Fun in the Snow

Its been a little over a month since my last post--time files during the holidays. My fitness routine has progressed well although my cardio and running training has been lagging a bit. I've been focusing on gaining some upper body strength and endurance and chiseling down the old six pack.(okay, okay, four pack) Its pretty amazing to see what the body is capable of when you give it what its built for. My body is designed to be strong, and it gains strength easily and quickly. When I was starting off about a month or so ago, I could barely do 15 pull ups for one set, 12 dips or so and then fewer on each of my next 2 sets. Today I did 3 sets of 25 pull ups, 25 dips and 45 inclined push ups among other things. My upper body feels great, with a good balance of strength and endurance. By using body weight exercises, I don't feel too bulked up. I can definitely see a visual difference, but my weight is still around 177, so I must have dropped some fat while gaining a little muscle.

I haven't completely slacked on the cardio side of things--I've mostly been getting in a few three mile runs on the tread mill and I did another stair run which wasn't close to as bad as the first one. Yesterday I finally decided to do an outdoor run, since temperatures have risen from about 5 degrees to 25. (yay?) Twenty five degrees is plenty warm for outdoor running, but I was trying something new and perhaps foolish: running in my Vibram Five Finger shoes. I had taken them out when it was about 10 degrees just to go to a restaurant, and they felt insanely cold. Not because of the air temperature, but because the cold of the ground--the concrete, snow, slush and ice--really come through the thin rubber sole. After that I knew I couldn't try using them unless it warmed up considerably. At 25 degrees I was confident that at least my feet wouldn't fall off after a 3 mile run. It wouldn't be much different than sticking my feet in an icebath at the worst. The first 10 to 15 minutes of the run were fairly uncomfortable. The snow and frigid ground left the bottom of my feet, and especially my toes, feeling very cold. By about half way, I started to feel more comfortable. The cold sensation faded, and my feet just felt normal. I was a little worried that this shift was due to my feet going completely numb, but when I got back and took off my shoes, my feet where not especially cold (confirmed by forcing my gf to touch them)--only my pinky toes seemed affected by it. They looked pretty red, but no worse than after icing. My conclusion: after the body warms up and the friction builds heat, it is possible to run in the Vibrams (using toe socks) in weather at about 25 degrees, but I wouldn't want to run any further than 3 miles. 25 seems pretty close to the limit; for anything colder I will go have to go with a full shoe or boot of some kind. I have some boots with fairly flat bottoms that might work.

On Dec 31 I will be leaving for Houston again to visit family. I look forward to running around the Rice campus, and even better, my GF (now fiancee!) is coming along and we will be going on a 7 day cruise that departs from Galveston along with a friend that is in grad school at Rice. I very much look forward to testing out my Vibrams on beaches, snorkling, coral, rocks, and pretty much anything else I can put my feet on. They have a rock climbing wall on the ship, so I'm hoping to use my upper body training to pull me up it a few times. The ship stops at Grand Cayman which has a famous beach called Seven Mile Beach; apparently the length of the beach is open to the public. I am hoping to run the length of the beach in my Vibrams. I'm not sure if this will happen since others in the party will likely want to do other things and the logistics might be difficult, but running it seems like it would be a memorable experience. Why pay $100 to pet some dolphins when I can see the entire beach and get a workout for free?

Running up the Empire State Building

November has been unseasonably warm thus far which has been great as it has allowed me to continue going outdoors for workouts. I've gone out for a few more runs, and yesterday It was a little windier so I decided to do a stair run. I hadn't really ran stairs--a lot of stairs--since high school wrestling. I don't know what possessed me to do it, apart from the fact that I wanted to get a workout similar to running, but I didn't want to use a treadmill or run in the wind. I found a 26 step staircase near a little hill I usually take down to the lake which juts right down next to a bridge and a hill, making it quite secluded from the wind. I just started running up and down, not knowing how long it would be before I got tired. I ended up going 100 laps on the stairs in about 36 minutes for a total of 5200 stairs if you count up and down. I was pretty surprised by how long I was able to go without getting tired. My cardio was fine for the stairs, but my calves really took a beating. I wore my Vibram FF shoes, which meant I was essentially running on the balls of my feet the hole time. Since Vibrams tend to be harder on the calves even during normal running, I think I was more prepared for the stairs, and stairs might be a good way to strengthen the feet to run longer normal runs using Vibrams or bare feet. Today my calves are extremely sore, an experience I haven't had in quite a while; even the day after the marathon they weren't nearly this bad.

I later found out online that they do an annual event running up the Empire State building which has around 1500 stairs. While it definitely helped switching off between going up and then down the steps, running up the ES building doesn't sound too bad now!

