A Viking, running

formspring.me

2011-03-12T07:39:00.001Z

If you have questions, I'm open for business. http://www.formspring.me/edham

Waiting for Adam

2011-03-02T21:00:00.000Z

My training lately has been geared toward rebuilding what I have lost over the winter. Yesterday, I ran four miles, and today I ran three. Both workouts were on flat ground, yet both workouts were taxing. By the end, I was walking one minute for every two minutes of running. It's been a long time since I was in fighting trim for my 2009 marathons. I have to get back into shape.

I also need to get some shoes soon. I've got high hopes for the Altra Adam. I've read a couple glowing reviews that have only stoked my enthusiasm for this minimalist running shoe. Frankly, I'm losing interest in my Vibram FiveFingers. They've not been great to run in over the long, cold winter. Plus, I've grown tired of being asked over and over again the same questions. Are they comfortable? Do you like them? Are they toe socks? Don't they hurt your feet? I answer respectfully and helpfully, but it gets tiresome. Adams, on the other hand, look like regular shoes. See?

The shoes themselves are zero drop (meaning there's no slope from heel to toe) and have a thin sole. The wide toe box allows your tootsies to splay naturally as you walk or run. It's an interesting shoe, and I can't wait to get my hands on a pair. I've harassed a local shop to let me know when they get some, and when I do, I'll review them here.

Anthem 5K Fitness Classic race report

2011-02-26T20:25:00.000Z

Good lookin' statue behind that
chubby dude

About a mile into the race, I decided I wasn't going to do a race report. "What's the point?" I thought. I'm bonking this race. I'm about to start walking, and this is just a 5K. A 5,000 meter run on mostly flat asphalt, and I am dying. Who wants to read about that?

Well, obviously I got over it.

This was not my best race ever, but I had a good day regardless. I started out too fast. My first mile was almost an even nine minutes. Even though I'm woefully under-trained, I had it in my head that I should shoot for a PR. I set my Garmin for 25'05" and started huffing. I should have run solid 10-minute miles, but I can be stupid sometimes. As I mentioned above, I had barely made it a mile when I decided that my strategy should have been to merely finish. Following a terrible second mile, I finished the race reasonably strong for a chubby guy.

Nearly 10K people ran today

What this race burned into my brain is that I am overweight (again) and being inconsistent (again) with my training. My weeks have looked like this 0 miles - 4 miles - 6 miles - 2 miles - 15 miles - 2 miles. That's crazy. How am I going to run 10 miles in four weeks with that kind of commitment? I've gotta turn this mutha out.

Eating too many cows has been part
of my problem

Tomorrow, the diet starts up again. [Jeez, listen to me.] The training resumes in earnest. I'm going to get back in shape and rock the 10K in two weeks. Then I am going to finish, admirably, the 10 miler in four weeks. After that, I'm going to seriously burn up some miles ahead of the trail half marathon I have planned over the summer. Time to get serious. Again.

I should finish by saying that the race was remarkably well organized and executed. The staff and volunteers did a perfect job. Recent rains caused part of the original course to flood, but the organizers re-routed it. If you didn't know that, you could never had guessed they were scrambling at the 11th hour to put the race on. This is one of my favorite 5Ks here in town. You should try it.

Running culture

2011-02-25T19:36:00.000Z

I've been on a sabbatical from running culture for several months now on account of my wife's pregnancy and the subsequent birth of my son. Taking care of family matters hasn't left me as much time as I formerly enjoyed for things like racing and two-hour long runs on weekend mornings. I've had to be handy, and that's OK. I'm happy to take care of my family. But I have missed being part of running culture.

What do I mean by running culture? Take, for instance, the long run I did last Saturday with my YMCA running group. We ran through Seneca Park. If you know anything about Louisville, you know Seneca & Cherokee Parks are full of runners most weekend mornings but especially on Saturday mornings in the weeks before the Derby Mini-Marathon. Running there, as opposed to my neighborhood, is akin to running through NYC's Central Park, comparatively speaking. There are hordes of runners everywhere, running in groups and individually, struggling up and down the hills. Every few steps, you enjoy (or endure, if you're hung over) the wave or nod of another fellow runner.

And in a couple hours, I am going to my first race packet pickup since April. The Anthem Fitness Classic 5K is this weekend; and I'm going to pick up my t-shirt and bib, like I have done dozens of times before for so many races. There, I will see chubby first-timers and lean, FRBs (front-running bastards.) I'll see vendors hawking all sorts of gear and gaggles of cheery volunteers answering the same questions over and over.

All of this is part of what I call running culture. Shared rituals, experiences, symbols. The shared rituals like Saturday morning long runs in an idyllic, hilly suburban park. Like picking up your t-shirt before a race. Like pinning your bib on the night before. I've missed being a part of this larger community. And tomorrow morning, at 8 AM, I will line up with a few thousand dear friends to run another race together. I can't wait.

