Fixing the foot strike

So, One of the things I began to work on when I switched to minimalist shoes, was my foot strike.  My goal was to move from being a heel striker, to a fore-foot striker as many of the websites I read, assured me that this would reduce injury and they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true.

[caption id="attachment_2547" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Look at that heel hit the ground![/caption]

Now, if you change HOW you run, you aren't going to change the amount of force that your body receives - so the reality is that you just change the sorts of injuries that you are risking.  This is a topic that Craig Payne, a podiatrist from the land down under, wrote about on his site "Running Research Junkie".  His writings are an interesting change from most running sites, as he relies on (gasp!) facts.  (as a side note, I can totally support his "Calf-Strain" on the forefoot running, as I went through several of those as I transitioned!)

#janathon - Day 6 - The "rest" run.

Another gorgeous day here in Crofton, MD.  The temperature was a gorgeous 50 degrees.   Since I have just moved here, I have no idea if this is normal winter weather or not - but I am certainly enjoying it!  Two days outside in a row!

Today is a "rest" day, so I figured a mile or so would be good.  My shortest look is around 1.5 miles, so I figured I would just go out and run it slowly.

Oops.

My first mile was done at an 8:29 pace, and the second .6 of a mile was done at 8:36.

The Plantar Fasciitis Trials - Part 1. Background

So, I've recently had several discussion regarding my experiences with Plantar Fasciitis both in comments on my blog, and with several people in person.  This made me realize it might be worth taking the time to really take a look and explain what I have done, and why!  I'll start with the background.

[caption id="attachment_2188" align="alignright" width="210"] My first pair of Vibram Five Fingers[/caption]

It all started with my switching over to Vibram Five Fingers.  I didn't know at the time that it could contribute, or why.  Looking back, I suspect that a big part of it is the old "too much too soon" problem combined with my complete lack of flexibility.  I don't know that moving into the five fingers slower would have prevented this - but had I been stretching my calves/Achilles/hamstrings - the additional time would have helped.  But I might be getting ahead of myself.

#janathon day 4 - Serenity

se·ren·i·ty

[suh-ren-i-tee] noun  (From dicitonary.com)

1. the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.

Synonyms   - composure, calm, peacefulness, peace.

Day 4 of Janathon!  As you might recall (or be polite enough to pretend to), I ran a 5k in my Vibram Five Fingers on the first.  Now fore thought apparently is one of my strengths, in the same way that using the kinect is (total sarcasm there, just in case it wasn't dripping out of your screen.). This is definitely shown through my choice of foot wear that day.   You see, I hadn't worn them on a run over two miles in 6 or 8 months.

[caption id="attachment_2092" align="aligncenter" width="490"] My Five finger Collection![/caption]

Race Report: Charm City Run - New Years Resolution Run

So this morning, I thought that the best way to start Janathon - was with a 5k I found on the internet.  The Charm City Run - New Years resolution Run (Charm City Run is a chain of stores).  I headed up to Baltimore to the St. Elizabeth of Hungary church hall to get registered.  It seems that I wasn't the only one with this idea!  It was nice that they had two helpers right at the foot of the stairs directing you where to go and gt your registration form.  Unfortunately, after that - you were left to guess.  There was one helpful person working the registration table that was sending everyone to the end of the table to pay... Unfortunately, it was only where you paid for Credit Cards!

[caption id="attachment_2041" align="aligncenter" width="490"] The church hall 1 hour 20 minutes before starting time![/caption]

Signage would have helped.

There seemed to be plenty of room for everyone in the Hall - but maybe there were lots of warmly-dressed people outside.  I was glad I had thought to use the bathroom right after getting there - because the lines started forming after that.. The men's didn't get to bad - until the women took it over at 10-15 minutes of race time!  And I'm not complaining - they needed to if they were going to get to use the facilities before it started!

Disaster strikes (no, not that)

Last night, a true disaster occured.  Before I go further into it, let me reassure you - I am not injured so its not THAT sort of disaster.

