Go slow to go fast.

Did a fun snow covered trail run on the Bonneville shoreline trail in Draper with jun and scott.  Nice to meet you both!  That was really fun and it was a gorgeous morning with the full moon over the awakening valley with fog settled below us everywhere.

I only slept 4.5 hours which is not enough for me, and then on the drive down to the trail the food I ate the night before began wanting desperately to exit and it was not a pleasant drive.  By the time I met jun and scott at the trail I wasn't feeling well at all.  We started up the trail but I told them to go on.  Then I lost 3-4 pounds next to the trail almost instantly and felt almost instantly better.   I covered up the mess for the benefit of myself and others who would be passing by there multiple times and then went back to the car to charge my garmin and rest for a few minutes.

Then I headed up the trail again.  I was really slow because I was tired and my body felt weak from fighting off whatever was in the bad combo of food I had eaten the night before.  But my feet felt great and totally recovered from the barefoot new years excursion.  

 I met jun on his way back at about mile 3 and then I started going faster to keep up with him.  I was warmed up by this time and it felt great.  It was a really enjoyable run, I really like that trail.  My feet felt great in the FF's but the traction on those things is non-existent which makes it a little challenging on the super steep parts of the trail.  My next shoe purchase is going to be the FF treks.  They have a lot of traction and have great reviews as a trail running shoe.  

I ended up doing less than mileage than jun and scott, here's what I did:

6.2 miles - HR: 139 - Elevation: 1435ft - Time: 1:19. 

I felt like I had bumped up to a new level of fitness today...it felt pretty good. All of a sudden today at an avg 150 heart rate I was able to hold a much stronger pace than before.  My legs and feet feel stronger than they have in a while and after a super hilly 10 mile run I feel great.   My heart rate for that pace on that hilly of a run a few weeks ago would have probably been 10-15 bpm higher I'm betting.  FEELING GREAT! I'm really grateful to be able to run!  Its such a blessing.  Running, and exercising in general, improves my mood and my life a lot.  I notice a drastic difference in the way I feel (for the worse) on days I don't exercise my body.  And I really enjoy doing it.  I vaguely remember back to the time when exercising was a burden, and it just seems odd to me now how I could have felt that way.  Running and biking these days are one of my favorite parts of the day. Here are my stats for today: 10 Miles - Time: 1:22:07 - Pace: 8:12/mile - HR: 151 avg - Ascent/Descent: 1065 Ft I'm pretty pleased with the direction my fitness level is heading.  Its nice to see progress in my pace vs. heart rate sometimes.  That's one reason I like tracking all the data on my runs, its nice to have data to show me how my body performs, rather than just guessing based on how I felt.  I used to get discouraged sometimes on slower days by seeing the data.  But now I just appreciate knowing it, because I realize on days I feel like going slower that is just what my body needs that day.

Ran 7 miles Time: 59:37  - 8:31/mile - HR avg 143 -  650 Ft Elevation gain/loss

1 Degree F + 3 inches of fresh powder + Vibram Five Fingers + Bright sun = One beautiful and enjoyable run!!

OK, I'll admit, when I looked at the temperature outside on the computer I immediately thought "Gym".  But then the morning gym plan got de-railed by my 1.5 year old Ali being really fussy and sick so I couldn't take her to the gym day care.  But it turns out I'm really glad, because that was a really sweet run.

I think it must have been warming up quick because the sun was out in full force, and I never got cold once.  I was wearing tights and leg warmers, 2 long sleeves and a jacket, and 2 pairs of gloves, plus injinji socks in my FiveFingers though.  I ended up taking one pair of gloves off half a couple miles in because I was too hot.

IT WAS SO GORGEOUS OUT THERE! 

And it was super duper (and I mean duper) fun getting fresh powder tracks on a nice smooth trail for an hour.  (OK, not quite as fun as fresh tracks bombing down a steep, deep, 35-40 degree mile long bowl full of powder on a snowboard, but pretty fun in a different way)

I have been telling myself lately I wish it were warmer so I could go run easier in the mountains, but today made me really grateful for seasons, because that was really fun.  Seriously...how often do you get to prance around for an hour on a sunny morning in 3 inches of soft fresh snow?  It was not too deep to be annoying at all, but deep enough to make every step feel extra soft and smooth.  And with the layers, if anything I was too warm.  A lot of things have to fall together just right to make conditions like that, and while it is not rare to be able to run in the snow in colorado, running in that type of light fluff on a sunny morning without other crud on the trail isn't that common.