Reflecting on Christmas 2010

2011-02-20T15:05:00.001Z

Yesterday, I ran six miles with my YMCA training group. This fine bunch of people are training for the Triple Crown and/or Derby Mini-Marathon. The course took us through the hills of Cherokee and Seneca Parks, and for this flatlander, it was murder. I ran the first half of the out-and-back course with Helga and did OK. By OK, I mean that she carried on a conversation with me, and my contribution was a series of grunts. On the way back, she wanted to stretch her legs more and so off she went. I finished the course by running a run-two/walk-one minute pattern. I thought I would be incredibly sore today. I'm feeling well, actually. I'm thinking about running a couple miles if it ever stops raining.

Santa Fernando

I realized I forgot to mention the awesome Christmas I had this year. Related to running, Santa Fernando brought me some Brooks running pants, which were much appreciated. Now I can layer my pants with tights and run in colder weather. Also, I don't have to run around in tights all the time, which I find embarrassing in any weather.

One of the best gifts I've gotten in years is something my wife made for me -- a racing bib scrapbook. Embossed with various photos and inspirational sayings, this simple cardboard ring-bound keepsake keeps all my racing bibs in one neat place, perfect for reflecting on or showing to bored house-guests.

Isn't that cool? And as I finish more races, I just un-clip, insert, and re-clip. Scalable and attractive.

Next week, I have lots of miles to run, and at the end of it, I have my first race in a long time -- the Anthem Fitness 5K.

Runaways

2011-02-18T01:45:00.000Z

I watched The Runaways today, and so that's what I'm calling this post.

Jack Eli

There's not been much activity here on account of this guy, and the run-up to his arrival on January 28th. My running has been sporadic and passionless for months now as my wife's condition grew less ambulatory. I won't bore you with details except to say that I had a lot on my plate with taking care of her and our seven-year-old. It's paid off in dividends, however. I mean, look at the little guy. We make beautiful babies.

So, I haven't been running much, but this week, I have been bounding back. Helped by some unseasonably mild weather, I have done a couple two or three milers around the neighborhood when mom & Jack haven't needed me. My legs, atrophied from disuse, usually feel like tree trunks, and I find myself out of breath before a half-mile has past. Once again, I find myself starting over with my running. And me with a 5K coming up next weekend.

This weekend, I have my running group. Due to family commitments, I have missed the first three meetings of this YMCA-sponsored training club. I hope they'll forgive me. [If they don't, I'll show them baby pictures until they lighten up.] The plan, Saturday, is to do six miles in the hills of Cherokee Park. The weather is supposed to be nice-ish, so I ought to be able to run in Vibrams. [I don't run in them if the weather is below 45 because my feet get too cold, even with Injini socks.]

So that's what's going on. I am training for the Triple Crown, so I have the Anthem 5K next weekend, the Rodes City Run [10K] two weeks hence, and the Papa John's 10 Miler two weeks after that. Y'all come out!

2011 > 2010

2011-01-06T15:25:00.000Z

These pages have been idle because I haven't had much to say about my running. You can chalk it up to 2010 being a lousy running year for me. I logged fewer than 500 miles, after having run more than 1000 in 2009. Of course, one could say that I didn't run two marathons in 2010. Naturally, my training miles should have been fewer. But to go from 1000+ to 500- isn't a mere relaxation of training discipline to reflect a lighter schedule. It indicated a serious derailment. How did I get so far off track?

Post-Chicago depression. After completing the 2009 Chicago Marathon, I fell into a depression that initially centered on my running but later spread into other areas. I felt like I trained hard for Chicago, even doing disciplined [for me] speedwork, yet I only shaved 20 minutes off my time from my first and only other marathon. Discouraged, I ran less in 2010. And, like a negative feedback loop, the mood-lifting effects of running went away, and I spiraled into a full-on funk. I'm doing better now, but this cast a gray pallor on much of 2010.
Baby on the way. My wife and I wanted to have another baby, and *poof*, just like that, a bun was in the oven. Yes, we are fertile people. But my wife has terrible pregnancies. She suffers every sort of discomfort imaginable. This time around she even got gestational diabetes. Therefore, in order to better take care of her and my daughter and the household, I cleared my calendar. No races. No two-hour long runs on the weekend. No running groups. I wiped the slate clean. But without races or any of the other stuff to motivate me, I found excuse after excuse to skip runs. Weeks would pass without a single mile run. Let me be clear: I am not blaming my wife or the baby. This was all me letting my laziness and excuses win.
Am I or am I not a runner? Related to, but slightly different from, the previous two issues, I think I also had a runner's identity crisis in 2010. After Chicago 2009, I swore off marathons altogether. Never again, I said. But as the weeks and months of 2010 wore on, and without a major race on my calendar, I began to question the point of it all. If I am not training for anything, why bother running at all? I had not yet adopted running as a lifestyle or as simply something I did naturally, like breathing or eating. I ran to accumulate miles or train for races or have something to blog about. This was a false belief. The correct belief is that I run because I have to. I want to. I enjoy it. It's self-medication. It's my alone-time. It's my meditation. It's what keeps me healthy. It's what I do. In 2011, though I will resume racing and the rest, I will strive to correct this way of thinking and be less distracted by extrinsic motivators.