Shifting Gears

Its about a month since the Twin Cities Marathon and the weather hasn't changed much since then. It was 50 degrees today with light wind, which allowed for a nice 7 mile run in my Vibrams. I hadn't run too well since the race, but today I went 58:59 which is the fastest time since my toe injury, so I was happy about that. I've only run about 5 times since the marathon, since the weather has been very rainy this month and often too cold to get outside. Instead I started focusing a little bit on my neglected upper body muscles; ever since I sprained my wrist back in kickball I haven't been able to do much upper body work, but it is finally healed enough so that I can do push ups and pull ups again. My upper body muscles are definitely not what they once were, but since my weight is quite low at the moment (around 177) I can still do 50 push ups and 15 pull ups. My bench press has suffered the most, but I don't plan on lifting heavy as it is too counterproductive for distance running. I have also been doing 5 min rounds on a heavybag with 16 oz gloves which has been a decent way to get some cardio without running on the dreaded treadmill.

The Quest Continues

The weather conditions of the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon turned out to be just about perfect. The race started at around 46 degrees with a little sun. I decided to wear only my short sleeved shirt since it was a bit warmer than I expected. We got to the starting area about 25 minutes early, which was probably a bit too early, although standing around in the starting corral packed in like sardines keeps you pretty warm. I started the race near the 4:00 pace group, and was feeling really good, which was a blessing considering my toe had been bothering me just the day before. I was keeping a sub 9 minute mile pace for the first 7 miles, and was at 1:29 something at the ten mile mark. I saw my brother and a friend at around mile 7 and handed off some gloves and my headband because I was getting a bit too hot. I was still feeling pretty strong at this point, so I pushed ahead for my 2 hour half marathon time. I made the half way mark at 1:58:30 or so. I knew I had put myself in a position to reach 4 hours at that point, but I was starting to get a bit tired from going out so fast. My pace slowed up quite a bit, and by around mile 15 or 16 the four hour pace group caught up with me. I begin to realize I wasn't really "tired" (my heart and lungs were not working too hard at all) but that the muscles and tendons being used to absorb shock and maintain the new stride I was using for my sandals/Vibrams were being stressed more than they had been before. 13 miles was the furthest I'd run in anything other than running shoes. I realized pretty quickly that there was no way I was going to make four hours, because I simply couldn't push hard anymore without the support of real running shoes taking the place of my natural shock absorbers--my feet and ankles weren't in good enough shape to handle a 26.2 mile sandal run yet, at least not at a 4 hour pace. I quickly went from race mode to survival mode; my main fear was that my toe pain would flare up and prevent me from finishing and but my toe felt fine, so I was happy.

Once I got to mile 20 I decided to run/walk the rest and forget about my time because I didn't want to risk injuring my ankles or anything too much because it felt like something might cramp or snap at any moment. I feel like if I could have slipped on some real running shoes I would have been able to start running off at a nice pace, albeit risking more toe trouble. I actually started getting colder toward the end because my heart and lungs weren't working very hard. I ended up finishing in 4:45 or so. My girlfriend finished about 5 minutes after me and my friend who was running for the first time got 4:33. I wasn't really disappointed with the way things turned out, because I know that I couldn't have run much faster without risking pointless strain. I also know that without my toe problems I would have made four hours. Back in May I was running very well and had I been able to train fully and been comfortable in my running shoes throughout, I would have just gotten better. This whole summer of training and the marathon has been a good learning experience. I need to improve my foot and ankle strength to hopefully run in my Vibrams for longer runs, or a similar minimal shoe. I suppose I could also consider using a more neutral running shoe but I want to explore the whole barefoot/minimalist running thing a bit more. I do feel like shifting away from running shoes could ultimately be a good choice in the long term. It could stand to save a lot of money, (I honestly think I could put 5000 miles on my Teva sandals before they fell apart) and could result in a more economical stride that will yield faster times in the long run, once I get more used to it. If anything, the race has made me more motivated to get my feet and ankles in shape and see If I can start running faster with my Vibrams (or barefoot,) and run the 4 hour race I know I can run. Hitting 1:58:30 for my first half in heavishy sandals shows me that there is definitely potential for fast running without running shoes, especially at middle or long distances. I got several comments from other racers and spectators about my sandals, I can't imagine how many people would comment on the Vibrams.

The medals they gave out this year were pretty nice, but the shirts were not the best. The material and color were are great, but the design wasn't as cool as the last couple years. Here's a pic:

(Ignore the cat leg)

The medal from this year is in the middle, last year's medal is on the left and the 2007 medal is on the right.

