1 Year Bare!
I turned 61 this year, but more importantly, today is my 1 year anniversary of birthday suit running... well, on my feet at least! I celebrated with a 5k this evening -- 3.2 miles, 50:38, just at 16 min/mile, 1 mile bare... barely running indeed!
Actually, most of the miles have been in huaraches or VFFs, but about 1/4 have been barefoot for the last 3 months - Cool! Mostly I have been on smooth concrete sidewalks and short chip seal sections. It feels good most of the time!
I have had no injuries. I got close once when I was not paying attention (can you believe it! just floatin' along bare...) and I hit a raised joint between 2 sections of sidewalk. Ones reflexes get very good, so my foot just sort of popped up from the impact and I landed a little harder on the other foot. I was very happy when I did not fall and got right back into stride with no pain! I figured I would pay for it later, but there were no affects I could notice. I was lucky that my toes were up and spread, so the impact was spread along the bony metatarsal ridge. Very cool. Lucky toes! Other than that I have had a couple of small blisters, but they were from the shoes/sandals.
My weight has gone down a little, but more importantly, my belts were on a middle hole and now are loose on the smallest hole... the doc is delighted!
OK, here are some stats... Total miles -- 269.4
............................Beginning Average Recent 20 runs
Pace Length 48 49.8 51.6
Pace/Minute 62 78.6 77.0
min/mile 18.7 16.4 16.0
Marathon Pace 8:18 7:08 6:58
Weight lbs 265 255
Waste " 48 43
Now that is Barely Running!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Barely Running did a 5k
Barely Running did a 5k
I did my first semi-official 5k today. I was a bit upset with my time, and I wonder about the accuracy of the distance measurement. I just measured a loop with my car odometer, then ran it and I was around 16.5 mpm. Today I was 17.25 mpm! I don't think so! I felt good and did not have much trouble with the hilly trail near my office.
It was a diabetes awareness run/walk with 145 participants who went out any time during the day. I went at 9 in my VFF KSOs and the sidewalk was already getting hot. I decided not to barefoot any of the distance, although it would have been a fun time to do it... prove the my office friends that I really do run bare... After a shower I noticed that I forgot to bring my regular shoes... duh... I do not like wearing shoes without socks and my Injinji's make my KSOs to tight... so I did the day in my regular socks! Really impressed my boss during my quarterly review...
I have seen 3 recent videos to encourage and chalange me!
-- This "Birthday Shoes" site has a great, short intro to Chi Running -- http://birthdayshoes.com/an-introduction-to-chirunning
-- This site shows the recent force plate results by Dr Daniel Lieberman, the Barefoot Professor. He is a strong proponent of the pursuit hunting theory of human evolution... I am a creationist, but I have no problem with adaptive selection working in a population. I think the original design was good and included change mechanisms that allow quick adaption with no need for millions of years. We have almost exactly the same foot and leg structures as the earliest human fossils they have found. The designer built adaptation into the system! This is a strong support for why barefoot is good! -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE
-- This link has come around on the minimalist running site several times. The female runner, Jacky Juni, is so incredible in her running form! It shows a slow jog and a faster run at full speed and slo-mo. Watch the ball strike, watch the heal travel path, the knee and hip motion, watch the high cadence, watch the nearly level movement of the torso. -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CERyUWwWkOc&feature=related Think she can't run fast... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XU7Sddlqis&feature=related... shod and in minimal shoes - screamin'!
I also just spent 1/2 hour watching my grand kids run around. Their form is so perfect too! What a joy to be...
Barely Running
I did my first semi-official 5k today. I was a bit upset with my time, and I wonder about the accuracy of the distance measurement. I just measured a loop with my car odometer, then ran it and I was around 16.5 mpm. Today I was 17.25 mpm! I don't think so! I felt good and did not have much trouble with the hilly trail near my office.
It was a diabetes awareness run/walk with 145 participants who went out any time during the day. I went at 9 in my VFF KSOs and the sidewalk was already getting hot. I decided not to barefoot any of the distance, although it would have been a fun time to do it... prove the my office friends that I really do run bare... After a shower I noticed that I forgot to bring my regular shoes... duh... I do not like wearing shoes without socks and my Injinji's make my KSOs to tight... so I did the day in my regular socks! Really impressed my boss during my quarterly review...
I have seen 3 recent videos to encourage and chalange me!
-- This "Birthday Shoes" site has a great, short intro to Chi Running -- http://birthdayshoes.com/an-introduction-to-chirunning
-- This site shows the recent force plate results by Dr Daniel Lieberman, the Barefoot Professor. He is a strong proponent of the pursuit hunting theory of human evolution... I am a creationist, but I have no problem with adaptive selection working in a population. I think the original design was good and included change mechanisms that allow quick adaption with no need for millions of years. We have almost exactly the same foot and leg structures as the earliest human fossils they have found. The designer built adaptation into the system! This is a strong support for why barefoot is good! -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE
-- This link has come around on the minimalist running site several times. The female runner, Jacky Juni, is so incredible in her running form! It shows a slow jog and a faster run at full speed and slo-mo. Watch the ball strike, watch the heal travel path, the knee and hip motion, watch the high cadence, watch the nearly level movement of the torso. -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CERyUWwWkOc&feature=related Think she can't run fast... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XU7Sddlqis&feature=related... shod and in minimal shoes - screamin'!
