Tuesday Morning Run

Got up early this morning to get a run in before the heat wave came through. Last I checked, heat index is supposed to be around 112 today. Yeah, not going to try to get a run in with that kind of external oven temp. The plan was to do a 5 mile run around a 12 min/mile pace. I was 3/4 mile in at a 12:30 pace when I decided to bump it up a little bit faster. When I did, my right hamstring reminded me that I was in a bit of pain still. Slowed down to a 13+ min/mile for the remainder of the run. While I need to speed up a bit for the Chicago run, I can’t afford another injury to sideline me. So, I sucked up the slow time and decided to just put a few miles in. Ran down to the fountain and returned home. Finished up with 3.1 miles in 43 minutes. Horrible time, but it got me out and my legs moving. Tomorrow is rest day, and I’m going to try to keep it that way. Yesterday, I did a 16 mile bike ride down to the next town and back. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ride. Took me 1 hour and 11 minutes. The bike ride also convinced me that I need a few things, namely a new bike seat, cycling shorts, and gloves. I was hurting when I got back. So, rest tomorrow, attempt a 5 miler on Thursday and possibly Friday, and then a 7 miler this weekend. We shall see!

Playlist for this morning’s run:
Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World
Vegan Running Mom Episode 60
You Don’t Have To Run Alone Episode 24

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Injuries and Cross-Training

Hello, all! Been awhile since I checked in with everyone. Let me catch you up on what’s going on with me. A month or so ago, I pulled my right calf muscle. It was an over-training issue. It took about 3 weeks to really heal up enough to not have to worry about it. After healing up, my left calf starting acting up during a 5 mile training run. Ugh. It wasn’t as bad as the previous pull, but enough to get my attention. I gave it a few days rest and tried another very light and easy run. This time, I used Ace bandage to wrap the left calf. So what happened? Strained right hamstring. So disappointing. A friend on Twitter gave me some advice and, three days later, I’m ready to try another light run. Hamstring is a little bit tight, calf seems to be doing fine, and I’m ready to go.
Of course, I couldn’t just sit around and not exercise at all. I got a new bike from craigslist (2006 Specialized Sirrus Sport). During downtimes with my legs, I’ve been utilizing Belleville’s MetroLink bike trail. From my house to the trail for a complete loop and back home is around 12.5 miles. It makes for a nice hour long bike ride for me with some minor hills. It’s definitely not the same as running, but it’s keeping my body moving. Which is good.
On the podcast front, I do have some awesome news! We are on iTunes! Woohoo! So, to subscribe (and leave reviews), go to the iTunes store and search for “Geeks in Running Shoes”. Subscribe and leave some feedback! Well, bed is calling, and I have an early start for my run. Do check out my sister site for the podcast (Geeks in Running Shoes).

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All in a Day’s Work….

So today was a busy day. The last day of my three day weekend off work (which doesn’t happen very often). First off, we got out the door early and met some friends at the St. Louis Zoo. Everyone around here knows how nice our zoo is, but for those of you not from the Midwest, do check it out if you are driving through! Free admission and almost everything is free there. We packed a nice picnic lunch that we ate in Forest Park, then walked around the zoo a little longer. Came home and enjoyed a short nap with my son.

Following the short siesta, we ate some dinner and bathed the smelly children. Caught up on some email and got a message from Allan Gyorke of Parked Thoughts / Running with the Pack Podcast letting me know that I got a mention in his current podcast. Definitely cool! Made my Monday, that’s for sure! He offered me his Vibram Five Fingers, but my Flintstone feet are too big for them. Looking for a way to shorten toes…. That got me in the mood for some exercise. Broke out the P90X set and threw in the Cardio X disc. Wow. It didn’t seem very hard at first, but 45 minutes of yoga, plyometrics, and cardio is definitely sweat-inducing. I’m looking forward to trying out all of the routines in the set. Unfortunately, by the time the workout was over, I was in the midst of the complete breakdown of three children – too busy of a weekend for them. My wife was down the street doing some 30 Day Shred with a friend. So, I consoled the best I could until her return.

Wife home – situation under control. Still had some energy left to burn. So, quick bike ride (5.5 miles of small hills) followed by a brisk half mile jog to check on my calf. Interestingly, I found a way to run without the calf pain. If I run in a sprint position (i.e. completely forefoot instead of my normal midfoot strike), there is no pain in my calf. Unfortunately, I do not have the control of my speed while running like that. I run too fast and burn out quickly. Of course, the 45 minutes of P90X and bike ride prior to the jog might have zapped some energy as well. I’m definitely looking forward to trying a brisk run tomorrow morning with a forefoot strike to see if that’s the answer I’ve been searching for.

