Tarahumara Frank?

I took a day off yesterday after Sunday's 10 miler, but decided to get out there today for an easy 5 miles.  I ended up going 8 miles today in 1:15:02, and it felt great.

I finished Born To Run last night.  I thought it was a great book--especially the chapters devoted to actual racing.  The arguments for the less is more approach to running shoes was made pretty well.  I'm not about to go barefoot, but I'm not at all averse to trying to strengthen my feet.  I walked barefoot around my backyard for about five minutes.  Having battled plantar fasciitis, I'll try just about anything.  I think my method of Ibuprofen, icing, stretching the ligament with a water bottle, taping and finally elevating the feet after each run is working.  I didn't feel any worse after Sunday's 10 miles than I did after today's run.

One thing I thought sounded really reasonable was how the running styles of the Tarahumara Indians and Scott Jurek were described--backs straight, heads up, arms up high and each foot strike and push off occurring behind the body so that the center of gravity of the body is actually behind the runner.  You may recall that I've been trying to shorten my stride to be less of a heel striker.

I tried this style out today and felt really comfortable with it.  With the back really straight, it makes it nearly impossible to extend your leg out too far and heel strike.  If you tried to heel strike with a straight back, you'd look like a goose stepping Nazi.  I noticed that my stride was much shorter and that my feet really did seem to be striking the ground behind me.  The great part about this was that I became a natural mid to forefoot striker in this style, and it felt comfortable.  Every so often, I unconsciously reverted back to my old style and was leaning forward.  For a while, I had to take assessments of my posture to be sure it was straight, and, for the most part, it was.  I didn't have any problems until I hit 4 miles.  My achilles heel flared up a little, so I concentrated more on my posture, and everything cleared up within a few steps.  I hit a rhythm and started thinking about other things around mile 5.5.  I was just running without thinking and before I noticed what happened, I hit the 7 mile mark.  I felt so good that I figured I'd do one more.  I would have done more, but I only had an hour and a half window.

I'm really excited to get back out and try this new form again.  My body feels strong.  Hopefully, my foot is healing.  My only dilemma is wondering whether to keep going with these longer runs or take them down a notch.  20 miles is my highest mileage for a week this year.  If I keep this up, I'll smash that by a good 50%.  I guess tomorrow will tell.  If I wake up and everything feels good, then I'll probably head out for 5 miles or so.  What a joy it is to finally get close to where I was before injuring myself.  As far as speed and endurance are concerned,  I'm not where I was, but I'm getting really close.

Click the link to see today's map and stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28494365

Unanswered Questions

I had a good 10 mile run today.  I ran 2.1 miles from my house to the YMCA where I finished it with another 8 miles on the treadmill.  It took an hour and 24 minutes.  At around mile 8, I started thinking about doing 13 miles until my wife came over and asked how much longer until we could leave.  The goal for today was 10 miles and I'm happy with it.  It's the farthest I've been able to run this year.  I logged 18 miles for the week even though I only ran 2 days. 

Like the rest of the running world, I'm reading McDougall's Born To Run.  I'm two days into it and about 2/3 of the way through.  I really love this book.  I'm not about to go off and try barefoot running though.  I have always had the most sensitive feet of anyone I've ever known.  What I'm gleaning from the book is just the simple joy that comes from running.  I'm finally getting back into the shape that allows me to have fun while running.  To the non runner, it's a feeling that is difficult to describe.  As I set out from my door this afternoon for the YMCA, I felt a calmness that mixed with playfulness.  The feeling is kind of like the one that movie and T.V. directors hope you experience when they show a young child's expression while running for fun.  There isn't much like the feeling you get when your body warms up and falls into a rhythm.  It's like you're suddenly gliding down the road and the surface consciousness that runs our daily lives slips away allowing you a glimpse of a deeper level.  As opposed to the quiet gentleness with which one entered this tranquil state of being, one erupts forth--forced out into the piercing light and monstrosity of sound like a baby from the womb.  Immediately one is overjoyed to have transcended this world, but also slightly saddened at being back. 

Lately, I've been wondering about how many days I should or could run.  Do I run 5 days a week or 3?  Do I follow a plan or just wing it?  I'm the type of person who likes a lot of structure.  I like knowing what I am supposed to do today, tomorrow, next week and next month.  I'll tell you a secret though.  I am enjoying just running for distance.  I have the desire to just set out and see where I end up.

