My Running Journal: 011111; or, "The Foot Bone's Connected to the Ankle Bone."

No running this morning. I’m currently “running” about once a week, if that. The reason is that I volunteered to be an alternate for the Affiliate Team for Crossfit Portland. The way that the 2011 Crossfit Games are shaping up, I doubt that I will be able to offer much even as an alternate, besides being a great cheerleader. But I’m going to keep up my current training cycle until February, at which point I am going to (probably) shift focus to races.

This morning I was thinking about what Kelly Starrett of Crossfit San Francisco said the other day in his Mobility WOD blog. Specifically, in episode 141 he addresses tibialis posterior. Tibialis posterior is a muscle of the lower leg, and it sits behind your tibia (duh). When talking about muscles, you can talk about origins (where the muscle starts), and the insertion (where it ends). And our friend tibialis posterior inserts, without getting too specific, into the bottom of your foot by way of some tendons that pass behind your inside ankle bone (medial malleolus). Here, take a look.



What tibialis posterior does, amongst other things, is work to invert the foot. Which means it helps to pull your footsie inwards. If you stand up, and then roll up onto the outside edge of your foot (the side where your pinkie toe is), you are technically inverting your foot. The opposite direction is “eversion,” but that isn’t important right now.

Why am I thinking about tibialis posterior? Well, I have arches that aren’t exactly the greatest. Even running in minimalist shoes. Tibialis Posterior is part of the chain that keeps the wonderful suspension system that is your foot in position. Strengthen the links in that chain, and you strengthen the whole. Since a stronger, more integrated body is what I am after, this is good stuff to know. And it has me thinking about other things, but more on that later.

My Running Journal: 010910; or, Running for Fun and Profit!

Today was an easy 5k on the reliable Leif Ericsson trail. I didn’t time it, just wanted to get the distance in and shake off some lingering soreness from a particularly interesting workout last week. I met up with one of the members of the running team that I have put together for the Shamrock run, and one of my friends who has been talking the talk about working out showed up as well. All in all it was a nice run, and a surprise waited for me at the end. More on that shortly.

I’m trying to get back in the blogging habit. Really, I am. I originally started this blog as a way to keep myself motivated to “get back in shape,” and I think the blog took a back seat once I actually started feeling healthy and self motivated again. I know that this blog is almost all words – I don’t think that I have linked too much outside of it, and I’m not one for pictures of myself doing stuff. Being a text based blog may make it hard to really explain things at times, but I’m happy to rattle off a page of text where a single picture might suffice. Because I hate taking pictures.

When I started, I was just trying to get my butt out of bed early in the morning so that I could get myself together for a run before going to the office. Now I’m back to sleeping in till 7am (or later, sometimes). But whereas last year at this time I was staying in bed because I was unmotivated, now I actually am sleeping because I am working out. Sleep is good in this case.

At the end of today’s run I was showing a drill to one of my running partners (Hi Tami!), and while we were discussing it, one of the other random strangers at the trailhead asked if I was a running coach, and if could show her (and possibly some people in her regular running group) the proper techniques for Pose/BoF style running. Luckily, I had my trusty electronic brain with me, and shot off an email to her with my contact info. Sure, I’ve spent a bunch of time, sweat and money on learning how to train people in movement, but I wasn’t expecting for a potential client to come up to me at the end of a run. That made today pretty great. We’ll see if she actually contacts me and arranges a session or two, but the very fact that I was approached because of what I was saying and doing is cool.

So now I actually have to think about rates, curriculum, and where in my schedule I am going to fit this. This is not a bad thing.

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come," OR, My Running Journal, 010611

So I’m not dead, contrary to no one in particular’s belief. I doubt that there is even the hint of a rumor out there about my demise. But to allay any possible fears on the part of my dear reader(s), no, I am not dead, and have not been near death any time in the recent past. Unless you count sleep as death, in which case, perchance to dream.

Anyway. Way back in May of 2010 I was all jazzed about running. Crossfit was treating me well as a training modality, I was feeling strong, and had high hopes for the Portland Marathon.

Well, at least I can say I finished the Portland Marathon. I’m not going to brag about my time – let’s just say that I finished before they re-opened the streets, and leave it at that. I did learn an important lesson that day. Of course, that was a few months ago, and so I have probably forgotten whatever it was that I was thinking.

Oh, I remember now. 2011 will be faster, and there will be 3 marathons. Two I am sure of – the Portland and the Marine Corps marathons. The third may be the Eugene or Haulin’ Aspen trail marathon. We will see. I’m in the process of planning out my year of races.

Oh, and that Crossfit thing? Totally a fad. Flash in the pan. Not only did I get stronger and faster, I got cockier (“No Way,” you say. “Way,” I say). So cocky, in fact, that I signed up for a trainer certification. I am now a Crossfit Level 1 and Crossfit Endurance certified trainer and a Pose level 1 coach. Totally a fad. In fact, such a fad that I am signed up for another Endurance trainer certification course, and am looking into all kinds of other exercise related stuff. Such a flash in the pan that I am now training five days out of the week, and have asked the owners of the gym that I go to if they need a helper monkey for their intro classes (fingers crossed).

When I was in my teens I couldn’t understand how people could get out of shape and unhealthy. I remember talking to a family member about how I felt that I was always going to be intensely physically active. At some point that thought process got away from me. I rediscovered that love of activity last year.

I’ve put together a running and training team. Ostensibly to have a fun run – training for the Shamrock Run in Portland. Just a simple 5k fun run. But I’m hoping to translate that running team into something greater.

So I’m not dead.

My Running Journal, 050410

Hey, look at that, I have a blog!

I haven’t forgotten about it, but I have been lazy. Not running as much as I was, and definitely not writing as much.

Both of which I should be doing. But I am at a point where I don’t have a huge amount to say. I’m still doing Crossfit work five times a week, and have been going on trail runs on Sundays. I feel that I am teetering right on the edge of overtraining – I know that I can push harder, but I have feeling that I will start to see longer and longer overall recovery times between workouts, and I’d prefer that to not happen.

I’m definitely way off on following the Higdon schedule that I started – but I have a feeling that, overall, I am at least as strong and fit as I would have been had I stuck with it. To be perfectly honest, I have a feeling that I am much stronger overall because of the Crossfit than I would be if I was just running. Having a good strength base will contribute to my success as a marathoner.

