Mileage Reporting 6th week of 2015

skedaddle

Barefooters
Sep 3, 2011
1,244
2,066
113
18.76 miles today. 28°f but felt way colder with the wind chill.

I made my way to four bronze age burials. i like to visit these type of ancient sites, and even after all these years they still command a presence in the landscape.
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These are Saxon burials and being of Saxon decent myself i felt a connection. I know i belong in these hills, it’s in my blood and goes deeper than just a place to run.

Further on in the run i had an uneasy feeling that I was being watched ;)
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Yeah, you got to watch out for sheep. They may look all peaceful, but they're plotting something.

Ran 7.1 miles yesterday and 5.5 miles today. I'm very much enjoying the leap forward I'm now seeing in the paces I can run. It's also sort of scary, to think I'm just ambling along and look down at the Garmin and see that ambling-pace is a bit faster than a 5K I raced hard in July 2007 and got my first sub-30. I believe there have been 2 huge factors in this -- first is simply the sheer number of miles I've run since August 2013, about 1940 miles now. That's certainly improved my aerobic capacity. The other factor is that my body is finally learning how to use my glutes when I run. I've been feeling that develop over the last year but it continues to become ever more clear. To do that you need some faster running and I believe there are good reasons to first start with small doses of faster running. That can be done with hill sprints, 6 to 10 seconds in length, up hills with a decent incline. Those sprints make it very easy for your body to fire the glutes correctly while running. You can reinforce their effect with strides, 15 to 30 second accelerations up towards 5K pace or better. Just toss them into easy runs on the days when the legs are feeling good.

It used to be that in years past when I ran and felt dog-tired on a run, I would strongly feel the tired sensation in the quads. Now sometimes I go out to run and I can feel the quads kind of like that, but because the glutes are also now working, it means I can slog out some easy-paced miles without it feeling too overwhelming. I suspect that I'm still learning on this though and that the glutes will continue to improve in function. That's huge though. The glutes are the engine for runners. I now strongly believe that maybe all runners, but especially slower runners, should see about evaluating how well their glutes are working. Especially in these days where we sit so much and so long and so often, especially since the use of shoes can encourage overstriding which can put the glutes in a disadvantaged position to fire when the foot strikes the ground.

But damn I'm liking this. Today I went out and ran a route that has pretty long and stiff uphill during the first mile. I've never clocked a sub-10 mile in that particular first mile. Today ambled up it in 9:45, while having to slow down and carefully pick my way over some icy stretches. Who the hell is this guy that's running now? I'll tell you who -- he's the guy who found out how much fun running could be when he started using barefoot to teach himself how to really run.
 
18.76 miles today. 28°f but felt way colder with the wind chill.

I made my way to four bronze age burials. i like to visit these type of ancient sites, and even after all these years they still command a presence in the landscape.
View attachment 5395

These are Saxon burials and being of Saxon decent myself i felt a connection. I know i belong in these hills, it’s in my blood and goes deeper than just a place to run.

Further on in the run i had an uneasy feeling that I was being watched ;)
View attachment 5396

Brrrr.
And what amazing things you get to see on your adventures.
 
Pouring, drenching rain yesterday was accommodated by 60 minutes on the spin bike and a 10 minute swim. I am trying to work back up to more days a week running, but I will not run in some conditions.

I am trying something new this week, partly inspired by Sid, and trying to swim at least (and most often only) 10 minutes after every other kind of workout. So far, 3 for 3 accomplished.

Today, I was going crazy and took advantage of when it calmed down to a steady drip and drizzle outside to get out for an 8.25 mile run. At this wet 41°F (5°C), my first 4.0 miles were in my Sockwas. I really didn't think I was going to get warm enough to go barefoot, as this was a new wet temperature limit for me for longer than about a miles. However, at 4 miles, I set aside not only the Sockwas, but the ear warmer, gloves, and jacket. I still had 2 layers, the under being lovely wool, and that kept me just above chilled and not too hot. The feet stayed nicely pink, although they were getting chilled by the end of my run with the layer of water on the pavement. And I am happy to feel my strength coming back more since the lung issue.
 
My story is ho-hum compared to everyone else's adventures. So what's new?