Well, I promised everyone some big news. I will be starting a podcast with my brother-in-law about running, fitness, weight loss, and our journey towards running the half marathon in Chicago this year, and, hopefully, a full marathon next year. I was hoping to have one episode already recorded by tonight, but our schedules just did not allow for it. So, we will hopefully have an episode recorded this week and ready for download by this weekend. We are going to try to make it a weekly thing were we check in on our progress for the week, then he talks about gadgets/iPhone apps/technology dealing with fitness, then I talk about books, documentaries, podcasts, etc. I will definitely let everyone know when it’s ready for download.

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Aftermath of a Weekend

Pre-Run:
Well, this weekend I decided to be an off weekend for me. No diet, no running. My leg was still bothering me after Friday morning’s run, and it was Father’s Day. So I ate St. Louis Bread Company, licorice at the movies, pizza, bbq, ice cream, hell, I had a little of everything. But now it’s Monday. I got it out of my system, now it’s back on the clock. It’s a little after 4 am, and I’m getting some breakfast in me before my walk/run. I don’t know that my calf will allow me to run or not, so I plan on just taking it easy. I don’t want to push it any further than I already have and get hurt worse. We shall see.

Post-Run
I should entitle this part as “Post-Walk.” Try to run, but my calf was bothering me again. I’m going to give it more time so I don’t mess it up anymore. I guess this will give me some time to try out Jillian Michaels’ “30 day shred” DVD. This sucks. I was building up pretty well in my running routine. I guess I have to expect these kinds of set backs. It will make finishing the half marathon that much better, I suppose. I’ll keep you all posted.

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Sweat and Tears of the Sun

Got a late start for my first 3 mile run. It took a while to get my son back asleep. But, by 5:10, I was out the door. There was a light, misty rain to meet me on the other side of the six panel. It was refreshing, and, since I was wearing water shoes anyways, I didn’t really think twice about it. I walked down to the track and started the run. A mile and a half in, I noticed a pain in my upper back. I fumbled to switch my armband to the other arm and that seemed to help. The tears of the clouds lightly mixed with my sweat as I trucked along. The ten min/mile pace started to slow after the first mile. By the eighth lap of twelve, I was down to a trot.

That quarter mile trot gave me time to take in the surroundings. My back was still a little sore, but not unbearable. Feet and legs were doing fine. The sun had peaked out from the domicile ridden horizon, casting shadow peaks onto the running track. The sky’s spotlight perhaps had scared away the crying clouds, since only my own sweat was glistening my skin. I smiled, realizing my tank had been refilled, and chugged along the final three laps.

I finished at three miles in 36 minutes. Not bad for my longest run yet, but I need to do better. On deck for the rest of the week is another three miles tomorrow and a five mile run Saturday or Sunday. I’ll keep you posted.

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Run before the Sun

Last night I went and bought my water shoes (aka my new running shoes). This morning I took them for a spin. My plan was to wake at 4:15 to eat and hydrate, then run at 5 with a friend. My son, Carter, had different plans. He hasn’t been feeling great the past day or so. My wife, bless her heart, was up with him for half the night, and she finally ran out of gas around 3am. Then it was my turn. Finally got him to sleep at 3:45. We watched about half of the season premiere of “True Blood” in the living room. I laid him down gently in his bassinet and slithered into bed. 3:45. Ok, I’ll take a 30 minute powernap and continue as planned. I shut my eyes, and two minutes later they are propelled open like a cheap window treatment. “He’s still awake,” mutters my wife. Okeydokey. We repeat our morning ritual, and I lay him back down. Think I did this time. Clock on the nightstand states: 4:07. Fine, let’s do this.

I have my usual pre-run breakfast: whole wheat English muffin, toasted, with homemade strawberry jelly. I down about 20 ounces of water while checking my email and dorking around on the computer. My cell phone buzzes. My running partner backs out on me. Seems he has the same pediatric early riser problem as I do. Oh well, I’m used to running alone. I slip on my new water shoes. For $6 at Wal-Mart, they are a bit more cost effective then Vibrams. They feel good and snug. They have very little cushioning so I can bend my foot as much as possible. I walk the quarter mile to the running track at the local grade school. Still dark and a bit chilly for what I’m wearing, I climb up the dew moistened hill to the track. I set down my water bottle, start my running playlist, and engage my tracker iPhone app (currently using Pace Yourself Lite).