I also just spent 1/2 hour watching my grand kids run around. Their form is so perfect too! What a joy to be...
Barely Running
Friday, June 4, 2010
First 20 mile week!
First 20 mile week!
Barely Running over 20 miles in a week (actually 21.4!) may not seem like much to many of you, but to me it is a major accomplishment! I used to walk way more than that when I was training for the Portland Marathon (walking). Near the end I was doing something like 6 mile walks on Tuesday and Thursday then 18 on Saturday, so that is 30 miles a week and some weeks were even more. I know, some of you may go out and run 30 miles for fun... but not me. 20 miles in a week is a major event for me!
I started running on August 5, 2009, a day after I decided to give barefoot running a try in my back yard... In the middle of BTR ("Born to Run"). I loved it so much! And, it did not hurt! The next day I grabbed my flat soled Velcro sandals and hit the bike trail while my daughters were at swim practice. I only ran 2 miles, and it felt great! I could not believe that I could run up hill easier than walking up! Since then I have logged 225 miles, went from an average rate of 18.5 min/mile (mpm) t0 16.4 mpm today... barely running... I also went from 265 lbs to 254 pounds... not fast weight loss either I guess, but like running, I will take it!
This week we were in a beautiful setting over looking Nottingham Lake in Avon Colorado. I paced it off around the lake at .67 mile. So, I either ran 4 laps plus some barefoot to finish the 3 miles, or I just did a 5th lap bare, giving 3.35 miles. One day we "wogged" along the Eagle river trail. That was about 4 miles, so I counted 3 of them. All of my times were estimated because I forgot my digital watch and my phone was almost dead... and I brought the wrong charger! Ya'think I was escaping from tech??? Anyway, I just decided to do the milage and let the time pass. Tonight's run was a reward though. I was home and timed it - I did the last 3 miles at 16:41... not bad for me!
I did develop a sore back this week. That often happens when I am on a different bed anyway, so I do not think it was the extra runing. Actually, since high school I have had constant bouts with lower back pain. The best relief I have had was by being active! When I used to commute by bike a few days a week to work 12 miles away, I had almost no back pain! Since I started running I have no back pain while running (which used to kill me when shod-style running!) and most of the time I have much reduced back pain... guess I should just keep running! I was a bit afraid of it this week because it was the first time I ran consecutive days... I ran at least 3 miles every day this week! About 1/4 was barefoot on chip-seal bike path and some grass.
Tonight, on my first segment I noticed that I was hitting my heal fairly hard, which has almost never happened with barefoot-style, and that was sending waves up my leg to hurt my back. I can only figure that it was from the back pain throwing off my alignment. So, I slowed down (even more...) and concentrated on form... I was prepared to stop, but did not need to. I was able to get away from the heal strike. When I went bare for the last segment, I was totally free from both back pain and heal pounding... good thing! I also developwd a crack in my heal later in the week. That is not unusual either, and again I think it was not caused by the running. Actually, it hurt quite a bit while walking, but did not hurt at all while running with the forefoot strike... cool!
btw... Another highlight of my week was some grassy, barefoot interval runs. I had to estimate distance and time, but by my reconing I hit a 10 mpm rate, which is my Holy Grail. I only laid out a .06 mile course near the condo, but hay, I loved it! A cool thing I noticed was a huge stride length difference. In my "long distance" shuffle mode I have developed from a 48" pace (right foot to right foot) to a 50.1" pace. However, while running at the 10 mpm rate my pace length is about 71.7"! That is a 43% increase! The real reward was from my 15 year old daughter, a naturally gifted runner. All she had to say was "Hey Dad! I saw you! You were really running!", and I melted... For a moment I was not
Barely Running
Barely Running over 20 miles in a week (actually 21.4!) may not seem like much to many of you, but to me it is a major accomplishment! I used to walk way more than that when I was training for the Portland Marathon (walking). Near the end I was doing something like 6 mile walks on Tuesday and Thursday then 18 on Saturday, so that is 30 miles a week and some weeks were even more. I know, some of you may go out and run 30 miles for fun... but not me. 20 miles in a week is a major event for me!
I started running on August 5, 2009, a day after I decided to give barefoot running a try in my back yard... In the middle of BTR ("Born to Run"). I loved it so much! And, it did not hurt! The next day I grabbed my flat soled Velcro sandals and hit the bike trail while my daughters were at swim practice. I only ran 2 miles, and it felt great! I could not believe that I could run up hill easier than walking up! Since then I have logged 225 miles, went from an average rate of 18.5 min/mile (mpm) t0 16.4 mpm today... barely running... I also went from 265 lbs to 254 pounds... not fast weight loss either I guess, but like running, I will take it!