I was running on my treadmill after deciding that five miles in my Sauconys would be nice, watching Battlestar Galactica on the tablet... And then.. It happened.  I suddenly realized, I didn't really care what happened.   It seems I have over-done it on the show, and I am sick of it.  I must have felt it coming on as I wasn't as excited as usual to get running.  Now, I am faced with the disaster of not knowing what to watch while I run.



You see my friend, if I don't have something engaging to watch - then it goes back to being the "Dread Mill."  My warmup, five-mile run and cool down will be come the longest hour of my day. IT might even be longer than that last hour, spent tossing and turning in bed just wishing I could sleep.

This is where you, my friends and readers come in.  Please, help suggest shows that I can watch on Netflix/Hulu to stave of the eternal boredom that a treadmill represents!

The pig has awoken and put on his Vibram Five Fingers again.

[caption id="attachment_1911" align="alignleft" width="300"] Too tired to run.. or move.. gimme some pizza.[/caption]

So, here we are past the hump day and on the down ward slide to the weekend.  (Yay Weekend!!!!!!!)  I am afraid that I have to admit something.   Despite the best of intentions,  I didn't get back to running until Weds.  While this may not seem like a big deal - it means that I took FOUR Days off in a row.

I feel like a slovenly pig.

While I know its impossible to add 10 pounds of fat in 4 days (and my scale says it didn't happen,) I certainly feel like it. I used to like just sitting around doing nothing - but last night while resting right after dinner (I have to wait about 30-60 minutes before I run after a meal), I felt horrible. I knew that I hadn't r

(And here it comes....) I've been exhausted - not sleeping at night, tossing and turning, etc.

[caption id="attachment_1913" align="alignright" width="225"] I think I have these standing poses down well.[/caption]

I don't use this as an excuse, it's just... well.. an excuse. Last night I admitted that to myself, grabbed my tablet (yay Battlestar Galactica!) and hopped on the treadmill.  I had previously  decided that my next run was going to be back in my Vibram Five Fingers.  In the interest of avoiding "too much too soon," this meant I was going to be taking a short run, which was probably a wise move after so many days off.Once my feet started moving... I wanted to go for miles and miles. My right calf was a little tight in the VFFs, but the knee pain was (unsurprisingly yet happily) missing.  I started talking myself into maybe doing 3 miles instead of 2.. After all, 3 isn't that far - right?  

An influential person, running on a treadmill

[caption id="attachment_1794" align="alignleft" width="300"] If the treadmill is good enough for George Jetson and Astro...[/caption]

Last night I got four miles in on the treadmill.  I have been running at 6 mph, with a goal of limiting the pain to my feet.  This seems to be working pretty well, but as I train toward longer and better things I don't want to be doing it at a ten minute mile.  As such, I am increasing the treadmill speed, I have gone up .1 mph per week  for two weeks.  (For the math challenged that is up to 6.2 mph.)  I have also been running exclusively in my Sauconys, also with the goal of limiting foot pain.  This has led to some slight knee pain, though not much. 

The streets, without the pitterpatter of little ghouls and goblins.

Ghouls and Goblins.. I don't think anyone actually dresses up as ghouls or goblins anymore.  I know mine went as a Witch (though half way through she took of her hat and proclaimed herself to be a vampire) and a skeleton.  And I don't know about pitter patter either.. They halloweeners I saw were certainly having too much fun (aka loud) to hear any pitter pattering!!!!  But no matter how you look at it, there was definitely a good time had by all!

As you can see my little Witch/Vampire and Skeleton had quite the haul....And somehow I am going to eat none of it.  While this way-to-much-candy-in-the-house season continues, I will keep you updated on how much of their candy I have (or have not) eaten!

Visit with the Podiatrist

So I posted a brief bit on Facebook about what the podiatrist had to say, but I have been crazy-busy so I wasn't able to get back here until today.

First, I expected one of two (From what I have read online) standard Podiatrist viewpoints toward the Vibram Five Fingers.

1)  These things are horrible. No one should ever wear them (or walk barefoot) as our feet should be in shoes that make them work properly.  They are just begging for injury because they don't let your foot work like it should.

