The Sexy Hotness Sleeping Bag

It's not everyday something inanimate like a sleeping bag can make me laugh, but the ALITE "sexy hotness" sleeping bag did just that.

I came across this puffy purple creation today. It lets you walk around in your sleeping bag, zip it to other bags to create one giant bag and is lined with Kama Sutra poses. Hotness is rated to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, so if you're going on a fun camping trip with buddies, it seems like a viable choice. As the company says, "Sexy Hotness is the perfect sleeping bag for making love in the woods."


Maybe I'll give it a try.

Triathlete with Two Left Feet

Coachubby made a New Year's resolution to not cuss. Not that he cussed much before. Really, about the only thing that could coax a full-out four-letter word from his mouth pre-2009 was bike maintenance.

As with all good resolutions, this one came unhinged this past Sunday---for a completely different reason.

After driving one hour to do a recon run to connect part of the elusive (in parts) Backbone Trail that supposedly runs 70 miles from Point Mugu to Will Rogers State Park along the Santa Monica Mountains, coachubby made a terrible discovery.

He brought two left shoes.

This is what happens when you become loyal to one brand (asics) and one color (black) of running shoes. Other friends have said they know which shoes are their new shoes by dirtiness. Coachubby, however, made the discovery that black shoes are not only cheaper (who wants black shoes?) but they never look dirty.

Hence two left shoes.

To coachubby's credit (or demise) he turned the insole around, stuffed the arch with toilet paper, and continued on our recon run--at a pace far faster than I could ever match with perfectly normal shoes.

To coachubby's discredit, this is not the first time we've driven far away from home to do something involving running or biking only to find out he forgot a key element of the activity.

After driving two hours north to Santa Barbara to ride a century last year, coachubby realized he had forgotten his helmet.

D'oh!

After waiting a bit for Target to open, he was soon able to encase his noggin' in a ruby-red skater-like contraption that said "helmet" on the label. As coachubby's dad said, a $30 helmet for a $30 head. That helmet now lives in the car should another such brain fart occur.

Not that I'm without my own forgetful disaster stories. In college, after riding a bus for hours to a championship cross country race, I realized I had brought my super-cute new heels for the banquet the evening following the race, but not my running shoes.

A friend had brought two pairs of shoes and let me borrow hers. They were 3 sizes too small.

Needless to say, I sucked. A result not unlike most of my collegiate XC results, only that time I had something to blame for my slow turnover.

So what have we learned here? Coachubby's new resolution should be "to remember the essential items that will let me swim, bike, and run whenever I get in the car on the weekend."

I certainly hope athletic accessory forgetfulness (AAF) will not be passed down to little coachubby divas. I can only picture our little kids now, stealing someone's helmet out of transition before heading onto the run course with two left feet.

They'll probably still kick my butt on the run. Just like coachubby.

SPANDEX-What You Need To Know

You wear it ever day. Prance around in front of the mirror, marveling at your muscles bulging through the tight material. But what exactly is this magical fabric every triathlete must come to love and embrace? Where did it come from? Just what can it do?

History:

Spandex was invented in 1959 by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers. Plenty early enough for cyclists and other people to try it out before it became all highly refined and perfected for triathletes.

What IS it?

Spun from a block copolymer, these fibers exploit the high crystallinity and hardness of polyurethane segments, yet remain "rubbery" due to alternating segments of polyethylene glycol. (Straight from Wikipedia. If you didn't take Organic Chemistry in college and can't draw the polymers, no worries. It's just the science behind the cool things Spandex does!)

Fun Spandexeriffic Facts:

• can be stretched over 600% without breaking (woah)


• able to be stretched repetitively and still recover original length (so, say you wear it at your race weight +20, it should still theoretically fit and not be stretched out when you loose the jiggle )


• lightweight (shave off those seconds! Cheaper than carbon fiber!)


• abrasion resistant (it won't tear right up your bottom if your legs are rubbing on your seat!)


• soft, smooth, and supple (feels good!)


• resistant to body oils, perspiration, lotions, and detergents (wear sunscreen! And for heaven's sake, wash it to rid your spandex of your workout stink!)


• no static or pilling problem (not like those old wool jerseys!)

Spandex is one cool invention. Most Halloween costumes are made of the stuff because DC Comics superheroes all wore spandex (or so we've come to believe. How else could they get their costumes so skin tight?)