This week we were in a beautiful setting over looking Nottingham Lake in Avon Colorado. I paced it off around the lake at .67 mile. So, I either ran 4 laps plus some barefoot to finish the 3 miles, or I just did a 5th lap bare, giving 3.35 miles. One day we "wogged" along the Eagle river trail. That was about 4 miles, so I counted 3 of them. All of my times were estimated because I forgot my digital watch and my phone was almost dead... and I brought the wrong charger! Ya'think I was escaping from tech??? Anyway, I just decided to do the milage and let the time pass. Tonight's run was a reward though. I was home and timed it - I did the last 3 miles at 16:41... not bad for me!
I did develop a sore back this week. That often happens when I am on a different bed anyway, so I do not think it was the extra runing. Actually, since high school I have had constant bouts with lower back pain. The best relief I have had was by being active! When I used to commute by bike a few days a week to work 12 miles away, I had almost no back pain! Since I started running I have no back pain while running (which used to kill me when shod-style running!) and most of the time I have much reduced back pain... guess I should just keep running! I was a bit afraid of it this week because it was the first time I ran consecutive days... I ran at least 3 miles every day this week! About 1/4 was barefoot on chip-seal bike path and some grass.
Tonight, on my first segment I noticed that I was hitting my heal fairly hard, which has almost never happened with barefoot-style, and that was sending waves up my leg to hurt my back. I can only figure that it was from the back pain throwing off my alignment. So, I slowed down (even more...) and concentrated on form... I was prepared to stop, but did not need to. I was able to get away from the heal strike. When I went bare for the last segment, I was totally free from both back pain and heal pounding... good thing! I also developwd a crack in my heal later in the week. That is not unusual either, and again I think it was not caused by the running. Actually, it hurt quite a bit while walking, but did not hurt at all while running with the forefoot strike... cool!
btw... Another highlight of my week was some grassy, barefoot interval runs. I had to estimate distance and time, but by my reconing I hit a 10 mpm rate, which is my Holy Grail. I only laid out a .06 mile course near the condo, but hay, I loved it! A cool thing I noticed was a huge stride length difference. In my "long distance" shuffle mode I have developed from a 48" pace (right foot to right foot) to a 50.1" pace. However, while running at the 10 mpm rate my pace length is about 71.7"! That is a 43% increase! The real reward was from my 15 year old daughter, a naturally gifted runner. All she had to say was "Hey Dad! I saw you! You were really running!", and I melted... For a moment I was not
Barely Running
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Modified VFF KSOs
Modified VFF KSOs
Folks, you will find below a few snippets from the Minimalist Runner Google group that I read. I edited them a little bit to make them readable in this context. Check out the thread here.
4/5/10
I searched back through the posts for items about VFF KSOs causing numbness. I did not find anything except the discussions about running in the cold. Today it was almost 70 degrees and beautiful in Westminster CO (NW of Denver), so I did not expect any numbness! I have been running about 12 miles per week, which is a lot for me. I did not run for 40 years and just started last summer after reading BTR. I have lost 10 pounds down to 255 but gained a birthday up to 61... what can you do??? For the previous 4 years I did walk a lot with ball strike and barefoot or minimal sandals/mocs so I transitioned to the running very easily. When walking shod I got metatarsal pain a lot and had to stop often to stretch during a marathon (Portland, 1999 7:01:53). While I am running in minimal gear or barefoot, I usually do not need to stop when I feel the pain and can just stretch my feet on the fly - very cool!
This afternoon I got a late start so I decided to just do 3 miles and push the pace a bit... now for me, that means under 15 min/mile (you may remember that my blog is called "Barely Running"). At about 2 miles I started to feel the little ridge that is on the sole of the KSOs just behind the ball. I was it a bit annoying on other runs, but tonight it really started bothering me.. not really hurting, but it almost felt like running on a stick! I took a breather at 2.25 and worked my foot over on a pointy rock... that feels so good to give yourself a massage right there on the trail! I am running on sidewalk and chip-seal road, so I do not have many rocks to massage me while I run... oh well. (I get the pain less on gravely trails.) I was afraid I would get the metatarsal pain, so I spent several minutes to be sure the foot felt OK. It is a gentle downhill all the way home, so I was really trying to be loose and let myself stretch out. I was concentrating on lifting my foot quickly and putting it down softly and quietly. I was in the zone... then the foot started to go numb! Rats! It did not hurt, so I kept on going to my house. The numbness stopped after just a few minutes with the KSOs off.
Has anyone else been bothered by the ridge behind the ball on the bottom of their KSOs? I wonder if I can buff that area down a bit to make it a smooth transition. Has anyone done that successfully? I thought I would bounce it off the group before I practice on my birthday-persent-KSOs! Chaptor
4/6/10
Thanks everyone... I have not had much time to read the last week! I have run twice more in the KSOs and have not had any numbness. Maybe it was a fluke!
Interesting thoughts from the group members!... I expected there would be from this group! About the size question, I think if anything I bought KSOs that were too small. I
suppose that could miss-position the transition ridge. Someone asked for clarification on the ridge I mentioned - You are right that I am talking about the transition from the thin arch area to the thicker area under the ball. I was thinking of buffing that transition so that it is smoother.