Many of the running bloggers I follow are doing their 2010 recaps and 2011 projections, and so now you have mine. 2010 was a disappointment but full of lessons. 2011 will be better. All I have to do is run.

November's key word is discipline

2010-11-08T15:41:00.000Z

Last week was a good week. I ran 100% on-plan. Although that didn't mean much in terms of mileage, it meant a hell of a lot in terms of staying focused and disciplined. I'm training to rebuild my discipline as much as my endurance. This week, I'll add another 10% with another 10% the week after that and the week after that. I build for three weeks and then do an easier week wherein I go back to the first week's mileage. My intent is to slowly, smartly build to a sustained 40 or 50 miles per week (MPW). I feel like that's a good level for me, though I have never done it in training. My maximum MPW has only ever been in the mid-30s during peak weeks of marathon training. So why do this to myself? Because I feel like I have a four-hour marathon within me, and I am not convinced I can achieve it without increasing my volume. Once my volume is up, I will increase quality.

Besides, I never feel better than when I am running 20-30 miles per week. My weight drops and my mood lifts. I know that's where my running needs to be.

Today, I shall apply for the 2011 NYC marathon. It's a lottery system, so there's a good chance I won't get in. But if I don't apply, I am guaranteed to not get in. I really want to do this marathon. If I fail to get in, maybe I'll do Chicago again. Or Flying Pig. The Louisville Marathon is a good last resort. It's great to have options, isn't it?

100% of my miles lately have been on Vibrams. I'm not running totally barefoot for a couple reasons. Mainly, it's because there are oak trees in my neighborhood -- acorns everywhere. Three miles of running on acorns is no fun. Plus there's a lot of construction going on around where I run, and there's no telling what I'd step on. But the Vibrams are working out great. My feet and lower legs are getting in good shape. I no longer have any soreness after even five or six miles. My only complaint is that my feet are starting to get cold as the temperature drops. I might need to invest in some Injini socks.

The look I'm aiming for is freakishly huge

2010-10-19T13:55:00.000Z

I'm sure you had an image in your mind of what I must look like in real life. Probably something along the lines of this guy to the left. Sorry to disillusion you, but my physique is more like a flabby stick person than berzerker. My body is put together like your average twiggy nerd-boy with a sweater-vest made out of cottage cheese. My body stores fat around my torso like the bready part of a pig-in-a-blanket. I've got these skinny arms and skinny legs and then all this blubber up top. So, obviously, I need to do some upper body work.

The problem is that I never stick with a weight/core training plan. I just run, and even then, I sometimes fail to do that consistently. There was several-week period when I did the 100-push-up challenge. I made it to the fifth week or so, faithfully building up to 100 push-ups, and then I missed a couple days and lost the momentum. For a while, I made a commitment to myself to do crunches on my balance ball every time I went into the basement [where spiders build webs on my workout gear.] I did that faithfully for about a week until I ran down to get a load of jeans out of the dryer or something and forgot. Then I kept on forgetting.

Kettle-bells drew me in for a few reasons. First off, they are manly as hell. "Imagine a cannonball with a handle." After a few weeks of chucking this bastard around, I expect to be eating bottles of beer -- caps and all -- and communicating only through punching and grunting. Second, I don't feel like a dork doing it. Nearly every other kind of exercise you can mention, including running, makes me feel self-conscious. I don't know who I think would walk in and make fun of me for doing push-ups or whatever, but I know they'd think twice if they saw me swinging around a 20-pound steel ball. But the most important reason is that all the exercises are complex, functional movements that work a combination of muscles rather than isolating targeted muscles. That makes more sense to me. Bicep curls are no good to me if I can't move a couch when I need to.

How do I expect to succeed with the 'bells when all my other strength training plans have failed? What will I do different to make sure I do it? I'm fishing for ideas, people. Help! Meanwhile, I'll tape this dude to my monitor as a visual cue.

Crazy

2010-10-18T00:51:00.000Z

On the way home from my in-law's today, I thought about writing and my relationship to this filthy habit. Then, it dawned upon me: I hadn't written anything here in a long time. My excuse is that I have had nothing to write. I've barely been running. Seriously. Go to my Daily Mile page and check it out. It's shameful.

In fact, I had a dream the other night about running. It was after the 2010 Chicago Marathon. I was feeling blue about not running in it this year I guess. Here's the dream, though. I was running with my daughter. She's seven, I know, but she was running like a demon. The course was all wack, wending in and out of people homes, down alleys, and all over the place. I was running barefoot. And here's the strange thing -- I was banditing! Why the hell would someone bandit a marathon? I mean, really? No t-shirt, no medal, no post-race beer? Just a 26.2 training run with 40,000 people who'd hate you if they knew what you were up to? Madness.

