Easy Week

Saturday, last week, I set out on a 10 mile run,


 Invigorating and enjoyable, but I am getting tired, and I can tell. Both my calves are feeling worn down, I am sore, achy, tired. That's where the easy week comes in, and good thing it came in when it did.

Every fourth week, I set out on 3, 4, or even 5 mile runs at an easy pace. It's one of the most important parts of the regimen. It's a lot like anything in life, you can go and go and go, but at some point you need to scale back and relax. That doesn't mean quit, just trim your workload and take it slow. It gives your body, and sometimes more importantly your mind, a much needed break. Your muscles have a chance to rebuild. You have a chance to once again focus on fundamentals. Your not worried about pace or efficiency, just enjoying a little run.

I have been doing a lot of these runs completely barefoot. That is helpful in a few ways. First of all, contrary to popular belief, it feels great. After running barefoot a few times and building some tougher skin on the bottom of your feet (which sounds a lot more unattractive than it actually is) the runs become like a massage. You work the muscles in your feet against the ground and it really loosens them up. Second, being able to feel the ground is a unique and truly enjoyable experience. It involves you in the run in a way that wearing a shoe will always prevent. Third, which is kind of a spin off of the second point, your form auto corrects. The ability to be so in tune with the ground and your feet puts you naturally into the correct alignment. Your feet will not allow you to run incorrectly on them. Even with the Vibram's, you still lose some connectivity to the ground, and your form can suffer. I do the bulk of my road running in Vibram's and I see that my form will diminish, but, no matter what, when I set out barefoot, it's perfect and I can't change it. Bare feet are the Cadillac of running shoes. Try it! You just might like it.

Sometimes we just need to slow down and recenter ourselves. That's the key to keeping the running a positive experience. I'm not doing this because I want to lose weight, or because I have this unbelievable drive to be the best runner ever, I just like it. But, if I spend all my time working so hard, it won't be fun anymore, it'll be work. This isn't work, it isn't even a workout, it's just something I like to do. I'm going to keep it that way by going out and having fun, without trying to kill myself.
Till next time, keep running.

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

Life gets crazy. It's strange that I would find some sort of comfort in going out and running, but it is the only cure for an uncertain world. Even when running is uncertain, it still provides a comfort and stability. I think in all the status updates, all the emails, all the shows we have to see, all the things that have to get done, all the time we don't have to do it, and all the running around, running is the only thing that actually allows us to relax. I went out for my long run on Monday, last week, and I rediscovered why I am doing this. I spent 1 hour and 22 minutes just paying attention to how I feel. How is my pace? Are my feet getting blisters? Watch out for that rock. Oh boy, here comes the uphill. Slow down, catch your breath. God it's beautiful out here. It seems hectic, but its so introspective, it's relaxing. It's giving you the opportunity to evaluate you, to see whats going on around you, and to experience burdens and accomplishments alike. I can only hope that more people can enjoy it, just don't crowd my lane, haha.

I have experienced so many strange looks, objections, arguments, comments, insults, and reactions that can only be described as disbelief. I am 6'0", 220lbs. I started this adventure at 240lbs. I'm not all the way there yet, but I'm getting there. Something I learned in the military is that no matter how much you learn, there is always more. I learn something new with every step, every post run evaluation, and every forum, blog, review, comment I read. It's the beauty of the whole thing. I am just here trying to learn as much as I can and keep an open mind to something new. If hadn't done that, I wouldn't have started this odyssey in the first place. I have a 10 mile run this weekend. I am so excited to do it. Nothing feels better than doing it.




Maine is a temperamental place, with lots of cons. But, when it's nice out, what a beautiful coastline. Find some and run it. This guy is a perfect example. A relatively even, easy 9 min pace. I need to start checking out options for hydration/nutrition on the run. When I hit the hour mark, I started to feel weaker, noticeably. I think between hydration and bringing a booster on the run with me, I should be all set. I have checked out some options and I think I am going to start trying to evaluate them. Other than that, though, what a great run. I enjoyed every minute of it, even the rough ones.

If you can't enjoy running, I'm not sure why you would bother. I didn't ever want to do this, until I found out it's fun. I have spent hours reading everything I can find on form, stance, arm swing, foot fall, gear, clothes, shoes, techniques, and nutrition. I don't know it all, and that's half the fun. I get to experience the learning process every time I go out. Find what works and try to improve, then keep an open mind to what might work better. Not everything does, but that shouldn't stop you from trying. I can't wait to hit the road again. Until next time, keep running.