Someone asked if I had flat feet... I do not have flat feet! I had a fairly good arch even when I started going barefoot walking 4 years ago. I have often been bare or stocking footed most of my life. Since I have been running several people have noted that I have a very good arch... take that all you pretty people!
Someone mentioned loosening the strap - I do keep the strap fairly tight, so I can try loosening that a bit. Thanks everyone! Chaptor
5/1/10
An update... I ground down the ridge I mentioned and it made a big difference in my comfort! I have noticed several other posts on the group regarding numbness in VFFs, so please check out my fix on my blog. It only took a few minutes... please excuse the flute making PVC "dust" around my drill press! "Barely Running" http://chaptor2.scroggles.com
Folks, you will find below a few snippets from the Minimalist Runner Google group that I read. I edited them a little bit to make them readable in this context. Check out the thread here.
4/5/10
I searched back through the posts for items about VFF KSOs causing numbness. I did not find anything except the discussions about running in the cold. Today it was almost 70 degrees and beautiful in Westminster CO (NW of Denver), so I did not expect any numbness! I have been running about 12 miles per week, which is a lot for me. I did not run for 40 years and just started last summer after reading BTR. I have lost 10 pounds down to 255 but gained a birthday up to 61... what can you do??? For the previous 4 years I did walk a lot with ball strike and barefoot or minimal sandals/mocs so I transitioned to the running very easily. When walking shod I got metatarsal pain a lot and had to stop often to stretch during a marathon (Portland, 1999 7:01:53). While I am running in minimal gear or barefoot, I usually do not need to stop when I feel the pain and can just stretch my feet on the fly - very cool!
This afternoon I got a late start so I decided to just do 3 miles and push the pace a bit... now for me, that means under 15 min/mile (you may remember that my blog is called "Barely Running"). At about 2 miles I started to feel the little ridge that is on the sole of the KSOs just behind the ball. I was it a bit annoying on other runs, but tonight it really started bothering me.. not really hurting, but it almost felt like running on a stick! I took a breather at 2.25 and worked my foot over on a pointy rock... that feels so good to give yourself a massage right there on the trail! I am running on sidewalk and chip-seal road, so I do not have many rocks to massage me while I run... oh well. (I get the pain less on gravely trails.) I was afraid I would get the metatarsal pain, so I spent several minutes to be sure the foot felt OK. It is a gentle downhill all the way home, so I was really trying to be loose and let myself stretch out. I was concentrating on lifting my foot quickly and putting it down softly and quietly. I was in the zone... then the foot started to go numb! Rats! It did not hurt, so I kept on going to my house. The numbness stopped after just a few minutes with the KSOs off.
Has anyone else been bothered by the ridge behind the ball on the bottom of their KSOs? I wonder if I can buff that area down a bit to make it a smooth transition. Has anyone done that successfully? I thought I would bounce it off the group before I practice on my birthday-persent-KSOs! Chaptor
4/6/10
Thanks everyone... I have not had much time to read the last week! I have run twice more in the KSOs and have not had any numbness. Maybe it was a fluke!
Interesting thoughts from the group members!... I expected there would be from this group! About the size question, I think if anything I bought KSOs that were too small. I
suppose that could miss-position the transition ridge. Someone asked for clarification on the ridge I mentioned - You are right that I am talking about the transition from the thin arch area to the thicker area under the ball. I was thinking of buffing that transition so that it is smoother.
Someone asked if I had flat feet... I do not have flat feet! I had a fairly good arch even when I started going barefoot walking 4 years ago. I have often been bare or stocking footed most of my life. Since I have been running several people have noted that I have a very good arch... take that all you pretty people!
Someone mentioned loosening the strap - I do keep the strap fairly tight, so I can try loosening that a bit. Thanks everyone! Chaptor
5/1/10
An update... I ground down the ridge I mentioned and it made a big difference in my comfort! I have noticed several other posts on the group regarding numbness in VFFs, so please check out my fix on my blog. It only took a few minutes... please excuse the flute making PVC "dust" around my drill press! "Barely Running" http://chaptor2.scroggles.com
Friday, April 16, 2010
Invisible Shoes?
Invisible Shoes?
VFF KSOs are not what I would call invisible, but I have not had very many people ask about them. Of course, I do not see all that many people while out in them, but they do get stares when they are noticed!
I have been doing well in the VFFs but had a rough time the last 3 miler I did in them. I had to stop and stretch my feet after the first 1.5 because of pain across the metatarsals... my old nemisis... After the second 1.5 I had to get them off! Then the Injinji socks were off and I did 1/4 mile barefoot. That helped get them back to normal, but scares me a bit about the VFFs! I planned to do 6 miles that day and just couldn't finish. Luckily, I have put in a few runs in them with no problems. I do better in them on gravel paths... you get a massage while you run! Maybe I just did not get them on right. My time was back to the over 16 range, but with the pain I was happy with not being over 17! I had no residual pain the next day, so I guess they are right about listening to your body!