What's my point? I guess I'm missing racing, but not missing it enough to actually sign up for anything. My schedule is hectic enough, being a dad and a husband, with a baby on the way, and work being even more of a nuisance than usual. Training is something I hunger for, but I'm struggling to find the time. When I have the time, I find that sleep is an irresistible luxury. I should have run this morning, for instance. I could have done six easily this morning. Instead, it was all I could do to squeeze out three after a heavy lunch.

I need running now more than ever. Why can't I get myself together enough to actually do it?

Getting there

2010-09-16T14:52:00.001Z

I'm not finding any races that appeal to me. A complicating factor is that Little One still has cross country meets through the end of October. Therefore, my Saturdays are booked for the next several weeks. Then, there's nothing local in November apart from the Turkey Trot. [Our Thanksgiving plans are up in the air.] If I was up for traveling, there are some races in Indiana that look OK, but I don't feel comfortable doing that with Wifey in a family way. The hunt continues.

Today is a rest day. I ran two hard miles yesterday along the RiverWalk and felt pretty good. I ran it hard, shooting for a 9-minute-mile pace. I was out of breath at the turn-around, but I survived it. I'm going to try not to slouch through my runs like I have been for so long. It's so easy to let myself slip into a comfortable pace and let the run go by when I ought to be pushing myself. Even if I pushed myself to run 9-minute-miles every other workout, that would be something. My tempo run pace is sub-9, so it's not like I'd be red-lining. Improvement isn't supposed to be comfortable. It's supposed to be hard and awkward and sometimes leave you a little sore. I need to say that to myself before each run.

But the victory of the week, so far, is that I haven't skipped any runs. I've been faithful to the plan, and that's something too. The running habit is rebuilding. I can feel it in my slightly sore feet.

So far, so good

2010-09-14T14:27:00.001Z

I ran yesterday, and I have a plan to run today. I'm 100% compliant with my new running plan so far, and my attitude is slowly improving. Instead of not really thinking about running, my mind is telling me "You owe us a mile today -- just a mile. Fast or slow, you have to run one mile today." I'll get it done today while my kiddo runs cross country. I'm thinking I will do a hard mile and see how that feels.

My extrinsic motivation is in the form of my running plan tacked to my cubicle wall. It says run 2 miles on Monday [did it], one mile today [will do], and two more tomorrow. All in all, it's ten miles this week and eleven the next. But to what end? What does my end goal look like? It looks like me about 15 pounds lighter, as I am at the peak of marathon training. It looks like me answering, proudly, when people ask how much I run, "Forty miles a week." It looks like me, lean and sleek, running all over the city.

Perhaps I should find a race. Wifey has given me the green light. Her pregnancy is healthy and progressing normally, and her morning sickness is managable. She's all but encouraged me to go race [and take the kid.] But I don't want to run a 5K. I don't want to deal with the walkers and strollers and stuff. I want to find at least a 10K. It's too late for me to train for the Downtown Doubler 15K, and we may not be in town for the YMCA Turkey Trot in November. Hmm. Time to check out the race calendars.

A reboot in the kiester

2010-09-10T17:13:00.000Z

I've decided my running needs a serious reboot. I'm directionless, unfocused, and -- worst of all -- not running. It could be that I'm not planning on running in any races until after the baby is born. It could be that I'm the laziest man in the world. Either way, I need a plan and some discipline.

So, to that end, I've done what every hard working IT professional does when he needs to formulate a plan. I created a spreadsheet. It gets me from where I am now [barely running] to 40 miles-per-week in 21 weeks. That's a 10%-per-week increase with a recovery week every fourth week. In other words, it's totally reasonable and do-able.

The major risk to the success of the plan is that it maxes out around the time the baby is due to arrive. Will I be able to run while sleep-deprived? Will my recovering wife let me out of the house for 16-mile long runs on Sunday mornings? Am I deluding myself that I'll stick to a plan that doesn't end with me getting a medal or a t-shirt?

Also, my intention is to run as many miles as possible either barefoot or in my Vibram FiveFingers. If my ankles protest, I can always run in my Nike Frees. But I have to run. The plan starts Monday. Let's see what happens.

Hiatus #2,341

2010-08-10T13:02:00.002Z

I've been writing this blog, off and on, since 2006. When I started, I was just trying to lose a little weight. I had my sights set no higher than small, local 5Ks. Since then, I have run two marathons, experimented with various fads, gained and lost the same 15 pounds multiple times, and quit and restarted this blog about as many times.

Since 2006, the blogosphere has changed too. Twitter is huge now, and other technologies make this Blogger thing seem quaint. I still have an urge to write, but whether I chose to write in this space or someplace else is a decision I'll be pondering in the next few days. In the meantime, I'm on Twitter (@edhammerbeck).

Don't look behind you -- Run!