I’m pretty sure that I could run a half marathon tomorrow if I wanted to. I know that I would be slow, but based on what I did on Sunday, 13 miles doesn’t seem like a long way. Sunday I tested out my legs – I went on 5k trail run on the Leif Ericksson trail here in Portland in the morning, and then hiked a trail on Dog Mountain in the afternoon. The morning run I did without my metronome, and while my overall cadence was too slow, I did finish the run in 29 minutes. Which is by no means fast, but I was at a cruising speed where I was trying to focus on my form more than anything else. The first ½ mile absolutely sucked, and I was wondering if my aerobic capacity was shot – but then I remembered that the first ½ mile or so always sucks, I just haven’t been running enough recently to keep that in mind. Assuming that I pay attention to my cadence, I will go faster.
The afternoon hike was by no means a leisure stroll. Dog Mountain starts with a ½ mile climb that covers 700 vertical feet by way of switchbacks. At the .7 mile mark the trail splits, and you get to choose between “less” difficult and “more” difficult. Note that “Difficult” is a component of both. My buddies and I decided to go up the more difficult trail and come down the less difficult trail. More Difficult was 2.2 miles to the summit, while less was 2.6. More difficult was an aggressive trail, with sections that must have been 45-50 degrees in pitch. So steep in some sections that I could probably have put my hands out and climbed if I wanted to. Which made for an interesting hike. Round trip was a little over 7 miles, and I got to test my downhill running technique on the way back to the car.

Between the hike and the run, I was more fatigued by the end of the day than I was when I ran the Haulin’ Aspen half marathon a couple of years ago. Based on what I did on Sunday, I think I could handle a 13 mile run without too much issue.

I’m going to stick with Crossfit as my primary training mode until the end of this month, and then I’ll assess if I am doing as well as I think that I am.

My Running Journal 042010

I went running (finally) this past Sunday. Okay, not quite running, more of a trot, as I was running with friends who aren’t quite as far into running as I am. We were all wearing VFFS, so I wasn’t the only one fielding the questions from folks on the trail.

I’m at a point now where I think I am recovering quickly enough from my Crossfit workouts that adding the CFE workouts won’t be too painful. The specter of overtraining is one that has been looming over me – in order to maintain my current momentum, I need to avoid wiping myself out.

And I need to get back to running on a regular basis. I know that I’m not really improving my running without practicing the skills. It’s now been a week and a half since I took the Pose clinic, and I really haven’t utilized the skills or drills more than twice. The good thing is that the warm-ups at the gym this week all start with a 600ish meter run. That will let me practice some of my footwork. The run this Sunday was more of a trot, and the cadence we were moving at was slow enough that I really wasn’t keeping good form. But I can’t complain, I’ve been the out of shape one on runs, and it was fun to encourage my friends to keep going and to talk about technique and goals.

Speaking of goals, this week my micro-goal will be to get back into running on Wednesday mornings, and practicing my Pose footwork drills at least once a day for 15-30 minutes. And to get back to writing everyday.

More soon.

My Running Journal 041210

Today is a non running day. I think that I am going to spend a few minutes working on my jump rope technique, and maybe some of the skill building exercises that I learned yesterday in the POSE Technique class.

It turns out that the guy who taught the workshop yesterday Drew Miller, is also a Crossfit Endurance trainer as well as a POSE technique coach. He taught a great class, and it really helped solidify some ideas in my head about how things are supposed to work. It also became very clear that just reading about how to do something, and watching videos, does not substitute for good coaching. The workshop was small, a total of five of us. Two of the other guys were experienced mid to long distance runners and are training for the Eugene marathon - both of them knew about POSE, one of them the does Crossfit training, and the other one is starting to run in VFFs. The other guy, who had come up from Ashland, has been running in huaraches. The one woman in the group was not an experienced runner, which was probably good for her, since she didn't have to fight old habits, and was clearly able to focus on getting the pose right without having to contract old muscle memory.

We had a great conversation about Chi Running, the similarities between the two forms, and the bad blood between runners from all camps. I haven't encountered any negativity directly, but I'm not coaching people. Evidently there are loads of people who decide that if you aren't doing something their way, you must be doing it wrong ( I do this, but normally it is in response to other people's driving). And folks seem to be okay with criticizing other people's decisions, without knowing the other, "wrong" position. You see it in everything that has been systemized, and I guess running techniques are no different. Of course, the whole push behind the Pose technique and forefoot striding, along with minimalist shoes, is a threat to the current paradigm of running. Especially when you factor in how much money there is involved with shoes. Sarah, the woman at the clinic yesterday lamented a little over the fact that she had purchased a brand new set of nicely, heavily protective New Balance shoes based on the observation of what her foot did when she heel strikes.

The funny thing is that, and this keeps getting repeated to me in various forms, you cannot pronate or supinate your foot if you are utilizing the Pose technique. Your general center of mass is over your point of support, which happens to be your forefoot. If you aren't heel striking ahead of your hips, then there is no way that you can pronate or supinate your foot without really injuring yourself and doing it purposefully. I let Sarah know that I was in the same boat - I dropped a large amount of money on a pair of stability control shoes when I started ( those wonderful Brooks Addictions), and now they get used to transport me to the car on mornings when I head to Crossfit. Just to the car and the gym - I change over to my VFFs at the gym.

We went over tempo, body mechanics, uphill and downhill running, and skill drills. Drew videoed us running at the beginning of the class, middle, and end. And we all watched and picked apart our forms. I thought I had the forefoot stride down pretty well, at least as far as getting my foot to touch down directly below my center of mass, instead of ahead of it. Boy was I wrong. There were a host of other things that we kept an eye on, and by the end of the clinic I had improved a little bit.

Beside the specific skill drills and coaching that I got from the clinic, we also discussed effective training - this goes back to my thoughts on what it means to run as fast as you can. Drew reinforced my opinion in that it makes no sense to train poorly - if your basic skill set is deficient, and you have a bad running form, then you aren't helping yourself if you push yourself to run faster without taking the time to really improve your basic skills. You are a better runner if you have and can maintain good form throughout the course of your run. If you can't maintain a good form in a training run, then you are running farther than your skill, and aren't really benefitting from the exercise.

We also got some fun toys - a metronome and an EZ run belt. I'll discuss the belt in a future post, but it seems like it will be a very helpful training tool. The metronome is a much nicer one than I have been using, primarily because it is louder and has a belt clip.

Tomorrow I am going to go out and give my new found running skills a test. And hopefully I'll find other people who are POSE runners in Portland that would like to get together for group training and critique. Because Drew Miller is the only Pose certified trainer in Oregon.

