4.5 miler in my new 870's

went out for an easy jog in my new shoes. they have a fairly normal size base to them and moderate support, less than my other shoes had, and i think i enjoy them more. form felt great, as did my feet to have a little cushion today.

still takin it easy, running every other day this week.

Biking

Distance: 12 miles

Duration: 45 ish

Vehicle; Felt F90

So even though I didn't go to the doctor I did talk things over with doctor mom. She agrees with my decision to not go into the doctor until I get back into peoria. I don't need some doctor putting a funny boot on my foot for a  small fracture. I am pretty sure that I have injured my metatarsal and am going to need to stay off my feet for the next weeks. It sucks alot, but I am going to bike and do other exercise to keep building my legs and keep up my endurance. I biked today, which felt great except for the unfriendly biking area. Stupid cars. Well I will still be posting my rides and contributing to the blog but my running is on hold for now. So please enjoy all your runs because you can. I feel like I just lost a 1/3 of my life, but I am going to keep exercising just not on my feet.

oopsy

so yeah. i pretty much went out and ran barefoot right after saying how i was going to stick to the shoes. oopsy. even after getting a free new pair of new balance 870's today. i just went 2.5 miles and took it easy. then later i did another mile when i was biking with jen, and she wanted to stop. i ran the last mile home for her. i am not going to stop running this week, i don't want to ha, but i am going to pay more attention to certain things to help me get better.

distance - 3.5

time - 7:30pm / 8:45pm

injuries

im feelin that. im frustrated by my foot too i guess its interesting we both are ending up with injuries at the same time. i am also giving up the vibrams for the week.

Still Injured

Tried to run for a few minutes today, and I am still feeling pain in the top of my foot. I am trying to wear my tennis shoes every where I go now to give my feet the support that they are used too. I hated running with shoes tonight I felt like a clydesdale horse, rather than light like a cheetah. I am getting frustrated by this but am still going to try to do cardio workouts by biking.

base run

i was going to do my long run today, but then didn't get home till 9:30 so i didn't have time to get it in. i still plan on trying to get it in tomorrow.

I couldn't find my watch before my run today and I enjoyed not having it. It was nice to not worry about my time, except for the moments I wished I could in fact know my time - because sometimes i'm obsessed with TIME TIME TIME.

my run went ok. still felt slow, but prob did fine.

would have liked it to have gone a little bit smoother.

distance - 6

time - 9:30 pm

Trying to do some cardio.

Distance: 13.5 miles
Duration: ?
Vehicle: Felt F 90

So I am at least trying to stay out there and do some cardio. On saturday, i managed to get a 13 some mile bike ride in. It was awesome, such a nice day and i actually found an area where I could ride for more than a mile before i hit a stop sign. It was nice too to know that i can still hop on that bike and go the distance. I did not get a chance to get out today (sunday) I was trying real hard to rest and relax today, and to ice and nourish my foot back to health. Hopefully i will be back out there soon, I don't want to rush into it, but i also don't want to be like this anymore. I feel lazy and I am falling into old habits, sweets and soda yuck no good. Excited to go the grocery store tomorrow, going to take your advice and grab some breakfast bread to have with my smoothie. I think i'll enjoy it in the morning with some fresh florida sunshine too.

Long Run Fail

meh tried to get out to go distance today and i made it 6.5 miles till i realized that maybe it wasn't a good idea. beyond the heat, my body was feeling ick and so i decided to push it till tomorrow. I still plan on doing my 12 miler tomorrow morning.

William Li: Can we eat to starve cancer? | Video on TED.com

William Li: Can we eat to starve cancer? | Video on TED.com

This is just another great reason to eat healthy.

this is sweet

if you go into "my routes" in mapmyrun, you can first click to view all your routes on one page. Then you can select up to 3 routes to "compare." Then this image pops up...

which is sweet because you can look at the two runs side by side and compare the elevation & etc.

so this map tells me i am going to enjoy my 12 miler (red line) today a lot more than i did my 11 miler (blue line) last week.

base run

mid long run

glad i got my mid long run in, despite the hot humid weather and sluggish feeling. iron is really tearing me up and im sitting here with a stomach ache. woe is me, i think i like to complain! anyway i hope that i can start to get some strength back because this sluggish feeling has been going on for a week now. BOO.

