) and i can tell you this happened many times this winter with the timex. and it doesn't find the satellites once you are moving, so you have to stop and wait. and press off and on again. and then it finally kicks in. PITA! (and i don't mean mediterrannean bread!)

in terms of the data generated, perhaps the most depressing revelation was that they actually keep slightly different time. wow. i thought all digital watches gave perfect times, but they can actually disagree by several seconds, even with careful synchronized button pressing. it certainly says something about how literally you can take the data from either watch. 

they were pretty close in terms of estimating distance. however, the garmin will start to generate data before it locks into all the satellites and can inflate your pace a bit at the beginning of a run.
my impression is that the garmin estimates faster times overall. 
friday's run, for example, was a tempo progression run. my last set was 20m long and the  garmin estimated a 4:33 pace, while the timex gave me a 4:36 pace for the same exact split. that is a small but significant difference.

in terms of feedback, the timex does give you the choice to adjust smoothing for gps. with the lowest smoothing setting, i found the feedback closest to the garmin. however, both watches tended to give me quite different moment to moment feedback on pacing during random checks. there were also times when they read the same. there was no real pattern i could define. overall, i would say that the feedback numbers fluctuate less with the garmin. i tended to trust them more moment to moment because they were jumping around less.

OVERALL WINNER:
this is tough because i like different things about each. however, i am racing Ironman New Orleans 70.3 next weekend and i am pretty sure it will be with the garmin on my wrist. i just trust it more. more reliable moment to moment data. perhaps better swim data. i don't worry about losing satellites or not finding them.
so the winner of the GPS throwdown?   GARMIN 310 XT for racing. i will still use the GT for daily training and for runs where i don't mind standing around in the nice sunny weather waiting for 10 minutes for the gps to kick in.