My running journal, 040810

The Tabata training protocol is pretty cool. Wednesday's workout ended with us doing Tabata sit-ups. Four minute abs!
The Tabata protocol is pretty simple. The workout spans all of four minutes, and consists of eight sets of 20 seconds of all out effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest, then 20 seconds all out, etc. Four minutes. Easy, right? Well, it is and it isn't. The first set you feel like you have all the time in the world, and then as the sets progress, the rest times seem shorter and shorter, while the work time stretches out, and the work gets harder. My sets broke down to 17, 14, 13, 11, 9,9,9,9. That last one was hard to get - it took me three seconds to get that last sit-up in. There wasn't any pain in the sets, just a decided lack of response from my abdominal muscles to respond as fast I wanted them to. The study usually used to show the effectiveness of the Tabata protocol indicates that it is potentially as aerobically effective as a 45 minute step aerobics class. I'd like to see more studies before I completely accept that, but i have a feeling it is at least approaching the truth.

Now that I know how a Tabata set works, as far as timing, I really need to work them into my training set. And to avoid overtraining, I'm only supposed to do a major muscle group Tabata set once or twice a month. I think that I am going to start usig my early Saturday mornings for track work. I have already blocked out that time for CFE workouts.

It turns out that I don't need to buy a new watch after all. I started playing with my Forerunner 305, and it has an interval function. And I can set it up for timed intervals and/or distance intervals. Which will be good, as it is hard to figure out how far 200 meters are on the street - I guess i could chart a route and break it down, block by block, but the last thing that I want to try and do while sprinting is to keep an eye on street signs or mailbox numbers. Easier just to have a GPS watch beep to tell you when you have reached your set distance. We'll see if I am smart enough to figure out the basic programming needed to do this.

Interval training hear I come!

My Running Journal, 040710

I slept in today instead of going out and running. I'm allowing myself to do this, as I am trying to ramp up my activity level while not overdoing it. Zero gain, or negative gain, is something that I want to avoid. I was tired all day yesterday, and the workout last night at the gym was harder than it should have been for me. The negative gain train has three cars, and one of those is a lack of rest. So I'm trying to let myself go about this in as natural a process as possible.

Based on some of the articles by the Crossfit Endurance gurus that I have read, ideally I shouldn't be training sport specific more than a few hours a week. So between the five hours of Crossfit that I am putting in per week, I can probably add a little over five more hours of workout time before I start to really stress myself out. Beside getting to a healthy weight and overall health, I am training to run in a marathon this year, and that is to build a base on which I plan to build up to participating in an Ironman level triathlon by the time I am 40 years old, if not sooner. I have to keep that in mind, that this step in the process is part of a greater and greater process.

I am trying to find out what the ideal level of aerobic training is. In order to be a good endurance athlete, one must have a strong aerobic base. What this boiled down to is that, at the end of the run, I should be able to bounce back, heart rate and respiration wise, within a few minutes. Sunday's run demonstrated to me that I have the aerobic conditioning sufficient to run an 11min/mile pace for at least 5 miles. I'm trying to answer a question in my head about what it means to have a strong aerobic base, and how you measure it without fancy lab equipment.

Reading about interval training has given me a little peek into this. Part of the interval training process is a rest period in between periods of exertion - part of this is to allow for aerobic recovery - breathing, oxygen, etc. One of the things that I can keep an eye on is how fast my heart rate returns to an aerobic baseline from an anaerobic level. Your max heart rate is supposed to be 220 minus your age, which means my max heart rate is around 186 bpm. For an intense interval training session, my heart rate should come up to about 170 bpm which would be about 90% of my max - and ideally, (if I am reading some of this stuff right) by the time my rest interval is over, my heart rate should have recovered back to the aerobic threshold, which for me should be around 70% of my max, or 130 bpm. So, does that mean that a solid aerobic base means that my heart rate is about 130 bpm at the end of a long distance run? Say, after a 10k? Or is it that my pulse rate gets up to 130 and stays there for the majority of the run? Some more reading is in order. I definitely feel the need for a heart rate monitor on my next run to see what is going on.

This Sunday I am taking a Pose running class. Time to start developing that skill set. I find it interesting to read back to some of my earlier posts about using chi-running skills to go faster. I'm trying to find the balance between that and what I am picking up about Pose technique.

Tonight we are doing some intense work at Crossfit. The last component of the workout is going to be Tabata situps. Which means several rounds of 20 second max output, followed by 10 seconds rest, for 8 rounds. So I may not run tomorrow morning, even if I manage to wake up early enough.

My Running Journal, 040510

Yesterday I ran a five mile trail run in my new VFF KSO treks. The Treks are the heaviest version that Vibram offers, having kangaroo leather uppers, a pretty aggressively lugged outsold component, and a thin EVA midsole. Contrast this with the classic, which has a lightweight fabric upper, no midsole, and a siped rubber sole. The midsole on the treks was added to protect against the stuff that you inadvertently run over while on a trail or off road. And they do feel different than the classic or the sprints. I still felt the gravel, stones and other stuff on the trail yesterday, but there was a slight sense of insulation from all of it. I think the biggest difference with the treks is not so much the midsole, but the aggressive tread. I can see the tread helping in conditions where the siped rubber would just slide along, like over a thin layer of mud, or wet vegetation. The siped rubber works really well on surfaces like wet concrete, asphalt, or the deck of a boat - but in my experience they are less than ideal in situations where there is wet vegetation/algae, or any amount of mud. I know that my Sprints didn't work very well to keep my footing on wet lava rocks in Hawaii, or over wet logs and muddy trails here in Oregon.

The run itself was nice. My iPhone lost GPS signal at a couple points, so it only mapped a run 4.61 miles in length, but I am sure that I ran closer to 5, in about 56 minutes. And that included stopping in a portapotty for a leak, the 30 seconds or so of walking right at the start to get my waist pack on and tightened, and a few seconds around the 2 mile marker where I adjusted my tights. I was running at a nice, easy pace, as I haven't really been running as much. I originally was just going to run 3 miles, again, since I haven't been keeping up the pace of training runs. But I got to the mile and a half marker, and realized I had plenty of gas left in my tank. I decided to run to the 2 mile marker and see how I was doing there. 2 miles came, and I kept going. I decided to turn around at the 2.5 marker, as I didn't want to overdo it. I was definitely feeling a little fatigued towards the end, but I'm not sure if that was physical discomfort or just being slightly bored.

I tried to keep smiling during the whole run, and thinking about fun stuff. Most of the first mile sucked, but I settled into a decent pace and felt pretty good for the rest of the run. Smiling, and trotting along. I had the metronome to 80 bpm, and only tried to not fall to a pace any slower than that, instead of trying to strictly stay at that pace.