Zuchini strawberry jam sans strawberries

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Mock-Strawberry-Jam/Detail.aspx

one of the worst runs i've ever had

I think one of the reasons this run went so horribly is because i did not have enough water this morning at all, and also did not get a breakfast in. I have been trying to switch to morning runs, and this morning i was preoccupied with things and didn't get time to get out early, or to get breakfast. I think that i just simply had no energy. Also, running in my reg. shoes is always frustrating. I heard an interesting theory from a guy who specializes in bio-mechanics the other day. He coaches runners for a living actually, his name is walt reynolds. He said that the reason people sometimes run hard on their feet (even though it's bad for them) is because they like to get a reaction or force out of their motion. It's satisfying to feel their foot hit the ground hard and make a noise on impact. It's in human nature supposedly to just want to get reactions out of things, no matter what is it. This was an interesting theory to hear, and i think it sounds reasonable to believe. Whenever i run in my cushioned shoes, i feel like i'm running on pillows and i hate it and it frustrates me that i can't feel the ground. and think of why you enjoy barefoot running - because of that connection to the earth that you feel.

Anyway, i'll probably research that theory more just because it's intriguing. For now, as for my nutrition, i need to be trying harder. not that i'm eating poorly at all; i've just not been keeping track of what i am eating. i'm still full vegetarian though. i've slacked recently on my iron, taking it only every other day or so, and only taking one tablet at a time. but i think it's time to be eating more iron rich foods daily and also taking two tablets or at least a multi vitamin till i feel more on track.

Out for repair

So I have been trying to RICE my foot back to health the past few days. I have not ran since my 11 mile run on Sunday. I have been wanting to get back out and run but I am trying to be real smart, oh well if i need to take a week off, then thats fine. No since in ruining my chance to run in Chicago and Detroit. I hope to be back tomorrow with some sort of shoes, which is going to be funny because I just got peoples attention in Miami for being barefoot, now they will see me with my running shoes on or something. Can't wait to get back out there, but in my time off i have had alot of time to prepare great meals and do some reading. Hopefully by next week I'll be back to full strength.

Trail Run

Had my weekly trail run today. The only thing is that i should have done a fartlek. but i did get my speed in, doing up tempo for my third mile of four. don't really know how far or fast i went. but it was a quick run. also got the privilege of attending a good form running class tonight at playmakers to observe and it was really fun! thoroughly enjoyed my run today.

time: 28ish

distance: 4 ish

Barefoot dude

so this guy is running across the US barefoot to raise money for homeless teens which is cool,

~~ http://runtellmanrun.com ~~

but also, he has a pretty informative / amusing emailer that you can sign up to get. nothing that you probably don't already know, but it's fun to get little emails from this site. sign up.

~~ http://howtorunbarefoot.com ~~

Recovery / Base Run

But these shoes go to elevon.

Distance 10.97
Duration: 1:25:40
Pace: 7:49

Overall my plan for this run was to set a goal of a 7:50 pace and attain it. I have been noticing that I go out to fast on a lot of these runs and then by 3.5 miles I start to lag and my split goes up rather than down But the thing is I know that if I am just patient and let my body warm up i can maintain a better pace. So I really pushed to keep my pace at 8:00 for the first few miles and then 7:50 the next few and then ended at 7:40 pace. This was good for me, but it was still difficult being that it was 11 miles, the most i've ran on my own. I was happy that in the end I did maintain my pace and was happy overall with the run. Although, my foot is still bothering me. I am going to try to stay off it a little this week and do some cross training and perhaps have to run with my saucony shoes a few runs. Its tough for me to do that because I had such pride breaking out the barefeet last thursday, I don't even know if I can show up in shoes haha. Also this week i am going to try to record all my meals and see if I am actually consuming around 50 % veggies or not.

week in review

red is biking, blue is running. missed a day of running and never did get a fartlek in. still had a great week tho.

