Mileage Reporting 17th Week 2013

[Bare Lee]

Lee, be careful on the downhill specialy that you tend to have ITB issues that's why I walk down particularly with my bad back I can't afford to messed up myself more than I already am.
Next time you run downhill pay closed attention as how you're descending, either you are overstriding or braking too much have you try running downhill ona Zig-Zag motion? I read some where that running that way is the safest way to run downhill.
No Lee, he couldn't tell that I am not like everybody else, I haven't show my true self...yet

Yah, I was feeling it a bit in my ITB yesterday, but not near the knee. I'm still being very cautious about the ITB, but it's been several months since I've had any outright strain, so hard to tell exactly where I am with that these days. Could it be completely gone? Or is it just lurking, ready to pounce as soon as I get overconfident? I'm thinking of trying an 11-mile run this weekend, and running it to the end even if I start to feel fatigued, just to get a sense of it. Getting tired of being so careful. I'm headless and reckless by nature.

I will NOT use clip in shoes/pedals. When I go on group rides, "those people" are always struggling to get going when there is a break in traffic for crossing a road. I, on the other hand, just put my feet ON the pedals and go. BTW, I ride wearing Soft Star RunAMocs.

On my bicycle travels, I had a lot of success with strapless mountain bike clips. You can get in and out of them in a hurry, but they keep the feet properly aligned and keep them from slipping. Something like this:

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Antonio, what a relief that is glad to hear it was nothing just a scare.

 

[NickW]

It's pretty boring to run up and over the same hill a bunch of times (I think it was 13 times yesterday), like Sisyphus, and the time drags a bit, but everyone says hill work is a great way to increase pace and power, so I'll try to stick with it for a while.

Lee, as much as hill repeats suck, it's a great feeling when you are in a race or just on one of your other runs and you are able to just cruise up a hill with little to no problem. A year a go I ran the Shamrock run (15k) here and ran with Mike. He really struggled with holding our pace while going up the long hill (I seem to think it was 5.5-6 miles long) but I was just fine. Going down was another story though, he was much faster than me going down but I think that has to do with running downhill with a stroller (during all my training runs) which doesn't teach you how to run downhill.

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Yah, I was feeling it a bit in my ITB yesterday, but not near the knee. I'm still being very cautious about the ITB, but it's been several months since I've had any outright strain, so hard to tell exactly where I am with that these days. Could it be completely gone? Or is it just lurking, ready to pounce as soon as I get overconfident? I'm thinking of trying an 11-mile run this weekend, and running it to the end even if I start to feel fatigued, just to get a sense of it. Getting tired of being so careful. I'm headless and reckless by nature.


On my bicycle travels, I had a lot of success with strapless mountain bike clips. You can get in and out of them in a hurry, but they keep the feet properly aligned and keep them from slipping. Something like this:

I think that once you have it's more dificult to prevent it that has being my experience anyways but I am unique you know once you feel pain on the knee then its already too late. If you feel a little sore/tight feeling along the ITB side then stop.
Go for your 11 mi run but I think that you should stop if anything does not feel right but if it's just fatigue keep on going.

 

[happysongbird]

That's pretty cool. Were you tempted to give him your daughter's phone number? .

My daughter has already had a few times of practicing speaking in Spanish with him.

 

[happysongbird]

On my bicycle travels, I had a lot of success with strapless mountain bike clips. You can get in and out of them in a hurry, but they keep the feet properly aligned and keep them from slipping. Something like this:

Hmmm looks interesting. The other part of it is that I really need the toe room to wiggle my toes, or they go too numb.

 

[Bare Lee]

I think that once you have it's more dificult to prevent it that has being my experience anyways but I am unique you know once you feel pain on the knee then its already too late. If you feel a little sore/tight feeling along the ITB side then stop.
Go for your 11 mi run but I think that you should stop if anything does not feel right but if it's just fatigue keep on going.

Yah, one time the ITBS came out of nowhere when I wasn't even fatigued, and stopped me in my tracks after about 10 strides. But other than that, the pattern has been fatigue > strain > growing pain > ITBS, and only (1) after trying a jump in distance of more than a mile or two, and (2) being too ignorant or stubborn to recognize the symptoms.

So I've been preventively stopping at fatigue for the last several months. Unfortunately it's hard to make progress if you don't run the last few miles fatigued. So I was going to do that Saturday. Lately my point of fatigue has been around the 8-9 mile mark. I could stay there and gradually increase as I have been doing, waiting for each bump up in distance to become comfortable until bumping it up again, but I'd like to see what happens with 11 or 12 miles, even though that might be a month or two premature. That would bring me up to about two hours of running, which seems like a good max for me. And there are a lot of fun out-n-back routes in that range, so that should keep me satisfied for a quite a while, maybe forever. Of course I'll still shut it down if the fatigue transitions to strain. I ain't taking any chances.