Running through depression

2010-08-06T14:03:00.000Z

I have a friend -- let's call him Jed -- with depression. As depressives go, he's fairly high-functioning. He is successful in his marriage and his career. He has routines and tapes that run in his head that allow him to function, and so he gets done what needs doing. To look at him, apart from his rather vacant expression and deadpan manner, you'd never know what a sad robot he was inside. Behind his mask of normalcy is a desire to hide away, like Gollum, alone, in a damp cave at the roots of a mountain. Behind the mask, you don't see the self-loathing, fear, joylessness, and pain he suffers much of the time. All that misery is tucked behind 40 years of adaptations created to keep away the chirping birds asking whether he has a case of the Mondays.

"Yes," he'd say, "Every day feels like Monday." And then he'd hate himself because he hates Morrisey.

But, curiously, Jed is also a runner. "It's how I self-medicate," Jed says, "when I'm not drinking, that is." Running helps him. Running doesn't cure Jed's blues, but he says it helps keep things in check. "When I run, life is bearable, and the more I run, the better everything else is. As hard as the peak weeks of marathon season are physically, that's when my depression is easiest."

So why is it that he sometimes takes a week off for no reason? Why does he just fall out of the patterns that work for him, that make him function? If it makes him feel so good, you'd think he'd never skip a workout. "It only takes one," he says, "to kick off that negative feedback loop. I skip the workout, and then I feel bad about it, and so I skip another. Then I feel worse, and it compounds and builds. Before I know it, a week's gone by."

So how does Jed get out of this cycle? How does a depressed person help himself? "Sheer willpower," Jed says. "I force myself. Everything inside is shouting at me to crawl into bed and stay there. Every atom of me screams to do nothing. I have to push through that. Running taught me how to push that hard. Running a marathons gets bad, but you have to push through that despair at mile 18 or 20 to get your medal."

In short, to run through depression, Jed says:

Run anyway, now matter how bad you feel
Slavishly obey your routines/plans
Forgive yourself when you fail because you will fail
Reward yourself when you succeed

What are your suggestions? Anyone else run through their depression? How do you do it?

Can't hide the bulge anymore

2010-08-02T17:44:00.000Z

This weekend was perfect for getting in some miles as the weather, particularly in the morning, was great. I took a break on Saturday, choosing instead to spend the day at the Fright Night Film Fest, Louisville's home-grown horror-con. I saw several low-budget films -- some good, some awful -- and got an eyeful of all sorts of things to haunt my dreams. Even the on-site tattoo parlor had its share of chills and thrills. [I didn't get one.]

On Sunday, I ran 2.5 miles barefoot through the neighborhood. Tonight, I will run 1.5 - 2 miles in my Vibrams with my daughter at her cross-country practice.

My third week of barefoot transition is going well. I'm adding a mile or two a week. Last week, I did six miles barefoot. My feet aren't that sore, although they are tender when I stand up from sitting or reclining for a long period of time. It's sort of like plantar fasciitis, but it's nowhere near as painful, sharp, or crippling. It's more of an ache that passes within a half-minute or so of walking. I stretch the bottoms of my feet a few times a day and live with it.

In other news, I'm trying to lose weight again. The months of reduced mileage have caused my carcass to swell beyond 190 pounds. [My total lack of anything resembling a healthy diet might have something to do with it, too.] To fight the fat, I am keeping a food journal, and trying to normalize my eating. So far, I've lost two pounds. If you want to follow my progress, I'm on Lose It! I'll take any and all friend requests there.

Running errands

2010-07-28T14:46:00.000Z

I've been a running fool this week. After doing a double on Sunday, I did another double on Monday. I chose to take Tuesday off to rest, but when I was in the middle of assembling a pot roast in the crock pot last night, I discovered I wanted onions and a couple other ingredients. Doing the math, I couldn't imagine my whole shopping list would have been very heavy. See, I wanted to run. I was itching to go run. I haven't felt that way in a while. So I stuffed my Vibrams and my wallet into a backpack and ran barefoot to the grocery. I hadn't literally run an errand in a long time, so this was a fun, spontaneous way to get a couple miles in. Since my ankles are tender today, I believe my body is telling me to ease up. Hump Day is Rest Day for me for sure. Honest.

Sure, transforming an errand into an opportunity to run is cool, and saving a pint or two of gasoline is smart. But what I found most remarkable about that run was how well my feet handled it. A couple weeks ago, a half-mile run around a freshly-paved, smooth track made my feet extremely tender. Yesterday, I ran two miles over asphalt of varying quality, adjusting my technique to accomodate pebbly or smooth road. Several times during the brief run, I stopped thinking about my feet altogether and just ran. I got into a flow like I hadn't before, especially while barefooting. Now I am thinking about what would happen if I went a little further. Three miles?

Turning into a hobbit

2010-07-26T19:04:00.001Z

Pretty soon, they are going to have to call me Barefoot Ed or something. This weekend, I ran totally barefoot twice. I did two miles on Friday morning, and I did two-and-a-half hilly miles on Sunday. Later Sunday morning, I did another 1.5 miles -- shod -- with my daughter. This morning, I gave the soles a break and ran two shod miles. All in all, my feet are doing well, and I am pleased with how the transition is going. No stubbed toes or lacerations. I feel like I could probably start adding mileage in another week. Not too much. Maybe a half mile barefoot here and there.

