Mileage Reporting 20th Week of 2013

Dear BRS friends, my first half was marvelous in many ways. Very competitive field, so I was only 8th in my age group of 22, but with a total time of 1:55, average pace of 8:50, and fending off severe calf cramps the last 2 miles and still managing to run to the finish, I am satisfied. I will write a more complete story on my blog on Tuesday for anyone who is interested. It was an interesting journey!

Awesome run Songbird! I think sub 2hrs is great for your first, and that does sound pretty competitive. Looking forward to the write up. Sounds like if you hadn't had those calf cramps you'd have beat my first 1/2 finish time!
 
Sounds like you had a great run Laura! Anxious to read your write up!

This morning I started my run at 6:00 am and decide to go a bit further than planned and ran a bit over 5 miles and then walked 1.25 miles back to the car. Was a good morning for a run except for the high humidity. Today during my run I decided to start mixing things up a bit. I'd like to do maybe a couple of sprint runs each week for a some distance shorter than my usual runs of course. Seems like most runs are tempo runs. Might do some fartleks during some of the normal runs also.
 
Ran 21.43km (13.3mi) today. I did want to see how fast I could run. In the end, the hardest was not speed, but rather my feet (too tender), specially towards the end. I still managed sub 2h which I am very happy with....And, also, well done to happysongbird for her achievement on an official run !!! Great work !!!
 
Random bits and bobs....
Friday - was expecting to do a 10 mile RT ride to go see Amgen Tour of California (Leg 5 Time Trials), but as luck would have it, we were able to park closer than expected, so only rode something like 1.5 mi or so. There's a couple of spots during the broadcast, you can see a blur of me off to the right of the turn.
Today - 30 mi ride followed up with about a 1.5 mile kayak (would have gone longer, but had some plans in the afternoon).

A couple of barefoot running items:

1) While kayaking, a couple drove their Waverunner on to the rocks. They fell of and got a little banged up, but were OK (could have been exponentially worse). As we were the first there, I got out checked on them and helped the get the Waverunner off the rocks back in to the water (those things are heavier than you'd think). All the while, I was barefoot (I don't wear shoes while kayaking); my friends commented that the only reason I was able to pull that off is because my feet were conditioned by BFR.
2) Later I went to a BBQ at a friends house and was chatting about BFR. A buddy of mine asked "So do you wear those shoes that are all toes and no sole?", which pretty much had me laughing for 5 minutes. All toes and no sole, indeed.
 
this isn't the first time and now i need to figure out why this is happening when i used to have strong nails they've suddenly become brittle.

Deficiency in vitamin D, beta-carotene and the B-vitamin biotin - which stress can suck out of you, as well.
 
Got my ankles worked on yesterday by my ND - prolotherapy - natural joint strengthening, he did work on all my major tendons in my ankle. He said that my left ankle joints are a lot weaker than my right. When I was 12, I rolled that ankle and fractured the edge of my foot/toe, then I got "cuboid syndrome" in it when I was 19 (which is basically when two bones/joints twist sideways and stick there). Then when I ran the dirt dash in April, I was going up some super soft, muddy, thick grass and it rolled again. This same foot flops back and forth when I run and I have to concentrate on keeping it straight. I don't know why I didn't think to get the joints strengthened sooner - I was so hung up with my back and then my hips. In fact, it's probably one of the main influences on what pulls my hips over TO THE LEFT -since my ankle is always trying to over-supinate on that side. My left leg is also longer than my right, which does not help. I made sure I got in to get it worked on BEFORE our vacation to Zion! Now, I must concentrate on being a good little girl and no exercising it for 5 days in order to let my body complete the inflammatory healing, correctly. Tonight, I did my lazy co-workers' jobs for them and spent over 2 hours scrubbing a floor with a mop, and was dripping sweat almost the whole time. So, HAH, I got a work out and they didn't! :p
 
Finished off the week in style with another barefoot marathon in Fargo, ND. Had a blast and finished with a new PB, not as quick as I wanted it to be, but it was seriously hot and humid for the last half after great running weather for the first 15 miles. Finished in 4:16:48, kicked it in to the finish line with a barefoot relay team member. We passed at least 12 startled runners as we came into the finish line in the dome. The crowd was cheering like crazy, it was fun.
 
