dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran with Kimia and the kids today.  Total of approximately 9.5 miles in about 1:22.

I ran with Kimia and the kids again.  About 8 miles in 1:06-1:07.

I ran alone today, running 8 miles in about 1:01 or 1:02.  I ran the last mile and a half barefoot.

I decided to try a little experiment today.  For the most part when I have been running barefoot I wait until the end of the run to do it so that my feet are not sore for most of the run.  Today I did the opposite, running barefoot first, followed by running with shoes on.  My reasoning for doing so was that I feel fluid when running barefoot, but awkward when running minimally shod (without inserts in my shoes).  My theory was that if I ran barefoot first and then put on my minimalist shoes I would feel more fluid while wearing shoes.

My theory seemed to hold true for most of the days run.  I forgot for a little while that I did not have the inserts in my shoes (until I started running on a gravel road... you can still feel big rocks through minimal shoes).  This makes me think that there might be a learning component involved with minimalist running that requires you to run barefoot until you learn the technique correctly.  Once the technique is learned you can put on shoes and hopefully the technique will remain unchanged.

Another thing I have noticed running barefoot is that I naturally direct force more vertically when I sprint with no shoes on.  Maybe it is to avoid generating too much friction and developing blisters?  I also feel like I have more of a forward/upward drive with my thighs during the swing phase.  I am not quite sure what to make of this as it is difficult to focus on ones form without consciously changing it.  I am going to continue monitoring things and sprinting barefoot occasionally.  At some point I may pop into the lab to test myself running over a force platform.

In the afternoon we took the kids down to Des Moines for the USATF championships.  It was the first professional track meet that I have ever attended, and the first track meet of any kind that the kids have gone to.  The kids really enjoyed themselves (although Shayon pooped his pants just before the womens 10,000 started).  Anita really liked cheering for Rapunzel (Jordan Hasay) and during the race she was cheering and she yells out "I like your hair" as Jordan ran by.  After the race Anita was in heaven when she was able to take her picture with Jordan and Tara Erdmann during their victory lap, although she did get momentarily upset later on when she realized that she didn't get a chance to touch Jordan's hair.

Here is one of the pictures that we took of Anita, Jordan, and Tara after the race

8 miles easy during the hottest part of the day.  I was soaked by the time I got home.  I also ran a few strides.

I liked how I felt yesterday when I ran barefoot at the beginning of the run rather than at the end, so I did the same thing again running a mile barefoot to the track and then running an additional barefoot mile on the track before leaving and finishing my run on the trails wearing shoes.

I ran 2.5 miles barefoot at the beginning of the run, followed by running 7.5 miles with shoes.  Total of 10 miles.  I felt tired early on in the run so I just hung out around 8:00 pace for most of the run after opening about a minute slower than 8:00 pace for the first 2.5 miles.

I decided to run the last mile fast as the beginning of the speed work I will need to do in order to accustom myself to running fast again.  I figured that if I add 1 mile hard per week to the end of my Saturday run I can slowly get used to running hard while already fatigued (ie 1 mile today, 2 miles next Saturday, etc.).  I ended up with a 5:47 for the last mile.  Total time of 1:18:55 for 10 miles.

I was not too happy with the time on the last mile considering the effort, but on thinking over things I realized that I couldn't be too hard on myself for a number of reasons.  I was running into a headwind, it was warm (between 80 and 90), the mile is slow (5 super sharp turns and hilly), and I started off more slowly easing into things.  I had been expecting a faster time in part because I finished fairly hard, forgetting that I started off more slowly.  This result did convince me that I need to hold off on increasing the mileage of my Saturday long run until I get more comfortable where I am at.  Even as I increase the distance that I run hard every Saturday I will still keep the total distance to 10 miles for a while longer.