In the mean time I found a site about Invisible Shoes! It is a site that sells sized huaraches, custom huarache kits, and materials for making your own. I have been experimenting to find a way to permanently tie the strap so that you do not need to tie them on every time you wear them. The guy on the site had a great design, so my conveyor belt huaraches are tied for the last time I think! They felt good on a nice 5 minute trial run. I will watch to see if the heal strap stays up. Traditional huarache tieing has the same kind of strap placement but I slip one ankle loop through it to keep it up. This actually is a problem with my method because it pulls the straps down onto the ankle joint, which is bad tieing form. Maybe this will improve my traditional tieing as well! This is a much better plan for the kids huaraches too, I do not think they would have liked tieing them on every time! The site has also has instructional videos and reviews by several customers. http://www.invisibleshoe.com/
Barely Running
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Hot Footin'... not good...
3/29/2010
Hot Footin'... not good...
I am only just now recovering from an "experiment" last Tuesday. It started snowing like crazy in Westminster (North Denver), so I was not going to run outside! (some of the barefoot enthusiasts run in all kinds of weather, even snow storms!) I started to head to the car to go to my community indoor track... I get a little dizzy there running around 14 times per mile... a 6 mile run is a lot of laps!!
Then, it popped into my head... My building has an exercise room with tread mills I have been meaning to try... so I went to the car for my stuff, drove around to park close to the exercise room door, and headed in.
I do not have a very good history with tread mills. I find them boring and when I push, it is just like work instead of running-to-the-top-of-that-hill... ya'know? However, back when I was walking barefoot (did that for 4 years before I started running!) I once tried it on a treadmill while on a business trip. I was on there for 10 minutes and started feeling pain on the soles of my feet. I decided I should "push through it"... I am old enough to know better! I ended up with serious burns on the soles of my feet! I did not need medical attention, but they did form blisters and I had trouble walking for a week. Next trip I had "water shoes" which solved the problem. (Some barefoot style runners use those too.)
Someone on the Huaraches/Minimalist/Barefoot Yahoo Group mentioned running barefoot on a treadmill all the time, so I piped up with my story. They generally puffed up at my comment, maybe they thought I was exagerating. It could be my weight at around 265 pounds, I weigh a lot more than most of them. I think that does 2 things. First, it creates a lot of friction as the foot presses down on that rubber strap rubbing over the steel plate. Second, Although I try to maintain a 180 bpm pace, I still do not spring off the surface as much as a lighter person would, so I think I am in contact for a longer time. Surely that is true when I walk.
Last Tuesday, after a mile on the mill, I started to feel the burn through my mocs! I was a little surprised because the water shoes did a pretty good job of insulating me. Perhaps the leather soles are just not as good as insulation (although I like them a lot better for running!) I immediately started weaving back and forth across the surface so that I was not heating up the same belt strip. I suspect that it is pretty instantaneous heating and the weaving was not really very successful, but it did allow me to finish a 4 miler. I fealt so dumb later that evening when I started to feal the results of another burn! It was not nearly as bad as the earlier experience but it did knock me out of running for the rest of the week.
There are a couple of things I did like... I got to measure my pace length fairly accurately. That turned out to be longer than I had estimated on my odometer-measured runs. Not sure how to explain that. Also, I got to feel what various paces fealt like. I get winded pretty fast if I go faster than a 15 min mile for long (Remember, I am barely running!). I did run at a 10 min mile pace for 1/10th mile on an interval training session. On the treadmill I could just set it to the pace I wanted to try. I ran quite a bit at 14 min mile pace, and I think that will help me with confidence in the future. I know the "feel" better now.
I did 2, 4 mile runs so far this week and they felt great along the Highline Canal in the beautiful weather! No more treadmill burns for me! Be careful on the hot belt!
I am Barely Running.
Hot Footin'... not good...
I am only just now recovering from an "experiment" last Tuesday. It started snowing like crazy in Westminster (North Denver), so I was not going to run outside! (some of the barefoot enthusiasts run in all kinds of weather, even snow storms!) I started to head to the car to go to my community indoor track... I get a little dizzy there running around 14 times per mile... a 6 mile run is a lot of laps!!
Then, it popped into my head... My building has an exercise room with tread mills I have been meaning to try... so I went to the car for my stuff, drove around to park close to the exercise room door, and headed in.
I do not have a very good history with tread mills. I find them boring and when I push, it is just like work instead of running-to-the-top-of-that-hill... ya'know? However, back when I was walking barefoot (did that for 4 years before I started running!) I once tried it on a treadmill while on a business trip. I was on there for 10 minutes and started feeling pain on the soles of my feet. I decided I should "push through it"... I am old enough to know better! I ended up with serious burns on the soles of my feet! I did not need medical attention, but they did form blisters and I had trouble walking for a week. Next trip I had "water shoes" which solved the problem. (Some barefoot style runners use those too.)
Someone on the Huaraches/Minimalist/Barefoot Yahoo Group mentioned running barefoot on a treadmill all the time, so I piped up with my story. They generally puffed up at my comment, maybe they thought I was exagerating. It could be my weight at around 265 pounds, I weigh a lot more than most of them. I think that does 2 things. First, it creates a lot of friction as the foot presses down on that rubber strap rubbing over the steel plate. Second, Although I try to maintain a 180 bpm pace, I still do not spring off the surface as much as a lighter person would, so I think I am in contact for a longer time. Surely that is true when I walk.