That's weird.  It seems like I'm destined to only go 13.1 miles on my longer runs for some reason.  Today I planned to run for about two and half hours, but I started heading for home a little sooner than planned.  It was getting colder outside and I was just wearing shorts and a tank top, and my left leg started to feel very slightly tightness at about 1:20 in.  I stopped and stretched a little.  Then headed toward home.  I decided to add more on closer to home if I felt good still.

 Anyway, I decided to go home once I got closer and as I hit my door step the mileage hit 13.1.  Just as it has on numerous other occasions without me planning and on various different routes.  Weird.

That was a great run though.  Just took it really easy and enjoyed every minute.  I started listening to the Dan Brown book "The Lost Symbol" and I was kind of caught up in it the whole time.  His books tend to suck me in pretty easily.  I wore my nathan waste strap with 2 bottles and drank water consistently throughout and ate a gel pack every 30 minutes.  Nan got me the waist strap for Christmas and I really like having it for hour long runs or more (which seems to be almost all my runs these days).  I never took water on my runs in the past.  But I also rarely ever ran longer than an hour.  I like to have consistent water flow when I run now though.

13.1 Miles - Time: 1:55:02 - 8:46/mile - HR: 139 bpm - Elevation gain: 1200 ft. 

7 Miles - 1:10 - Pace: 10 min/mile - Avg HR - 126 - Elevation: 700 ft

Wow, that was slow.  I started out slow because I was warming up and my feet felt a bit stiff.  
Also the ground felt really cold for the first 5-10 minutes since my feet were bare and it was in the 30's initially.  I was really focused on making this run as comfortable on my bare feet as possible as compared with the 5K I did on New Years which resulted in pain because I pushed the pace too hard.  That resulted in a really slow pace today because that's what felt best on my feet.  Really quick light steps, but not pushing the pace at all.

 The result is that my feet feel great and other than the warm up, and a few sections of  really gravelly road, my feet were comfortable the whole time.

7.5 Miles - 1:01:05 - 8:08/mi. - HR: 155 avg - Elevation gain/loss: 912 Ft

"I shed my common sense, in exchgange for newer skin" - The impossibles - Plan B

That was a quote from the second song I listened to on the run.  They were one of my favorite bands when I was in high school...anybody heard of them?  Anyway, it just felt like such a fitting line for me that I couldn't get it out of my head.  I just kept thinking that's exactly what I do each time I go out for a barefoot run.

I usually run a lot faster when I listen to music.  Today that was definitely the case.  Tuesday I ran basically the same route but I did it 2 min/mile slower.  Today I just felt like going at a stronger pace the whole time.  I'm sure the music had a lot to do with that.

What a beautiful run!!  I feel so grateful for having a healthy body and being able to go run for an hour.  I just blasted some great music and cruised along on perfectly smooth sidewalks and streets barefoot, in 40 degrees, which was a fantastic temperature.  It feels like summer compared to last month.  My feet only took 3-4 minutes to get warm today.

I finally broke through my 13.1 mile barrier today.

Total:  17 Miles - Pace:  ~9:42 - Time: ~2:45 - HR - 136 avg - Ascent/Descent: 1900 ft.

I met some of the guys from Your Castle Real Estate (the brokerage I have my license with) down at City Park to run this morning.  I got there about an hour early to get some additional time in.

I ran barefoot for a slow 4 miles or so.  It was pretty good most of the time, but there were sections of the path that were super rocky and painful.

I changed into my FiveFingers when I got back to the car for more comfort, and I met up with Charles Roberts, Drew Shope, and Pat Shamblin - and we ran a comfortable and easy 10 miles in various loops around the park.   I had a good time.  It's nice to have good company to run with occasionally.  I almost always run by myself (which I also love because I really enjoy doing my own thing and going my own pace a lot).