I'm definitely feeling some of it today, but nothing more that the usual aches in my ankles. I have a feeling that most of that pain is coming from either my fibula being in slightly the wrong place, or the talus, or both. It is a familiar pain, and the fix will be to see a chiropractor to have the bones put pack into correct alignment. Some of the pain is coming from my peroneal muscles, as massaging the muscles (the ones on the outside part of your lower leg, behind the fibula) alleviates some of the discomfort. I am trying to figure out what has caused it, as I haven't twisted my ankle. It could come from switching between the vibrams, the boots that I regularly wear, and other shoes.

Crossfit is definitely helping me to get into shape. I'm noticing that my muscle tone is greatly improving, and the fact that I felt good enough to run 5 miles and still feel good at the end of it means something. The workouts aren't getting any easier, but I can do pull ups again, and my ribs aren't bothering me.

I had an interesting conversation with one of the trainers the other day. We spoke about our experiences as runners, and her view was similar to what mine was when I started all of this. Now, she is a Crossfit trainer, collegiate level soccer player, and she hates running distances. Most Crossfitters dislike the idea of long, slow distances - i.e. Long term aerobic exercise. The idea is that you can get the same overall effect, in terms of health, by performing high intensity anaerobic exercises over a short period of time. Now, this is borne out by some studies, but there hasn't been much in the way of large scale comparative studies done regarding different training styles. And by "large scale," I mean participation in the thousands.

But her attitude surprised me. Within the general philosophy of Crossfit, there is the idea that no matter what the exercise is that confronts you, a Crossfit practitioner would be able to pull it off. The negativity towards LSDs I think is a response to the negativity that has come at people practicing Crossfit from traditional endurance trainers. Which I think is stupid. In order to be a well rounded active person, you need to be able to perform comfortably in both aerobic and anaerobic activities, and, in my opinion, should be able to transition from one to the other with ease. The founders of Crossfit are trying to establish a basic training paradigm that says that the definition of "fitness" not only encompasses overall physical health, but physical ability. From the evolutionary point of view, the most successful or "fittest" individual is the one able to adapt quickly and successfully to whatever environment they are in.

How does this tie into long distance runs, or endurance activities in general? The first event in the 2009 Crossfit games was a 7k combined road/trail/hill run. The course looked like a punisher, but the attitude of the majority of the participants towards the run, compared to some of the other events, was pretty interesting to see. Most of them claimed that they had never run more than a mile at a time, and that 7k was a long distance. Now, admittedly, the course look very, very difficult through some stretches, but it was only 7k. That is a warm up run for most endurance athletes. Admittedly, most endurance athletes wouldn't then be able to do an increasing weight deadlift over the course of ten minutes within 40 minutes of finishing a race. Which is the way that the games went.

It is the attitude that most of the people interviewed had, as well as my trainer. That long distance runs are hard, or bad, or unpleasant. Your mindset towards the work you have in front of you will dictate how you feel about at work. If you are at best neutral to it, then the perceived effort will be neutral. If you think it will suck, then it will suck. For my trainer, I was surprised by her attitude - she is a pretty high level soccer player, and from what I have observed at soccer games, she should be able to run super long distances with little perceived effort. If she is like any other competitive soccer player that I know, she is sprinting, at the least, the equivalent of two miles per game. That's a heck of alot harder than cruising along for five or so miles.

It's only as hard as you want it to be.

My Running Journal, 033110

I haven’t gone running since last week. Not because I am lazy (okay, a little bit of the lazy), but mostly because I really don’t want to over do it. I am doing Crossfit workouts five days out of the week. That is every weekday, with “rest” days on Saturday and Sunday. I am trying to exploring the upper limits of my physical capacity, and keep the activity level dialed to a few notches under the upper limit.

Which means that I have been a little cautious. The strength conditioning workouts at the gym haven’t really taken much out of me, but the “metcon” (as in, metabolic conditioning) sections are. Since this is Crossfit, we are doing brief, intense exercises that place a considerably anaerobic demand on us. My recovery times have never been great – normally people that I have worked out with will recover about twice as fast as I do, and I have a feeling that is due to a blood sugar issue on my part. Last night was especially telling – we did an interval set on rowers. 5 rounds of 40 seconds, all out effort, for calories. We had 4 minutes of rest between each round, and then 10 minutes after the last round we did a 2 minute all out sprint on the rower. Counting the calories really showed me how quickly my performance degrades. The first round I burned 16 calories. The second round 17. The third, 15. The fourth, 14 and the fifth 12. After resting 10 minutes I managed to burn 34 calories in 2 minutes of rowing. The first two rounds I was able to keep my pace strong all the way to the last second, but the second through the fifth rounds my intensity levels dropped way, way down. Whole body fatigue – not to the point where I was unable to think or move, but I could definitely feel the draining sensation. Your limbs get tired, your core gets tired, your brain gets tired of telling your body to move.

Last night’s interval set on the rower gave me a good idea of what I should be shooting for in my CFE interval WODs, though. Which means more gear – a watch with a stopwatch, lap and countdown timer function. Probably a Timex Ironman. Hooray, a valid reason for more toys! I’ve been accumulating smaller bits of workout gear so that I can practice outside of the gym – jumprope, kettlebell, a 6’ section of PVC. A stopwatch is something that will help – I know that I can use my Iphone as a stopwatch and countdown timer, but it isn’t waterproof or very easy to access while moving fast.

I don’t want all of my workouts to end up feeling like that kind of grind. So I am trying to find the balance of my desire to see gains, and my desire to not go backwards. Which is why I haven’t been getting up at 6am to go running. I have been waking up at 6am and assessing if I should go running. And the answer, for the most part, has been “no.” Some of that comes from an honest desire to not over train, and some (probably most) comes from being cozy in bed, and it being pretty cold and rainy outside. Cold and damp I can deal with, cold and pounding rain I don’t think would be good for my health. At least I am not that tough yet.

I have signed up for a clinic in Pose running. The closest trainer is in Salem, which is an hour drive away. So starting the second week of April I will hopefully have some drills and skills to practice, as well as have trained feedback on what I can work on.

My Running Journal, 032510

Today was a wash, as far as runs go. Woke up with the alarm and realized that I wanted more sleep.

So I did. Zero miles at a pace of Zero minutes per mile.

Since I am technically still recuperating from my “injury,” I get to rest. Which made me start thinking about the difference, if any, between “rest” and “recuperation.” Besides the semantics, is there a difference? Gotta think this one through.

