Mileage reporting 35th week of 2013

[Go Barefoot]

Been busy this week with different things but did run 6 miles on Wednesday. Rode mountain bike over 15 miles Thursday morning before work.

Ran Friday morning a slow easy 3 miles with the local running group in the early morning.

This morning was the Bill Seymour half and 5K race at the Nebraska State Fair. Originally I had signed up for the half but later changed my entry to be in the 5K. Came in 9th overall and got 1st place in my age group. Was very humid this morning. Ran this race in the VFF's once again. A couple of 5K lady runners could not believe I ran the 5K wearing the VFF's.

The winner of the half race ran it in 1 hour 9 mins or there abouts - very fast!

 

[Sid]

I still suck at breathing. Can't seem to find the rhythm. I tried breathing every third stroke, every 4th stroke, every 5th stroke. Every 3rd almost seems to cut it, but I don't know if that's too often. Worse still, I can't really work out if I am breathing too much or not enough.

www.virtualswimcoach.com/technique/is-bilateral-breathing-really-that-important/

 

[scedastic]

The sidewalk here is 3' wide with some very little being 5' wide. Some is adjacent to the street while other is set back 3' or so. Every 50' or so is a driveway approach (about 12' wide) where the slope starts at the street and rises 8" (to yard level) within the 3' width of the sidewalk. Some driveways are adjacent to one another. That means one encounters 2 of those slopes within a few feet of each other. There is a joint every 5' in the sidewalk. Trees, etc., push up one section while leaving the next section in tact creating a difference of up to 2" (I've had 2 epic falls in my running escapades and one of them was caused by this type of grade difference). Trees hang low over the sidewalk, brushes and shrubs grow onto the sidewalk and gravel from xeriscaping (landscaping) and dirt and debris from parking lots spill onto the sidewalk. The are a couple of sections on my path were the sidewalk is great and I use it. The rest of the time I'm in the bike lane, on the shoulder (running against traffic), or even running right down the middle of street . I run between 4:00 and 5:30 AM and wear a headlight and have a red flasher on my back and do not use ear buds.

Good point. Not all sidewalks are friendly.
I often run on country roads where cars go 70+ (yeah, speed limit is 55). Being lit up like a Christmas tree works well.
4-5 am is kind of a good time to be on a road because it's dark enough that you have lots of warning from the oncoming car's headlights.

The road I'm talking about has a smooth, pedestrian friendly paved trail, zero intersections of any kind, even camber.

 

[scedastic]

Oh yeah, double post. Took the little one swimming yesterday and tried to swim a few laps. 250-300m. I still suck at breathing. Can't seem to find the rhythm. I tried breathing every third stroke, every 4th stroke, every 5th stroke. Every 3rd almost seems to cut it, but I don't know if that's too often. Worse still, I can't really work out if I am breathing too much or not enough. I'm a hopeless case.

No, not hopeless.
I was swimming an hour plus almost every day this spring. I don't know how many hours I put into bilateral breathing. Late this spring is when I could finally start doing continuous laps.
I swore I would never get it, since it took me forever to work up to two full laps (100yds) w/ bilateral breathing and I would need a little break. The breaks got smaller, but were nonzero, until this one week late spring, where it just seemed to come together.

My guess is that part of it is technique, a big chunk is relaxation (I was working really hard to get across BECAUSE I was worried about running out of breath, whether I was conscious of it or not, in retrospect I know i was more tense), and part is somehow training my body to be efficient at breathing out out in out out in out out in.....
I would say kids take to it quicker, but having observed my kids' swim club that takes ages from 4-16, some kids seem to get it right away, most have challenges until they really start to get good at swimming overall.

In any case, stick with it. Swimming is a great compliment to running. It's been a huge confidence builder for me (learning something new "later" in life),
Get an instructor or take a class in fitness swimming so someone who knows what to look for can critique your form and give you some drills to work on balance and breathing and relaxation.

 

[scedastic]

oh, and I did swim, about an hour, freestyle, then some kicking, then done. Legs a bit looser for it.

 

[happysongbird]

Oh yeah, double post. Took the little one swimming yesterday and tried to swim a few laps. 250-300m. I still suck at breathing. Can't seem to find the rhythm.

