You are going to wreck your feet that way…..

This was said to me by someone at the gym after I had finished a run on the treadmill and kicked off my shoes and spent a few laps walking around the track to cool down.

This got my brain working around the issue of barefoot and shod debate.   A few thoughts keep coming out to to forefront for me.   Before I continue, I would like to re-affirm these are thoughts, and I do not think they are facts, and is  based on the current research on the barefoot minimalist movement, my own personal experience and what I have observed in the clinic.   At the end of the day, if you are a run with an orthotic and a big cushioned shoe and you are injury free I say continue, it works for you.   

1.   When did walking and running barefoot become so feared?   

2. Many of us wear orthotics or some type of support shoe to help correct our foot deficiencies.  Were our feet and legs built so improperly that most of us need these devices to walk or run?

3.  The human foot was designed to handle the impact of walking and more so running.   The changes observed in a runners gait barefoot vs shod is very different.  Why aren’t we trying to enhance the foots natural movement and ability to absorb shock with footwear?   

4. There is a place for orthotics, through the injury process, and serious biomechanical foot dysfunction.   I do question however that it is a solution to the injury.  when we sprain or fracture a ligament we splint it or cast it, much like an orthotic would for the foot.  after it is healed does your fractured arm still need the cast for the rest of you life?   

5. Why does it feel so good to take your shoes off and stride across a field?

I am not a true barefoot runner, nor do I think I will ever be, but I am running in as minimal a shoe as I can.  I have done this now for close to three years now, and am happy to say I have been injury free this time.  I will STRESS that this transition took a long time and did not occur overnight, and many of the barefoot or minimalist running injuries have occurred because the transition is way to quick from a traditional running shoe (big heel and structured) to a minimal or barefoot type footwear.  

So to answer the person at the the gym no I am not.   

 

10 miler

Ran not raced the 10miler this past weekend.  with the ankle not 100%, and my inability to push the intensity of my workouts this past month and a half, I thought it would be a wise decision to just make the 10miler a hard workout.

Race morning was chilling about 3 degrees and snowy.   The plan was to run between 70-75min, holding that pace through the course.   I started the run with my friend Tania, who was looking for the type of run.  The first few miles went well, I felt comfortable and the ankle was feeling okay.   at the 5 mile mark we clocked in at 34:30.  It was a little above what I was looking to run, but it felt okay.   After the 5 mile mark there is an extended downhill, and the point where I could feel my ankle.  my pace slowed through the downhill moreso due to the discomfort in the ankle than conditioning, I could feel Tania slowly push ahead, I let her go and maintained my pace.

I finished strong, pushing the last uphill at mile eight and through to the finish on a long downhill.  My time was just over 69 minutes.

I am happy with how things went and the ankle is feeling decent today, (even with a skate sunday night).  So I feel that I am on the road to recovery, and have the ability to start training hard again, two months till GWN and 3 till death race!

 

first post of 2012

The 2012, race season is just about upon us, so I thought I would get my butt in gear and make my first post for 2012.  The last few months have been hard, a snowboarding ankle injury has left me sidelined for a while.  I think the worst part was I was just starting to feel some of the early work I had done through January to Feb take affect.

I am still on the mend but have been able to start some easy runs and harder workouts in the pool and on the bike (had my first outdoor ride of the season March 29th, earliest yet).   Last year was busy in terms of races with the St. Albert 10 miler, Fast trax 30km, Great White North Half Ironman, a leg of the sinister 7, 2 legs of the death race, Ironman Canada and The North Face 50 miler in San fran.

So far my schedule looks a little lighter, Great White North Half in July, and one leg of the death race, and a return to San Fransisco for the 50miler.   I may add another couple of races in the mix but use them as training runs.  There are two goals, for the year, to finally finish under 4hr and 30min at GWN (4hr 32min 3 years running) and beat my last years time at san fran of 9hrs for the 50 miler.

While my ankle is getting stronger, I will be doing less mileage and working a little more on core strengthening, restistance training, including stairs.  I am hoping with an increased base of strength to start off the year, I will not pay as dearly as I did in San francisco with the uphill and downhills.

Looking forward to it!!!!!

 

This race is 50 miles not 40!!

Spent last weekend in San Francisco running the North Face endurance challenge 50miler.

The Race started at 5 am, so it was an early wake up at 3:30.   We got to the race start with lots of time to spare for last minute prep (bag drop off, bathroom, etc).   The 45 min prior to start disappeared quickly and soon enough the gun went off and we were running through the darkness.   The race starts with a long climb up approx 3 miles.   Prior to reaching the top I took a look back and could see all the headlamps behind me snaking up the climb.   The first climb went smoothly and I was comfortable through it.  We quickly descended down and soon enough started our second big climb.   initially I struggled, but soon settled into a comfortable pace.   We arrived to the top and quickly started going down again, a bit of a theme of the day.  I passed the 8.9mile aid station in 73minutes.

About 30 minutes after the aid station the sun came up and I was able to see beyond my headlamp.   I was running at this point just along the coast. Absolutely gorgeous!   Coming off the coastline we quickly started climbing again. This was the longest climb of the day up to the Heart attack aid station.  I could feel the fatigue setting into my legs, but the lungs still felt good.

I was still able to maintain a decent pace as we winded through steep embankment along a single track path.  This was my least favourite part of the course as it was an out and back so we were sharing the path with runners going the other way.  I pretty much had to stop and get out of the way of the oncoming runners.  The only cool part was I was able to see the lead runners hammering the course.

Passing 25 miles, I still felt good, but noticed that I was passing runners going up but losing ground going downhill.   I was moving along the course with about 5 runners and they would leave me on the down and I would catch them on the up.