Being a triathlete, you can dress up in it every day. You can wear bright colors. Heck, you can even wear a jersey with a big "S" on the back and not be committed to an institution for playing superhero in public at age 50.

Have a spandexeriffic day!

The Long Run and the Garmin

(In this case the Garmin 305)

People prefer to run in all kinds of scenarios. In fact, in a recent Runner's World, you could take a quiz to find out what kind of runner you are based on what motivates you. Are you competitive? Social? A purist? A fitness junkie? A bit of everything?

Well, chances are you're a bit of all four. You like to run alone sometimes to clear your head, and when you're least motivated, nothing helps like having a friend to meet and run with.

And chances are, at least once, you're going to have to do that long run alone. Because nobody wants to get up with you on a Sunday, drive 45 minutes and run 16 miles with 3,000 feet of climbing.

Yes, it is another chance to be with nature and yourself. Hit the trails. Enjoy the scenery. Yadda yadda yadda. But one thing we at TriDiva have found to be extremely helpful for those super long solo journeys is a Garmin. In fact, we're a little obsessed. It gives you the freedom to run alone in contemplative silence. It won't ask you about your Great Aunt Mary or that ticket you got for driving the wrong way on a one way street. But it will gather all sorts of fun information about your run, and beep kindly at you at every interval you set (like every mile), and when you start and stop, so you don't feel so alone.

In fact, having that little guy on your wrist might just make you feel invincible, and give you motivation to make your next split faster than your last. (Or play all sorts of interval games!) And should you stop for directions, your Garmin will chirp happily as it pauses itself, letting your fellow runner/hiker know you are super cool for having such a gadget, and that no, you are not all alone out in the wilderness. You've got GPS. (So what if the OnStar people aren't tracking your every move?)

And when you get home, tons of fun information will be readily at your fingertips! Just plug it into your computer for graphs of your heart rate vs. incline vs. distance. Your fastest split, your biggest climb in a mile.

Then print out your stellar stats and share them with the friend that didn't run with you. Because maybe next week, you'll finally feel like discussing your directionally challenged vehicular boo boo (as you like to call it). And while the Garmin does a lot of cool stuff, it won't tell you that yeah, that street sign was hard to see, and yeah, that cop was unusually cocky and mean that day and yeah, a $432 ticket was totally uncalled for and yeah, you don't have to go out to dinner this week to save some cash for the evil ticket. Human running partners can be nice, too!

Happy long running!

Hilarious Tri T-Shirts for the Ladies

Maybe it's not enough that you get to flaunt your sexy toned arms at every social function. Maybe you'd like to share exactly how you got those arms...and that fabulous derriere, and have everyone know just what went into making you into the fine specimen that you are. For the racy racing ladies out there, look no further! There are t-shirts made to do just that. Check these out:

Well, are ya?

That's right! And there's probably no "u" either.

And there's nothing wrong with that!

Oooo, no she didn't!

It happens.

It happens, too.

For more funny tri tees, and some pretty offensive ones you DEFINITELY should NOT wear to the office...or in an area where the general public doesn't like to go on long runs of 3+ hours on their Sunday mornings, check out this site. Happy racing!

A Gadget Worth TriGeeking Out About

No matter how cool you might play it in the office, on the prowl in the bars, or while hanging out with your buddies, if you're a triathlete, there's a ginormous gadget geek inside of you. You know all about the "next best thing". That carbon fiber, body monitoring, cadence-improving, electronic training partner guaranteed to make you faster, stronger, and better looking.

While something like, say, a Garmin Forerunner 305 and some Profile Design carbon aerobars might do the trick, there's something far less costly, and dare we say even more fashionable, that'll get your heart-rate up to max in no time: The New iPod Shuffle.

It's small and light enough to wear clipped to your ear, if you like. The music player itself seems to weigh less than the ear buds! If you've ever needed some extra motivation for an early morning long run or a lifting session at your overcrowded gym, look no further.

It's like being followed by your own personal soundtrack. The music seems to be floating around your head, like nature intended it to be there. It has been known to inspire many zen running moments.

A true trigeek should not be without his or her Shuffle. And no, Apple is not paying for this plug. It's simply a fact of trigeek gadget obsession. The Shuffle should be right up there on your list of "must-haves" for 2007. Because, let's face it, sometimes the greatest of pleasures come in the smallest of packages.

Visit www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/ for more information. And don't worry, cool guys and gals, your secret trigadget geekery is safe with us.