Business took me to Palm Springs CA where I ran Sunday, Monday and also this morning, Tuesday. For the rest of you, it's business as-usual to run a lot. For me, it's astonishing. Before barefoot running, I had never run more than 3 miles in a week and I haven't done that in many years! Three days with daily runs. Pinch me. Eight miles before sunset on Sunday. (I was a little worried I would have to walk at the end.) Five miles at sunrise yesterday. (It's beautiful in the desert.) Another six-point-five miles this morning. (So much fun I almost missed my plane afterwards!) Smooth clean pavement and roads, and nicely manicured golf greens, temps in the mid-50s, all conditions that made it easy. Crazeee. My stiff ankles remind me that I actually did all this running - does anyone have a way to reduce the stiffness??? It gets better after a bit of walking.

Barefoot running also gave me something to talk about with colleagues and clients over cocktails. They were pretty curious.
 
Most excellent 5 mile run yesterday at 4:45 am 36 deg. f. feels like 31.
I have been fortunate that it does not get to cold or wet here to keep me from running barefoot! (typically)

I would love to see the sheep and cool countryside with history.
 
. My stiff ankles remind me that I actually did all this running - does anyone have a way to reduce the stiffness??? It gets better after a bit of walking.

Patience helps! It's all part of the adjustment/development phase.

Congratulations.
 
This week so far 28.7km/17.8mi, which I intend to double by the end of the week. But effectively mileage is secondary to me at the moment, I am really focusing on low HR, for a duration of between 75 and 90min. I think the benefits will come when the weather gets colder.
 
Wednesday - reverse order, so swam 25 minutes, then biked 45,

Thursday - I ran 5 miles barefoot at a cold 50 degrees. I forgot my Garmin and totally zoned while running. Once, I had completely lost track of where I was. It was weird. Then, swam 10 minutes once home.

Friday - My 2 youngest invited me to run with them and I put in 4 miles, then swam 10 minutes. I am looking forward to getting back to at least 4 days a week running, which I think will happen beginning this week now, since I can run tomorrow. It helps that we have had very mild weather overall.
 
Excellent 3 1/2 mile trail run in the Welsh hills this morning. 2.5 deg C on the car thermometer. Lots of frozen mud to skip around on. Too rough for bare feet. Stuck to VFF sandals. Definitely feeling some benefit today from the leg and core strengthening I've been doing :)
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Tried something new and went running Saturday AM with a group of "runner" (for some reason younger) mom's I met through a FB page. That meant I went ahead with my longest run in a while (11 miles) at the end of a week of my highest mileage in a while (28.25 miles), on some of the roughest pavement I know of (I managed about 3.5 miles barefoot on the chip seal all total, but not all together, as well as hit a patch of huge burrs and had to remove 6 of them while the small group ran ahead). I seem to have judged the exposure to the chip seal well, since my feet are feeling it, but not damaged. The run was on the slow side for me, with short walking intervals, so I didn't end up sore. I tried to fit in with the group, not attempting to not make it obvious how easy the run was for me, but somehow I got pegged as "one of those healthy ones," as I was told when the normal chocolate milk was handed out after the run, but water had been purchased especially for me.:rolleyes: I did prefer the water right then, but made it clear I was going home to eat a Haagen Daz bar!
 
Not much to report this week, my 72hr work week. On my 1 day off I did break some barefoot cold records, but it wasn't sustainable. Was 11ºF and -1ºF with wind chill, possibly the coldest run I have done ever but definitely barefoot. And it was on snow, the road was all packed snow. Well sort of barefoot. I knew it was colder than I could handle so I tried something. Its only the tips of my middle 3 toes that have the problem of freezing so I tried the Vaseline trick just on the toes and put a sandwich baggie cut in half to just cover the toes. A couple pieces of tape to try to hold it on better. Well it would have helped if it would stay on better but came off in under a mile. I came back inside and tried rearranging it and headed back out and again came off. But I got 2.4mi in barefoot (well, mostly) on snow before I said the heck with it and cleaned up the feet and warmed them, put on my SoftStars and went back out for 6.1mi total.

Then I got a quick 4 1/4 miles in before nightshift Saturday. It had warmed up and all the snow was melted. Well most of it, still some slush here and there. But the issue was the terrible grit and sharp chips on the road now. I just used the SoftStars even though it was in the 40's. :(

So just 10.3 miles in.

Also did some stairs this week, I can't find my little sheet I have been jotting them down but I'd estimate between 200-300 flights of stairs this week at work.