Last Tuesday, after a mile on the mill, I started to feel the burn through my mocs! I was a little surprised because the water shoes did a pretty good job of insulating me. Perhaps the leather soles are just not as good as insulation (although I like them a lot better for running!) I immediately started weaving back and forth across the surface so that I was not heating up the same belt strip. I suspect that it is pretty instantaneous heating and the weaving was not really very successful, but it did allow me to finish a 4 miler. I fealt so dumb later that evening when I started to feal the results of another burn! It was not nearly as bad as the earlier experience but it did knock me out of running for the rest of the week.
There are a couple of things I did like... I got to measure my pace length fairly accurately. That turned out to be longer than I had estimated on my odometer-measured runs. Not sure how to explain that. Also, I got to feel what various paces fealt like. I get winded pretty fast if I go faster than a 15 min mile for long (Remember, I am barely running!). I did run at a 10 min mile pace for 1/10th mile on an interval training session. On the treadmill I could just set it to the pace I wanted to try. I ran quite a bit at 14 min mile pace, and I think that will help me with confidence in the future. I know the "feel" better now.
I did 2, 4 mile runs so far this week and they felt great along the Highline Canal in the beautiful weather! No more treadmill burns for me! Be careful on the hot belt!
I am Barely Running.
Sub 40 deg and feeling great!
Sub 40 deg and feeling great! (Sorry, this is a couple of months old, but the blog was down and then I lost it...)
I have been looking out the window at work at the nice hill that I used to run up and down when it was warm... hey wait! It is 40 deg! That is warm when you have as much insulation as I have! Yesterday it killed me to be working instead of out there while there was light... I can always work when it is dark- ya'know?
So, today, I went out for a run at 3:00, then stayed late at work to finish the day - not too many people around to see/smell me... It was 40 when I left and about 35 by the time I finished with the sun setting early behind a cloud bank. All I was wearing was my KSOs, Injinji socks, shorts, long sleeved tee, and a light hat. I stayed very warm and did not need the wind breaker I had tied around my waist.
The goal today, other than just getting out, was to see if my time interval training paid off. Would I finally break the 48 minute mark for 3 miles? Maybe even a sub 45 minute??? It could happen! Well I will take what I got... 47:35! Can you believe that??? Three miles under 16 minutes! (I timed each one individually of course) OK, so I am barely running, but remember that other than the intervals last Tuesday I had never gotten below 16 in almost 100 miles of running... sad but true. So, today is a big day... I broke through the barier. Now it is on to 15. If I can get down a little below 14 I can challenge my son to do the Denver Marathon with me and skip Portland next year!
There is one technical item I have not mentioned yet. One of the runners on the huarache group named Harry brought up his study of using your arms during running. Most people I see running are flailing there arms around so much that it hurts to watch! On the other extreme, I have been making as little motion with them as possible. Harry has been learning how to use them right and sharing that with the group. For now, let me mention one thing I am trying. As you may remember, I have a rough time running down hill! Seems odd, but it is true. I just loose the floating feeling and easily start to slap my feet down, or go to a heal strike. Harry said to study Ryan Hall as he runs on YouTube. Harry's coach mentioned that holding your arms a bit foreward would move your center of balance foreward enough to stop the pounding. That sure would beat my current method of stopping, running in place, leaning forward... you remember the drill. I worked on this during my intervals and again today on my 3 miler and it seemed to help a lot. Pretty cool for a guy who is...
Barely Running
I have been looking out the window at work at the nice hill that I used to run up and down when it was warm... hey wait! It is 40 deg! That is warm when you have as much insulation as I have! Yesterday it killed me to be working instead of out there while there was light... I can always work when it is dark- ya'know?
So, today, I went out for a run at 3:00, then stayed late at work to finish the day - not too many people around to see/smell me... It was 40 when I left and about 35 by the time I finished with the sun setting early behind a cloud bank. All I was wearing was my KSOs, Injinji socks, shorts, long sleeved tee, and a light hat. I stayed very warm and did not need the wind breaker I had tied around my waist.
The goal today, other than just getting out, was to see if my time interval training paid off. Would I finally break the 48 minute mark for 3 miles? Maybe even a sub 45 minute??? It could happen! Well I will take what I got... 47:35! Can you believe that??? Three miles under 16 minutes! (I timed each one individually of course) OK, so I am barely running, but remember that other than the intervals last Tuesday I had never gotten below 16 in almost 100 miles of running... sad but true. So, today is a big day... I broke through the barier. Now it is on to 15. If I can get down a little below 14 I can challenge my son to do the Denver Marathon with me and skip Portland next year!
