Eight years to run 16 Miles

For many, 16 miles is a warm up exercise but for me it has been a challenge and something that has eluded me for years. In 2002 I got the urge to start running again and I still remember that first run of 1 mile, I thought I would die. I think I ran 100 yards, walked some, ran again and eventually finished a mile somewhere around 15 minutes. Heck, I could have walked it faster but I was getting off cigarettes and years of unhealthy living.

Well times change, bodies heal and time rolls on and a few years passed. I was running 3 and 5 mile short runs and trying my hand at some longer weekend runs but every time I started to increase the miles. My first pair of running shoes were New Balance 880s. They were neutral and cushioned and pretty much just another ugly running shoe with no bells, no whistles and no gel pods. I really liked running in them and after two years I decided they needed to be replaced. I took them down to the local Fleet Feet store and said I like these shoes and want something close to them. They laughed and said “Those aren’t running shoes, they are trainers. you need real running shoes? And they proceeded to tell me I pronated and needed a stability and cushioned shoe. They sold me on some Asiics something or others with Gel pods, stiff rubber stability and the first thing I noticed is they had a heel.

I was excited to get out there and blow away my personal record of 10 miles and after a few weeks of breaking in the shoes I went after my record. I broke the record by a whopping mile and was so damn proud of myself and then it started; Leg pain. I had the worst case of shin splints and it just wasn’t going away. I went to the doc and they x-rayed the leg. Nothing seemed too wrong, just some R.I.C.E. and it will get better. After two weeks, I was ready to start again. First a few miles, then a few more and eventually I was back to my 15 miles a week and longest runs of 6 miles and I decide to go for 8 when blammo! Shin pain again.

Well this cycle continued for several years. Spring would arrive and I would start adding miles and by June I was approaching 10 miles then bingo! The legs would fail me or the knees would swell or I would get a calf pain and I was out of commission for another race season. This was ridiculously frustrating. In 2007 someone suggested I try Barefoot running but without any idea what I was doing I just made things worse and gave up. I was able to literally limp through an Army 10 Miler and DNR’d a couple more as well as DNR’d a marathon. I was getting really tired of donating entry fees.

Well speed forward to last year, 2009! Spring arrives and like a fool I decide to start running again. I have maintained a level of fitness throughout the winter and so I start ramping up miles. First some 3 milers, then some 5’s, Soon I am running 8 and 10’s with regularity and things are going well so I go for 12 and although I am getting some pain, I take a light week then shoot for 13. There it is, Pain again. The calf literally feels like it will explode when I run, the muscle feels like it will rip off the bone every step. I back off the miles and take it easy, the Doc puts me in orthotics and matters get worse. Finally the Annapolis 10 miler comes and I am at a loss. I cannot stand the shoes I have, the orthotics make life miserable and so I go and buy a pair of brand new Asiic cumulus and run the race. At the end of the race my legs hurt, I made it but I am not happy. Runners should be happy otherwise, Why Run?

Well, This is the last race I run in non minimalistic shoes. I start researching again barefoot running and minimalist when someone suggests I read Born to Run. Halleluiah, someone validates the way I think and feel and I start running barefoot. Ha Ha! I still remember that first run. I made it maybe 1000 feet and my feet were killing me, I had blisters and couldn’t hardly walk for three days. I started searching the internet and found a few web sites that talked about running barefoot and minimalist shoes. Over the past two years I had read Chi Running and as I started running barefoot I got the POSE Method DVD. Pose helped me see many of the errors in my running style and running barefoot reminded me when I was running incorrectly. Soon I was running 3-4 miles barefoot basically pain free.

Over the winter of 2009-2010 I continued to run either barefoot or in Vibram FiveFinger shoes and was able to maintain a solid 15 miles per week. Once the spring hit I was running hard and increasing my miles. One thing was different though, I wasn’t getting shin, knee and calf pain. In the early days of running barefoot I did get some calf pain as they changed to meet my new running style but now, no pain. I did decide that runs over 6 miles would be run in a minimalist shoe like VFF’s of huaraches and anything under 6 would be barefoot. Soon I was cranking out 6-8 mile runs and feeling great so I started pushing up miles.

First I tried a few 10 mile runs. There was no pain except maybe a little calf soreness, to be expected, then I went for a 12 and again, I felt great. Two weeks ago I headed down to the C&O canal towpath and decided that I would run out 7 miles and back for 14. Worse comes to worse I could walk out. Again, I finished and there was no pain. I was tired but I didn’t feel like I just ran 14 miles. Then I decided to go for a new Scooter record and on Sunday July 11th 2010 I started down the towpath with 16 miles in my sites. After 3 solid hours of running and some seriously sore feet I arrived back at the Violet’s Lock parking lot with no shin pain, no knee pain, some slightly sore ankles and a big smile on my face.

So it took me nearly 8 years to run 16 miles but I did it and from what I can tell, there are many more miles to come. If all goes well. I will get a marathon distance under my belt this year and maybe even a 30 miler.
Here I am at the end of my 16 mile run!

Going Paleo or going nuts!

Upfront warning! Prepare for a Scooter Rant!

Definition from Paleodiet Site

“Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods being either in or out. In are the Paleolithic Era foods that we ate prior to agriculture and animal husbandry (meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.). Out are Neolithic Era foods that result from agriculture or animal husbandry (grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar and fake foods). “

I can certainly see where most grains may be out but seriously, grains are seeds and my guess is that monkey man ate anything he could get in his mouth that didn’t kill him/her. If the Paleo Man found a potato does anyone really think he would toss it because it wasn’t on his list of approved foods? Sugars are out but there are literally hundreds of sugary foods this early man would have eaten. Sugar cane, Banana stocks, Coconuts etc. and would this pre modern human turn down a nice wild sweet pea? Seriously? They would have ate it for the energy value in a split second. I’d bet my life on it. I mean seriously, and in a joking manor, these people watched a white hard thing come out of a birds butt and they ate it. They would eat anything that didn’t kill them. I am not sure what the difference is between meats pre animal husbandry and post animal husbandry but my guess is that if you’re eating beef of any kind the rules are violated. However, beef came from someplace so somewhere some place Paleolithic hunter-gatherers ate a cow.

Second, anyone have a clue what the life expectancy of the Paleo man was? It was short probably from injury and just plain hardship i suppose. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers would, in my estimation, do anything to make life easier. That is why we evolved. If they had the option of smashing open a walnut or getting into an almond vs. the simplicity of eating a pea pod or a potato, I can almost guess where they would go for food.

I can see excluding foods that are created that didn’t exist in nature, they are unnatural. And I can see eliminating grains to some extent but tender green wheat might have been valid food item. If I were a paleo era dude and I found a corn stock, which we know existed back then, I’d eat it raw right off the stock. I can’t imagine a world where they wouldn’t eat it and any scientist that says they wouldn’t is blinded by his own research. The oldest South American cultures ate roots and corn. There are several roots that are all over the world that are genetically traced back to South America. If they had it available, they would eat it.

These fad diets never cease to amaze me. Paleo is really the next generation of Atkins and South beach, just a slightly healthier version.

And now I see people talking on the Google Groups about how to take a bath Paleo style. How do I shave my legs, what do I use in place of soap. OK people, throw out the houses, clothes, toilet paper, toothbrushes and grow some balls. Go Paleo full out! I really hope they don’t come over my house after a run if they go on a soap strike. Enough of my rant but everywhere I go I see some post on this diet.

Paleolithic Mammoth Farmer