Then they left and I wanted to keep going a little longer because:

1. I felt great
2. I wanted to check the mileage on the smaller (3 mile) loop we did because I stopped my watch earlier on accident and 
3. I wanted to test out my new 'New Balance 790's' that came in the mail yesterday.

Time to start cycling again.

Now that the snow has subsided, I’m going to start rotating cycling and running every other day.  I may do both some days if time permits.

I want to be in good biking and running shape before spring and summer arrive so I can maximize my enjoyment of the mountains in the summer months.  The way I see it is the better shape I am in, the more terrain I can cover, and thus the more I can maximize the fun.

But right now, my biking legs basically don’t exist.  That’s ok though.  It feels great to get out, and I’ll get them back with a few weeks of consistency.

Here are the stats for today:

15 Miles – 55 minutes – 16.6 mph – HR – 113 (wow…I was hardly moving, my legs felt weak) – Elevation change: 800 Ft.

What a busy day.  Tuesdays are generally pretty packed for me.  I was gone by 7:30 this morning to a breakfast meeting with some investor friends.  Then out previewing houses to buy all day.  I knew if I didn’t get a run in I wasn’t going to have much energy to stay up all night researching which properties to buy.

When I got home at 4:30 I decided to try out a quick run in my new balance 790’s to test them out again.  I had been wearing them all day to brake them in.

I didn’t really like it much…at all…it turns out.  I turned around after less than 1/4 mile and came home to put my FiveFingers on.

Ahhhhhh....freedom.  I really don’t like my toes to be constricted and confined any more when I run.  Now that I'm accustomed to the freedom of bare feet, it turns out its annoying for me to stuff them back in confined spaces.  It just feels so much better when my toes are free to move around at will, and I don’t have to worry about how the shoe may be mes messing with my stride and bio-mechanics.

If I had shoes that had TONS of room to move my toes around, and if the soles were flat with no raised heal, I think that I could get into shoes like that possibly.  But that’s the Five Fingers…so I’ve already got them.

The pair of 790’s I have are just too constricting for me I decided.  Perhaps I just need a wider pair, but I couldn’t find any wider than D.   I’ll still wear them around, they’re ok walking around in.  But I don’t think I’ll run much in them.  I think I’m going to get some VFF treks to use for trail running and I should be all set.  They have similar flexibility and movement as my current FiveFingers, but with a bunch of tread on the bottom to protect the soles better and give traction on gnarly trails.

Today’s run: 5 Miles – 46:19  9:15/mile – HR: 131 avg – ascent/descent: 502 Ft

I was listening to a seminar about being a better landlord during the run…not super exciting…to say the least.

But good information which I really need to implement because I have been kind of a slacker landlord lately.  But it didn’t really get my blood flowing for running fast.  That was good though…my right ankle is still on the mend a bit from my long run Saturday.  My right inside ankle bone was really stiff for a couple days afterward, I think because I kicked it early in the run on accident.  Its feeling much better today, but not 100% yet.

I ran for 1/4 mile and decided to turn around because my ankle wasn’t feeling that great and I would rather give it a rest rather than pushing through pain and prolonging whatever the issue is.

I’m pretty sure it got tweaked from running in the new balance shoes on Saturday.  But not just running in the shoes, pushing a hard pace for 3 miles, in shoes, which I was unaccustomed to, which were new, which were too tight on my forefoot, at the end of a 2.5 hour run.  That was probably a stupid thing to do.  Oh well, its done.  I’m sure it will heal if I let it.  So in the meantime I’m going to bike more.  That doesn’t bother my ankle.

I went for a quick bike ride to get a small workout in...it felt good.

10.04 Miles – Time: 30:59 – pace: 19.4 mph avg – HR: 143 avg

50 Degrees, sunny, clear skies.  Gorgeous day to be out running.

Started out SUPER slow, like...12:30 miles, because my right ankle was feeling stiff.  It was feeling better and better about a half mile in so I kept going.

I just cruised with really fast cadence and slow speed for minimal impact on my ankle and I felt pretty good after the ankle warmed up.  I don't know what happened to it, but it feels like its getting better each day.  I LOVED the feel of the warm sidewalk barefoot.  It was nice not to have to warm my feet up for the first half mile.