Ditto what Scedastic said and the link from Sid is useful. I would add that just watching swimmers race can be misleading. How they train is quite possibly different, at least some of the time. Learning to breathe bilaterally helps develop balance and symmetry that will be very difficult to get otherwise. If you train a lot bilaterally, then when it comes to a race, you can breathe however you want/need to. This can be affected by what/who you need to watch, sun in the eyes, and level of effort. I know that I used bilateral breathing and one-sided breathing during my recent tri. In the beginning, the bilateral breathing helped me relax and find a rolling rhythm. Then, when I was running into people or needed to keep my eye on markers, I was more selective about which side I breathed on. Toward the end, I was just mixing it up and be happy that it felt pretty relaxed compared to last year. (Breathing every side is generally a waste of energy and disrupts my sense of direction)

But, I would venture to guess that one of the biggest problems is learning to breath OUT in a regular, steady way when the head is under water. Doing that helps to set a rhythm of breathing and help to do it more deeply and efficiently. It strangely can help with relaxing, too. I definitely recommend the swimsmooth website http://www.swimsmooth.com/breathing.html

 

[Tristan]

Good week for me!
Tuesday- 2.5 miles (hill repeats)
Wednesday- 6 miles
Thursday- 4 miles
Saturday- 10k trail race

My race went awesome! I placed 3rd in age group and 14th overall. It was my first time placing in my age group- but it was a really small race so that probably helped . I wore VFFs because I knew there would be rocks and I didn't want to deal with them barefoot today. The first two miles were straight up and then it was mostly downhill the rest of the way. I will write up a more detailed race report later. Near the end I tripped on a root and went down hard, onto more roots with my right knee. However, I have a debilitating competitive streak and couldn't let the person behind me who I knew was in my age group pass me so I hobbled the last mile as fast as I could. My Bikilas did something to my left Morton's toe, too. So I'm probably out from injury for a few days but I got 3rd place in AG! Woo!

Awesome and congrats on the placing. Actually Thursday I finally received my plaque for a 3rd place in my age group too! The half I did a couple weeks ago. They didnt give out awards there. But hurray for smaller races ! Even though my time was only 2 minutes faster than my previous half, at that half in my age group I was like 86th and the age group was only 5 years lol. Sorry about the trip, must have been epic j/k. Hmmm VFF's don’t generally fit well with Morton’s toe do they? Well hope you heal up and back at it soon, but don't push yourself.

That's crazy. I think I would run illegally on the trails. Sneaking your way to the start of the trail would be great fun, for starters.

Yeah I've been out on em at night a few times anyhow. Not the rail trail, thats pretty visible from the road, but there is a small park next to my house with a 1.4mi loop I've done at night a few times. Only one that going to see me there is my neighbors that know me anyhow. I'm curious if they will eventually open the Heart of Ohio rail trail up 24x7 when they finish up linking it with the other trails. I think most of the others are already open for use round the clock, and eventually they are suppose to all link to form the Ohio to Erie trail. It will span from Cinci to Cleveland. I'll be happy when they link up the heart of Ohio trail thats about 5 miles from my house, to the Kokosing Gap Trail, the two will span like 30 miles, and all paved.

 

[jldeleon]

8 total miles, running. First 3 on a woodsy trail and beach. Next 5 at dusk on a paved road -which INCLUDED stopping to dissuade angry, unleashed dogs, and, giving directions to a restaurant. I did manage to resist stopping to kiss the neighbors super cute goats, however!

 

[Tristan]

So it was a big day for me today. I'm pretty much at my 2 yr anniversary for being a barefoot runner.