Before I know it, I’m a mile into my run holding a 10 min/mile pace. I take a quick inventory of my status: breath – ok, knees – feeling great, back – hurting a bit, but it always does, feet – feeling strong, ankles and calves – starting to fatigue. I look to the horizon and can see the sun’s entourage of colors entering the sky before it. All in all, pretty successful so far, so let’s see how I feel after another half mile. After 2 miles, I can feel my body telling me to slow down a bit. I bump back to 12 min/mile pace and finish another 1/3 mile. I pulled out my earbuds to listen to my breathing. Yeah, let’s walk the rest of this loop and take a drink. I think we’ve had enough today. I drink half of my water and watch the sun enter the room.

I walk the long way home just to see if my feet will start to ache. Nothing. A very peaceful walk home and here I am. I think I might have found the shoes I’ve been looking for at a price that seems criminal. I’ll check in tomorrow to see if my legs fall off.

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Barefoot and loving it!

So, I haven’t updated in a while. Here’s what’s going on. I’m currently weighing in at 202. Close to my goal of 200 for the month of June. Also, I’m reading (or listening to the audio book at least) of Christopher McDougall’s “Born to Run.” Anyone remotely interested in running should definitely definitely definitely check it out. Wonderful storyteller McOso is. So this inspired me to my next adventure.

As you guys know, I’ve been training for the Chicago Half Marathon. Two weeks ago, after starting my longer runs, I started to get pain in my knee. It was a tightening, sharp pain on the outsides of my knee. It appeared to be IT Band Syndrome. Google it. Basically, my New Balance trainers were not helping me run correctly. In fact, it was making it harder to run correctly. See, we are not made to run with our heels striking the ground first. Heels are meant for standing. I, unfortunately, was heel striking. This seemed to be the source of my problem.

I decided to take a week off, searching for a remedy to my knee problems. I couldn’t just take off for a month from running. I had the half marathon to train for. My first one at that. I was recommended “Born to Run” by a friend. The story is more or less about a Mexican tribe in the Copper Canyon that were ultrarunners. For fun, they would run 100+ miles. For fun. They would do this in huaraches (see Barefoot Ted). Huaraches are basically a piece of used tire rubber strapped to the foot with leather cord. They didn’t have thick, cushioning soles, orthotics, gel inserts, or even socks for that matter. This pushed me into an interest in barefoot running. So, being the obsessive person I am, I researched it and decided to give it a try.

A little dirt don't hurt....

I just got back from my first barefoot run at a 400 meter track. I did about a mile and a half at a 12 min/mile pace. It was wonderful. Some minor pain from my calves since I am using them in a way they haven’t been used before. But it was such a wonderful experience. I liked doing it. I liked running. I felt closer to the earth I was treading upon. Each step was unique. My supple sole was attaching to the ground like a Taoist and gently pushing it away. No heel strikes. No knee pain. When I would go a bit faster, it felt like gliding. It was the game changer for running that I was looking for. Tomorrow, I’ll try it again and see if the results are the same. Hopefully, this will be the new style for me. If I continue, I will be looking at getting some Vibram Five Fingers for the race. Don’t know that I trust the streets of Chicago with bare feet.

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Running Playlist

2.5 miles yesterday and 2 more this morning. I never thought I would run that much in less than 24 hours. So yesterday began my training regiment for the Chicago Half Marathon. I have roughly 100 days to get ready for this beast. I’m also looking to do the St. Theresa’s 5k in late August just to get some experience under my belt. So here’s the new regiment:
Monday – AM Run
Tuesday – AM Run
Wednesday – PM Lifting
Thursday – AM Run
Friday – AM Run
Saturday – AM Run followed by Lifting
Sunday – OFF

Wow, now that I type that up, it seems so daunting. Well, the purpose of this post was more to explore the musical tastes of my readers. I’ve been compiling a running playlist with high-BPM songs to throw into a shuffle. Here’s what I got so far:

Sex On Fire Kings of Leon
Jesus Built My Hotrod Ministry
Knights of Cydonia Muse
Almost Easy Avenged Sevenfold
Through the Fire and Flames Dragonforce (This song is 300 BPM at parts. Wow.)
(Sic) Slipknot
Stand Up Trapt
Generator Bad Religion
I’m a Cloud Boy Hits Car
9mm and a Three Piece Suit Catch 22
Sway (Hypnotic Remix) Coal Chamber
Swagger (live) Flogging Molly
Sons of Liberty Frank Turner
Sweetness Jimmy Eat World
Welcome To The Black Parade (Album Version) My Chemical Romance
Between Angels and Insects Papa Roach
RUNVS Playground King
Face Down The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
I Think I’ll Quit Saves The Day
Buried Myself Alive The Used
My Name Is Jonas Weezer
Icky Thump The White Stripes
Baba O’Riley The Who
Story of My Life Social Distortion

Right now, I can pretty much just shuffle on this playlist while doing my runs. I’d always like more, so if you have any suggestions, please comment with them. I’ll keep you posted with additions.

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