As crazy as it sounds, I almost feel like going out for a run today. My quads and hamstrings are only feeling mild soreness, because after I slowed my pace to ease the strain on my feet and ankles, they weren't working too hard. Mainly the tendons on the fronts of my ankles feel very sore, and my hips and knees are sore because after my form broke down I started to rely on them too much to help absorb shock. I'm hoping this whole sandal/Vibram running thing doesn't end up creating its own problems, because I've had ankle problems on and off my whole life (knock on wood) but it has served me well for the past few months and allowed me to finish the marathon this year free of toe pain.

I suppose, this means my quest to run a four hour marathon is still on... I don't really want to have to wait a whole year for another shot. But then again it might take that long to convert myself into a true vibram/barefoot guy (or convince myself that bare footing is not for me). I might consider running grandma's marathon up in Duluth next summer if I stay in shape.

Let's Do This

It's time! The 2009 Twin Cities Marathon starts at 8:00am central time tomorrow morning. I picked up all my race materials today at the River Center in St. Paul with my GF and a buddy of mine who is also running the race. The fitness expo is great for last minute running gear, gels and all the free samples! I started carbo loading early, which was good because I didn't eat enough for lunch. Each year the race packets have a little gift with the Twin Cities Marathon Logo on it; my first year they were crappy throw away cotton gloves, last year it was a an ear warmer/headband of decent quality, and this year we got tech socks. I was pretty stoked because I always like to try new socks and they look like pretty good quality. Here's a pic:



After picking up my racing packet I realized I didn't plan on how to attach my racing chip to my sandals. They are using new chips this year that didn't come with little plastic ties because they aren't being collected afterward--you are supposed to thread your laces through them. I found out I can easily secure it simply by closing the velcro on my sandal straps over a flexible clipping mechanism on the back of the chip. Just another advantage of sandals! Weather is looking like low to mid 40's for the start of the race and about 50 by the end, with mostly cloudy skies and low chance of rain. It's a little colder than I'd like, but no rain is a huge plus. I'm not sure yet weather I'm going to start out in short sleeves or wear a long sleeve over my short sleeves and hand my long sleeve shirt off during the race. After 3 miles or so I'm pretty sure I'll want to shed long sleeves. I'll be wearing gloves, shorts, a hat and my ear warmers from last year. I find that if you cover your head/ears, hands, and torso you retain a lot of your heat. My legs can easily stay warm in sub 40 degrees, and my feet felt almost hot when I ran in 45 degrees and spitting rain yesterday thanks to my Darn Tough Vermont socks, so I should be set on that front.

I'm going to go out gunning for 4 hours. My plan is to make the first half in right around 2, to put myself in a position where I could make it and then see how my body responds. I know I can finish barring a major onset of toe pain or some other injury. I actually had some toe soreness today which is a bit worrisome, but I think I'll feel better in the morning.

I got to bed now to get up bright and early. Next post will be post race!

Vibrams

I went out for a 7 mile run in my Vibram Five Finger KSOs yesterday. The furthest I'd ran in them before was abut 5.5 miles, which left a spot on my right foot raw. I decided to pick up some Iniji running toe socks to wear inside the Vibrams to cut down on rubbing and provide some more warmth so that I can use them until it gets Minnesota cold. The shoes felt very snug with the socks inside them, but I was used to them feeling overly snug since my feet and ankles were swollen up for a week or so after my illness. They actually felt a bit less snug! At any rate, here are my observations about how running with the KSOs differ from my Teva sandals, (and other heavy training shoes) :

-My stride changed a little, even though I'm trying to use the same midfoot stride regardless of shoe
-I noticed more rubbing between me legs, which hadn't been a problem for me recently (a result of changed stride)
-I felt very light on my feet
-I felt like my heart and lungs didn't have to work as hard to achieve the same time
-I felt like I didn't sweat as much as normal
-My upper leg muscles (quads and hamstrings) felt like they were not working hard
-The tendons in may ankles and feet felt more strained than normal
-Both ankles felt a little sore at some point during the run
-Several lower leg muscles were being worked much harder than normal, especially the one immediately to the outside of the tibia (shin bone), which I'm assuming is the tibialis anterior and fairly meaty one on the outside of my lower leg which is probably the peroneus longus. (this is based on a quick online search) These muscles are involved with stabilizing the ankle and balance and work opposite one another in turning the ankle over one way or the other so it makes sense that they would both be tired together.
-My "calf" muscles were not especially tired. People seem to refer to any muscle in the lower leg as the calf muscle, but there are something on the order of 12 muscles in the lower leg, the "calf muscle" is actually two muslces, the gastrocnemius and soleus, large muscles at the back of the lower leg that help with plantarflexion--making the angle of the ankle to the shin greater than 90 degrees, aka pushing off with the toes or going up on the tip toes.