As the miles went on my pace on the down slowed dramatically. My quads were done, I could still hold okay on the flats (that were few and far between) and but started slowing on the up as well.   I hit the 39 mile mark and I was done.   Cardio and energy was okay, but the legs ached and the quads were burning.  In hindsight I should have spent a little time at the aid station collecting myself, but I just wanted to finish.   I started climbing (again).  As I was going up I was dreading what was coming, more downhill.   At this point I could barely muster a run going downhill, the legs wanted nothing of it.

The last 10 miles took roughly 2.5 hours.  I came up to the road leading up to the finish and relief more than joy came over me.   I came across the finish in 9:03.  The goal was 8 hours, but I had no idea how hard the course was going to be.    Walking away from the race I was satisfied how I did but, would like to have another go at the race in the future, hopefully figuring out how to manage the downhills a little better, and be able to finish strong.

Overall a great experience, and an amazing trail system.

I hate taper.

I leave friday for San Francisco for the North Face endurance challenge.    Prepping for 50 miles has been a learning experience and I hope after completing the event, I will gain some valuable knowledge for the future.   

I am not too worried about time (aside from timing out),  more I want to run as consistently as I can for the 50miles.  I know my pace will drop off over that distance, I just don’t want it to be extreme.  Early in the race I will have to keep my pace in check if things are feeling good and not let the excitement of the race take over my game plan, although I do hope race day gives me a little adrenaline boost.   The interesting feature of this race is there is an aid station approximately every 5 miles, so I will not have to carry much. Instead of the usual camelback a handheld water bottle will suffice.   Also in my favor is the aid stations are using GU gels, which are my usual brand, so there will be no concerns with a gel or food that will not sit well with me.   

Taper is always my least favorite part of the training process. letting those long miles and hard workouts, of weeks past get out of your legs and allow the adaptation process and recovery occur.   The mind plays tricks, you question your training and your fitness for the race.  It is always hard not to go out on that recovery run and not open up the pace or want to just go out a little longer.   The body needs rest but the mind continues to race.  

Down to 5 more days of resisting the will to train hard, and prepare for an exciting new adventure.   

Saddle up

I’ve given myself the last 3 weeks off after ironman and I think that for the most part I feel recovered.  Looking back and evaluating my race three weeks ago, I tried to draw on some of the positives on the day.  First although my nutrition plan, was not followed, I was depleted energy wise for portions of the run, I was able to moderate my electrolytes well and prevented cramping (unlike death race).    On a day where, it just wasn’t there, finishing in the top ten percent is respectable.

Looking forward, I have the North Face Trail Championships in San Fransisco, my first crack at 50miles. http://www2.thenorthface.com/endurancechallenge/races/2011/ca/index.html

My plan is to build miles over the weekend, with two runs and some cycling, and build speed through the week with 2-3 speed workouts, depending on the mileage on the weekend.   I will build hills into the long runs to take care of the climbing.   recovery will be through some spinning on the bike and swimming on the off days.

11 weeks out………..

Long day

Raced Ironman Canada yesterday.   This may have been one of my toughest days on a race course yet.

The goal is always the same for me barring conditions, have a personal best and no injuries.   In 2009 I came in at 10hrs and 8min.   For this year I would have been really happy with taking 8 min off and coming in under 10hrs.

I arrived on Wednesday and the sun just seemed to get hotter and hotter.   Race day the predicted high was 34 Degrees.   I arrived in at the race start nice and early and got all my gear ready, re-pumped my tires, prepared my gatorade and food for the bike and applied sunscreen (I still burnt).

I felt settled and calm when the gun went off to start the race.  After battling the thrashing for the first 500m of the swim, the athletes stretched out and I found my holes and got into a rhythm.   I popped out of the water, and crossed the mat at 67:47, which was a great start for me 3 min faster than my best.    The day was off to a good start.

I quickly transitioned onto the bike, and took off.  It is always hard not to go out too quickly for the bike, especially with the back half of the course so difficult.   I settled quickly and felt strong early and a little push from the wind down to Osoyoos, was welcome.    About 30k in I though I heard something catch my tire and sure enough I had a flat.   I pulled over and quickly changed my tire and pulled out the sheet metal screw that was in my tire.   I filled my tube with a CO2 cartridge and made it to the next aid station and pumped my tire back up.   I figure I lost 8min but more importantly my momentum.   The stress of changing a flat, losing time due to mechanical difficulties,  was hard on the psyche.   I pushed hard back on the ride and made up some ground on my time but pushing into the wind on the way back a little harder than planned left me fairly depleted.   I also found it tough to stomach much for nutrition due to the heat, so I stuck to gels and energy drink, a bit of a departure from the norm.  I finished the ride in 5hrs and 27min.

I came into transition, and got my shoes on for the run.   As I started off I did not feel too bad, but the heat was intense.  I made it through the first two miles of the run feeling not too bad, but as my body temp rose my energy seemed to suck out of me.   Miles 3-6 were tough, I was just so hot, I just could not get any relief.   As we ran along Lake Skaha, a light breeze seemed to ease things a little, and I found my legs again.  Unfortunately this did not last I made it to the halfway point, and my legs left me again and did not return for the rest of the way.   I ran the marathon in 4 hours, my slowest time by 20min.

I finished in 10hrs and 43 min.   10hrs and 33min if you take away the flat tire issue.  I am disappointed with the day, but that is unfortunately how things go and I learned a lot from the day and hopefully build on it.

Now it is time to give the body some much needed rest.  Will take two to three weeks light, depending on how the body feels and prepare for my next race ( North Face trail Championships in December 50miles).