I have a lot of catching up to do. There have been quite a few changes to my life over the past couple of weeks. First and foremost, the Mrs. is pregnant. I am so excited and I can't wait for my baby (boy) to come.

Due to the expansion of my wife as a result of preggo-ness, there's no more Bob Harper workouts (thank you, baby). I have been running 2 miles in the mornings and then doing some pull ups, push ups, and ab work when I get back. It's been going pretty good (other than having to get up early) and I am definitely seeing results. It only takes about a half hour, so I manage to get a good workout in before work (I'm now working day shift). Then I knock out my actual workouts on my days off.

I am now training for a half marathon. Yes, a half marathon. Yes, I am scared. No, I am not backing down. October is the timeframe, and I am excited. The workout schedule I'm following now needed to be reevaluated to ensure it is meeting that goal of a half marathon. As it turns out, it's just fine. I went back to Runners World, punched in my new info and it punched out, more or less, the plan I have now. All I ended up doing was keeping my long runs going up in mileage. Both the old and new plan stagnated at 13 miles. So I am looking at running 13 miles by July, and 16 miles by August. I haven't calculated what I'll be at in September and October, but as long as the plan goes well, I should be fine for a half marathon in October.

I ran a race! We went home to NY for a week to visit family and I figured while I was back in civilization, I would try and find a 5k. I ended up finding one, courtesy of The Adirondack Runners. It was a fun trail run at the YMCA in Glens Falls, NY. This isn't the exact run I did, this is me heading out and trying out the trails before the race:



Like I said, total fun run. I ended up coming in at 26:38. I am very happy with it. and I enjoyed every second of it. I cant wait to do another race.

So, with all the revelations of these past couple of weeks, I have upped my mileage, increased my experience, and found a lot to love. here are the past 2 weeks of workouts:


Haha. This one sucked. The weather was horrible. Rain, wind, the whole works. Miserable.


I wanted to see how fast I could run a 5k. Not bad, but I couldn't keep a good pace, note the ups and downs on the speed graph.


Just a little jaunt around my hometown. Good run. Just a quick note, I wouldn't suggest running on railroad tracks in Vibrams, especially the ones with gravel in between the ties. Beat up feet. Enough said. Other than that, Cambridge is an awesome town to go for a run in. Scenic and beautiful.


This was a failed attempt at speedwork on the track at school. Not successful. The little one came with me and she was supposed to have some company from her grandmother, but the Schmeebe had a meeting so I had to cut the workout short and entertain the kid. I enjoyed hanging out with her anyways, and it's good to take a break and enjoy life.


This is the first of my morning runs. I'm going to continue to track them but I think it would be a waste of time and space to try and put them all on here. Good run, very steady. I am very happy about that.


BAM! The 8 miler. Awesome run. There were some rough hills, but I never got winded or worn out. It was great!


And this was todays slow run. I love seeing that steady pace. I dont mind the little deviations like the one at the 15 min mark, as long as it doesn't look like the first 5 minutes.

It was a good couple of weeks for me. Busy, but good. I'll be back in a week to give the stats on this weeks runs. I have a 9 miler coming up on Sunday, I am really excited to keep increasing the mileage. I am impatient all week waiting for it. Anyways, till next time, keep running.

Stepping it up...

As I have previously stated... running barefoot is awesome. I decided that I'm comfortable enough with running with the Vibram's to try out running without anything on. Since I have the two easy runs every week, I figure that is the perfect time to do it. So, I did. It was awesome. I have blisters. Haha. They aren't bad, just obnoxious, and they went away quickly, within a day or so. Here are my runs from this week:

This was my first barefoot run. I am happy with it. The pace was a little slow, but I have supple baby feet, and they needed some babying. I turned out fine, but when I stopped running, the road suddenly got painful, and every pebble scooted around to ensure it was right underneath my blisters. The road may be evil, but the Post Office parking lot is Satan's mentor. I suppose it's all about toughening up though. I'll get there in due time.




This is a 'Tempo Run'. I was apparently supposed to go out and run my first and last miles at an 11:20 pace and clock the middle three miles at a 9:30 pace. Instead I ran the first four miles at an avg of 9:37. I am thoroughly surprised and happy about how well this run went. The first mile was downhill for the most part and I think that's why the mile went so smooth. The second mile plus was the amazing part. I stuck to a steady 9:49 pace and climbed 143ft. I was panting pretty hard when I crested the hill, but I was much better off than I could imagine. I pretty much stayed steady for the remainder of the run with the exception of a couple of steep downhill lengths and the last mile. I took my Vibram's off and finished up barefoot, cruising in with a 10:40 on my last mile. I'll go over the downhill problem in a little.