Overall the run felt very good, except that my toe was being stressed a little more than it would have been in my sandals. I don't think my muscles and tendons would have been up for running much more than 10 miles in them yet, but If they were in better shape, I felt like I could have kept pace for a really long time. From my knees up the run felt effortless.

10 Day Forecast

It's about 10 days until the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon now, meaning long shot weather forecasts are starting to roll in. I don't know about other marathon runners, but I'm a bit obsessive about checking forecasts before the race since my other two were: 1 Unseasonably Hot and sunny (low-mid 80's for october) and 2 fairly cool and rainy. It would be ideal for me if it were low 60's and completely overcast; the forecasts so far range from 39 degree lows to 65 degree highs with a decent change of rain showers... it's looking like another #2 year. My main concern with the weather is if rain comes when it is very cool, like the mid 40's which is quite possible. This will force me to wear a lot more clothes which will likely slow me down a lot. My other big quandary is what to wear on my feet for the race. My old running shoes with the holes in the insoles began bothering my toe a bit after a couple of 11 milers the past few weekends. Last weekend I ran about 11 miles on Saturday but decided to stop because of soreness in the toe; the next day I went out again and did 13 miles in my teva sandals with socks. It seems a bit crazy but I'm leaning toward tevas with socks for the race, even though they are much thicker and heavier than I'd like, they seem good for my toe. The problem is, if I'm wearing sandals with socks, cold rain would mean soggy feet in a couple of minutes, although they would dry fast if the rain stopped.

As for my four hour time goal, its looking pretty bleak. Between changing my running stride and feeling unable to push off too hard from my toes, my top speed has dropped considerably and I don't feel like I can kick and put in a sub 8 minute mile to fininsh off if I had to. I'm going to have to just go for a steady pace from start to finish to protect my injury and see what happens. I think I can beat my time from last year (4:35), and hopefully beat 10 minute miles (4:20) but 4 flat will take a tremendous effort for me having had too little time to get used to my altered stride and to find a pair of shoes that works better. I wish I had had time to train up my calves and feet so that I could run in my Vibrams; maybe next year. I might go shoe shopping this weekend and take a 10-13 miler in a pair of new kicks to see if I can find a light weight flat that will work.

With 10 days left before the race, I only have time for 3 or 4 more training runs. Its nice to know there's not much left, but in my case, it would be nice to have more time. Apparently the sickness I had that kept me down for a week and a half was probably swine flu. My mom had the same thing (I think I got her sick) and her doctor said it was probably H1N1, since there's no other bad viruses going around right now. I'm feeling pretty much 100% better now though, so its full steam ahead. I ran about seven miles in 1:02:32 and 1:04:14 my last two runs. This is probably 3-6 minutes slower than I was going before I got hurt back in May. On the other hand, I'm not feeling quite as tired at the end, because I'm not pushing so hard or kicking for the last mile. In a marathon things might even out; If I can run as fast as my 1:02:32 time for the whole race, I can make 4 hours. Just do decently fast training run four times back to back... That's not so bad!

I'll probably make another post or two before race day, and definitely the night or morning after the race.

Crunch Time

Training over the last couple weeks hasn't exactly gone as planned. I ended up getting a couple 7 mile runs in without my toe injury coming back in full force, which was a heartening sign. I tried to run with short strides and a high cadence. I also ran with holes cut in my insoles around the large big toe joint on the bottom of my foot to take pressure off of it. It seems to have worked. Just when I was feeling like I might be able to get on course to get a few long runs in before the marathon, I got sick. I just woke up one day and had a mild headache, that turned into a pounding headache the next day. I attribuited it to allergies, but the next day I had a fever that continued for almost a week. The fever has finally disappeared in the last couple days and I feel pretty much normal, but I missed a good week of activity of any kind. I'm also not sure if I'm 100% in the health department yet, since flu/colds which I'm assuming this is tend to linger for a while. At any rate, I hope to start get some workouts in this weekend, and maybe try a half or longer next weekend. There's only 3 weeks left before the race, so I don't have much time to work up to it now. It seems like the race will be a huge struggle this time around, but for some reason, I'm feeling optimistic.

In other news I received my Vibram Five Finger shoes in the mail last week, and they seem pretty fun, although I haven't gotten to use them much yet. I also read the book "Born to Run," last weekend, It was definitely worth the read. Its nice to read a running book where the writer isn't a super runner that makes you feel like a total newbie--he might be surrounded by super runners half the time, but he writes from the perspective of an average Joe runner. I liked it a lot better than the other running books I've read: "Ultramarathonman," and "Once a Runner."