My daughter is doing great with cross-country. Thursday, she did hill repeats. I watched as children transformed from snarky, sassy, noisy bundles of energy to sweaty, whining, miserable goo-sacks in about fifteen minutes. I should be ashamed at how much I enjoyed watching their suffering, but I think adults are supposed to encourage them to suffer. It builds character or somesuch. In any case, watching my baby girl grind up the long, merciless hill six times made me proud. I was 38 before I dared to do such an unpleasant workout, and I certainly never tried it when it was >90°. She'll have character coming out of her ears before this season is over. I won't say she's enjoying it. She's like me in some ways. She looks back on her practices fondly when they are behind her.

By the way, I didn't join her because a) I was helping Coach run the practice and b) I friggin' hate hill repeats. Yeah, I was the bastard counting repetitions and telling the poor whipper-snappers to go Go GO! Muahahahaha!

All in all, I am pleased with how my running is going. I'm impatient to increase my miles, but that's managable. I'm thinking about my next race and wondering where and when it will be.

You never regret a run

2010-07-21T18:37:00.002Z

Yesterday, I had the best of intentions. I woke up at 5 AM to run. Bleary-eyed, I staggered around the room, weighing my options, and ultimately, I decided to go back to bed. I haven't been sleeping well; every hour of sleep I can manage is precious to me. I'll run at lunch, I thought.

Lunchtime came, and my day up to that point had been so stressful that all I wanted to do was get out of the office and gorge myself on something fried. So rather than run, I went to a Japanese restaurant and filled up on pork katsu. Looking back, rather than self-medicating on pig, I obviously should have self-medicated with a run. I can be dumb sometimes. But I told myself that I would run at my daughter's cross-country practice. I believed the lie.

Well, friends, my daughter was at the grandparents' house, and my wife went there in the afternoon to pick her up when a complication arose. My in-laws were grilling barbecue ribs. Ribs are my #1 trigger food. I am utterly incapable of resisting them. Wifey called and asked whether or not I wanted to go out there after work and have some. Like a puppet on a string, I drove out there and stuffed myself with pig again and talked and talked, and before you can say arteriosclerosis, the time for cross-country had come and gone.

I know what you are thinking because I said it to myself about a dozen times yesterday. The moral of my story is that I should have run when I had a chance, first thing in the morning. I would have started my day on a positive note. The exercise would have put me in a frame of mind other than "ticking time bomb." Plus, I wouldn't have been looking in vain for a slot to jam a 20-minute run into.

I didn't reproduce yesterday's error today. I produced a whole new error, sort of. So eager was I to leave work yesterday, I left my gym bag containing a set of running clothes, my Nikes, my Vibrams, and my Garmin. In the past, this would have been enough of an inconvenience to justify blowing off yet another day of running. But I was determined to run no matter what. I threw on a shirt and a pair of shorts and ran two miles totally barefoot. It was great. I know I shouldn't have run such a distance barefoot without building up properly, but I regret nothing. It's been the highlight of my day so far. It reminds me of the old runner's saying, which I will now butcher.

You never regret a run. You always regret the runs you blow off.

Work that skirt

2010-07-19T14:37:00.000Z

Last week, my average run was two miles with .25 miles of those runs totally barefoot. That's not great, but in my limited experience, the transition to barefoot goes best when you go slowly. This week I plan to add another quarter-mile of barefoot running to each workout and see how that goes. My feet are happy, and I'm not experiencing any major aches and pains, apart from a sore back that kept me on the bench yesterday.

This week will be Little One's second week of cross country. She's got time trials today. We've been having fun with it, running together as much as possible. I'm very glad she's enjoying herself, even though it's been frightfully hot during her practices. She's able to run about a mile-and-a-half with brief walk breaks at the half-miles, but I doubt she really needs them. Her seven-year-old body is strengthening up so quickly, I bet she'll be leaving me in the dust in a matter of weeks. I'm a proud papa.

In other news, they have running skirts for guys now. Or, if you like, sport kilts. Jason Robillard reviewed one. If I got a free one in the mail, I would wear and review it. Still, it would take a few shots of scotch before I'd wear a sport kilt out in public. I'm still trying to get comfortable going barefoot in public, or worse, wearing Vibrams. I'm not quite at the kilt level of self-confidence yet. In my view, if you have the physique to carry off a kilt, like if you are an ultramarathoner like Jason or a NFL linebacker, then go for it. Or phrased another way, if you look like you could kick someone's ass for making fun of your kilt, then rock on you magnificent bastard. I've had enough sand kicked in my face for one lifetime.

What's Runner's World Thinking? [August 2010]

2010-07-16T18:20:00.001Z

Ten pages about triathlons in Runner's World is like a large, unpeeled carrot jammed sideways in the middle of an ice cream cone. There's nothing wrong with ice cream; nothing wrong with carrots; one just doesn't belong inside the other.