Long Run

time: 1:30 pm, sunday

distance: 11.07

duration: 1:23.00

pace: 7:30

this run went great. i had some time to stretch before I went out and thatreally helped me. i fell right into an awesome natural pace from the moment i started moving because i took just 5 minutes to stretch out my arms and my body in general. i was again worried about my toe, but it felt fine, and so did the rest of my body.

At one point, about 3 miles in, a negative thought crossed my mind. for some reason i wondered if i'd be able to finish the run. i wasn't struggling i just worried that all of a sudden the pace would just get too difficult. but, as the run went on i learned to enjoy the struggle. the route actually got crazy difficult with a series of horrible hills. hills that left me gasping for air at the top.

as i ran i just tried to focus on one step at a time. that's all. i wasn't thinking miles ahead. i tried to enjoy the scenery and the awesome work out and push away my negative thought i had. also lately when i'm running i've been thinking of the people who run 50 mile races or training runs even. those are some awesome athletes and it inspires me to enjoy the 11 miles i get to run.

Up north jog.

Up north. Went for a base jog today because my week has just been spastic off. i missed my tuesday and Friday run so yet again i do not have my six full days of running. Annnnd that upsets me it really does but slowly but surely i am getting around to really making sure it happens every day.

I need to figure out a solution for this.

Todays run went well though. I sorta just kept moving along, focusing on my form. i used my new video camera the other day to film my form just to see whats up and i tried to focus on some things that i realized i was doing - mostly that i was planting a bit in front of my center of gravity, vs just below it.

went at 4pm which was semi-hot but not too bad - and enjoyed running along the water.

time: 40 mins

distance: 5.17 miles

4:00 pm

northport, mi

Motivation

Mid Long

Distance: 6.9
Duration: 56:42
Pace: 8:15
Shoes: saucony

So i kind of injured my foot this week, either jumping back into the barefoot thing too quick or something. Anyways I was not going to run tonight, I had decided to take it off at like 4:30 ish. I went to a friend of the families motivational speech, and although short and sweet it got wanting to go for a run. So i put on my concrete shoes and ran a mid long run. It was great i went a slow pace and finished. Which is something i was thinking about at the beginning of this run, is how cool it is that a 6-7 mile run is no sweat to me anymore. I remember a few years back when a mile could be hell for me. Also even though I went slow this was a tough mental run, which was good though, I was thinking about how often it is we want to just zone out and not think about the run, which is good sometimes, but really its those tough runs where every ten seconds you want to throw in the towel, for really no reason, you just do. But you say NO and keep on running. It relates to what i learned last week at this buddhist zen center, how meditation is not easy, and even though there may be a thousand times that you want to stop, if you just are disciplined and stop yourself and say " I can " or something like that, you can come back to the meditation or the run.

Oh and for the two running articles you have I have not had a chance to read them, but after i do I will post them on facebook.

Abebe Bikila

Won the 1960 marathon..... barefoot.

Another possible article to pass along (read other post first)

This article could be better to put on facebook because it comes from someone passionate about the subject, where i think the other article was written from someone more on the outside of barefooting who was just fascinated by the trend. Both are great though!

http://www.mindfulness.com/2009/12/08/mindful-running-lessons-to-be-learned-from-evolutionary-biology/

Barefooting

How cool you got people talking in Miami! You probably started a wave of interest. I'd even call you a barefoot TSUNAMI, ha. You should post any type of article at the end of that stream of posts on facebook and title it "For anyone interested in Barefooting" so they can understand it more, if they don't already. All they know is that there is hype about it - many don't know Why it's so great. They need to know! Everyone who commented on the facebook page will get an update saying you posted this article, so i can almost guarantee they'll all visit it. Here's an example of one you could post: http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/will-the-next-shoe-revolution-be-barefoot-2442894//?full=true

Curt of Playmakers is actually quoted in this article too, and I have others that may have more depth of information in them to share. But this is a good article, you could even call it pretty, and people will enjoy reading and it gets to the point fast. Also, feel free to throw out Goodformrunning.com for a place for anyone wanting to learn good form running. There's a really helpful quick video too, which you've seen. It's an ugly video for now - and someday i'll help Curt redo it ha. But it definitely touches on all the points of how to run.

