Mileage Reporting 47th Week of November 2014

Great 18 mile run Sunday at 8:45 39 deg. F. drizzle most of the way.
Passed by a big ole hound dog who said hello in his own way!
Couple of folks told me I forgot my shoes.
Total miles for last week was 29.
 
It's been a long November, huh?

I took a rest day today, mostly because of the cold rain that fell. A day off didn't seem like a bad thing, and then thinking about that cold rain, it seemed even better! I can be easy like that.

Of course one of things that we barefooters end up talking about and thinking about a lot is form. Mostly because when a person runs barefoot, that person then gets tied into the body's feedback system that evolution wired together for us. I know my running has been evolving a lot over the past 15 or 16 months now. I think the initial switch over to barefoot after a lifetime of being shod can usually help a person's form improve, but we also need to take into account that there might be some remedial work needed as well. One thing I've definitely come to observe in myself is that I think wearing shoes as a kid really really screwed up my running development. I was a slow runner as a kid. To some extent, I just may not be a fast runner anyhow, but shoes prevented me from running properly. I still remember that my basic instinct as a kid when running is that to go faster, obviously one must stride farther. Of course that has some truth to it, but it loses truth when a person overstrides. And when we overstride, it becomes harder for our body to properly engage the gluteus muscles. Then when you combine how much sitting our modern culture does, my running form was poor and I didn't use my butt too much.

Now, going barefoot helped me to shorten the stride and quicken the tempo, but I still had years of ingrained habit of using muscles other than the glutes to run with. I think that was a factor in the angry left hip flexor problem I developed over the summer, because while my right glute wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders, the left one was even worse. I've always been badly imbalanced between how coordinated my left and right sides are. The right side is dextrous and strong, the left side clumsy and week. Perfectly ideal running form would see a runner with equal or nearly equal strength and coordination on both sides of the body. So with that still dormant left glute, I was running with better form, but still not using a vital component of the stride.

And that's not entirely for lack of strength in the glutes. At times in the past, I've built up to where I could deadlift more than 2x my bodyweight. I couldn't do it now, but I went and tested today, and found I could still pull one rep of 1.6x my bodyweight, which is probably better than what most sedentary people can do. But to some extent, strength is a skill. Just because I have the skill to pull that much weight in the deadlift, it doesn't mean my body knows how to put it to use when I actually run.

So that's where remedial work like drills and hill sprints can be helpful to someone like me. Yesterday when I ran easy I noticed there's a subtly different feel to the stride. I've noticed it before, but it's been getting clearer over the past few weeks. I don't have to think about it, but if I listen to my body while it runs and if I go check down around the hips, I can feel the glutes working now. They probably still aren't fully activated for running, but they're learning now and I think the hill sprints and form drills like skipping, buttkicks and 100 ups have been helping.

It's very clear that evolution made our butts the biggest muscles in our bodies for a purpose of running. For some people who take up running, there is some chance that they won't have glutes that fire properly. And that's a problem because that means the butt is just dead weight slowing you down instead of driving you along like it should.
 
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Barefoot airport time again both Saturday and Sunday, just to CA this time though, so didn't have the issues with my legs swelling. Sunday morning before heading home, probably around 5 miles, running somewhat lost around Livermore, CA neighborhoods and paths ... all barefoot. Came home to a deep freeze and lots of sheets of ice everywhere. I won't be barefooting in that!
 
Kind of blurring the lines of the mileage week, but Saturday and Sunday I finished my 100 mile Ultra, the Chimera 100.

103 total miles with the course running long and a couple of wrong turns. I'll try to do a summary in my other thread and try to write a more detailed report later.

WOW WOW WOW! I tried to do an ultra while shopping in Italy, but I kept getting distracted by pretty things... ;-)
 
So I'm running up a hill on the way to Hillsprint Hill and I'm thinking, "Where the hell is this wind coming from?"

Then I think, "The North Pole!" Ugh. Then I remind myself at least it's today and not Sunday, the day of the half-marathon.

So 15 minute warmup (loosely used that) run, then 4x8s hill sprints, 2 skipping drills, 1 buttkicks, 1x70 100ups, then a 2.25 mile run home.

I hate wind. Hate it intensely.
 
Since you don't like wind, Scratch coming to Winterpeg. Sorry for the pun, but it seems like I've been running in 20-50k north winds since Thursday last week. And that is with air temps of -10C without the wind chill. I wound up doing a 1/2 mile barefoot on packed snow/bare pavement all the rest of the runs were in Sockwas and even in those I had to wear smartwool socks in them a couple of times.
 
So I'm running up a hill on the way to Hillsprint Hill and I'm thinking, "Where the hell is this wind coming from?"

Then I think, "The North Pole!" Ugh.