I bought a 1 “Pood” kettlebell today. I find it kind of funny that kettlebells are basically measured using an archaic Russian system. One Pood equals 16 kilograms, which comes out to about 35lbs. Which is surprisingly heavy. I was eyeballing the 1.5 Pood Kettlebell, but I need to improve my form with all of the regular Kettlebell exercises. Heavier weights do not necessarily equal improved performance. I probably should get one that is ½ pood (8 kilos), as there are some movements that I tried today that I can’t safely do with the 1 pood bell, for a number of reasons – the primary one is that I’m not ready for that weight in those motions.

Thinking of running, and running performance. Yesterday I talked about running as fast as I could while still maintaining a good posture and pace. As I think about running as a skillset, and not just “Put one foot in front of the other, very fast,” I keep realizing how bad the coaching was that I have received throughout my life. I am sure all of the shortcomings are a combination of me being a bad/slow student, and my instructors and coaches not quite grasping a specific skill, or how to teach that skill.

I am adopting the train of thought that, when it comes to running, the answer to people’s problems doesn’t lie in a pair of shoes that correct for their gait. Or more specifically, the problem is exactly that. I am guilty of giving people bad advice like this, and buying into that thought process. It is interesting to think of how inculcated we are now to look at a physical problem like over pronation or supination and try and fix it with shoes that restrict motion. Up until these past two months, when I thought about running, I thought about pain in my ankles and feet, fatigue, and the shoes that I would wear. Big, padded, awesome shoes. I went to a store that specializes in running. I had my gait analyzed. Shoes were prescribed. Run in these, and your problems will be fixed.

But that is so much bullshit. As I read more, and experience more running in minimalist shoes, I can really see how corrective footwear is a crutch that does not help – and the harm that it can cause, through weakening of the foot, ankles, knees, etc., is tremendous. Now, I know plenty of people who run without discomfort or serious injury, and have all of their lives. It isn’t just the shoe. It is also the runner. I’m happy to see that more and more people have already realized it. That developing running as a skillset is important. Not just “here, try these on.”

I’ve worn a hole in my VFFs. It is really neat to see, since it shoes exactly where the contact is between my feet and the ground. So a new pair is in order soon.

My Running Journal, 032410

Today was the first of my Crossfit Endurance workouts. Which factored in nicely with all of the short distance running that I have been doing. The workout that I am starting with is a time trial (TT) for a short course – which means run 5k as fast as you can.

So I ran 3.45 miles as “fast” as I could. Instead of going hell for leather, I ran as fast as I could while maintaining form. So I finished 3.45 miles in 34:18. Which seems like a long time to me, but I ran a new route, and from mile 1.5 to mile 2.5 was a continuous hill climb, covering about 200 vertical feet, most of which was right at the end of the hill. I’m also trying to figure out how I was averaging a pace of 10:30 in the first mile, but completed the first mile in 9:30, and how my second mile was at a pace of 9:35, but I completed it in 8:43? However that works, I ran a pretty decent pace given the hill involved and my trying to focus solely on maintaining my form.

Which, I discovered, is pretty poor. I really need to find a coach, or get on a treadmill and have someone film me run. On the final leg of the run, I was passing in front of shops with large windows. This allowed me to view my form while I was running. While it is hard to really focus on your reflection in a window next to you while you are running, I managed a few peeks. And I noticed several things. The most glaring issue is my hips and torso. I could really see that my chest was raised, my back was arched, and my butt was out. I had a really pronounced lumbar curve and my posture was very upright. Which isn’t what I want – I am aiming for a forward lean and a neutral torso.

Part of the problem, I think, is that I am running with my abdominal muscles relaxed. Which is allowing my spinal muscles to bear the load, and which is probably pulling my lumbar curve even further out. So I experimented a little bit with pulling my belly button towards my spine and tensioning my abs over all. I didn’t see much change as I was running past the various windows, but I could feel a slight difference. I need to find a treadmill and someone to video me while I run (or at least set up a tripod with my camera).

A good concept for me to keep in mind was first introduced to me while practicing Taijiquan a couple of years ago. Honestly, I wish it had been clearly explained and reinforced while I was a teenager, or before then. The concept is that all movement originates from the core and ends in the extremities. In the martial arts that I was practicing, the idea is that, ideally, you originate your power and movement from your lower dantian (your center of gravity). You then direct that through to your extremities. Something that is becoming quite clear to me, since injuring my abdominal oblique, is that I have failed to incorporate this idea. I thought that I had it – as I can hiptoss people, whip a punch out without utilizing too much of my shoulder to generate the movement, and am really aware of my center of gravity. But truly incorporating the idea of core to extremity really means engaging the core muscles. And it has become obvious to me, based on what I glimpsed in the windows, that I am depending almost exclusively on the muscles that are in my lumbar region for this. When I sprint, I really start to feel a funny, weak joint sensation in my lumbar region. And this also comes in when I would do work on any gymnastic apparatus where your lower body is a pendulum – high bar, rings, parallel bars. Core to extremities – I need to keep my abs tighter when I run or perform any exercise, in order to protect my low back. 20+ years of working out and learning about all of this, and now I am actively thinking about its integration.

I’ve hammered out my workout schedule – and barring further injury I believe that I can handle it. Regular Crossfit on the weekdays, with a CFE workout on Wednesday and Saturday.

I think I am going to sign up for the Race for Roses 5k, to see if my 5k time improves. It will have been about a month from the Shamrock run, and the Race for the Roses track has less of a hill climb in it than the Shamrock run does. We will see.

My Running Journal, 032310

Today I did a short run, 1.27 miles at a pace of around 8:50 min/mile. I had my metronome set to 90bpm, and it was work to keep up with it. I felt like I was putting out a lot of effort to keep up the pace, but overall I didn’t feel that I was putting out a lot of effort – if that makes sense. Most of the effort was in keeping my legs moving fast enough to keep time, and not a whole lot of effort beyond that.

Now, what does that mean? A 9 minute mile will mean my marathon time will be just a hair under 4 hours. I wasn’t exhausted by any stretch of the imagination at the end of today’s run, but I doubt that I could have kept my feet moving that fast for more than 30 or so minutes right now. I’m going to have to by October, and if not faster.

I’m working on transitioning into POSE technique running. I feel that I should find an instructor, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the Portland area who is an actual POSE instructor. Which is funny, given how many people in the Portland area are runners – you’d think someone would have learned this and want to teach it.