Glad to hear a lot of barefooting is going on! Also glad my posts could inspire. That's why I post.

p.s. i love your idea of going on a run with so many people who are from different walks of life who don't bring their bull shit to the trail. i think that in general runners are a better type of person ha, enjoyable to be around, no drama. on the contrary to this idea though, is this: one thing i love about social running is being able to chat with the person next to you while you go. makes the run go by faster and its nice to switch it up from the occasional monotony of solo runs where you are thinking of other things. it's a very wholesome way to bond (when ordinarily i think people just bond over getting drunk together the bar for the first time).

Awesome Response

Apparently Miami does not have alot of Barefoot runners.

http://www.facebook.com/NikeRunclub?v=wall&story_fbid=126292747414150&ref=notif&notif_t=feed_comment_reply

Tempo and Miami Running Group

Wed

Distance: 5.1 miles
Duration: 38ish
Tempo: 6:19

It has been so hot down here lately that it is difficult to be at the pace i was last week, but I think with more hydration I can work through this tough week. Tempo slower this week but still a surprising time. I managed to keep running after my tempo was done this week, which felt really good.

SK4
Thurs ( 2nd meeting with Miami running group)

Distance: 1 mile warmup/ 3.5 mile/ 1 mile cool down
Duration: (3.5 miles) 24:45
Shoes: none

Ahh it felt so good to shed my shoes tonight and freak some people out on the boardwalk tonight. I think it has been all the hype on the news and the last few posts that you have put on here that just made me want to break out of my vibrams. The run overall was great, I tried to watch my tempo a few times i was in between 160-170 so i need to try to get that up. But again hot out, but I think I remained a great pace, who knows if the run was really 3.5 though.

A great observation i had today, after reading on a blog about how the running and fitness population rises when the economy falls. Is running people are great, they come from all areas of life. young-old, fast-slow, skinny- heavy, bald-hairy, and so on. One thing that really hit me today is I have no idea what alot of these people i am running with do as a living and i like that, no one brings their business out to the run, we just run because we like to run.

base run

did a 4.44 mile block in 7:54 pace. was tired - felt slow - need to take more iron. this week has been so off when it comes to what my plan has told me to do vs what i have been actually doing :-/ but next week my goal is to stay on track, because that's the best track to get me where i want to go!

distance: 4.44

duration: 35:07

time: 9:30 pm

pace: 7:54

"You Walk Wrong"

http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

"How we're wrecking our feet with every step we take"

This is a long article but it hooks you in the beginning with some great points, like: "It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot. But we’re wrecking it with every step we take." and the fact that "Shoes hurt your feet. They change how you walk." Sort of a "duh idea" when you think about it, but it makes sense. You walk differently than you normally would when you wear shoes, and it's not ideal for your body.

Tempo Run

i'm going to start keeping track of my runs on here again. I don't want the blog to die; not that i think it is now.

So, did my tempo run today! I didn't get out yesterday which should have been my fartlek - so this week will be all sorts of out of order. But that's ok. I've decided as long as I'm getting quality work outs in, it's all good if some weeks don't go exactly as planned.

My tempo run today was interesting for sure. I ran with someone who trains for triathlons and is used to running 6:30 pace. But, we held a 7:05 pace, and it was ttttooough. I got a cramp for mile 4.5 - 5 of a total 6 but other than that I guess it went smooth. I felt really tired but didn't realize we were holding that pace at first.

////////////////////////////////////////

It's nice to intentionally put yourself out of your comfort zone and give yourself no other option but to hold a faster pace than what you're used to. It's a great way to sort of take your running to the next level. It may seem unattainable at first, but once you do it once, you realize its very possible to do every time. Not that the goal is to go as fast as you can every time you run, but it's nice to try every once in a while for longer than just the usual one mile in the middle of your ordinary tempo run.

hello new blog, i like you. also - here's some news.

First double Digit run and it hurt

SK 2
Distance: 10.1 miles
Duration: 1:20:25
Pace: 7:55

I am not sure if it was the heat or the fact that i had a few beers the night before ( i mean like 4). It may of also been I started this run out too fast. I tried to keep it at a 7:50 pace in the beginning, but I got greedy and pushed out some 7:45 paces and then i tried to drop it to 7:35 in the end, but I went out too fast too early. It was a shame but I am happy to say regardless of the bad run I managed to finish the 10 miles. I am very happy to have done that, I think it was a huge achievement regardless the time.