And I reached a new milestone today... 20 miles! I tell ya though, I'm just not used to the long distances. It was one heck of a struggle even at a slow pace for me. Heat and humidity took its toll, last time I ran in similar conditions I suffered a bit of dehydration at the end (I did run out of water just shy of the end). Today I had plenty of water, and thought I drank enough but I never do. I don't think I was primed that well, either food or hydration. I was going to get up early and do a first light run for a change. Long runs now are just taking so long they end up using up most of the day. Well I got woke up at around 3am with a storm blowing stuff of window shelves and rain spraying in. So a quick frantic run around the house shutting windows. Managed to fall back asleep. Around 6 was still raining so I said the heck with it and slept in. Around 9 I got up and moseyed about the place for a bit. Somewhere by 10 it looked like the storm was breaking, and weighing all my options I decided I'd rather run today. So I packed up my gear and grabbed two bananas. Found a nutri grain bar in the truck and ate that too. I dont think it was enough. I did decent the first half averaging about 9mm. But I slowed way down towards the end, second half averaged mid-10 minute pace. I also biked 4.5 miles to the starting point as a warm up and 4.5 miles back. My wife and son were biking and met up with me to bike back. I was really tempted to ask her to go get my truck and not bike back with them, I felt the onset of dehydration plus just being completely exhausted. But my stubborn self got on that back and got back, think I was only doing 8-9mph. I did have chia seeds, experimenting using them, had about two tablespoon fulls in 16 oz. I don't know if they helped, I wasnt super hungry but I never felt like I had much energy after 10 miles.

When I got back to my bike it was about 18 miles. I did a mile out and back to get me to twenty, and on this really easy stretch I strained something on my big toe. Doesnt seem to serious but I do feel just a twinge of pain if I push on it just right. Might have been tensing up too much on sections of the trail covered in wild cherry seeds. They were bad in many spots. I also didnt pack a recovery meal, was planning on a quick lunch afterwards, but between loading up the bikes, and messing with my sons dvd player and getting going, I was probably 45 more minutes before we arrived at the restaurant, and then waiting on food. Probably an hour and 45 minutes from when I finished up the run. I was just about starting to get dizzy.

But all good now! And now that I've officially hit twenty, I think I am going to start doing the 20+ milers only every other weekend until I get a warm and fuzzy about these distances.

 

[Scratch]

Ran for maybe about a mile of the walk this morning. Nothing like getting a little sweat going on a humid humid morning. I'm looking forward to the forecast that says it will get cool and dry come Wednesday.

 

[5t3ph4n13]

Awesome and congrats on the placing. Actually Thursday I finally received my plaque for a 3rd place in my age group too! The half I did a couple weeks ago. They didnt give out awards there. But hurray for smaller races ! Even though my time was only 2 minutes faster than my previous half, at that half in my age group I was like 86th and the age group was only 5 years lol. Sorry about the trip, must have been epic j/k. Hmmm VFF's don’t generally fit well with Morton’s toe do they? Well hope you heal up and back at it soon, but don't push yourself.

Yay for 3rd place!

I actually only have the slightest of Morton's toe. It hasn't been a problem in VFFs on training runs but this was the first race I've ever run in shoes. I'm thinking about getting some Skora shoes for future trail runs... they have a nice wide toe box and I feel like the toe pocket of my Bikilas kind of twisted my Morton's toe or something... maybe because of the variable trail surface. Lots of rocks. Lots of roots. I also think the reason I tripped was because of wearing shoes when I don't normally so I was catching the tips of my shoes because my feet were slightly longer than I am used to.

My knee actually feels slightly better today! I was 100% sure it was going to feel more sore and stiff than yesterday but I guess icing it immediately and walking around a lot yesterday after the race helped. It seems to be only bruised from the actual impact and didn't mess with the stabilizing tendons than run alongside my knee which is good.

 

[migangelo]

5t3ph4n13, if you're thinking of getting skoras they're on sale now. i have some and they're good on roads but didn't like my one trail run. if you friend Kyle Jeffery Kranz on FB he has another %10 discount you can apply to the sale price. these shoes are from here in Portland so i had to get some.


still no running, just work and lots of phlegm. good stuff. warrior dash on saturday so i'll lightly stretch the legs out. undecided right now on the loin cloth. my belly is sticking out way more than last year.

 

[5t3ph4n13]

Which model did you run in, Mike? I was hoping to use them mostly for trails... I was looking at the Core. I follow Kyle's blog so I'll ask about that discount, thanks!

 

[jldeleon]

My glutes did not really enjoy that pavement run as much as I did and am taking an unexpected full-body rest day involving only the hard plastic rolling pipe. I am certain the 9 m/m had NOTHING to do with it!

