Tired.

Today was eventful. It started like many of our hiking/workout/running days do, sitting lazily on the couch. OK, so we decided to check out the other end of the last trail we hit and found "our new favorite spot". While there I managed to snake in some running, albeit unintentionally, some rock climbing, and some hiking. We didn't go far and I decided not to track it, I didn't want to have a repeat of last time. We started out with a 1/4 mile handicap accessible trail, packed stone dust, and ended at a cove/beach and just did some random exploring from there, and then came back out. Once again, the hiking went well, my only complaint is small rocks/sticks/roots/etc that I step on dig into my feet. Scrambling across rocks becomes an easier task, though it hurts. The extra flexibility and the sticks rubber of the Vibrams makes for an excellent grip on whatever your stepping on. The only exception to that rule is when the surface is slick, like with ice or slick rock moss. This is difficult to grip on because of the lack of tread on the KSO's. Simply wet surface are no problem, but if they have a slick surface otherwise, be careful. A good remedy is to take it slow, lower your center of gravity, and widen and/or augment your base (spread your feet, add hands/butt/etc. to the equation). Anyways, here are some pics of our adventures:

I'll have more later.

After our hike, we headed home to do our regular workout with Bob. As usual, this was grueling. I set out for a 3 miler right afterwards. For the record, it whipped my ass. I was pretty tired from the hike and workout anyways, 3 miles just about killed me.



The first mile plus was uphill, which I did not perform well at. It came in at a painfully slow 10:24, which should also be attributed to the remaining snow and the ever persistent mud on the trail. My second and third mile came in at 9:49 and 9:51 respectively. I had some problems today that concern me a little. Mainly my right leg from the mid calf down is sore and hurt on the impact of my right foot. I feel like that is a twofold problem. One, all the stabilizer muscles were sore from the hike and I may have pushed too hard when I set off on a trail run, sticking to flat, steady pavement may have been better. Two, the last half of that route is pretty slanted and my right foot is falling on the high side of a sloped road. Also, I am beginning to see that my footfall is getting flatter and my heel is impacting harder and harder. This seems to be from fatigue for the most part, so hopefully tomorrow, after some rest, I will see that go away.

I think tomorrow I am going to try working on speed. I have gotten some good ideas from some articles I have read, mostly from Runners World. I'm thinking about picking a 1/4 mile plus section of the trail, jogging lightly downhill and then pushing out a fast uphill. Uphill seems to be a problem for me and I hope this builds my strength, endurance and overall speed. We'll see.

Bad Day

So, I'm currently on a flight to Maryland for work and I'm not sure if I am going to be able to sneak in a run tomorrow. In light of this I decided to go for broke and try out a 3 miler today, the results are in:



Negative. For the record I have officially decided two things. One, weekends off are stupid. Two, when I get tired my form dissipates. I know this is not because I took the weekend off, but I can't help but wonder if that's doing me any good. Let's face it, if this barefoot running thing is really rooted in ancient performance standards, and, if those said standards required ancient man to break out into a run at anytime, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that no matter how hard the unions argued, mother nature does not provide a 5 day work week. Ipso facto, weekends off are stupid.

As for form. As you can see, the elevation of this run climed steadily for the last mile plus. I was dying. Hold on, I have a milion excuses. Lets go with the basics. Rain, it sucks and its demoralizing. Lack of conditioning (see: fat, out of shape, and weekends off are stupid). Wet, muddy, unreliable footing (rain). And last but not least, I had no idea where I was going. Although this isn't really a problem within itself, when added on to a present problem, it left me wishing I was done and not focusing on a defined finish line.

So my form disappeared and I'm feeling pretty tore up and it only gets worse. I decided to walk a little shortly after my 2 mile mark and attempt to regain control over my heart and lungs. This worked good, but I continued to neglect my fundamentals and it didn't save me. Basically, I fell apart. The last string of my run was a disaster, I flailed around and ignored my pace and posture. The only plus I have in it all is that regardless of anything, my foot strike remained the same. At no point did I revert to a heel strike, or even a midfoot strike. That happened naturally, which I am happy about.

Now, my wife will not allow me to violate the agreement to workout with 3 days a week. It just so happens this is one of the mandatory workout days. So, as soon as I got home, wolfed down a peice of fruit (no breakfast yet) and started my hour of sadistic torture at the hands of Bob Harper. Needless to say, it did not go well. I hurt. My back is killing me, and I don't mean one part, neck to butt, killing me. My calfs are dead to the world. And my butt aches. I'm done, fin, over.

Ok, now that I'm done crying, I wanted to share that I am wearing my Vibrams for my trip (aside from my actual appt, casual buisness attire does mean individual toe pockets). So far, almost every TSA Agent questioned me about them, and I was ripped by a Stewardess (yeah, I said it, stewardess) who apparently "doesn't know why anyone would actually want to wear those things" and wondered out loud her co worker if they "violate the shoe requirement for air travel". So mixed review from the public. Oh well, I love them. But, for the less than thick skinned, I ran across a product that I think looks like the best thing since individual toe pockets. Meet Merrel's Trail Glove. The Mrs. has a set of Merrel's of the hiking shoe variety and absolutely loves them. From what I've read, these puppies are the best your going to get if your looking for something to go off road in, or if you don't want to look weird (around our house the Vibrams are known as 'silly shoes').

Alright, my long winded rant is over. The baby on the plane is done crying, and I'm ready for a nap. Keep running (no weekends off).

Rest-ish

So, after the pretty exciting day yesterday, I decided that I would relax on the run and just workout with the Mrs. She just bought a new workout DVD because her other one got scratched. She likes Bob Harper (Biggest Loser) and decided on one of his extreme weight loss cardio workouts, thinking "How bad could this be?" Wow. We were in for a surprise. So we start in to it and BAM! the warm up is vigorous! Then BAM! we get hit with the workout. Now were looking at each other going "Oh no, what did we do?" Both of us, destroyed by the end. I was using 5lb weights and I thought my arms were going to fall off. Lunges, of all different persuasions, comprised the majority of the workout. I felt alright for a while after the workout, but now, I'm hurting. I would have felt better after a 3 mile run! My butt, kicked.

On a second note, I have decided to take on a new approach to my running. I am going to start formulating a workout, as opposed to haphazardly going out for a run everyday. I am aiming for 5 days a week, taking weekends off. Monday, Wednesday, Friday will be my "light" days, I am shooting for 1.5 milers on these days (plus the doing the slaughterhouse of a workout with the Mrs.). On Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll stretch the run out for my "heavy" runs, starting with 3 milers for now. As I get better, I will up my distance proportionately. At some point I think I will have to figure out what a good "maintenance" run is (something reasonable to keep me in good shape that I can fit in my day) and leave my heavy days for the serious running. We could be some distance away from this, but, seeing how easily three mile came for me, I think this is the best way to go.

Third note, I have added a picture page. I am going to start posting some pictures and putting links to them in the corresponding blogs. I might put up another page for Endomondo trackings as well, which is an excellent service to track, record, and analyze your workouts. Lost of neat features and a really simple interface to work with.

Till next time. Enjoy it!