The oblique that I strained last week is healing nicely – the muscle itself seems to be fine, but there is still pain and restrictions to my range of movement. If feels as if it is coming from the rib tips themselves, which makes me believe even more that I pulled the ribs out of alignment, or possibly sublaxed the costal cartilage at the ends of the ribs. Whatever I did, I feel that I am able to put about 50% effort into things. I absolutely don’t want to re-injure the area – if I do, it will most likely be worse. So I have to take it easy. Which is causing some motivation problems. This morning I almost didn’t go running. And I definitely didn’t run the distance I was scheduled for. But, I must remind myself, recovery. I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy(er), at least for the next week. And then…

Crossfit Endurance. I’ve decided that this break in my running schedule, again, is a good point to reset my training paradigm. The last break ended up with me switching from running shoes to VFFs, and this break will see me going from LSDs to CFE style workouts. 4-6 Crossfits anaerobic workouts per week, with 2 CFE endurance days. I’ll probably mix in some long distance trail runs, to keep things varied and to get used to running distance – to learn how to maintain form after a long period of sub-maximal output. Or, maximal paced output.

We’ll see. I want very much to be done recovering, an to be able to really, really push myself. I was right on the cusp, and now I have had to ease off a bit.

I have also started to put together a little micro-gym in my office. Right now, it is just a couple of pieces for joint mobility and PNF maintenance. What is PNF, you ask? “Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation.” A video is an easy way of showing what it is. So here is a video (not of me)


That is the general gist of PNF. Bonus, because I still have a tight hamstring that is causing me some pain.
PNF “stretching,” isn’t. The concept behind it, and the physiology behind it, mean that the muscles being “stretched” aren’t in fact stretching – that would imply that the muscle fibers and connective tissues are under mechanical tension and are elongating based on elasticity. Which shouldn’t be the case with PNF – instead, what should theoretically be happening, is that the muscle in question is relaxing under load – and it is doing this to prevent mechanical tension on the tendons. PNF should, in theory, work to make the muscles better able to relax and not stretch. The problem is that “proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation” is tough to say, while “stretching” isn’t. So we can abbreviate it to “PNF.”

Beside the massage table and stools in the office, I now have a 6’ section of 1” internal diameter PVC, otherwise known as the “Incredible Shoulder Mobility Device,” and a loop of climbing webbing to assist in some PNF work with my lower limbs.

Tomorrow, farther, and hopefully just as fast.

My Running Journal, 031810

So no running these past couple of days – my next run is slated to be on Sunday, and will be a 3 miler.

Monday morning during the warm-up in Crossfit we were doing walking handstand drills. Now, I have a background in gymnastics, and handstands are an old hat. But at some point during the drill, I started to feel a little twinge in my left side. By the end of class, the twinge was a dull ache, but my whole body was a little achey/feeling worn, so I chalked it up to the post exercise ache. By the end of the day I was acutely aware that I had probably strained an oblique.

By Tuesday evening the ache hadn’t lessened, but I decided that I would see what it felt like after warming up and getting it mobile – which makes since – one of the best ways of reducing pain in a muscle that is aching due to use is to keep using it – the blood flow helps clear the crap out. In Chinese medicine, pain is caused by a stagnation of blood and/or qi, and so movement is essential.

Instead of handstand drills, we did rope climbing drills. I know how to climb a rope from elementary school, gymnastics, and the USMC. The least fatiguing way to do it is wrap the rope partially around one leg, so that the rope lays over the top of the foot, and then step on the rope with the other foot. This locks the rope between the feet, and with the correct tension between your legs, you can basically climb the rope with almost no upper body strength. However, doing this in minimalist shoes like the Vibrams is a new experience, and since the top of my foot is not calloused, I wanted to not give it rope burn. And I wanted to show off a little bit.

Stoopid. So I tried to climb without my feet. I used to do it in gymnastics, and in the Marines. It isn’t very difficult with enough upper body strength and grip strength. But what I didn’t take into account was the use of your abdominal muscles to stabilize. And how much strain it puts on your obliques, evidently. So when I heard and felt and popping sensation in the bottom of my ribcage, followed immediately by a twisting, excruciating pain, I realized that I was an idiot. I dropped off of the rope, clutching my side. I pressed in to make sure that I hadn’t caused a hernia (nope), but the crackling and popping sound along with the feeling of something moving back into place was a little disconcerting. Since the pain had ceased to be excruciating, and I still had full range of motion, I was pretty sure that I hadn’t torn the muscle in half, or from any of its bony connections. That, at least, was comforting.

So yesterday was a rest and recovery day, as is today, and probably tomorrow and Saturday(although the ocean has calmed down enough that it is probably going to be a great day to go fishing and kayaking, which I haven’t done since October).

I’m trying to not let this get me down. I was in a motivated space where I could see the increase in overall tempo of my training. I was excited to do it, and I was reflecting on how much I actually enjoy running and being physically active. This injury sets me back a week or so training wise, but it is also a test of my ability to heal and recover. It also gives me more time to assess my goals and where I am in achieving them.

Next week, on Monday, I hope to be back in the gym. I have decided that I am also going to train for the marathon using the Crossfit Endurance training paradigm. I’m excited to try it.

My Running Journal, 031610

This morning I was supposed to run 2 miles, but I didn’t. Zero miles in zero minutes.

Instead, I sandbagged. Which is probably a good thing right now, given that, since last week, I have basically been working out everyday since Thursday, and right now five days of work outs in a row is right at the maximal level that I think I can sustain without hurting myself. So when my alarm went off at 0545 this morning, I woke up, hit snooze, and groggily decided to sandbag the run today. Give my calves a rest day.

Not that I am taking the day off, I just didn’t run this morning. No, I have a Crossfit class this evening. So I will get my workout in.

Which leads nicely into what I have been thinking about. I started Crossfit to increase my overall fitness. Part of this whole process has been researching various styles and philosophies of training. Most of the training advice regarding prepping for long distance work involves “LSDs,” otherwise known as “Long, Slow Distances.” The idea being that you train your body to run long distances, well, by running long distance. Which makes sense. As you become accustomed to running longer and longer distances, your brain begins to make the rest of your body more efficient at what it is doing. Your footfall, stride, pace, it all comes together over time. In addition to the basic mechanics of covering long distances, your body begins to change the way it handles food and energy storage. Improving your aerobic stamina generally only comes about by training your aerobic metabolism – and that means long, slow(ish) workouts. The training cycle that I have been following is designed to do that – once I start the actual marathon training cycle, I will begin to run farther and farther each week – increasing my regular runs and then doubling that distance once a week. Which seems to be the standard design of most of the training calendars that I have come across. 18 or so weeks of progressing towards 26 miles.

Now that I have started Crossfit, and have come across the idea of Crossfit Endurance, I am re-thinking that training schedule. I still have time left to reconsider it, as I still have about 12 weeks before I start the marathon training cycle in earnest. So I have a little while to make that decision.