2) They are ok, and there is nothing wrong with wearing them, but

Weekend in Review - Treadmill, Trail Run and pain on the bottom of the foot.

Friday was a nice day off with the kids (Easter Break started.)  Since I had both of them home, my choice was to wait for my wife to get home (5:00 pm) or run on the treadmill.  Rather than wait, I decided on the treadmill.  I seem to be spending a lot of time on that treadmill lately.  I did a nice easy 6 mile run, and an incredible Chest/Tricep/Shoulder workout.  I started watching "Season of the Witch" on my wife's tablet while I ran, but it wouldn't connect to the wireless for the cool down run. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of it, and it certainly  beats staring at the white wall - or watching the numbers on the treadmill go.

Followed it up with a lunch at Panera Bread.  With their "you pick two" lunches, it's really easy to get a healthy AND tasty meal!

[caption id="attachment_1441" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Derek right before his run!"][/caption]

Saturday I met up with Derek, a coworker of mine that is bound and determined that I am not going to be faster than he is in a 5k.  Personally, I think he doesn't want to get beat by an "old man."  We headed up to Chenengo Valley State park to go for a run on some trails.

Race Report - Chenango Forks XV 2012

[caption id="attachment_1372" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Chris (runner) and Rebecca (photographer) before the race"][/caption]

Last year, I had planned on doing the Forks 15k, but it was during one of my many pulled muscle incidents... (Oh, and I wasn't anywhere near capable of running 15k at the time - but I'm not going to mention that part.. Totally going to blame the pulled muscle and pretend I could have done it otherwise.)  The big difference between this year and last year - is I have been very careful to NOT pull a muscle. (I also feel its worth mentioning that I have been training this year as well...)  Now I hadn't done 9 miles this year, but I had done a couple of 7 and 8 mile runs, so I knew I had this. 

For Reference, the only other 15k I have done is the Utica Boilermaker last year in 1:30:20.

Yesterday was looking to be a bit chilly - 40's to low 50s, beautiful running weather!  I headed up to Chenango Forks Highschool to register and was faced with my first quandary of the day.

[caption id="attachment_1371" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="See the orange? No thank you."][/caption]

Do I need to start with the "early" starters - that get to go 15 minutes early?  I know I am not the speediest runner - but how slow am I?  Well, after seeing the Orange things the early starters had to wear, I decided not too, as orange clashes with my complexion.

All joking aside - I figured I was probably going to be ok with not doing the early start.  There were around 225 people at the starting line when they yelled "Go" (followed by the beeping of countless GPS watches/phones starting.) 

End of last week and week end in review!

So this has been a wonderful weekend (yes, I know it's now Tuesday.. I've been busy!!!)  As I mentioned in my last posting - my brother-in-law was in town up until friday morning.  Ignoring their very existence, I started thursday with a 5 mile run outside in the BEAUTIFUL 55 degree weather.  (Mile 1: 8:19, Mile 2: 8:24, Mile 3: 8:28, Mile 4: 8:46, Mile 5:7:55.) I made up for my solitary run - by bringing both families up to  Tunkhannock Falls in Ithaca, NY.  We had a nice picnic lunch, and then headed up the trail to the falls.

As usual, I had someone stop me and ask me about my Vibram FiveFingers - don't get these if you don't like talking to random strangers!  I shared with her the wonder that is the VFFs, and she told me the "upper rim" trail was fantastic to run -about a 4 mile loop.  I thanked her for that information, and it is added on my "to-do" list this

[caption id="attachment_1347" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Family at the lowerfalls - at Tunkhannock Falls"][/caption]

summer for sure!  I really want to get into more trail running. 

The kids (both theirs and ours) were definitely impressed by the falls - and how could you not be?  Even the little ones at the beginning of the trail are gorgeous to watch/listen too.

When my niece/nephew come back in the summer we promised they could play in the water.

Running and Waving..

