Bare foot running might be working

After reading Born to Run, witch advocates bare foot running as a way to improve - I thought I’d experiment.

The premise of Born to Run is simple - running naturally (barefoot) is better for your body than what a mass produced shoe can do. And for all of the marketing, there really is little evidence that cushioned shoes really help.

I bought a pair of Nike Free’s a few years back for just walking around in. As these are as about as minimalist as I’m willing to go, I thought I’d use them every other day and compare with my very expensive Asics Kayano’s. To make matters more interesting - I really ramped up my mileage in the last couple weeks (on a hilly course no less!).

I’m on the verge of purchasing new shoes - and I thought at the end of my experiment, I’d buy the usual Kayano’s or a new pair of Free’s (if for some strange reason bare foot running worked).

Well, I’m on week two, and surprisingly the Free’s have the lead.

At first I thought that the Free’s weren’t going to cut it. I was sore in my hips and in my knees - however, the pain wasn’t any worse than normal considering I was trying to get back into shape (getting up to 6 to 7 miles per day). I continued to switch back and forth from the expensive Kanyo’s to the Free’s - trying to recognize a difference during and after the run. I

I found the Free’s made me feel faster and I enjoyed that - but the run may have been a little more jolting with the Free’s (just a little). However, I’ve started to enjoy “feeling the road”.

Most surprising, I could tell no difference in soreness after the run - they both were equal.

I’m going to go a few more days with the Free’s before purchasing new ones - but I like running in them so far.

Another good running book

The Runner’s Body is a book put out by Runner’s World. I’m currently reading it. As I said in my last post - I’m not usually a big fan of running books - because after 30 years of running - I’m pretty familiar with, well...running.

But The Runner’s Body has taught me a few things and I’m only a few chapters into the book.

It’s both simplistic and complex - in that while it uses big fancy science words, it also explains the physiology of the runner’s body in easy to understand examples.

My first lesson - I shouldn’t be trying to desperately get in shape to run my favorite marathon - the Disney World Marathon. According to the book, I could really wear my body down.

Now truth be told, I already knew this - my body is already pretty sore from ramping up the miles as I knew it would be - but now I understand exactly why my body isn’t handling the new stress (and it isn’t because of lactic acid buildup).

But I haven’t got to the chapter that explains that most runners are obsessive compulsives that can’t stop themselves from trying to run too many miles. So the vicious cycle continues...

Bare foot running

I seldom read running books about people’s experience of running anymore. After nearly 30 years of considering myself a runner, there really isn’t much that I haven’t experienced myself. If the book receives good enough reviews, I’ll open it up. I’ll even enjoy it. But I seldom learn anything from it.

But Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run, is an exception to the rule. It took a while for me to finally get around to reading it (for the aforementioned reasons) but when I did - I was pleasantly surprised - I actually learned a few new things about running.

The buzz over this book is about barefoot running. The gist is that, because we’ve put so much padding on our shoes - we’ve taken away from our foot’s natural ability to adapt to the road - thus causing more injuries than actually preventing them.

I haven’t completely bought into this theory. However, it certainly has caused me to experiment by running in an old pair of Nike Free’s.

The rest of the book is about ultra distance running, fun running stories and the author’s successful attempt at becoming and ultra distance runner.

It is an uplifting celebration of running and a reminder of how pleasurable the hobby can be. It’ll remind you why you drag yourself out the door everyday - pick up a copy if you haven’t already.

Marine Marathon 2009

Finish time: 4:17

I didn’t have high hopes for the Marine Corp Marathon - but I didn’t think I’d do this poorly. But considering I walked around 30 miles in the few days prior to the race and felt like my lungs were filled with snot - I’ll take the finish as a personal triumph.

I signed up for this race months ago (it sells out early). It was before we knew we were moving and before I knew how much time we’d spend attending baseball games and practices over the summer. As a result of all of this - I came into the race unprepared.

I had been doing well and was increasing my mileage for a couple months before MCM, but with a little over a week to go - I started feeling sick. I had a fever and a bad head cold. My cough made my body hurt and my breathing was about 60%. My daughter was also feeling under the weather. However, the tickets were bought and the family had never seen the Capitol - so we got on the plane anyway.

If you love history, you have to love D.C. Despite feeling sick, we had a great time.

We walked everywhere. I wasn’t worried about walking too much because I really didn’t think I’d feel well enough to run the marathon. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The day before the race, I started to feel stronger, my head got a little clearer and I wasn’t coughing every few minutes. I still felt weak, but having traveled all that way, thought I might as well waddle through the marathon.

So I found myself tired and sore at the starting line - wondering how I’d keep from coughing up a lung as I meandered through D.C. My strategy was simple - go out slow and plan on getting slower.