The trick will be convincing myself that CE will work in place of LSDs. Because the last thing that I want to do is half-ass and try and do both. From all of the anecdotal evidence I have come across (i.e., forum posts and speaking with trainers), you can only really do one or the other in order to expect any results other than an injury. And really, half-assing anything is just asking for trouble. I’m still not entirely convinced about certain aspects of CE, but that may just be because I haven’t asked enough questions yet (or I haven’t taken a big enough swig of the CE Kool-aid).

My main question is one of pacing, and having a sufficiently developed aerobic metabolism. I was a gymnast in High School, and had pretty intense anaerobic training – short bursts of power and speed was what I was trained for. When I tried any sort of real aerobic workout, I basically broke down. I’ve been talking about this since I started – learning how to be efficient, how to pace. Metronome, cadence, stride length, etc. How can I develop my aerobic metabolism to the point where I can get to 26+ miles, without actually learning what it feels like to get to that point?

I don’t know. Some ideas are percolating, and I think I may start putting it to the test. There are several races between now and the start point of my marathon training calendar. My run distances right now don’t really come into the LSD category, since none of my training runs are going to be farther than six miles. So I may be able to test out the CE training process in the meantime.

We will see. I figure I’m running close to barefoot right now, what’s another little training modification?

My Running Journal, 031510

Today was a “rest” day, so of course I scheduled myself for an early morning Crossfit class. So much for rest – and to top it off, I think I strained one of my abdominal obliques, doing, of all things, a handstand.

Yesterday was scheduled to be a 4.5 miler, but I ran the Shamrock 5k instead. I finished in 30:17, which works out to be about a 9:40 pace. Not fast at all, but faster than I have been running any of the 3 milers, and plenty fast for right now. I probably could have kept that pace up for five or so miles – and I may have run the first and last mile faster than the middle one, since the middle mile in this race goes up Broadway, from Burnside up to PSU. The hill isn’t spectacular, but I haven’t done much in the way of hill work, and so grinding up it was a chore. Coming down the other side was pretty spectacular and fun. At the point that the course turned downhill, I started turning up my speed (same cadence, basically, just much, much longer stride) – which is easy when you are running downhill. What made it hard was that there were approximately 1000 people all in the same spot, and I think there may have been ten of us really trying to fly down the hill. Made for some awesome zigging and zagging, as well as abruptly having to slow down. I managed to keep enough in the tank to be able to sprint across the finish, but again, I encountered the same issue as I really picked up my pace – people bunched up, or running five to six abreast, at a much slower pace than I was moving at. Now I understand why they sent us out in waves – I can only imagine how a sub six minute/mile runner would feel getting stuck behind a bunch of 10 minuters.

The race, overall, was pretty fun. I hope that as the distances get longer, the fun level stays the same.

My Running Journal, 031210

Crossfit today. Workout was relatively “easy,” insofar as I didn’t feel like vomiting afterwards. Today was a 2 part set, A set was all chest and triceps – 4 rounds, A1 benchpress 3-5 reps at a 5/0 tempo (lower for five seconds, explosive press up) and then rest 20 seconds, A2 3-5 dips then rest 20 seconds, A3 AMRAP pushups and rest. B was L-Sit compressions – sit on the floor, lift feet off of the ground with legs straight and fingertips pressing down on the floor, 5 second lift, 15 second rest, 15 reps.

Pretty simple, right? The wheels completely came off in my second round of the A set – my bench press was fine, but it has been a really, really long time since I have done dips, and between being on a gym floor at 7am and the bench presses, my pushups, were a little spotty.

But I got it done, and I feel good about being back in the swing with Crossfit.

Yesterday afternoon I had this creeping suspicion that I was dehydrated. I’ve been drinking water, but I tend to forget to for long stretches of time. Since starting running and working out in general, I’ve been trying to keep hydrated, but apparently I had fallen back into my usual pattern, which is to get wound up in whatever it is that I happen to be doing at the moment, and then 2 hours (or more) into it, realize that I haven’t had a drink of water in 2 hours. The general idea is that, once you realize that you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. So waiting for thirst to drink water is a relatively bad idea, especially with a marathon as a goal. And I seem to have paid for my forgetfulness to hydrate in several scenarios over many, many years. The most recent being the soreness in my feet and legs. Yesterday afternoon I was hobbling around the office, and I thought that my legs shouldn’t be as sore as they were. Yes, I have been hammering them into the ground, but I’ve had muscle over-use ache before, and this seemed a little on the ridiculous side – especially since there was no sharp pain.

I did a mental checklist of all of the things that I have been doing to stave off the hurt. Anti-oxidant supplements? Check. Hot soaks after runs? Check. Proper stretching, massage, and acupuncture? Check. So what was missing? Simply H2O.

In Boot Camp all of those years ago, one of the things that the Drill Instructors seemed to get a sadistic kick out of was making sure the recruits were properly hydrated. Back then, we were issued 2 1 quart canteens as part of our wargear. When your canteen is less than completely full of water, it sloshes, and makes a considerable amount of noise when you walk or run. So either the canteens on your belt had to be empty, or full – and the only time they were allowed to be empty was if you had just drained them from full. You (as a recruit) were also never allowed to pass out because of heat exhaustion or heat stroke because you weren’t hydrated properly. We would, on a regular basis, have to drain both canteens as quickly as possible into our bodies. Try drinking 2 quarts of water as fast as you can while someone is screaming at you to ‘DRINK!” and then holding the empty canteens, opening down, above your head. And don’t vomit, because you will just have to refill those canteens and drink again.

As sadistic as this sounds, it actually served a purpose beyond the apparent hazing. The most useful place, for a human, to store water is in their body. When you are continually engaging in strenuous exercise, you need to replenish that water. Evidently, a good estimate of how much water you should drink per day, in ounces, is to take your body weight in pounds and divide by 2. The resulting number is a rough estimate of how much water you need to drink, daily, while leading a relatively sedentary life (which means that a person my weight should be drinking at least 3 quarts of water). As you increase your activity levels, so your need to replenish your water increases. So six, maybe eight quarts of water in a day isn’t unreasonable in a hot, humid climate, especially if you are intensely physically active.

How much water have I been drinking per day? Probably on the order of 2 to 3 quarts per day. Which would be fine if I hadn’t started running. My body needs more water, and not just to keep the fluid levels up. All of the metabolic waste that accumulates in your muscles after loading them (lactic acid and such) needs to be flushed out. More water should equate to a faster flushing.

So I doubled my normal water intake last night. Needless to say, I had to get up in the middle of the night, but my calves aren’t as sore as they have been.

I think I need to program my phone to alert me every 30 minutes to drink at least 8 ounces of water. And then I’ll get up every 25 minutes to pee.