There is one technical item I have not mentioned yet. One of the runners on the huarache group named Harry brought up his study of using your arms during running. Most people I see running are flailing there arms around so much that it hurts to watch! On the other extreme, I have been making as little motion with them as possible. Harry has been learning how to use them right and sharing that with the group. For now, let me mention one thing I am trying. As you may remember, I have a rough time running down hill! Seems odd, but it is true. I just loose the floating feeling and easily start to slap my feet down, or go to a heal strike. Harry said to study Ryan Hall as he runs on YouTube. Harry's coach mentioned that holding your arms a bit foreward would move your center of balance foreward enough to stop the pounding. That sure would beat my current method of stopping, running in place, leaning forward... you remember the drill. I worked on this during my intervals and again today on my 3 miler and it seemed to help a lot. Pretty cool for a guy who is...
Barely Running
Friday, January 29, 2010
Breathing through a straw... my nose...
Finding topics like Nose Breathing on the Barefoot Running Google site is like finding gold in a Colorado mountain stream... you may have to dig through a lot of pretty, pretty neat, pretty interesting, pretty big pile... and then Wham!!! It is hard for me to keep up reading, but worth it! (Member Harry's stuff about holding your arms slightly forward while running downhill fixed my foot slapping in 1 run! Woo Hoo!)
I have been working on nose breathing since I was a kid in college (sorry you youngsters, I am turning 61 next month!) I fought yearly bronchitis, tickling throat for months, stuffy nose! I started treating the stuffy nose with meds, but that just bothered me... didn't seem right... too bad I didn't get the same insight about shoes way back then! (I have always gone barefoot a lot.)((Will save my Bronchitis Busting Coughing exercise for another post.))
I learned to push through the panic I would have with the stuffy nose and amazingly, my body would manage to open a nostril... amazing... duh. They would alternate, which I thought was odd, but found out later is natural. When I really work hard I sometimes open my mouth, but usually I breath through my nose. Since I started running 4 months ago, I have been breaking the faith... of course you have to mouth breath to run! But, I do not get out of breath when I run, and I am comfortable nose breathing, so why not? A later group thread and the original that Harry started encouraged me to try it. I did my 4 miler this evening nose breathing almost the whole way... yep, caught myself a few times! I was comfortable, not out of breath, and felt strong. Very cool!
This all goes along with a web sight that I found some-how a few years ago about how to breath! Seems odd to have to learn... like running bare! I searched and searched for the site tonight and almost gave up. But, I think I found it. It seems to be more commercial now with not so many gems lying around to take for free - ya'know? That's OK. If I like what I find I should be willing to support the source. Here is a link to a page of articles. Some are sort of just directing you to paid materials, but you have to sift the sand to find the gold... remember?
http://www.breathing.com/articles/Default.htm
Hard to find? Just too obvious I guess...
Here is the short story version...
- Do Not breath high and shallow - sounds just like the what the group said! Rather, there is about a 30/70 split of chest/belly breathing.
- Same info as on the group about the autonomic/sympathetic/parasympathetic systems.
- Slow down! - just like the group! We breath too much and end up with too little O2 at the cells!
- Rest mid breath... I think of it as giving the air time to work. Breath out 1,2, 3, rest 4, 5, 6, 7 in 8, 9, 10. Notice how much time is spent in-hale compared to out+rest? About the same 30/70 ratio... hummm...
(Yes, you rest on the out, not on the in... Healthy Pattern)
It feels great and you start to breath very slowly. (Careful, you can get dizzy! From MORE O2 than you are used to!) Sometimes at rest I will breath 4 - 5 times a minute! (Resting heart rate is about 55) By allowing time to fully exhale, the new air has somewhere to go - see? They say our max lung capacity is in our 20s and we loose 20% per year! Yikes! This kind of breathing expands that back out. I have improved a lot, but I still need to work on it! Loosing more weight will give more room too! btw...Asthma sufferers may be helped a lot... sometimes in the panic they are afraid to exhale, so guess what... nowhere for new air to go... more panic! You must Exhale to breath!
Give it a try and let me know how you do!
Barely Running
I have been working on nose breathing since I was a kid in college (sorry you youngsters, I am turning 61 next month!) I fought yearly bronchitis, tickling throat for months, stuffy nose! I started treating the stuffy nose with meds, but that just bothered me... didn't seem right... too bad I didn't get the same insight about shoes way back then! (I have always gone barefoot a lot.)((Will save my Bronchitis Busting Coughing exercise for another post.))
I learned to push through the panic I would have with the stuffy nose and amazingly, my body would manage to open a nostril... amazing... duh. They would alternate, which I thought was odd, but found out later is natural. When I really work hard I sometimes open my mouth, but usually I breath through my nose. Since I started running 4 months ago, I have been breaking the faith... of course you have to mouth breath to run! But, I do not get out of breath when I run, and I am comfortable nose breathing, so why not? A later group thread and the original that Harry started encouraged me to try it. I did my 4 miler this evening nose breathing almost the whole way... yep, caught myself a few times! I was comfortable, not out of breath, and felt strong. Very cool!
This all goes along with a web sight that I found some-how a few years ago about how to breath! Seems odd to have to learn... like running bare! I searched and searched for the site tonight and almost gave up. But, I think I found it. It seems to be more commercial now with not so many gems lying around to take for free - ya'know? That's OK. If I like what I find I should be willing to support the source. Here is a link to a page of articles. Some are sort of just directing you to paid materials, but you have to sift the sand to find the gold... remember?
http://www.breathing.com/articles/Default.htm
Hard to find? Just too obvious I guess...