Listen, I totally get the allure of triathlons. Triathletes are awesome. Ironmen and -women are incredible examples of human achievement. I am always humbled when I meet one, even if they turn out to be douchebags. I see someone with one of those IM tattoos, and I imagine him or her in a cape, fighting crime. I also have nothing against biking. Swimming is wonderful for cross-training. Hell, I even love Peter Sagal, the writer of the main article. But there's absolutely no reason why Runner's World needed to devote ten, precious pages to triathlons. Runner's World is magazine for runners and their world. Bikes and wetsuits are a distraction.

I'm a believer in things being in their place. For instance, I don't write about my ongoing struggle with lawn care in these pages because this is my running blog. It's a place to house my writing about running. There's a time and a place for everything, you see. I've recently been suffering trauma because my local grocery store has been remodeling, and every time I go to get beer and pasta [foundation of every runners' diet], nothing is ever in the same place. Stuff is shuffled around to different aisles as the work proceeds. It's like a fun house at the carnival.

You remember those Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercials from back in the day? "You got your peanut butter on my chocolate!" "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" I totally relate to that moment of anxiety where you feel your world just turned upside down because THAT CANDY BAR DOESN'T BELONG THERE. I have that feeling often. Note: chocolate and peanut butter are awesome together. I think I will have some now.

What I am saying, Runner's World, is please stick to running. It's what you do best.

To end this on a positive note, I actually found the information riveting. I learned things I never knew about transitions and gear, and it made me think about possibly watching or volunteering at Louisville's Ironman some year. And Peter Sagal is always great to read.

Review: The Barefoot Running Book

2010-07-14T17:20:00.001Z

Jason Robillard was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book, The Barefoot Running Book. At less than 60 pages, the book is a quick read. However, since, as the subtitle says, this is "a practical guide to the art & science of barefoot & minimalist shoe running," no dust shall gather on my copy as I continue to experiment. I'll be re-reading and studying this for a while. It's a slim volume but one packed with good advice.

Let me get out of the way my chief complaint of the book. My beef can be summarized by a sentence appearing on page 39: "Learning the art and science of barefoot running is an exercise in patience." Patience is loser-talk; I want to run barefoot now! Throughout the book, Robillard tells you to go slow, be patient, and do not do too much before you are ready. What I want is a plan for going out there and running barefoot today. In fact, I have already started doing that, and I have the blisters and heel pain to show for it.

I hope my subtle sarcasm came through in the previous paragraph. One of the strengths of The Barefoot Running Book is not that it tells you to take it slow but that it tells you what to do while you are taking it slow. This is a crucial piece of the puzzle, because, after all, I'm a runner. If I am not running because I am "taking it slow," then I get twitchy. Eventually impatience will get the best of me, and I will run anyway. Then, I get injured. Jason's a runner, too, and so he gives you plenty of homework to keep you busy. Packed with drills to teach you the critical skills of barefoot running, the book is one of those things that will only let you down if you don't use it.

I just finished the book, and I'm just starting to incorporate Robillard's advice into my training. I'll let you know how it goes. For now, I would encourage you to go buy his book if you're curious about taking your shoes off and making the plunge.

My poor feet

2010-07-12T13:20:00.000Z

I took a week off last week because the moon was in the Seventh House and Jupiter Mars. Yeah, that's BS. I was nursing various aches and pains caused by TMTS, which is jargon in the Cult of Barefoot for "too much, too soon." My Achilles tendon, back, hamstrings, and knees all had various complaints every time I ran in my Vibrams. Plus, since I don't have a race planned, my focus and discipline are in the crapper. Therefore, I took the week off to reboot the system.

This morning, I laced up my old Nike Frees and ran to a new track being built near my neighborhood. I don't know whether the school plans on keeping it open to the public, but for now, the thing is wide open. Still working hard on construction and landscaping, the work crews laid the asphalt late last week, and I've been itching to try it out since then. I ran there [0.65 miles from my house], removed my Nikes, and ran barefoot. It was as smooth as asphalt gets, and I enjoyed getting to run there in the dark, still morning. Still, my feet felt all burny after one lap. I decided to tough it out for another lap while focusing on stepping as lightly as possible. Things got slightly better, but the damage was done. After two laps, I put my shoes back on and ran home.

That's the way it's going to have to go, I'm afraid -- one lap at a time. Diving right in to running in Vibrams wasn't smart. I'm going to run with my Nikes and slowly add barefoot quarter-miles as my body is able to take it. You know, like EVERBODY says you should.

Later Coming this week, I'll review Jason Robillard's cryptically-titled book, The Barefoot Running Book. [Spoiler: The book is about barefoot running.] Plus, another captivating installment of What is Runners World Thinking? Stay tuned.