Lee, as much as hill repeats suck, it's a great feeling when you are in a race or just on one of your other runs and you are able to just cruise up a hill with little to no problem. A year a go I ran the Shamrock run (15k) here and ran with Mike. He really struggled with holding our pace while going up the long hill (I seem to think it was 5.5-6 miles long) but I was just fine. Going down was another story though, he was much faster than me going down but I think that has to do with running downhill with a stroller (during all my training runs) which doesn't teach you how to run downhill.

Thanks for the encouragement Nick. That helps me get behind this hills thing. I know from my biking experience that ascents are one of the fastest ways to build up stamina, so together with intervals (if our high school track ever dries out!), I'm hoping to see a rapid drop in pace over the spring and summer. As you know, I've been talking up the three-run-type approach for quite a while, so it would be nice to finally put my money where my mouth is and see if it really works.

As for why Mike might not have been able to handle the hills . . . doesn't he follow a religion that specifically forbids running up hills?

Hmmm looks interesting. The other part of it is that I really need the toe room to wiggle my toes, or they go too numb.

Shouldn't be a problem. They come in various sizes and shapes, so you could probably find something you like.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=strapless pedal clips
I think you'll find some benefit in using them.

 

[NickW]

Thanks for the encouragement Nick. That helps me get behind this hills thing. I know from my biking experience that ascents are one of the fastest ways to build up stamina, so together with intervals (if our high school track ever dries out!), I'm hoping to see a rapid drop in pace over the spring and summer. As you know, I've been talking up the three-run-type approach for quite a while, so it would be nice to finally put my money where my mouth is and see if it really works.

As for why Mike might not have been able to handle the hills . . . doesn't he follow a religion that specifically forbids running up hills?

Now now Lee. Maf does not forbid it, but it does require that you keep your hr in range, so that may mean walking. Mike is actually not a bad runner. He is just slightly faster than me on the flats, quite a bit faster on the downhills, and slower up the hills (at least the last time I ran with him which was a long time ago, he could be much better now).

In any case Lee, I love hill training and it makes me feel stronger all the way around in my running. Hopefully it won't be too long and I will be able to get back to a 3 run type approach too. Oh, and why the big push to jump 2-3 miles in distance? Why not just add a small amount each week or two and build up that way? I understand the desire to increase, we all know I've been there myself, but I'm just afraid you may do yourself more harm than good. If you don't hurt yourself you are going to assume that it wasn't too much so you will keep trying to do that on your long run day. It may very well have been too long and you just got lucky, and next time won't. I'm not your dad or anything like that and you're a big boy so I'm not going to tell you what to do, just want you to be careful and smart. You've been doing really well lately and I would hate to see you ruin this progress by another injury.

 

[Bare Lee]

Now now Lee. Maf does not forbid it, but it does require that you keep your hr in range, so that may mean walking. Mike is actually not a bad runner. He is just slightly faster than me on the flats, quite a bit faster on the downhills, and slower up the hills (at least the last time I ran with him which was a long time ago, he could be much better now).

Yah, I got his book, I understand the theory behind it, but we don't want to go there, do we now? . . . apologies for the lapse in etiquette.

It may very well have been too long and you just got lucky, and next time won't.

Good point, you're probably right, I should just hang in the 9-10 mile range for another few weeks, especially since my wife has prohibited me from running the half in August, so there's really no pressure to improve on any kind of timeline. It's just that there's this really nice out-n-back route from my house to Minnehaha Falls that would be cool to do, which is about 11.5 miles, but I could always walk the last mile or two home. I also have this idea of having a two-hour max run that's insidiously poisoning my feeble, obsessive numerologist mind, like a BW max bench press, but I'll try to keep a lid on it, er, . . . keep it under my hat, or something like that.

And yah, it'll be cool when you can try the three-run approach too, so we can compare notes.

50 F out now. I think winter may finally be over!

 

[Barefoot Dama]

50 F out now. I think winter may finally be over!

I won't count on it just yet
I think your idea of running the same distance several times and increase little by little is a very good idea.

Biked for 20 mins today yeaaaaaaaaa!! boring and not much but it's better than nothing
Therapist told me yesterday than I might be running sooner than expected

 

[happysongbird]

Biked for 20 mins today yeaaaaaaaaa!! boring and not much but it's better than nothing
Therapist told me yesterday than I might be running sooner than expected

Hoo-RAY!

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Hoo-RAY!

I am sooo happy about that that I don't know what to do with myself
In my mind I am running all those lovely trails that my husband doesn't want me to run by myself and as crazy as it sounds I am really enjoying them. I know, I know, I might be losing it

 

[NickW]

Ran 1.62 miles today, all with my feet bare, STG (skin to ground mind you, not stinky toe gloves). It's a beautiful day but I was not really able to enjoy it much at all. I really really struggled because I was too hot. Summers coming way too fast now. 66degF during the run. Made me feel weak and a little queasy. I had been hoping to get out a little earlier this morning but my son slept in later than normal which threw us off schedule. I know the rest of the moles here would probably kill me for saying this, but I hope it goes back to gloomy and rainy soon. I hate the heat...