Back to Basics

A couple days after the 7 mile run at the end of my last post, I went out for a short bike/run. When I got to the running portion, the toe pain returned and I had to walk back to my bike. Instead of upping my milage as I had hoped, I went back to biking on the weekend, cranking out a 52 miler on Saturday. After the bike ride, I furiously researched on the internet about anything that might help with my issue. I discovered that my problem is likely a condition called sesamoiditis and not turf toe. Sesamoiditis basically inflammation of the big toe joint capsule, which creates a gradual onset soreness and pain a day or two after activity, like other kinds of tendonitis. What's more, it is most common in dancers and joggers that are increasing mileage for events like marathons. That sounded darn familiar... Later I found that the problem occurs more frequently in people with higher arches, and those with higher heeled shoes.

I came to realize when it came to running technique, shoe type, and foot type, I was pretty clueless. I had always though my feet were flat. Wrong. Using the "wet foot on cardboard test" I discovered that my arch was normal, possibly even on the high side considering I have a wide foot. When I selected my running shoes, I didn't spend too much time deliberating about cushioning, heel size, and arch support--I figured any shoe would be decent if it felt comfortable. After all, how far wrong can you go with a $140 pair of super high tech shoes? Apparently pretty far. Eventually I stumbled upon some websites about barefoot running. It was very intriguing reading. While changing shoes seems to be able to clear up problems for a lot people, barefoot and minimalist shoe runners claim that padded, shock absorbing and sensation deadening shoes are likely the cause of many chronic injuries in runners, because they promote poor form and deprive the feet of being able to feel the ground and adjust the body properly to lessen shock. Big running shoes with thick soles encourage a heel striking stride, where the heel hits first and then the feet roll up and push off the toes. When you run barefoot, you automatically become a midfoot or forefoot striker. In evaluating my stride, I realized even in shoes I was already running with mid foot strike, which might have been problematic considering my large heeled shoes are pretty much designed for heel striking. With all this new information in mind I decided to start walking around barefoot for a few days just to see how it felt. At this point, I'm willing to try anything to get in some miles without hurting my toe.

It felt pretty good. Aside from my feet being unaccustomed to rough surfaces and the occasional pebble, walking around outside in barefeet is fairly comfortable after a day or two. Even after a couple days I noticed a my feet toughen up. I also noticed that you do truly become a forefoot striker almost by default when you walk bare feet. You simply can't heel strike on pavement without runing your foot, and your body adjusts to it quickly. After several days I decided to try to go for a barefoot run. I had ran 5 mintes or so at a time already, but nothing much farther than that. I ended up running around Lake Harriet, which is about 2.75 miles. I wasn't intending to go all the way around initially, I was just going to go as far as I could before it started feeling uncomfortable. The problem is, once I start something, I tend to keep going. By the time I was half way around, with my feet feeling fine, I figured I might as well finish. Everything went great until about the last 5 minutes, when left foot started feeling pretty tender. With so little left, I finished and assessed the damage. I had developed 3 fairly large blisters around the ball of my foot and some smaller ones the big toe. I laughed a little bit; I can always count on myself to do too much too soon.

Thankfully the blisters didn't affect me for too long. By the next day I could walk okay with shoes and by the second day I had pretty much forgotten about them, and went for a quick 16 mile bike ride. I plan to continue researching different shoe styles and running techniques that might help me, but I know one thing for sure: I'm retiring my Suacony Hurricane X's. I plan to use my old Omni 6's from last year for now until I can find an alternative that works. I'm considering ordering some Vibram Five Fingers KSO shoes. I don't expect I'd be ready to use a totally flat shoe like these come marathon time, but if I can get some miles in without pain, I should be able to tough it out in my Omni's during the race. You can check em' out here (a review by some guy from St. Paul):

http://www.keith-in-training.com/2008/03/vibram-fivefingers-ksos-part-i.html

A 3 Hour Tour

Since I decided to stay off my toe for a couple weeks, I've been biking quite a lot to keep my legs and heart from dropping too far out of shape. I'd mostly been doing 30 minute to 1.5 hour rides of 13 to 30ish miles, but last weekend I decided to go for a 50 mile ride, since I should be running about 3 hours if I was training normally for the marathon. Here's what I learned about the differences between biking and running for 3 hours:

1. Biking makes my legs tired faster, but they are less tired at the end.
2. Biking does raise your heart rate significantly, but not quite as much as running
3. Running is WAY hotter than biking. There's so much more wind when I bike that I hardly sweat at all. When I run I'm soaked after a couple miles.
4. Half of running really far is about your body holding together: joints, feet, etc. This isn't much of a problem with biking.
5. I hate getting passed on my bike even more than when I'm running.