This morning was much the most challenging of the Fall so far in NYC too. The temperature dropped 5C between 6 and 8 am (low was -3C) and the wind was strong to approaching gale force. I didn't need a beanie after the first few minutes but my gloves were a little too light. I'm glad I've had my trusty Samsons on my feet for the last few runs!
 
This morning was much the most challenging of the Fall so far in NYC too. The temperature dropped 5C between 6 and 8 am (low was -3C) and the wind was strong to approaching gale force. I didn't need a beanie after the first few minutes but my gloves were a little too light. I'm glad I've had my trusty Samsons on my feet for the last few runs!

Yeah, I used toe socks and Xeros today. I hope this isn't a preview of the winter to come because I'm not about to take Dutchie up on his offer, at least not until climate change has turned the United States into a desert and Canada into the Garden of Eden.

Still, though, it was a good workout today. Legs felt pretty good, especially after a rest day. I hope the wind settles down some tomorrow, and hopefully tomorrow can be a barefoot day. At least the forecast for Sunday is looking reasonable right now, if maybe getting a bit warmer than I would really like, but I'll take that over weather like today.
 
I put in 60 minutes on the spin bike, plus quite a few stair repeats with housework. It is icy and frigid here, much earlier than last year, but it rarely lasts this cold all winter. We shall see, but for now, I'm thinking of darkening the door of the gym for a treadmill tomorrow. I think all the training I put in for the marathon has left me a little more stir crazy than last year and I have to run somehow! Enclosed footwear is required, though, and I am anticipating my feet getting quite hot. Might have to shop for my own treadmill again...
 
I'm finally running again! It's been a bit of a battle over the last couple of months, with a persistent achilles/heel problem that I think I'm starting to beat. More about that later.

On topic - 8km yesterday around a little town called Inverloch, just cruising along and sightseeing. One prickle removal stop and a little bit of rain, but it was mostly quite pleasant.
 
Monday I did 12.5km/7.8mi, I was very happy with my form and breathing.

Come Wednesday morning, preparing to go out for my second run of the week, while putting my shorts on, I feel a massive pain in my lower back, and fell on the floor, took me 2' to get back on my feet, I was in such pain.

Anyway, I could not run since then, and hoping to recover soon. It is better now, but still not good enough for running, I start to get itchy though ! 4 days without running now...
 
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Muscle soreness fading. No joint pain. Body systems back to normal. Only problem is the swelling in my left foot and ankle. Subsided enough to do a little yard work today and a 2 mile barefoot walk with my wife. Chip seal felt really nice on the feet.

I forgot to mention how my feet did on the big run. Two little blisters on the outsides of my heels. Occasionally some pad soreness during the run. A little bit of heel soreness for a day after. Amazing. Thank you barefoot running!
 
Wednesday, I mentioned running and my whole family laughed at me and told me to go take a nap, which I did. Then, I also slept 11 hours last night and began to feel like I am getting the better of this "Italian" virus.

So, today, I ran 5 miles in 28 °F, 4 of them in Sockwas and 1 barefooted. I think I'll try 2 miles next time since the 1 mile went so well in spite of the frequent patches of snow and melted ice. There was just enough dry pavement to keep the feet warm, and the wetness was actually refreshing a good deal of the time. That surprised me!
 
So this week started out with 3 day shifts for me, and no running :(
Not many stairs at work either, sleep deprived and lazy, not to mention wearing dress clothes, socks and shoes. But did get a few stairs in, did my usual dayshift 44 flights up, 58 down each day.

Today finally got a run in, but wind chill put it colder than I thought I could handle, and the trail had lots of snow and ice. So my first shod run since last winter, in my soft star dashs. 6mi
 
I ran yesterday, and planned to tomorrow, so wasn't going to run today. But it was just too tempting so went out for a shorter one. Bright blue sky without a cloud in sight. Calm wind. Road lined with white. Just love those days! It was a bit cool around 26F which I wasn't sure if I could do barefoot. But I tried a few tricks this time. Set the feet up in front of the stove for a good 5 minutes as close as I could stand the heat. Then I tried the Vaseline trick. I thought it might be a little windy so was trying everything I could. Was just going to run down the road from my house which is very exposed to wind. Luckily the wind was still. But I didn't expect as much snow as there was. It was mostly hard packed, though some was melting and slushy. First barefoot snow of the year for me! I actually tried to run on as much snow as I could in my 2.5mi run, probably .5 to 1mi worth of snow. First time I ever had fun running on snow! :woot:

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3 mile run this morning, first 2 were in Sockwas and the last mile was barefoot on packed snow in -2C with a windchill of -8C, had to as I was suffering from barefoot withdrawal. ;) Didn't do the vaseline thing on my feet though, might have to try that if it gets colder. More snow coming tomorrow so that will stop my barefoot running until it gets packed down.