SK 3
i missed my run on Monday night because I have some personal things i have been taking care of with my family


But.. I made it down to Miami again to meet up with a track club in south beach. We did a track workout that was pretty easy 10 x 200m at a 45-43 sec pace. It was really hot today and they said they didn't want anyone getting sick so we dropped the fartlek and did this instead. It was nice to again run with a group and I am really excited about Thursday for the run along the beach again. I am 100 percent sure I will be forgetting my shoes that day.

I finally got my excell file filled out with the info i want for my chart its a slow process but maybe since I will be home alone this weekend I can take care of that.

Switching base run and fartlek

think this might work better to get a day of base in after the long run instead of the fartlek, just to give legs a day to recover and chill out - so i'm changing my schedule to fit that. fyi to stay on track if desired...............

Top 10 reasons why today is a great day to run.

1. because you can.

2. because others can't.

3. because every mile put in now is a mile that's easier later in the marathon.

4. because it's the chance to devote 40 minutes to yourself and reflect.

5. or it's 40 minutes to zone out.

6. it's an excuse to take your shoes off.

7. sometimes your shirt too.

8. and sweat all you want.

9. and feel the breeze on your face.

10. and because it's FUN. :-)

Embarrassing photo of the week.

So, i was looking through my old high school track and cross photos to see what my running form used to look like. Here's a great photo where i'm swinging my arms across the front of my body. I think i look more like a boxer than a runner here...

P.s. i just took this pic with photo booth, so the quality is bad. but then again... so is the form.

july 5 - 11

This was an interesting week of running!!

>>Monday i puked on my run so i cut it short ha. Only got 3 miles in and did not do my fartlek. >>Tuesday i wiped out on the trails, and i think i broke my toe! Or if it's not broken, its dislocated, swollen, and in pain. I am not letting it affect my running. I am worried about it but I'm sure it will heal eventually. I got a 14 mile bike ride that afternoon which i think made me tired and made the trails especially hard, but still fun. >>Wednesday I had a great tempo run where my mile logged in at 5:52, but it was actually only .95 miles i realized later. >>Thursday I had a great 6 mile run ending up with 7:22 pace and i negative split for my last 3 miles. I missed my >>Friday run and still took off >>Saturday, then finished up my week on >>Sunday with a super awesome long run. I felt great, the first 5 miles flew by, and i just felt strong up till the end. I logged a 7:25 pace and was really happy with it. I can definitely feel that my focus on form has been paying off.

Something i am focusing on more as i run now is CADENCE, and you should try this out! This is the amount of steps you take in one minute. Apparently the ideal # is 180 (you can count your steps for 15 seconds then just times it by four to get the number for the minute). This number is the product of good running form because it results from running well and not over extending your form. It's just a simple/different way to gage how well you are running. I checked my cadence about 5 different times on my run today and it was always 196, which is a bit high but still close. I tried to bring it down, but was unable to! Oh well.

Keep checking out goodformrunning and playmakers.com for cool information. I've been doing a ton of research on barefooting and i started a Diigo (which is a site that you showed me, duke) that has a collection of all my research. Feel free to check it out. Some of it is from a design stand point, and some of it is more about the content and research of proper form, but its just a shot gun collection of stuff I found on the web. Enjoy! Diigo is so great because you can highlight areas of bookmarked links so you can forward it to people and show them exactly what you want them to get out of the site. You can only use firefox to use Diigo yourself, but you can view the profile page in any browser...

http://www.diigo.com/user/an_design

Disregard the random videos with running cartoon characters - thats a side project ha. But it's still fun.

Out of Order this week

SK 1
Distance: 5.25 mi
Duration: ?
Tempo: 5:55
Shoes: Vibrams

Today was my tempo, I am a little out of order this week due to some things that i needed to take care of and so on, but I completed my tempo run tonight with a real good time, so I am happy and I pushed out 60 pushups afterwards.