The 50 miles took me right around 3 hours to complete, and I was feeling good because nobody passed me during the ride. There were heavy rains off and on during the ride, so that's probably why there weren't a lot of other bikers around. Once I got soaked, I figured there was no point in stopping, so I just kept going until I finished. I've found biking to be more enjoyable then running in many ways (I like the speed, and not getting passed as often) but finishing a long bike ride doesn't come with the same feeling of accomplishment as a long run. I think this difference originates from the fact that reducing speed slightly on a bike results in a far less strenuous workout, whereas running slowly doesn't necessarily help that much. I could bike 50 miles at 10 mph without even feeling like I was working. If I ran 3 miles at an 11 minute pace, I would still break a sweat.

My toe has been feeling a bit better lately, so I went on my first run in a few weeks a couple days ago. A 7 miler at a slowish pace. It went alright... I couldn't believe how fast I got sweaty and hot compared to biking. (It was 85 degrees and 60 some percent humidity.) If the toe feels ok I will keep doing some moderate runs, and perhaps bike after the runs to increase the duration of my workouts without pounding out too many miles on my feet.

Not Meant to Run

Ten years ago I would have told you I hated running. It was just a way to get in shape for wrestling. I would have said my body type wasn't suited to long distance running, and that there was a snowball's chance in hell that I'd ever run a marathon. Looking ahead to my third marathon, it is apparent that my actions have flown in the face of what I had previously promised, but there is still one thing that seems to ring true: my body isn't made for this. I've been trying to come back from my toe injury the past few weeks by doing some treadmill running, but it has consistently been one step forward and two steps back. I'll have a decent run and try to start increasing my distance only to wake up to soreness and pain in my toe. I tried to go out today and it felt bad immediately. I've come to the realization that I'm gong to have to stop training for an extended period of time--at least a couple of weeks--if I'm gong to get over it. This will leave precious little time for actual running training, and what time I have I'll be paranoid about reinjuring it. Constant fear of injury and mentally monitoring the joints really saps the fun out of running. If this becomes a recurring thing, I'll probably have to hang up my hat on marathon running. Its not worth the pain and struggle and arthritis in old age just to be constantly disappointed during training.

As for my marathon this year, its all pretty much in the air at this point. If two or three weeks cures me, I will be ok, might not make my goal, but I will get through it. If my toe isn't feeling 100% by race day, well, running one marathon on a sprained ankle was bad enough. There's always another race.

Well, that's enough doom and gloom for one post. I plan on biking and trying out some swimming in the lake and perhaps some water jogging. The biggest failing of these alternatives is that they don't adequately work the muscles of the calves and feet, so I'll try to throw in some exercise for that as I'm able. I swam around a lake called Lake La Fave in northeastern Wisconsin last weekend (a bit over a mile swim) which went ok, albeit slowly.

No Skin off My Nose

Its been a few weeks since my last post, so I guess its time for a little recap. My training was starting to pick up again culminating in a 13 milish run around the Minong Flowage in Northern Wisconsin on the 4th of July. The route is quite hilly, with several long steep hills and many gradual ones, making for a very sore butt for a few days, but overall the run when well. My ankle and toe held up surprisingly well, especially considering the road I ran on was bowed so running on either side was very unbalancing.

Just when I thought all was well, then came our final kickball game of the regular season. We were playing the other top team for the leage champ position (we were both 6-1) and I foolishly attempted a slide into first base in the final inning, because I was mad about getting tagged out on an earlier play. I ended up getting on base, but my left calf sustained a huge scrape--an oval about six inches by four inches of raw, torn and bleeding skin. Of course, I kept playing, and scored my run, then pitched out the final inning before heading home to nurse my wound. (I also sprained my left wrist, but that doesn't affect my running =) ) I ran a mile the next day on the treadmill, but every time I stood up and moved around the torn skin would flex and shift, so I decided to put running on hold until the wound healed up.


This it what it looks like now, after a 8 days of healing. Imagine the scabbed area covering most of the visible skin on my leg in this shot, and that's about big it was. (That large piece of gauze could barely cover it all.)


Anyhow, the wound healed up enough so that I ran 3 miles after about 5 days, and then went for my normal 7 miler the next day. I was pleased to find that I felt more affected by my missed training than the scrape. That was two days ago, so I'll either go for another run today or tommorrow, and hopefully a 10-13 miler on Saturday or Sunday. The marathon is about 12 weeks out now, so the training will ramp up from here on out. Every weekend I'll be going on longer runs, probably maxing out at a couple of 20 milers... maybe a bit longer with the way the routes work out.