Ran 7 miles at 5:00 am 73 deg. F. . Great run saw more rabbits and a wood pecker or 2. I'm still on week 4 of training no toe stub'n, feet good, legs good.
Another great day to run barefoot.
 
5km premarathon run Friday night, not to shabby for this guyBob 5km Fargo 1.JPG5km time stats..JPG
 
Finished off the week in style with another barefoot marathon in Fargo, ND. Had a blast and finished with a new PB, not as quick as I wanted it to be, but it was seriously hot and humid for the last half after great running weather for the first 15 miles. Finished in 4:16:48, kicked it in to the finish line with a barefoot relay team member. We passed at least 12 startled runners as we came into the finish line in the dome. The crowd was cheering like crazy, it was fun.
It's so much easier to get that final kick going when barefooted!
 
Saturday afternoon
Top ST workout

Friday afternoon I was supposed to run but I felt like crap. This whole week I've been sleeping poorly. Saturday I didn't feel like working out either, and debated running or weights or nothing. In the end, doing weights in the garage took less motivation than going out for a run, so I headed down. I had a lousy start with the bench press, so didn't push it at all, but some of the other exercises went OK. And then towards the end I was getting a pretty good pump so I did a lot of sets of biceps curls, which I normally only give perfunctory treatment.

Today I slept in and caught up on my sleep. But now I've lost that sleep-deprivation edge, feel lethargic, and really don't feel like going out in the heat and running. Boo hoo. I really gotta switch to early morning running or I'm going to lose whatever gains I made over the winter. Maybe later I can get in at least a mile or two down on the jhs track. The one good thing about this running lull is that I'm giving my left MCL plenty of time to rest. It had been feeling sore for 12 hours or so after runs, but for the last several weeks the post-run soreness has been close to non-existent.

Yesterday did some speed intervals.
You're getting pretty speedy Tristan! Very inspiring.
Very competitive field, so I was only 8th in my age group of 22
Well, you probably took first place in the barefoot classification! Overall, sounds like a very successful first half. Congratulations! You trained hard for this and got great results.
Finished off the week in style with another barefoot marathon in Fargo, ND. Had a blast and finished with a new PB, not as quick as I wanted it to be, but it was seriously hot and humid for the last half after great running weather for the first 15 miles. Finished in 4:16:48, kicked it in to the finish line with a barefoot relay team member. We passed at least 12 startled runners as we came into the finish line in the dome. The crowd was cheering like crazy, it was fun.
Nice of you to come down across the border for a visit. Congrats on the new PR!
 
Well, you probably took first place in the barefoot classification! Overall, sounds like a very successful first half. Congratulations! You trained hard for this and got great results.
I didn't "see" any other barefoot runners, and by the sound of people's comments when I ran to the finish line I was at least the first. Also, though, we found out that the results' computer was only listing how many in an age group had completed the race by the time we were looking. So, I actually placed 8th out of 50 in my age group, which puts me in the top 16%, so more satisfying. :) I was in the top 19% of all women and top 32% of all finishers (1362), so I think I did well enough for a first half.
 
14.3 miles this week. Including the 4% fitness test.
The gist of it is you set your treadmill to 4% incline, 10kmph and just see how long you can go for. I'm sure there's a proper name for this test but I don't know what it is.
Anyway my previous best (last May, pre barefoot) was 17 minutes. It nearly killed me! But on Friday there I ran for 34 minutes! I felt I could have gone on too! Since starting barefoot my fitness has really increased! Probably a LOT to do with the technique but hey it felt great!
2 min recovery 58bpm. Good times.

Then today I ran 6.6 miles. The furthest I've done barefoot. I normally chuck on the Vibrams for longer runs but decided to go all out today barefoot. Another step towards my barefoot half marathon on 28th June.
A good week! :)
http://www.dailymile.com/people/Darkand
 
Sunday afternoon
4.5 mi

I finally motivated. We started to get thunderstorms around 3:30pm, which cooled things down by about 10 F. Then there was a lull of drizzle and I headed out at a nice pace of around 9mm. About halfway through the downpour resumed. It was a gas running home through the spontaneous streams and deep puddles. I really felt alive, and thought of the Oregonians.

I'm coming around to Carey's approach. These days, most runs seem like tempo runs. Whether that's good or bad, I can't say. I just know I likes it.
 
