Going to miss The Army 10 Miler (ATM)

Going to miss Army this Year. Man this sucks.

My head and heart want to go but the left leg is just killing me. Yesterday I ran to catch the Metro and even after a 20 yard sprint, the leg throbbed for 2 solid hours. Messed up Man! It was an Ibuprofen night

Here is a picture from last years race at the finish, Holy Crapolla, can you say heal strike?

Me running Army 2008

Nike Free Run Naked Video

Nothing much to say but I saw this video someplace and I love it. Just had to share.

Arches are the foots natural shock absorber

Arches are the foots natural shock absorber and supporting the arch with orthotics and high arch supports eliminates the foots ability to absorb shock. imagine a building with an arch, natural strong and beautiful, then you put a pillar under the arch to support the center. Under load that supported arch becomes week and fails. After supporting the arch, like most shoes do, the foot muscles and ligaments atrophy causing you to need support when in fact, you were supported well before. I have found that the more support I give my feet, the worse I get. My old original 7 year old flats had probably 1000 miles on them and I NEVER had leg pain. Then I was told by a sales rep that I should exchange shoes every 200-300 miles as big as I am and get something that added support. That is where my problems all started. He made the sale, I am in pain and it has been and endless spiral downward ever since. In fact, I am going to pull out those old shoes and start using them between BF runs.

Running is the Best thing for my knees

My first concern was my size. I am just a big guy, big bones, lots of mass and sure, a little fat. But that is an excuse. So many of the barefoot runners I am reading about are the atypical runners. Many tipping the scales in the 200′s and busting through the clouds at 6′ +.

Then was the biometrics. My knees, especially my right knee used to swell like a bee stung allergic kid after a run. In fact on 9/11, 8 years ago today I was getting the results from an MRI and the Doctor wanted to do surgery. This was about 1 year before I started my running again. I refused the surgery. Later as I ran I developed a gnarly bakers cyst behind the knee and endless pain but it started diminishing mostly a few years back. Last year I had the cyst evaluated by my current running Doc and he gave me a cortisone shot. But the fact is that over the years, the knee has gotten better and better. In fact this year the cyst is gone, the pain is infrequent and swelling just doesn’t happen.

Contrary to medical theory and belief, running is the best thing that ever happened to my knees.

My calf’s, they are a different problem. I have massive muscular calfs and docs tell me that is bad news for an endurance runner. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t but I have to question the science now days. This isn’t your every day shin splints, the pain is higher, more muscular and gets worse with distance and starts into cramping. I am seeing one of the best running docs I can find and we are on the problem.

Yesterday I really started paying close attention to my walking. More so than before, and I do pay a lot of attention to how I move. I am very aware of my body and its effect in the world so to speak.

I noticed that when I walk barefoot, I lead in with my toes, I plant my feet and I land more fore and outside, very sure footed. But even put on a sock and I start to heel strike with a less sure foot. Since there is not any reason for this it almost makes me wonder if there is some mental trauma that occurred from an accident that triggers this reaction even with just a sock. Maybe a slip and fall creating a fear and caution when feet are unexposed. I feel more sure footed bare, totally bare.

Add a shoe, any shoe and it is almost impossible to not heel strike when walking. shoes build up the heel forcing it to land first. The “best” running shoes add 100% more height to the heel than the toes and force a heel strike. This is just an observation but sure footedness does not come from a heel strike. Case in point, watch a woman or man, walk in high heels which almost guarantee long term Achilles tendon problems and immediate sure footed issues..

I am early in this process but I have went to wearing flip flops again with flat soles and avoiding padded shoes for any running or walking activity. Yesterday I spent most of the day bare footed, at least when I could. This morning my feet were sore, muscles were tired and I could tell that I was making some changes and taxing muscles that have been pampered for way too long. Funny thing is I pulled out my most favorite running shoes of all time. They are old NB’s and they had almost no padding. In high school I wore Puma and they had no padding whatsoever. The shoes I hate, yes hate, running in have HUGE gel heels, almost 1.5 inches of padding and feel like something kiss would wear on stage. They are very expensive Asics Gel-Nimbus 11. Makes me wonder if the shoe companies are selling us a line.