In other kickball news, we had our end of the league tournament last night. We got a bye the first round for winning the leaque, and won the second round 12-2, despite whining and heckling from our opposition. Our final game was against the hated "Installers" team that gave us our one and only loss. (Everyone in the league seemed to hate them because they acted like a bunch of A hole frat guys.) Pitching was tough for me due to high winds from incoming rainclouds and refs calling balls on everying but piches that would roll strikes in bowling. Nevertheless we held went into the top of the final inning with a 7-2 lead, thanks to some great kicking, and managed to hold on 7-5 for the victory. We were congratulated heartily by the other teams who struck around to watch for sending the endlessly bunting braggarts home in defeat.

An Uphill Battle

Training has been a bit of a struggle over the past few weeks coming off my toe injury. The toe has been nagging me during runs, severely limiting how fast I feel that I can push without making it worse. I've been icing periodically and after runs, which has helped some; it comes and goes. I went for a 13.1 miler a few weeks ago that was OK. I ran on a treadmill yesterday for 7 miles and it felt easier on the joints, so I may stay inside for a while to help rehab. The treadmill is like watching paint dry, (well, more like watching cash cab) but at least its not too hot; it was in the 90s most days last week which made things a bit nasty. I always set it to a 1% incline to make up for the ease of having no terrain to deal with.

In in other news, the kickball team is 6-0 with one game left. I'll be glad when its over so I don't have to worry about running in cleats.

Getting Back in the Game

My toe injury is continuing to improve as I am getting back into running. My first couple attempts were cut short by ankle and toe pain--I think I need to do calf and ankle exercises daily to help maintain stability. I could tell those muscles atrophied a bit, since they are not used much while biking. I went for a couple seven mile runs over the last four days though, the first in 1h 58 seconds and the second in 58min 28 seconds. My toe and ankles were feeling significantly improved during the second run, so I feel like I'm getting back on track with my training. I really want to get back to the point where i can start pushing for better times without fear that my joints will fall apart. I think I will try to do a longer run 10-13.1 this weekend at a steady pace and see how things go.

The kickball team got another win last Tuesday against another undefeated team. Woot... Hopefully we will have similar results tomorrow.

So far so good

Its been about a week since I aggravated my turf toe injury playing kickball, and so far it seems to be healing, albiet slower than I would like. It was somewhat uncomfortable a couple of times when I found my strides trying to revert back to normal, instead of awkwardly walking on the sides and heels of my feet, but overall it is improving and I feel like I can almost walk normally again. Against my better judgment, I decided to play kickball again yesterday, making a pact with myself that I would not run fast to get on base, or to catch any balls. Luckily both my kicks were pop flies that were caught in the outfield, so I didn't have to run, and I played pitcher on defense, so I didn't have to move around too much. (Except to run for a couple bunts...) My team won again, 7-2, and afterward my toe felt fine, which was infinitely better than the hours of pain last week.

I've continued to bike over the last week, going for a couple of 7 mile rides, one 10 miler and one 13 miler. (Maybe others, I kind of lost track) While biking isn't exactly a substitute for running, since I don't get my heart rate up as high, my legs feel like they are working even harder than when I run. This may be due to the fact that I get extremely irritated whenever someone passes me, and try to overtake them despite having a hybrid bike instead of a fast road bike. At one point I ended up chasing several pro-looking bikers several miles until they turned off the lakes. Luckily they didn't have rearview mirrors to watch me bearing down on them the whole time. In other news, my weight fell below 180 yesterday, which I attribute to biking and playing kickball in record 97 degree heat. I think I need to do a better job hydrating. Who says it doesn't get that hot in Minnesota?

Many Steps Forward, One Toe Back

Well, after my last post I decided to go on my run as planned and my ankle didn't bother me too much. On the contrary I ran my best time around Harriet yet--20:54 for 2.75 miles--and felt OK overall. The next day however, the bottom of my foot behind my big toe was sore and hurt a bit when I pushed off the with the toe, a telltale sign of turf toe. I had experienced issues with turf toe in the past, usually during ultimate frisbee intramurals in college, but It was always something that bothered me slightly for a few days and pretty much went away on its own. Since I had a kickball game scheduled, I decided to put on some cleates and jog around a little bit to see how bad it really felt: not too bad. With the shoes on I hardly noticed, so I figured I could go play kickball and it would gradually get better on its own. Bad idea. At kickball I ended up running the bases at top speed twice, (two home runs... woo hooo) and afterward my toe hurt for the remainder of the night. I guess its a bit worse than it was back in college... So just when I started to up my game in running I have to stay off my feet. I'm hoping I didn't aggrevate it too much so I'll be back up in a week or so instead of 3-4 weeks. In rebellion against the injury I went for a marathon bike ride yesterday (about 26.4 miles overall). Hurray for not needing your toes to bike. Who knows, if I do enough biking and swimming for cross training while I'm not running, I might just be ready for a triathalon.