Sunday afternoon
4.5 mi

I finally motivated. We started to get thunderstorms around 3:30pm, which cooled things down by about 10 F. Then there was a lull of drizzle and I headed out at a nice pace of around 9mm. About halfway through the downpour resumed. It was a gas running home through the spontaneous streams and deep puddles. I really felt alive, and thought of the Oregonians.
I had a good rain run this week too, although I could have used some more puddles and streams. I can't wait till next fall and winter when we have our flooding problems again. Nothing like running through a torrential downpour and then having to cross big spaces of flooded landed. People look at you like you are crazier than sh*t, and maybe I am crazier than Jen but I enjoy it and smile like a madman when I get to run when it's crappy out like that. Not sure really why it brings me so much pleasure, but it does. Guess it just kind of takes my mind completely off the stress of life at that point in time and lets me focus on the simple pleasures.
 
I had a good rain run this week too, although I could have used some more puddles and streams. I can't wait till next fall and winter when we have our flooding problems again. Nothing like running through a torrential downpour and then having to cross big spaces of flooded landed. People look at you like you are crazier than sh*t, and maybe I am crazier than Jen but I enjoy it and smile like a madman when I get to run when it's crappy out like that. Not sure really why it brings me so much pleasure, but it does. Guess it just kind of takes my mind completely off the stress of life at that point in time and lets me focus on the simple pleasures.
Yah, my wife questioned my sanity, but it was really fun. If you can run in subfreezing temps, why would you let spring rain stop you? I especially enjoyed going by a few folks with their umbrellas, which weren't very effective in keeping them dry after getting caught in the blustery downpour. I found the driving rain actually gave me energy and my 9mm pace held pretty steady to the end. I did step on a gravel-sized rock in one of the puddles though, right on the heel, but the pain passed quickly. So glad I was able to motivate after feeling pissy for most of the day.

I'm also remembering our conversation from last year, about working on pace first, distance second. It seems like my recent inability to get in long runs on the weekend is forcing me back to this approach. I wonder what it would be like to always run between 8mm and 9mm pace for an hour or so until I can consistency run 8mm pace, and then start adding in distance again. I'm going to be super busy for a couple of months, so that approach might make sense on a practical level too.

It's strange how all-of-a-sudden my natural pace is a minute per mile faster. I wonder if just a couple of weeks of hill work is what did it, or if it was just a matter of running injury-free for a couple of months in a row. I dunno, but for the last few weeks it's been impossible to run 10 mm pace. My legs won't have it. 9-9:30mm pace isn't quite aerobic, but not quite tempo (lactate threshold) either. It's like I discovered another gear somewhere in between. So now my cardiovascular system has to catch up. Already looking forward to Tuesday's run . . .
 
I ended up with 22 mi for the week.
I had a very interesting run on Friday. I wanted to go outhere and keep my pace around 9:00/9:30 mm but my legs won't have any of it.
My legs felt very springy and lite that the slowest I could go was 8:30 mm and that's when I was forcing them to slow down I tried really hard to keep the pace on the 8:30 mmp but couldn't do it and I said the hell with it why fight it? if my legs want to go at this pace alright then I wasn't going o be upset about it:) I was mostly running @ 7:30/8:00 mmp and I felt rally good AND happy:D .
 
Dear BRS friends, my first half was marvelous in many ways. Very competitive field, so I was only 8th in my age group of 22, but with a total time of 1:55, average pace of 8:50, and fending off severe calf cramps the last 2 miles and still managing to run to the finish, I am satisfied. I will write a more complete story on my blog on Tuesday for anyone who is interested. It was an interesting journey!

That is awesome Laura! congrats! I hope the calves are all good by now.

did little tune up run around the neighborhood yesterday. felt a piece of glass go in my heel so i sat on the curb and was impressed with my nails as i scraped away the skin and pushed it out. i then went to work and one of my nails ripped across the edge. this isn't the first time and now i need to figure out why this is happening when i used to have strong nails they've suddenly become brittle.

Consuming enough protein?
 
Finished off the week in style with another barefoot marathon in Fargo, ND. Had a blast and finished with a new PB, not as quick as I wanted it to be, but it was seriously hot and humid for the last half after great running weather for the first 15 miles. Finished in 4:16:48, kicked it in to the finish line with a barefoot relay team member. We passed at least 12 startled runners as we came into the finish line in the dome. The crowd was cheering like crazy, it was fun.

Way to go old man!