What's Runners' World Thinking? [July 2010]

2010-07-01T17:27:00.001Z

I'm still not running. My excuse for yesterday was a case of the Ohio Valley crud -- seasonal allergies. My excuses for today are a lack of sleep and a sore back. Instead of going on at length about my complaints, I thought I would start a new feature called What's Runners' World Thinking? In this feature, which will run approximately whenever I think about it, I will discuss something I read about in Runners' World. Maybe I tried it and liked it; maybe I would never try it in a million years; maybe I just thought it was boring. You, the reader, get the thrill of a lifetime reading whatever I come up with.

In this month's RW, Ted Spiker published Quick Fix, a 7-minute warm-up plan. I tried this workout a couple times, once, even, with my daughter. On the whole, it's a fine warm-up routine, and I like that it [supposedly] takes only seven minutes. For me, it took more like 20 because I kept falling over. That's because this routine takes balance, and I am not well-coordinated. In fact, I often go out in public wearing two or three different plaid patterns. Uncoordinated. Let's break it down, shall we?

Exercise 1 is a reverse lunge. We all know what lunges are, right? Try doing it backwards. This made me fall down. I also tripped over things and almost fell down. Lunges are hard enough for me, since they require a degree of balance; doing them in reverse is a recipe for head trauma. Verdict: suck.
Exercise 2 are single leg hops. You hop on one foot making a square pattern on the floor. This made me fall down. Are you seeing a trend? Balance issues aside, this exercise does wonders for the leg. I can see the value right away, and I think I will continue to do these. Verdict: meh.
Exercise 3 is a single leg reach. This is like reaching down to pick something up off the floor and letting one leg fly up all fancy-like, like I'm a flabby, clumsy ballet dancer. I found this one to be easy. I think I could do this all day long, though I don't know what the benefit would be except as a comedy routine. Verdict: goofy.
Exercise 4 is a plank with alternate leg lifts. Planks suck so much. I don't like them. My arms get all shaky, and I breathe hard. I work much too hard for what I'm doing -- supporting my body weight. Add leg lifts, and the suckage increases. However, I totally see the value. I could tell I was working my core from my ribs right down to my butt. Verdict: OK but you won't make me like it.
Exercise 5 is a Y squat. This is merely a squat with your hands making a Y, like you are doing the YMCA dance. Why the Y? I assume to make the RW editors laugh. Maybe it engages your trunk more. Balance was more of a factor that it might have been if my hands were on my hips. My daughter loved these. She does them all the time now, except she can squat down until her butt hits the floor. If I did that, all my innards would fall out. Verdict: OK, especially if you are seven years old.

The stated purpose of this workout is to warm up the body before a run, but I never warm up. I just start my watch and go. But the article also said you could do this as a standalone workout for strength training, which is what I plan to do with it. The common thread throughout these exercises seems to be strengthening the core and improving balance with a lesser emphasis on strengthening the legs. I need these things like crazy, so I will try to work this into my weekly regimen.

New minimalist shoes on the horizon

2010-06-28T14:02:00.000Z

I haven't run much lately, although I've been doing core-work and calisthenics every other day or so, thanks to my seven-year-old. She saw me doing one workout while we all watched TV and wanted to join in. Now, she's on me every day to teach her how to work out -- like I have any business teaching anybody any such thing. But my love for her is boundless, and my desire for a better-looking upper body means my summer is becoming one of squats and lunges, bicep curls and push ups, and lots of crunches. I've only been doing this faithfully a week or so, but I think my belly is toning up a little.

Since I don't have any actual running to discuss, I might as well talk about minimalist footwear. Al Gauthier over at Living Barefoot brought to my attention a few new minimalist shoes coming out in the next year or so. I've heard of Skora, but the Kigo and Alterra are new to me. I'd love to get my hands on a pair of any of these. Not only do all of these shoes look promising, I doubt my wife and my friends would make fun of me for wearing them like they do with Vibram. Anything that wins me less mockery is a good thing. Here are my first impressions.

Kigo features a four different models that look quite similar to the swim shoes you can buy at Walgreens for $5. Of course, they look nicer and appear to be much higher quality. Still, aesthetically, they look like swim shoes to me. I imagine they give a fair approximation of barefoot running, what with their extremely thin sole, but I worry that the upper would restrict the natural splay of the toes. They retail for $40 to $70 depending on the model.
Alterra will be selling their Adam and Eve shoes in the fall of this year. Adam, as you might imagine, is the male version; Eve is for the ladies. These look like souped-up swim shoes. The key difference, and the one that makes me much more interested in trying them out, is that the toe box is much wider than with the Kigos, allowing the toes more room for doing their thing. Apart from what I see on their website, I know nothing else about the shoe, not even what they will cost. Still, they look interesting.
Skora -- still in the R&D phase, it seems -- seems to be shooting for a design that resembles racing flats. The concept drawings in their newsletters are sleek and high-tech looking. There is much to read but little to actually see at their website, but what I read sounds good. They seem to be coming from a good place, philosophically. I'm very interested in seeing what they come up with.

2011 may be the year of barefoot running given all the chatter in the blogosphere and in traditional print media, not to mention the new products and companies sprouting up to support the trend. We'll see how it goes.