Here is the short story version...
- Do Not breath high and shallow - sounds just like the what the group said! Rather, there is about a 30/70 split of chest/belly breathing.
- Same info as on the group about the autonomic/sympathetic/parasympathetic systems.
- Slow down! - just like the group! We breath too much and end up with too little O2 at the cells!
- Rest mid breath... I think of it as giving the air time to work. Breath out 1,2, 3, rest 4, 5, 6, 7 in 8, 9, 10. Notice how much time is spent in-hale compared to out+rest? About the same 30/70 ratio... hummm...
(Yes, you rest on the out, not on the in... Healthy Pattern)
It feels great and you start to breath very slowly. (Careful, you can get dizzy! From MORE O2 than you are used to!) Sometimes at rest I will breath 4 - 5 times a minute! (Resting heart rate is about 55) By allowing time to fully exhale, the new air has somewhere to go - see? They say our max lung capacity is in our 20s and we loose 20% per year! Yikes! This kind of breathing expands that back out. I have improved a lot, but I still need to work on it! Loosing more weight will give more room too! btw...Asthma sufferers may be helped a lot... sometimes in the panic they are afraid to exhale, so guess what... nowhere for new air to go... more panic! You must Exhale to breath!
Give it a try and let me know how you do!
Barely Running
Friday, January 22, 2010
Barely Running did a 10 min mile!
Ok, I lied... but I did run at a sub 10 min mile pace for .1 mile! That is good enough for me right now! WooHoo! You are probably wondering how I went from not being able to break the 16 min mile barrier, to a 10 min mile pace...
I read email digests from the Google group
Minimalist Runner - Barefoot, Huaraches, FiveFingers at http://groups.google.com/group/huaraches/topics. Many of the runners in that group talk about interval training for speed. In my case, I have not run intervals for... what... 42 years??? So, I just ignore those posts. However, as the miles role along and my mile pace refuses to go below 16 min, I pay more attention. I think it is a mental thing with me. I am pretty terrified of blowing myself out on a run and having a difficult time recovering to get home. Sort of silly considering that I am never more than a mile from home with my current routs!
Minimalist Runner - Barefoot, Huaraches, FiveFingers at http://groups.google.com/group/huaraches/topics. Many of the runners in that group talk about interval training for speed. In my case, I have not run intervals for... what... 42 years??? So, I just ignore those posts. However, as the miles role along and my mile pace refuses to go below 16 min, I pay more attention. I think it is a mental thing with me. I am pretty terrified of blowing myself out on a run and having a difficult time recovering to get home. Sort of silly considering that I am never more than a mile from home with my current routs!
So, I decided to remove all fear barriers and measure a .1 mile interval track right by my house. The strategy was to run a few easy, stretchy, warm up intervals then kick it up a notch or to and see how it went. Whoa! My first interval was a slightly downhill 13.33 min mile pace! I was blown away, but not blown out! It felt fine! I had promised myself that I would not sacrifice my barefoot form for speed. That is really important for me because my previous running form would hurt me very fast. I recovered in just a few minutes and ran the interval back to the starting point, slightly uphill. To my amazement, that was at 11 min mile pace! So, then I kicked it back down the hill and got a 9.88 min mile pace... but I paid for it with a fairly long recovery time. I walked around for quite a while before I was ready to go again. I noticed a little bit of back pain and heal impact during the fast lap, so I backed off and worked up from 13.50 to 11.67.
I would actually be very happy to be able to run at 12 min mile pace all the time. I have no great desire to run faster than that. What was amazing to me is that it did not feel all that different while I was running than it does when I do 16+ min miles. Except that I soon have to stop for breath... while at the 16+ min pace I feel like I could run all day without panting!
To finish up I decided to do a mile non-stop back and forth over my .1 mile track. I am sure I lost some time at the turn-arounds but I did it in 15.20 which is a 6:38:24 (6.64 hr) marathon finish! I would be happy with that! I would be tickled if I could do my next 3 miler at that rate! Why not! I will see how it goes and will let you know. The last few runs I have tried to do short bursts, then recover by returning to my slower pace without stopping. I will keep that up, but with more confidence now. The stats are below, and just remember I am Barely Running.
12/15/2009 Split Laps Dist mph min/mi marathon
103rd .1 mi Hours
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. 1.33 1 0.1 4.50 13.33 5.82
. 2.20 2 0.2 5.45 11.00 4.80
. 0.98 1 0.1 6.10 9.83 4.29
. 1.33 1 0.1 4.50 13.33 5.82
. 1.07 1 0.1 5.63 10.67 4.66
. 2.70 2 0.2 4.44 13.50 5.90
. 1.20 1 0.1 5.00 12.00 5.24
. 1.17 1 0.1 5.14 11.67 5.09
. 15.20 10 1 3.95 15.20 6.64
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Avg/Total 27.18 2 4.41 13.59 5.94
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