 

[Barefoot Susan]

We just leveled up to an awesome mogul barefoot run, every time Dylan finds another adventure he upgrades his barefoot running arsenal this run had bonus points for the tops of the moguls. Most fun bf run ever! 1.55

Earlier this week new gravel was laid on our nieghborhood street required for our daily mile, he uses sonic boost to fly over new chip seal. A confident and fun 1.65

 

[Larry]

Sunday redux. At midday it was a beautiful 23 degrees C, with spring delivering an emphatic knock-out punch to winter. Awesome day. I did 6 and a bit km on the beach, picked up a few shells for the little one, and then braved the icy waters for a little bit of body surfing. Freezing, but worth it. Spent the afternoon doing family stuff and then finished off the day surfing and watching the sunset.

I've been having some issues with aching feet along the outside bottom of the soles. My latest theory is that I have been landing too much on the outside of my foot, down towards the heels, so this time around I tried to consciously change things and focus not on where my feet land, but on making sure I came off the ground from my big toe. I figured if I'm doing that I won't have time to put all the weight on the outside of my foot. It seemed to work while running, no pain at all, and I'm only a little achey this morning after a bit of rolling. Fingers crossed.

 

[jldeleon]

5t3ph4n13, if you're thinking of getting skoras they're on sale now. i have some and they're good on roads but didn't like my one trail run. if you friend Kyle Jeffery Kranz on FB he has another %10 discount you can apply to the sale price. these shoes are from here in Portland so i had to get some.


still no running, just work and lots of phlegm. good stuff. warrior dash on saturday so i'll lightly stretch the legs out. undecided right now on the loin cloth. my belly is sticking out way more than last year.

I'm going to make myself a female version of your loincloth for Race the Reaper, and my belly is going to hang out, and I don't care. I would "like" to make us all matching costumes for Race the Reaper, but I don't know that I am that motivated.

 

[RandyY]

How's the new workout? I used to do a lot of Beachbody videos. I didn't buy the new one, since I still haven't gotten around to doing Asylum 2.

Pretty good, a lot of leg work, though there is one day of total body workouts. 25 minutes of pretty much nonstop workouts though...
I'm still trying to get the full 5 week workout done, then it's on to the second 5 week set.

 

[NickW]

still no running, just work and lots of phlegm. good stuff. warrior dash on saturday so i'll lightly stretch the legs out. undecided right now on the loin cloth. my belly is sticking out way more than last year.

Looking forward to seeing you and Dan at the Warrior Dash next weekend. I will be in my Luna Pacers for the race. Really looking forward to it. I am not looking forward to seeing you in a loin cloth though....

 

[Bare Lee]

Saturday
.9-mile walk-commute in the morning, .9-mile run-commute in the afternoon, then mid-body strength-training. Good pump finally, after two weeks of half-hearted heaves in the heat. Halfway through the workout my family came home from shopping, and stuck around in the garage until I finished. Brave of them to put up with the sweat and stink. It was a lot of fun, and our toddler wanted to imitate every exercise. Even tried to lift a 30-lb dumbbell. My wife was curious about what each exercise was supposed to do, so perhaps she's psyching up to get on the exercise bandwagon too. Not that she needs it ... yet.

I wanted this to be my first 30-mile week, but after missing my Saturday macro run so that I could make up the mid-body st, I ended up with 21 or so. Oh well, just as well, I've been having some strange, but very minor pains in the bottoms of my feet. So the temporary reduction was probably good. I wonder if it's early signs of PF or something. I've never had any problems in my soles before. I massaged them good with my wood foot roller (http://www.amazon.com/Zensufu-Wooden-Porcupine-Massage-Massager/dp/B0063MRFA2/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1378127053&sr=1-1&keywords=zensufu wooden foot roller), and then stretched them out good too, and this seemed to help a lot. I guess the daily running will require a little more attention to my soles, at least while I'm in this period of adaptation.

So it was a big day for me today. I'm pretty much at my 2 yr anniversary for being a barefoot runner.

And I reached a new milestone today... 20 miles!

Congrats on the (literal) milestone Tristan! Very Inspiring.

so i'll lightly stretch the legs out.

???