Nike Miami Running Group 1st

Distance: 3.5 mi
Duration: forgot to time it but I was in the 8+ pace group and I beat most of them.
Area: South Beach Miami
Shoes: Vibrams


This was so cool, I had a chance to see Miami for the first time and run along the beach with a group of about 80 people or so. I met some really cool people and they told me about another club that meets on Tuesdays down the road  for track workouts, so i will definitely go check that out. Good run though. So nice to run with other people.

MY FIRST BAREFOOT RUN!

i'm so proud.

Base

Distance: 5 miles
Duration: 40:37
Pace: 8:07

I started out the night thinking I was going to do some fartleks, but once i got out for my run I saw how tired i was from the 9 miler on Monday. So I changed to a 5 mile base run, trying to focus on form and a good pace. I ended struggling quite a bit, but I got it done. Afterwards i did 12 striders and 60 push ups.

Food After: Lentil burrito, guacamole, onions, peppers, and almond cheese

Ninerish

Distance: 8.9 miles
Duration: 1:07:46
Pace: 7:38

Due to my trip this past weekend I had not been able to squeeze in a run until today. I decided it would be best to take care of the long run and forget the base. I was very happy with this run, I started out trying to keep a pace of about 8:00 and then wanted to drop it down to 7:50 and 7:40 the final miles to gain a 7:50 average. Instead I was feeling greater than I expected and I went out and gave it my all. Accomplishing a 7:38 pace through the nine miles. I ran in my vibrams and tried to lean forward with my ankles like kurt was saying. Great run. Although my week was weak last week I am excited for this week. I am seeing my splits drop which makes me feel good about my efforts. I am going to this large miami running club on Thursday to try to meet some more runners and to run on Miami beach.

Food after: Coconut water(o.n.e.) quinoa with avacodoes ,tomatoes, and peppers

pic

June 28-July 4th

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

What a week of running.

Monday

////////////

This run sucked. It was way too hot and I struggled with my fartlek. I was also a bit tired from my long run the day before. But, "it's the days when you don't feel well that make you stronger. Anyone can run well when they feel great."

Tuesday

////////////

Base day was amazing. I got onto some trails and really got moving. Tuesday is now my official trail day. It gets me on some uneven terrain, and it's good to add some runs with hills into your week.

Wednesday

////////////

This run was even better than tuesday's. My tempo run went awesome. I have no exact idea of what my times were because my mile markers were off but i do know that my warm up pace was at 7:20. I think I was just excited to get into the tempo and my dad biked along with me while I ran which pushed to go faster, just by his presence. Overall my pace for the 5.11 mile run was at 7:02 so it was definitely quick, but just felt natural to go fast that day.

Thursday

////////////

I missed my run BUT I cross trained on the bike. The harley that is. Does that count? :-)

Friday

////////////

Run was pretty poor. I tried to dedicate the whole run to just focusing on my form, but this made the run seem long and tedious.

Sunday

////////////

Long run went fairly smooth, but wore me out. I picked a specific route because I had never done it before and I thought that it would be nice and shady - but it turned out to be hilly and SUNNY. Instead of a tree lined country road, i was surrounded by corn and wheat fields with no trees. Beautiful run. But no shade. Not fun. Overall pace ended up being 7:55. Each week I look forward to this run because it gets me closer and closer to 26.2.

Overall

////////////

I'm happy with the week but still don't like to miss days in the middle. Am still working on switching my runs more to the AM. Have been eating very well and I'm happy with that. Did not get out completely barefoot at all this week. Also have been slacking on sit ups / push ups. GOAL FOR NEXT WEEK: do NOT miss a run. DO my strength work. DO my striders after base day, which i forgot this week.

Good Form Running

Kurt (of Playmaker's) site about Good Form Running which he developed to educate people on how to run better. www.goodformrunning.com

Long Run 6

Distance: 5.9 mi
Duration: 47:10
Shoes: sans
Split: 7:58

This was an inconsistent run. I started out a little to fast and then slowed down toward the middle miles, only to find myself pushing it harder in the end to reach a low split. I am happy with the split and happy i went barefoot. But it was a tough run, and I usually feel more refreshed at the end of a barefoot adventure. I am definitely going to start pushing my split down though. I feel like I should be running 8 rather than 8:15, so I am working on that.