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