Another barefoot easy run. The locals are beginning to stare. The Mailman commented on possible rock hazards. Oh well. The run went fine.




And the big momma. Ouch. That pretty much wraps it up. This run was rough, I have a million excuses and complaints. It's a little discouraging to go out for a run like this and have it go poorly. I attempted to keep my pace slow, as opposed to the tempo run, and speed up as I warmed up. It didn't happen until the final mile, when I decided the least I could do is finish strong. I struggle with the road being sloped, keeping a steady pace, downhills, and my left hip. (and the excuses start) I had just gotten off my shift at work (12hr night) and I was clocking at about 19 hours awake on 5 hours sleep, so I was exhausted.

Now, the downhills. I don't know how to do them. It seems like there are two options. One, take it slow. This works, but it's taxing to do a long downhill stretch (or a steep one) and try to control the decent, plus I feel like it puts tension on my joints that doesn't feel good. Two, I could try and let gravity do its work. This works but it pounds the crap out of my feet and I feel like I'm not in control. That makes me feel like an accident waiting to happen. I'll have to continue to work on that.

It started out as a good week and got rough at the end. Its all about pushing through (and learning from) the difficult days and make it to the good ones. When you get to those good days, enjoy them. Enjoy as much as you can. Keep running. See ya.

I love Bare Feet!!

Ok, this isn't the whole scoop, but I couldn't resist. I went for my 2 mile easy run today, and after about a 1/4 mile, I took the Vibram's off and rocked it hippie style. It was great! If Vibram's make you a good runner (Jackie), barefoot will make you an awesome runner. Take it slow, there is collateral damage to deal with. My feet have some new blisters, but I dont give a damn. Anyways, heres the after action report:

I'll be back next week, keep running.

Pictures

I have a better way for photos to be shared. Go here. I'll add a link on the page so you dont have to search for a blog to get there, but I'll repost the link whenever I add pics. Thanks.

Gnarly

I actually stuck to the plan this week, and it made for a good one. Here's the rundown:

The slow runs have been awesome. They recharge me and give me the opportunity to work on my form and footfall. Although it might seem counter productive to go out for a slow, low mile run, it's totally worth it. Try it, and enjoy it.




"Speedwork", also known as torture. I set out to run this one as planned, 1mi slow, repeats (800m fast, 400m slow x3) 1mi slow. It ended up that on the second repeat, I died. you can see the peaks and valleys here in the graph. The high points are me starting to speed up, note that they quickly trail off. Speed isn't a strong suit, but it will be a subject of focus once a week.




Another slow run. As you can see, I had no idea where I was going. I just went out one morning for a jog and went wherever. It was fun. I am settled in pretty well on my easy runs to a 10:30-10:50 pace. Much better than the 11:30 suggested by Runners World. I'm happy.





OK, here's the big one. To start out, I had some worries about my feet on a six mile run. The farthest I have gone so far is 4 miles, and that wasn't a consistent run. My feet have been swollen and sore. So I decided I would run in my Nike running shoes. I began to regret that immediately. First of all, that sharp drop in the beginning of the run is me retying my shoe. Stupid. Before I even hit the mile mark, my back and knees were hurting. I couldn't find a good form. I tried really hard to run exactly like I do with the Vibrams on, but they just aren't built for it, but I did avoid going to a heel strike. A little after I hit the 3 mile mark, I stopped the time and  loosened my shoes up as far as they could go. That helped a lot. The tight shoe and the all of its motion control factors were negated when I loosened it up, and I ended up just having to deal with the giant sole on them. It doesn't seem like much, but when you've been running in Vibrams, it's really noticeable. I got through it, but I am never running in those things again.

As for the run. It went great. The first 3 miles were into a 15+ mph headwind. That was miserable. But, I maintained a steady pace the whole time. The second half of my run took me off the trail and back on to the pavement. My 4th mile felt like it ended really fast, I must have been distracted, it was my slowest lap time. The run didn't get worse after the first half, it stayed about the same. I think with a good pace, I'll be alright with increasing the mileage over the months.

It was a good week, we got in some hiking too, I'll have some pictures up. Anybody who might find themselves int he Downeast area of Maine should head straight to Acadia National Park. It is awesome. Anyways, I am excited to get back to the grind this week. I'll be back in a week to post my findings. Keep running. Out.