4 miles - 42 minutes - 10:30/mile - HR 131  

I have decided to try not to run until my ankle is not feeling stiff in the morning.  I would just much rather get that thing completely healed than wonder each time I run if I'm prolonging the healing time.  It is already feeling a lot better today, we'll see how it is Monday.

Only did 9.5 miles this week.  Which is not a big deal to me.  I went biking twice which felt great.

Today I lifted for 40 minutes and swam for about 25 which also felt great.  I like changing it up and working exercising parts of my body every week also.

My ankle wasn't stiff anymore yesterday or this morning, and it felt fine running on it again, thankfully. 

 8 Miles - 1:10:40 - 8:50/mile - HR: 141 - Elevation: 630ft

I ran 4 miles out on the dry creek trail, downhill with a tailwind and was wondering why my HR was so low.

Then when I turned around and realized how stiff the headwind was on the uphill back toward home it all made perfect sense.

It felt great to get out and run for over an hour again. 

***later

My ankle was pretty stiff after my run for the rest of the day, which was annoying.  I will let it rest more this week. 

No running today - lifted and swam laps at the gym.  It feels good to mix up the workout and get different muscles going.

Barefoot and Minimalist footwear running study just published by Harvard

A study was just barely published in “NATURE, a scientific journal”.  There’s a corresponding website detailing the study that is well done in my opinion.  It is based on the findings of their research and pretty clearly states what things there are not enough evidence or research for.

Check it out!…

http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/index.html

3.35 Miles - 7:42/mile - HR: 155 avg - Ascent/descent: 381 ft (there's no such thing as a flat run by my house)

 My body felt good today but I decided not to do too many miles for the sake of not overdoing it on my recovering ankle.  I think with taking it easy the rest of this week and just running lower miles, I should be fine running longer again next week.  

Running is a constant learning process.  You keep expanding your abilities, running into new road blocks, having to figure out how to get around them and keep pressing forward.  I thoroughly enjoy the process.  Sometimes its discouraging when I can't run as far as I would like to.  But it reminds me to not be too attached to any one outcome, and I learn to appreciate just having a healthy body in general.

Running has so many parallels to life.  I feel like running keeps me conscious to life in general, because the lessons I learn remind me to live each day to the fullest and enjoy the journey every step of the way.  I guess that's part of why it feels so good to me to run. The combination of physical, mental, and spiritual betterment is just a great feeling way to live each day.

Today's workout was kind of weird, but great.

I ran 1/2 mile warm up to get to the gym from the Tire store where I dropped my car to get new tires.  My ankle felt a bit weird.  I thought I would just lift weights and swim at the gym.

 Here's where you can tell I'm kind of hooked on running.

I was in my running shorts and a tank top and FiveFingers, fully intending to go lift weights.  I stashed my bag in the locker, and headed out to lift some weights.  Before I knew it my feet had taken me up the stairs and I was running around the track.  And I was going fast and feeling really good.  Just passing the same people running about every other lap.  My whole body felt fantastic, it was so easy, and smooth.  

I was just counting my laps.  Didn't have a watch on or heart rate strap.  But I looked at the clock when I started.  After 2 miles it was about 13 minutes, and I felt like I was just getting warmed up.  After 3 miles I decided to stop because even though my ankle felt completely fine, I really do want to take it easy on it to let it heal completely.  

 I did 3 miles in under 20 minutes, I checked my heart rate and it was in the low 160's when I stopped.  MAN that felt good.  It's kind of cool to know that I can run a little faster pace and not be maxing my heart rate out.

Then I went and lifted for a while.  Then I ran back to the tire store, but when I ran outside my ankle was hurting.  I wonder if the 26 degrees outside is part of the problem on my sore ankle tendons?  It didn't hurt at all to run inside, but before and after when running outside it was bothering me a little.   Weird. 

Running Fast and Injury Free - by Gordon Pirie

This is a really interesting book relating to injuries, shoes and racing in general by Gordon Pirie.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13695/Gordon-Piries-Running-Fast-and-Injury-Free 

 If short on time, just look at Chapter 3 specifically...interesting stuff.