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Ran 1.62 miles today, all with my feet bare, STG (skin to ground mind you, not stinky toe gloves). It's a beautiful day but I was not really able to enjoy it much at all. I really really struggled because I was too hot. Summers coming way too fast now. 66degF during the run. Made me feel weak and a little queasy. I had been hoping to get out a little earlier this morning but my son slept in later than normal which threw us off schedule. I know the rest of the moles here would probably kill me for saying this, but I hope it goes back to gloomy and rainy soon. I hate the heat...

What's your problem anyways? Perfect, perfect weather ig it were colder then you'll be wearing your STG.
HArd to please man, hard to please

 

[NickW]

What's your problem anyways? Perfect, perfect weather ig it were colder then you'll be wearing your STG.
HArd to please man, hard to please

Not hard to please. I never complain about the cold. Well, very rarely. I love our winters here and have decided that in the future, I am going to do the reverse of what most normal people do and am going to do my serious training in the fall, winter and spring and then do my rest and slower cycle through the hottest part of the summer. We have perfect conditions for me to be able to do that and my body doesn't do well during the heat. Mike is the one that complains about the cold. He loves the hot weather and seems to do well in it. Me on the other hand not so much. In fact during the winter I usually wear shorts and short sleeve t-shirts, and only on our coldest days do I add hat and gloves and maybe a long sleeve shirt.

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Not hard to please. I never complain about the cold. Well, very rarely. I love our winters here and have decided that in the future, I am going to do the reverse of what most normal people do and am going to do my serious training in the fall, winter and spring and then do my rest and slower cycle through the hottest part of the summer. We have perfect conditions for me to be able to do that and my body doesn't do well during the heat. Mike is the one that complains about the cold. He loves the hot weather and seems to do well in it. Me on the other hand not so much. In fact during the winter I usually wear shorts and short sleeve t-shirts, and only on our coldest days do I add hat and gloves and maybe a long sleeve shirt.

Nice and dandy but the big question here is do you with pure naked feet in cold weather-I didn't think so
Seriously though, I see people here in Iowa running on very cold weather or sometimes people just wear a sweatshirt even if the temp is below freezing. I really like to know how they can tolerate that type of thing.

 

[NickW]

Nice and dandy but the big question here is do you with pure naked feet in cold weather-I didn't think so
Seriously though, I see people here in Iowa running on very cold weather or sometimes people just wear a sweatshirt even if the temp is below freezing. I really like to know how they can tolerate that type of thing.

Actually Dama, as long as I am running I prefer to be barefoot, even in our coldest temps of 30degF. We don't get very cold usually so I can run barefoot down to 30, even with the rain. Now, this stupid injury that has lasted so long has had me try numerous shoes so that I could run. Oh, on the coldest days I do usually like to run a mile or so in huaraches first so that my feet are good and warm with the blood flowing. The problem I have, and always have had, is tender soles barefoot. I'm wondering if this is just a product of only running on roads with pretty much zero trails, or if my injury stopped me from developing my soles like they should have been because I kept throwing footwear on to deal with that injury. In any case, now that my heel is fixed and I am able to run again, barefoot feels best again for running although my soles are pretty tender again despite no visible wear spots nor do I have any blisters. Hopefully the MRI will show what's going on with the peroneal tendon problem I have going on, but even that seems to be bothering me less and less the more I go barefoot or huaraches.

 

[Larry]

24km ride done, didn't fall off and managed to keep up. I suspect my BIL went easy on me.

I like those pedal things that Bare Lee mentioned - I have the old fashioned racing bike ones with the straps on my old road bike at home. I think they do the job just as well as the clip in shoes. I'm not a fan of cleats, I've decided.

Riding's OK, but I think I like running better.

 

[RunningPirate]

I'll also be riding his road bike, complete with clip-in pedals which I have never used before. I reckon I'm about a 50-50 chance of clip-stacking it at a stop sign and making his day.

I have clip ins on my road bike and my MTB and touring bike - FWIW, they're not that bad. For the road bike, I find that I have more trouble getting clipped in than getting unclipped (I have SPD's on the MTB and Touring bike, so those are a cinch). A friend just got new Look pedals and she learned (the hard way) that instead of pushing your heel away from the bike to unclip, you have to push it in towards the bike. Before she discovered this, she was pretty much locked on the bike, so I had to ride ahead of her, dismount and basically catch her when she stopped so she wouldn't fall over. Note that these were brand new clips that hadn't been adjusted and she hadn't yet discovered the "push the heel in" method.

 

[RunningPirate]

22.75 mi on the commuter bike today. Wasn't really commuting, but just starting to get some mileage up for the Livestrong ride in Davis - didn't feel like getting kitted up, so I took the commuter bike.