Go slow to go fast.

Week starting Nov 29, 2009

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Location:

Westminster,CO,USA

Member Since:

Nov 11, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Finally started learning how to run in '09 after totally botching it up for the 14 years prior and dealing with chronic IT injury...have had zero IT band pain since fall of '09 and have run way more than ever before in my life...loving it.

PR's

Road Mile: 4:44 - Pearl St Mile August 2011 

2K: 6:32 - Uni HIll 2K 2011

3K: 10:07 - West end 3K 2011

5K - 16:53 - Turkey Leg 5K 2011

10K - 38:38 - Butte to Butte Eugene OR 2003 

Half - Never raced a half

Road Marathon - 2:57:19 - 11/12/2011 - solo.

Trail Marathon - 4:48 - Kings peak August 2011

55K - 4:59:54 - Moab red hot 55K 2011

Short-Term Running Goals:

Be healthy, run injury-free, listen to my body.

Sub 16 min 5K

Sub 34 min 10K

Sub 2:40 Marathon

    2012 Tentative Schedule

  1.  Quicker Quaker 5K January
  2. Boston Marathon - April
  3. ??

Long-Term Running Goals:

Get stronger, faster and more fit as a runner and biker to allow for bigger adventures as the years go on.

Still be running in my 80's.  

Personal:

I'm married to Nan Kennard and she kicks my butt at running.  She has beat me handily in every race we have done together except for a downhill mile we did once.  She is my running inspiration.  I'd like to run a marathon with her someday and actually keep up.  

My Personal Blog

My Family Blog

My Business Blog 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Bare Feet Lifetime Miles: 282.68
Cycling 2011 Lifetime Miles: 291.40
Altra Instinct July '10 Lifetime Miles: 637.35
Altra Instinct Sep '11 Lifetime Miles: 481.45
Altra Lone Peak Lifetime Miles: 157.50
Altra Instinct Black Lifetime Miles: 69.00
Altra Adam Lifetime Miles: 27.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
27.270.000.000.0027.27
Five Finger Sprints Miles: 20.71Bare Feet Miles: 6.56
Night Sleep Time: 15.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 15.00Weight: 189.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.610.000.000.007.61

Ran the same loop today in FiveFingers as I did barefoot on Saturday to see the difference in feel and mostly pace at the same exertion.  But I ended up exerting more, I guess because it is easier at this point for me to push a harder pace with the FiveFingers than barefoot.

I did the 5.61 mile loop today in 44:00 (7:51/mile) - avg HR: 154 bpm.  Then I added 2 more miles at the end because I felt like going for an hour.  

On Saturday I did it barefoot in 51:46 (9:13/mile) - avg HR: 140 bpm.  Obviously based on my heart rate I was taking it a lot easier on Saturday.  But today didn't feel hard, I kept it at a pretty comfortable pace.  HR in the mid 160's is a multiple hour endurance race pace for me, so mid to low 150's is a really comfortable pace.

Five Finger Sprints Miles: 7.61
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 189.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.100.000.000.0013.10

I learned something new today, that's for sure.  And it was a really fun run.  There's something really cool to be said about trail running.  I'm probably not equipped to say it at this point, but I know there is something really cool to say about it...help me out if you know what it is.

Nan and I did our first real training run together I think since she was in college.  We planned to do a 12 mile trail run into Eldorado canyon, but then it snowed 6 inches over night and was 15 degrees in the morning and still snowing.  So we did it anyway, because hey, we already had the babysitter.  And what else were we going to do...run 12 miles in the snow on the road?  Besides, I had been looking for a good excuse to test out my FiveFingers in the snow.

 It turned out that we went just over 13 miles, because we ran an extra segment up a long hill when we didn't know where we were going.  Nan went a little farther than me because in the last few miles, especially up the 13th mile which was a 400 foot climb, I was putting along MUCH slower than her.  So she circled back for me a couple times.  But here were my stats:

13.1 miles - running time 2:13:38 - 10:12/mile.  Elevation gain and descent: 1461 ft.  Avg HR: 147

Its hard to go very fast in 6 inches of snow, especially up steep rocky trails where you have no clue what you're going to step on next.  It really forces you to take quick steps so you don't come down too hard on an invisible rock.  It was really fun though.  There were a couple steep downhills with drifts up to a foot deep where we had to take it really easy because there were a lot of big huge rocks completely invisible.  Most of the trail though was pretty smooth dirt pack with only 4-6 inches of snow.

As I started the run, within the first mile I commented to Nan that I was almost certain my feet were not going to last for 12 miles in the snow without me getting frostbite or something and that I would probably only want to do a 3 mile loop.  The first mile or so they seemed to be getting colder and colder.  Then it slowly started reversing and by mile 2 I couldn't feel any cold, and surprisingly they weren't numb either.  As we stopped to go through a gate, I looked down and the snow was just melting off my feet and my feet felt warm.  It was a cool experience.  I had read that it would happen, but I certainly didn't believe it until I experienced it.  For almost the entire rest of the run my feet were perfectly comfortable and warm.  In fact at mile 10 when we were on the road, it felt refreshing to go through puddles and have cold water run over my feet.  It was pretty strange, but I was not complaining!  I was kind of in awe.  When I stopped to drink some water and stretch, it was pretty weird to think about having just run 11 miles over snowy mountain trails with nearly bare feet without discomfort.  It just didn't seem to add up...but aparently that's how it goes with barefoot running.  It tends to not coincide with the commonly held beliefs of our day and age, and yet it works wonders.  So what did I learn?  I learned that it can be completely comfortable to run in the snow with bare feet exposed.  And that makes me happy, because I live in Colorado and I like running barefoot.  Next snow run for me is going to be without the FiveFingers...when I'm on more familiar/smoother terrain.

Here are a couple pictures of Nan and I after the run posted on her blog 

Five Finger Sprints Miles: 13.10
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 189.00
Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.560.000.000.006.56

It was about 30 degrees outside so I bundled up. Beanie, under armour tights and shirt, another long sleeve shirt and running pants, 2 pairs of gloves.  It was sunny but cold out.  It was a beautiful and very enjoyable run, most of it on snow packed trails, with a couple miles on the roads to and from the trails.

Ran for exactly 1 hour.  9:09/mile.  

Just took it easy, enjoying a fun barefoot run in the snow.  In general everyone at the dog park I was running through either looked at me incredulously or made some comment that I didn't hear because my ipod was turned way up as I was really enjoying running, and singing along to my favorite songs.  I just smiled and waved.  I was running at sing-able pace, and just really enjoying being out.  I noticed that not ONE of their dogs were wearing shoes, and they all seemed to be having a great time running around too.  Apparently you only need shoes to keep your feet warm if you're just standing or walking around.

Bare Feet Miles: 6.56
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00Weight: 189.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
27.270.000.000.0027.27
Five Finger Sprints Miles: 20.71Bare Feet Miles: 6.56
Night Sleep Time: 15.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 15.00Weight: 189.00
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