Push it to the Limit

I went for a seven miler this weekend around Lake Harriet and Calhoun and came in at a personal best 55:18, which is around 8:10 miles. The funny thing is, afterward I knew I could have gone faster. I feel like a big part of running is knowing how hard you can push yourself early without gassing at the end. I have a tendency to leave too much in reserve.

I started reading a book about running called "Once a Runner." It is a fairly old and well known running novel, which has been interesting so far, though it seems more geared toward elite runners. (The main character runs a 4 min mile)

On a side note, I tweaked my old recurring left ankle sprain yesterday while playing disc golf. I iced it right away and I don't think it will bother me too much, but I'm debating whether I should give it a rest or go for my run today.

Level Up

I ran another half marathon last weekend and came in at 1:57:44, my fastest time yet. Now all I have to do is do that twice in a row... Easier said than done. I need to get myself to the point where I can mindlessly churn off miles at a 9 min pace or so. I find myself running 8min 30sec miles for the first 6-7 and then slowing down to 9-30's or worse. Still, it was a big improvement. Just to know I've done half at the speed I'd need to go 4 hours is a huge lift after running a 2 hour 8 min half just two weeks ago.

It's Official--The Quest is On

It's been a while since I've posted, but luckily I have no readership to disappoint. =)

I signed up for the 2009 Twin Cities marathon last week, so I'm officially in the running to attempt my four our marathon. During the past few months I've run regularly, but haven't been training as hard I probably should have to get in shape for the race. Last weekend after signing up for the race, I decided to run a half (13.1 miles) and I came in at around 2 hours 8 minutes with drinking time and stops due to traffic. A bit slow, but not terrible considering I hadn't run more than 10 miles since the 2008 marathon. After the first half I went into sustainability mode--a good idea for surviving a long run, but not one that will produce good times. I've come to the realization that training hard enough so that my sustainability mode produces a four hour marathon is my best bet. There's going to be a lull at some point, both physically and mentally--the trick is to make it so the lull is still decently fast, and to work past it as quickly as possible. I know I can grind out the last few miles at a faster pace, but getting through miles 10-23 while sustaining a good pace will be the key.

Shock^2

Two days after returning from my trip down to Houston, I decided to run outside and test some new wind gear I got for Christmas. Over the previous weeks I had been running outside, but without a good upper body windbreaker, the winter cold was cutting through my clothes. I wore a thin but airtight headwind pant on my legs and three layers on my upper body with my windbreaker as the outer layer. The run was ok at first, but I quickly realized it was colder outside than I had expected. Usually I only run if it is 20 degrees or more outside, since below that my face starts to get red, and the cold begins to seep through the breathable weave of my running shoes. That day it was about 10 degrees with a wind chill around zero. While the windbreakers did thier job admirably, the fact that the wind itself was pushing the material of my wind pants up tight against my bare legs chilled them quickly. It was not a great idea to run without a lining or tights under the thin screen. By the time I was two miles in I could feel my skin going numb. Considering I had just run in 80+ degree weather a few days before, it was definitely a shock to the system back in the other direction. When I finally got home alive, I kept my warm gear on for at least anouther 30 minutes to allow my body to warm up.

A couple days later I tried the same run with tights underneath and an extra layer on top. It was a vast improvement.

A Shock to the System

Over the holidays I was in Houston Texas visiting relatives and being fattened up by great food, beer, and company. This yearly tradition is one that I both love, and loathe: it is so much fun, yet after returning I invariably put on 5 to 10 pounds. Back when I was a wrestler in high school, I had trouble making weight for the whole rest of the season my senior year after the holidays. This year I decided to reduce some of my gorging by forcing myself to order soups and chilis at restaurants, and I also brought my running shoes. I decided to go for around around the perimeter of Rice University, which is about a 3 mile path in something like the shape of superman's "S" symbol. It felt good to be in shorts outside for once, as in Minnesota every run outside during the winter spells wind pants, windbreaker, gloves and a hat. About a mile into the run, the shock of the heat started getting to me a little bit. A mile and a half in, a large shadow started approaching from behind me. The sun was to my rear, so the shadow was probably 20 or 30 feet back; one of my pet peeves while running, one that no one should ever have, especially when they are not a great runner, is that I hate being passed. It doesn't matter who passes, it could be Lance Armstrong on his bike--I just don't like it. So despite being a bit weary and overheated, I picked up the pace for the last half, and staved off being passed by anyone. As I turned off and went back to the car, the thermometer read 81 degrees. 81 degrees in Januray! I had grown used to running in 10-30 degree weather over the past month, so it was definitely a shock to the system. Apparently the temperature was a record for that day. I was sweaty for at least an hour after the run, but I was glad knowing I had started my running year strong, and burned off a little of the raw pecans and crab cakes I had eaten the day before.