The start of the MCM is congested - it took about 10 minutes to get to the line - and I wasn’t that far back. But the course opens up pretty quick after you cross the start and you run without too much restriction from other runners.

The first ten miles of the race are hilly, with a few tough uphills. It goes mostly through some park and residential areas - not much crowd interaction - but certainly not lonely. I took these miles in without too much trouble. I had no delusions that I was going to be able to go fast - I simply tried to keep my breathing shallow so I wouldn’t cough.

Around mile 15, runners start to approach the mall and with it the monuments, the Smithsonian and the capital building. It was also around this time when I started to falter. It was no surprise to me. I hadn’t recovered enough from the flu or the walking. My goal was to keep running as long as I could - because , in my experience, once you start walking it becomes a run walk run walk race. You may think that you’re going to walk just this once, but it always turns out that once you’ve been broken - you may start to run again - but you’ll also walk again.

I got broken in around mile 18. The mall that was just a short walk the night before now stretched out forever. In addition the heat was starting to kick in - I settled into trying to walk a little at every mile.

As is always the case after you hit the wall, the last miles are a long blur. There were crowds, then there were none. There was one long portion around mile 24 that I thought was a quick up and back - but the up kept going on and on. In short, it was a long last few miles.

The finish is in front of the famous Marine Corp statue. Unfortunately you can’t see it when you finish. I guess you have to go over to where they are taking photos of runners and their medals - I don’t know because I was too tired to go over there.

The final few yards are at a sharp incline. I nearly blanked out as I pushed it in. I’ve never walked into the finish line - but I felt like it on this one.

I heard it takes forever to get out of the finish shoot and back to transportation - it does. But probably not as long as Boston or Chicago.

In all, it was a great race. I’d like to do it again sometime when I feel better. The shirt and medal were great and the atmosphere and marines are one of a kind.

Fish

I had fish tonight for the first time in a very long time (probably have only had fish a handful of times in my life). I've never had a desire to eat fish - I think it's a texture thing. But if I'm going to lose some weight and try to get back some speed as I head into my mid 40's - I'm going to have to make some concessions.

Long John Silver's was my former experience with fish - and that was more fried brown stuff than fish. What we had tonight wasn't too bad - pretty bland really. We had some seasoning and lemon juice and some rice to chase it down. Wasn't as exciting as a steak but that's why it's healthy.

I ran 5 miles and set up my bike for next week's Chicago Triathlon. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors.

Slow going

After coming up short to my Boston goal at the Disney marathon – I kind of gave up for a while. For the next 6 months – I ran very little – probably less than I have in more than a decade. I might have run once every couple weeks. I'm not really sure. I just stopped.

I blame it on the economy. Because of the economy, (in an indirect way) I changed jobs. Because of the economy, my new job is fairly stressful. Because of the economy, I couldn't sell my house and my family and I lived in a not so nice rental. Because of the economy, I was pretty stressed. Because of the economy, I quit working.

But I found myself not feeling like myself – just generally off. I knew the problem – I've been running for over 30 years (and I'm 43) and not running was just not me. I was not being myself. But I couldn't run. I was burnt out.

One day I was perusing some races (thinking about running) on active.com and a triathlon sweepstakes entry form popped up. I figured what the heck, I'd try. Well sure enough, a couple months later I got an email saying I was the winner and I had gained entry into the Chicago marathon – did I accept. I took it as a sign that it was time to get back in shape and said yes.

It's a week before the race and I've been dieting and running short distances consistently. I'm not in very good shape. But I'm running. I know I'm not going to do well at the triathlon – it will be difficult just to finish. But I feel like I'm getting the itch to get back out there – I'm regaining the joy that I had from being a runner.

Bare foot running

I seldom read running books about people’s experience of running anymore. After nearly 30 years of considering myself a runner, there really isn’t much that I haven’t experienced myself. If the book receives good enough reviews, I’ll open it up. I’ll even enjoy it. But I seldom learn anything from it.

But Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run, is an exception to the rule. It took a while for me to finally get around to reading it (for the aforementioned reasons) but when I did - I was pleasantly surprised - I actually learned a few new things about running.

The buzz over this book is about barefoot running. The gist is that, because we’ve put so much padding on our shoes - we’ve taken away from our foot’s natural ability to adapt to the road - thus causing more injuries than actually preventing them.

I haven’t completely bought into this theory. However, it certainly has caused me to experiment by running in an old pair of Nike Free’s.

The rest of the book is about ultra distance running, fun running stories and the author’s successful attempt at becoming and ultra distance runner.

It is an uplifting celebration of running and a reminder of how pleasurable the hobby can be. It’ll remind you why you drag yourself out the door everyday - pick up a copy if you haven’t already.