You’d think that I would remember my own advice?

My Running Journal, 031110

2 miles @ an average pace of 11:04 min/mile. First mile was done in 11:18, and second mile was done in 10:53.

Oh boy am I looking forward to resting the legs a bit. Especially with a race this Sunday. Today’s run was a bit of a battle even before I started – I woke up feeling a little on the groggy side, and realized it was drizzling and cold outside. And then I stood up. Feet felt swollen and very sore, and the lateral edges of my calves hurt. It is only a soreness, but there seems to be a certain level of muscle weakness – I know that my legs are probably fine, but when I woke up the last thing that I wanted to do was to go for a run.

Got dressed, stepped outside, started the metronome, and the Iphone, and took off. Today was a 2 mile day, and out of the door I wasn’t even sure if I could make it around the block. I started walking, and headed to the corner, turned the corner, and started running. Or trotting. Or something. I had to run about half of a block to get my feet in sync with the beep of the metronome, and then it was a challenge to stay motivated to keep going. To want to keep going. My legs keep telling me to stop, turn around, go home. The little conspirator keeps whispering to me that all I need to do is run a mile, or less. I mean, come on, your legs ache, your muscles all feel creaky, it’s cold, your toes are frozen, you’re tired. Just turn at the next block and go home. You can keep running if you want, but just turn around. So I ran the full two miles today. My pace wasn’t awesome, and I felt like crap for most of it. I was thinking of a whole litany of excuses based on pains and possible muscles pulls.

And that was just two miles. I have found in the past, that if I can make it past the first mile and a half, I mostly stop whining, at least in my head. And the desire to stop after I get past that point, for the most part, only comes on again after six or so miles. What it is going to be like to run 26 miles, I cannot perceive yet.

Since I started running in my Vibrams, I have averaged a pace of about 10:50 minutes per mile. Slow, slow, slow. But averaging my pace from February, I’m moving an average of 6 seconds per mile faster, without shoes on. Which is cool. I’m hoping that this translates to even faster times once I get accustomed to running without running shoes, and my calves quiet down and allow me to start to go for that 8 min/mile pace on every run. What that shows me, even though I am having all of these negative thoughts and questioning myself while I am running, is that I am actually improving. Achey legs aside, I am feeling less and less winded at the end of the runs – which hopefully means that my cardiovascular health and endurance is improving as well. It also means that I need to start pushing to go faster and farther. Which is already set into the schedule that I am keeping – the Sunday runs are incrementally increasing in distance, and by the end of the Spring training cycle, my week day runs will all be 3 milers. Hooray.

I’m trying to keep on track with my diet, but may or may not fail spectacularly. Last night was Dumpling night at a friend’s house, and while I did make a couple using mustard greens as the wrappers, I pretty much gorged myself on fried and boiled dumplings with whole wheat wrappers. So a slightly rough start to my “diet” as far as that goes.

My Running Journal, 031010

Today’s run was a short one, 1.23 miles at an average pace of 9:04 min/mile. I woke up listening to the early morning traffic whizzing by the house on wet roads. Flexed my feet, and definitely felt my calf muscles twinge a little bit. Since I am trying to get in shape for a marathon that is still seven months off, and not cripple myself, today I took it easy.

Sort of. That 9:04 pace was actually skewed – the reason it is that slow is that it includes the first 30 seconds or so of my run, when I was walking and strapping everything down. Looking at the lap summary on mapmyrun, It looks like the first 20 or so seconds I was walking at a pace of about 30 min/mile, and then started running – and by the end of the first minute, I was moving at about an 8 min/mile pace, for an overall first mile average of 9:14. The last .23 miles I was moving at about a pace of 8:22 min/mile.

Still not very fast from a single mile perspective, but it is close to the pace that I will need to hold steady at if I plan on finishing the marathon in four hours or less. And this was a pace that I felt I was pushing on – I definitely had the energy to run faster and/or farther, but I really do need to give myself a little bit of a break for recovery. Today was supposed to be a 3 miler, but between the muscle pain and how cold it was this morning, I am sure I would have pulled something. This is the first single mile that I have tried to run as quickly as I could, and stay on cadence. Still 85 BPM.

Today is also day three of my semi-paleo diet. I’ve decided that it will be easiest in steps, even if that is a cop-out of sorts. Wheat and processed sugars are out, and so far I have been able to not eat wheat (hoorah, two whole days!), and I’ve minimized my processed sugars – I haven’t been adding any to my foods, but I did eat an energy bar yesterday, as well as there being sugar in the sauce that I put on the rapini in last night’s dinner. I also need to start taking my blood sugar, and develop a schedule for that. And of course tonight is a dumpling night, and I’ll probably eat a few dumplings with flour skins. But we’ll see.

My Running Journal, 030910

Today was a 2 miler, which means that I actually only ran 1.98 miles. But I averaged a pace of 10:58 in the first mile, and the second one was a 10:31. And I think my first mile was probably around a 10:30 as well, except that I started the counter when I started walking, and walked about a block to get my legs warmed up.

Today’s run was a little on the painful side. I’m trying to decide if the pain is because my calves are wasted from doing something new, or if I am just being whiny. I’m pretty sure it is a little of both. I re-read the advice on barefooting and running close to barefoot, and I think I wasn’t letting my heel touch down enough. So this morning I tried to focus on allowing my foot to touch down and allow the heel to touch down all the way. If you watch some of the videos of barefoot runners striding on pressure plates, you can see that the whole foot touches down at some point during the footfall.
This one shows it well, right around 3:30


My calf pain probably comes from a combination of not letting my heel down on the footfall – basically springing along, as well as dealing with the changes in the running style.

My feet this morning were cold, but really, at no point was there any pain from them. Running on asphalt primarily this morning, and so there wasn’t much in the way of pokey things to deal with, and only a little bit of glass in certain areas.

I attribute my faster pace to a faster cadence – I bumped the metronome up to 85 BPM from 80, which means that my feet were moving that much faster – 170 steps per minute over 160. I’m going to keep it at 85 for the next week or so, as the increase in pace did not feel like too much more of an effort, and at times I felt like it was a little on the slow side. Of course, I still have to keep in mind that when I feel like I could go faster, I probably shouldn’t (not quite yet) – my reasoning being that I am still trying to entrain my brain to a specific cadence. Surging and then easing back isn’t going to work on a long haul run.

I had the thought “what are your doing?” at about the same spot today as I did the other day. I was thinking about what, if any gains that I have made in my endurance and strength, and if those will increase quickly enough so that I can reach the goal of finishing the marathon in under 4 hours. It is a sort of sense of wonder.