I've missed all of my races this year, so I'm not actively training with a purpose other than to get stronger and faster.  I realize that, from my last post, it might seem like I've thrown in the towel concerning my plantar fasciitis, but that's not true.  I've begun taping my feet for more support.  I am stretching my achilles more than ever.  There's a part of me that says I should just go out and run until my body is hardened.  There's the other part that says I should take it easy and follow the 10% rule.

I guess time will tell which way I go with all of these questions.  My main goal with running has been to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and then to do ultras.  From what I've been reading, I think I've got the mentality of an ultra runner, but can my body keep up with my spirit?  

Another Trip Without Much Running

Well, it's been quite a while now since I last checked in.  My running has been spotty, at best, since I hurt my heel at Disneyland in late February.  For the first two weeks of March I ran 15 and 12 miles respectively.  March 15th, I got in a short 4 miles before once again leaving for Disneyland.  We did Disneyland for 3 days--one of those days was a 17 hour one (7am-midnite).  After that, we headed to Shelter Island, San diego for a few days.  As it turned out, we should have stayed at Disneyland.  Everyday, my 2 1/2 year-old asked to go to Disneyland.  Other than the water, I'm not a big fan of San Diego.  Perhaps, it's because I have young kids.  Maybe I'll like it better when we can do an adult only trip.  I ran 8 miles the morning that we were leaving.  There were a lot of serious hills on that run, but nice views of the ocean also.  I finished that run in 1:18:50.  Not too bad considering I walked some of the downhill sections--I believe downhill running is at the root of my hurting heel. 

Upon returning home, I was pretty tired and wiped out for a couple of days.  I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 205 before we left, and it arrived on Tuesday.  I tried it out for the first time today.  I must say that I really like it.  I put a link at the bottom of the page to see the map and data that it collected of today's run--I didn't check it, so I hope it works.  I got in 8 miles today in 1:11:19.  The last 3 miles were all at a steady incline, which made it tough. 

I don't have any trips planned for a while, so the training should get back to normal.  My left heel still hurts, but I've decided that the pain is just something that I'll have to deal with.  I'll run through it unless it begins to feel like something more serious is going on.  All runners deal with pain.  It's how well we handle it that determines how fast and far we go.      

Garmin Connect - Dashboard for fkelly3d!

Vacation

As many of you know, intentions of running often fall by the wayside when on vacation.  I had planned on running two days on my trip for a total of eight miles.  I ended up running one day for a total of 4.33 miles.  I left for Disneyland on Wednesday morning.  We went to the parks on Thursday.  I woke up at 6 A.M. and was out the door 15 minutes later for my run.  The weather was in the 50's and felt really good.  We stayed at a hotel across the street from Disneyland so I ran around the perimeter of Disneyland.  It was really enjoyable to have something other than dirt to look at while running.  It was also fascinating to me to see the Disney workers--some leaving work and some arriving for work at 6:20 in the morning.  There were three or four other people also out for morning runs.  The run felt really good and took 37:20. 

I returned to the hotel room a little before 7:00 and showered.  I took my Ibuprofen, but didn't ice.  I got my kids ready and we were out the door and waiting in line for the 8:00 opening of the park.  I don't remember when my left heel started to hurt, but it was sometime that day.  We stayed at the parks until their close at midnight.  Basically, I was on my feet from 6 am to midnight--18 hours.  My heel hurt from Friday through Sunday.  We returned home on Monday.  I had planned on running on Tuesday, but was just too tired.  Today, Wednesday, I figured I would go for an easy run, but I did our taxes, and they took a good four to five hours.  It was too late to go for a run, so I'm now planning on running again tomorrow. 

I had applied for the Master's teaching program at the University of Arizona.  I had my interview a couple of weeks ago, and received the news today that I was among the forty people accepted into the program.  It's an intense program that begins in mid May, so I'm not sure how my ability to run will be affected.  I've never been an early morning runner, so I'll have to see if there is any time for me to squeeze a few runs per week into the schedule.  I'll know more once I get my actual schedule and see just how intense it is.  Anyway, with that concern off my mind, I should be able to be hyper focused on running.  I intend to take the training intensity up as I feel that there has been a lack of fire when I've toed the starting lines of these last two 5k's.