Yesterday was the day of the friendly runners.  Anyone in upstate NY has realized this is a runners' dream winter with out consistent 30-50 degree temperatures, and yesterday was no different.  I headed out after work (after going home and switching laundry.. I've always found it convenient that a good run process - changing, running, stretching and "the stick" - is one full cycle of the laundry) with the idea of doing somewhere between 3 and 7 miles.  I know, it's a heck of a range, but my mind wasn't in "let's go run" mode.

Once my feet started hitting the pavement (and I got my music working, and arm band situated) and I got through that first mile - everything went as it should.   I went a different route (isn't that the point of GPS? So you can go all different ways?) and managed to get our local traffic circle in visible range, just in time to see my wife head home for work.  I was kind of glad I hadn't hit it yet, because

Running in the cold – you may not be as fast as you feel you are.

This is a repost from my WordPress blog.

Last night I got out of work earlier than usual. That worked out quite nicely as I got to run in the light! I went with one less layer this time, no under-armour on the top. I regretted that for the first mile or so. I never hit the point that I was "warm," but I was not "cold." I think I may stop messing with WHAT to wear, I seem to have it figured out now.

I felt good out there last night, I was trying to concentrate on lifting my legs and letting them drop the whole way. I tried to lift them as soon as they hit the ground - as the POSE book said, and I felt like I was FLYING! I also quickly understood why the book says you need to focus on building your core muscles. I could feel it BIG TIME. When I got back - I was a little disappointed at my time. I felt like I was doing at MOST an 8 minute mile. This was slower than I ran at the beginning of November. Regardless of that, it was a good run - and my calves/legs are feeling it this morning. A little bit of soreness always lets you know it was a good workout!

Running in the cold, and trying some of the POSE philosophy.

So with this weekend being a chilly 27 degrees, I thought this would be a good opportunity to figure out "how to dress" for the cold weather. I did a quick google to find some charts on what people recommended, and decided on this:

Head: Perry the Platypus hat, Sunglasses (snow is BRIGHT), and headphones for music.
Body: Underarmor (though it was generic, not UnderArmor brand), T-shirt, Polar Fleece and Shell.
Legs: Underarmor (again, generic.. And sounds much better than "running tights"), running pants.
Feet: Smartwool Toe Socks, Vibram Five Fingers Bikila

I also had a bandana around my neck - that I could pull up to breath through if needed. I should have had my wife take a picture of me in my running get-up for the cold. I will do so next time! (I looked goofy.)

On the road again… I just can’t wait to get on the road again…

This is a re-post from: http://oddfutures.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/on-the-road-again-i-just-cant-wait-to-get-on-the-road-again/ - the original location of my blog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, on my before-last post - I was talking about doing the couch to 5k.. And here is what I discovered.

I can't do it.

It was BOOOOORRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!! And exceedingly aggravating. Now Mind you, I'm not saying it isn't a good choice for a new runner - but to go out there and "jog" (I'm notajogger either!!!!) for only a minute, and then walk for a minute and a half (and repeat until you hit 20 minutes)- when I know I can just run the entire 20 minutes.... I couldn't do it.

I got to see my skeleton today.. Did YOU do anything that exciting?


<> 

You only get to see the top of the machine
because my phone lost the bottom somehow



So, today I had a bone scan done - it was a pretty cool experience.  I had to go in at 8:30 am, and they gave me a shot of radioactive material (my son is going to be so jealous.)  They then did the scan and at that point they could look at the blood flow.    They had me lay on the little bench, and then they set up the machine just over my shins/knees and took the scans.  Then they told me to go away for a couple of hours.



The screen on the right is where the pictures appeared



Back to work, then back to the hospital at 11:30.  After the required thirty minutes spent sitting in the waiting room (doesn't it always seem mandatory to you?) in we went for the actual bone scan.  Now this time, they actually did a full body scan.  It started over my head with it almost touching the tip of my nose.  For the next 25 minutes it worked its way down my body slower than a Caterpillar could crawl.  I could see the monitor (its blank in the picture, I know -bad timing - but they took my phone away for the full scan) as my skeleton slowly appeared on it.