A Post to my buddy from Down Under on the Barefoot Topic

Aus, everything I am reading, and I am reading a lot, states you ease into this slowly and even if you never go 100% au natural, you train a few days a week nude from the ankles down to strengthen those atrophied ligaments and muscles that have had all that shoe support.

Today I am starting to really track this on my blog and create another resource for people wanting to try this old way of running.

Here are some links I found useful
Barefoot Ted is sort of my hero in a “he is so freaking out there” sort of way. He is just the type of guy I could relate to
http://barefootted.com/

This is one of the origional Barefoot sites. Lots of marketing but hey, peeps have got to pay the bills.
Good resource
http://runningbarefoot.org/

There seems to be a faily decent group on runners world forums.
Runnersworld

and Last Facebook has a nice group talking about this.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/gr…5952786&ref=ts

Believe it or not, this is an entire sub culture I didn’t know existed and it is growing fast.
The data is there, Nike refuses to comment if running shoe will or will not prevent injuries or even make you better athlete.
They will not back their product. And they have come out with several minimalist shoes. Another sign they only follow the market and the $$ and care little about what is really effective. Vibram created the VFF to use on sail boats but Barefoot Ted called the President of the USA and said he wanted to test them for running. The president of Vibram, a distance Runner, thought this was stupid but gave them a try and fell in love with going minimalist. Minimalist isn’t all the way bare, but almost. Once trying them, he sponsored Ted to run in the Boston Marathon on VFF’s and the rest is history.

My plan is to run bare when OI can and minimalist when the road gets overwhelming. I encourage you to test and make your own decisions. I may be headed down a path fraught with disaster but the path I have been on hasn’t been such a smooth road. Another though, I need a tetnus shot. It has been a really long time.

Well, I ate my Pinole and drank my Chia slime, er I mean Gel, Yes I am going all the way. Now I am headed out for a nice long bike ride after that, I will get that old dusty Blog up to date.

Ciao

Barefoot Walk into a run

I went out for a little walk barefoot on an asphalt walking trail to build some toughness. It felt so good that I broke into a jog and then a pretty steady run and ran for a mile. I was completely surprised how effortless it felt and the lightness of my feet minus the several lbs of rubber and gel. I could have went for miles and I never even broke a sweat or started breathing hard. I only stopped due to common sense. the bottoms of my feet haven’t seen road since I was a kid. I didn’t want to develop blisters. I’ll take this slow.

I did notice that I was up on my toes and forefoot and off the heels. Just like I suspected and the video shows. Exactly the result I wanted.

Then I was thinking, I have hiked a lot of miles in my flip flops and Birkenstock over the years. In fact, I often prefer my thin crappy flip-flops for hiking on Lava in Hawaii cause I get better footing and can feel the earth better.

Note:  Some of these are catch up posts to my Barefoot Adventure. I have dated these where possible

My Journey into Barefoot running

I just finished reading the book “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall.  The author is a proponent of barefoot running and talks about running in the Vibram Five Finger shoes. His case is compelling; for as long as man has been on the planet, humans have run long distances and our survival depended on it. Only in the last few years have we covered our feet in leather, plastic and padded them with foams and gels.

I am a runner and love running but have fought accidents, injuries and pain to the level that I am convinced that had I been born 4000 years ago I would have been eaten by wild animals or starved to death

Since my post high school running re-started sometime around 2002, I have suffered a torn quad, torn calf muscles, twisted ankles, tendonitis, knee problems, hip pain, blisters, plantar fibromatosis, plantar fasciitis and various other ailments to numerous to mention. All were the result of my obsession with running and many many times I have had doctors tell me that I am too old, big, tall, not born to run, lack the runners physique, have too large of calves etc… There are a thousand excuses offered by Docs and professionals why I cannot run but the survival of the species seems to contradict the fact that humans “weren’t designed to run”.

I am taking the dive for a month into barefoot running as soon as my latest calf ailments heal to the level where I can run again. Maybe my collection of running shoes that were “just not quite right” will be more garbage than I assumed. What did runners do for all those years before Nike saved the day?

Anyway, If you have any experience in Barefoot Running or want to follow my experience, this is the place. tonight I am stopping to pick up a pair of Vibrams so my poor wittle baby soft feet don’t get cut on some twigs or glass. My plan, start out wearing the shoes a few days and spend the rest of my time bare foot then give a few laps around the block and work up to three miles. Then make the decision if it is worth extending distance or was I suckered by another book and marketing ploy?

Kona Marathon for Pancreatic Cancer Research

As many know and some don’t, My father was recently diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer. After the initial shock and disbelief I think we are all wondering why the research on this cancer is so lacking and why is there no way to detect it early. Research is the solution, at least it is a step in the right direction.

So my oldest sister emails me and says she wants to run the Kona Marathon for pancreatic Cancer research as a fund raiser, my step daughter suddenly gets a desire to run a marathon and my youngest sister just jumped into the mix. All I can relate to is how freaking hot it was running in Kona and think they are all freaking NUTS but…

I am never one to turn down a challenge so I am in.

June 28th, 2009
Kona Marathon
26.2 miles on the IronMan Triathlon course!
Woooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooo!

http://www.konamarathon.com/
This will be a fund raising event and when we establish our team I will post the link to donate if you so choose

Aloha!

The Army Ten Miler (ATM)

The weather was perfect, maybe even a bit chilly with a temp in the mid 50′s and clear skies. Parachutes were dropping in from above doing all kinds of really cool displays of skill and then 4 Apache helicopters buzzed the crowd. You could taste the tension in the air. It was Electric.

The gun went off exactly at 8 AM EST with military precision and runners all around the word started into the 24th Army 10 miler, the largest 10 mile in the world. The official registration was almost 28,000 runners although the web site states only 26,000.

My goal was to run at a 10 minute mile average pace and no walks; anything better than a 10 minute pace was icing on the cake. My trainer and friend who was assigned the number 1222, I was running with 16826, insisted I start in the front with him instead of in my group which was in a 2nd wave 20 minutes behind the official start.

When the gun went off these people in the front of the pack don’t mess around and for the first few miles I ran a pace faster than I have ever maintained. I passed some people and some people passed me but I held my own. My first 3 miles I averaged around an 8:30 minute mile then I dropped back into a comfortable 9. I say [I]comfortable[/I] but I have never maintained a 9 for longer than a mile or two and after 3 miles at 8 it was… comfortable.

The next 5 miles were just an exercise of maintaining pace and at the 8 mile marker my average pace was just over 9 minutes per mile. Then it hit me; the 14th street bridge in DC is a long miserable concrete bridge to run on and the climb of almost 3/4 of a mile to the peak of the bridge took its toll and I was seriously sucking it hard. Then as I crested the top I was hit with euphoria. My hands started to tingle; chills washed over me as my body adjusted, the pain went away and I went into the zone for the last mile and was able to finish with a bang.

Unofficial time: 1:34:29

Pace: 9:15 Min per Mil

Distance: 10.21 Miles.

Never walked

In the end, I blew away my expectations and smashed my goal.

When I get the official chip time I will post it.

Seven Summits – One last look

My Recommendation – BUY THIS BOOK, Savor its pages

Get your Copy Now

Seven Summits is a fantastic book about two unlikely dreamers that come together and change mountaineering history. I have read many books on climbing Everest or mountains in general and I can say I enjoyed this one the most. The writing style was grippy but informative and I feel like Dick and Frank are my buds. I got to know them so well and journeyed the world with them . The Skill of the author is to be applauded as I felt that I stood on every summit and could see what they saw. There are hundreds of great Success principles that drip from every page. Frank Wells and Dick Bass are true success masters and through their journey they inadvertently tell a tale of persistence, determination, success and failure and eventually victory.The outcome is fairly obvious but even though you know what happens, turning pages is effortless because the real story isn’t about climbing mountains, it is the lessons of life they learn.