Now to me it was just a cool skeleton shot - but the tech was able to look at it and let me know that I had pain in my knees - both left and right.  He also asked me what sort of trauma had occurred to my left arm (I don't recall any to be honest, but with an older brother and sister?  Probably..) 



They taped my VFFs together to help keep my legs still.

The guy who ran the machine was also a runner (though to be fair, he prefers biking -so his tastes could be questionable) who owned VFFs.  It suprised the first tech that helped me that not only did I have bizarre toe-shoes, but that his coworker did too - and apparently had worn them to work before!
We discussed shoes - he told me he had seen people come in that were wearing VFFs and switched back with shin splints (both the actual medical issue with the shin bones, and just muscular) from switching BACK to normal shoes. Moving back to the lifted heel and a more heel-strike style of running seems to help cause aggravation of the shin muscles.

The tech also explained how the bone scan works - the radiation they had injected me with gave off gamma radiation. This radiation hit the salt crystals that were in the flat thingies (you can see them on either side of my VFFs in the third picture).  That is what gave them the "picture" - just like a time release photo shot.  He told me that a stress fracture (such as the one he himself had in his thigh bone [though he used fancy medical terminology.. the show off...] shows up as a bright white compared to the greys of the normal imaging.  He explained this to me and showed me the monitor. Now let me be clear - he did NOT diagnose me, or tell me if I had a stress fracture or not.  He wasn't a doctor and could not do that.  But after explaining to me that a stress fracture would show up white - he pointed to the screen for me to look at.

I didn't see any white. :)

On the road again...

So saturday was the big day - time to head out and put some pounding to the pavement and see how my calf was.  I started the morning by running out and picking up some more KT Tape (I was out) and got an awesome purple color. (My wife keeps asking why I don't get the skin colored. I have no answer.)  History has shown that it is effective in helping my calf - and I wanted every edge I could get.  Then I decided to head out as I had someone at the house to watch the kids.

It felt mah-velous.  It hurt like the dickens - apparently riding a 10 speed does not come near the difficulty of running (I was always riding around in max gear.)  Or maybe a runner needs to look harder for hills when on a bicycle.  But either way it was GREAT to be out there. I did wear my ASICS, as I have decided that I will be doing no running in my VFFs until after the marathon as I wish to minimize the chances of another calf pull.  As I ran I concentrated on making sure my heel was hitting the ground, although I was sticking with more off an "entire foot" than a heel-strike.  Then I would concentrate on NOT pushing off with my calf.  You would think that after years of not using my calf much in running, that it would be natural to drop back into that style.. But apparently I have adapted to the VFFs to quickly! Luckily the heel rise made it easier to make sure my heel hit.

When I set out - I logically knew I should only do about 2 miles, so I decided on 3.  As I hit my turn around spot - there was a car accident up ahead, so of course I had to run by that.  Then I couldn't turn around right there - so I had to go a bit further and turn down a side street.  I ended up at 3.8 miles for the day. My calf didn't "snap" or cause me pain, but I could feel that it was one tired muscle.

I then headed up to my father's house - he had a large amount of stone to be moved from the front yard, up the driveway (uphill of course) and turned into a stonewall in the back.  As we got started I suddenly realized - Boy it was stupid to go run 3.8 miles before doing this.  Pushing the wheel barrow up the hill was NOT my tired muscles' favorite activity.  We did get the rocks in the back, with only one injury (my brother.) 

Needless to say, the day after that (yesterday) I HURT.  But I feel better today and I am definitely looking forward to my run tonight!  Probably only 3 miles - but still looking forward to putting some more mileage in!

So, you want to be a runner….A Post for beginners.. part 2 - The Shoes.

So, we have looked at some of my thoughts on running so far. In the previous post – I mentioned some of the things that I thought were important: Physical Fitness Level, Environment, Goals and Dedication (or commitment). These are all important considerations when contemplating running. However, you may have noticed that none of them seemed to involve putting one foot in front of the other and watching pavement move by. So obviously there needs to be a part 2 post to my part 1!  You may notice the same lack again - so there will be a part 3!  So, here are some more of my thoughts on my favorite form of exercise - Specifically, lets discuss the shoes!