May 2010 Archives

I tend to alternate between two pairs of footwear, with a third pair thrown in every once in awhile for good measure. For the past month or so, I have been running almost exclusively in either the Vibram Five Fingers and the Nike LunarGlide (yes, they are that electric green -- I like them, but credit goes to Esmé for nudging me along when we were shopping for them together). The third pair of shoes is an older Asics Gel, I think, that doesn't have too much in the way of mileage on them yet.

I wore the Five Fingers again today, trying out a new route around a nearby lake. Didn't feel like getting up early, and had plans for grilling tonight, so I set out for my run at noon. Hindsight, maybe not the best idea. But then again, it might be good practice running in not-always-perfect weather.

In any event, each mile was slower than then the previous one, as the heat and lack of energy conspired against me.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 40:30.
Total mileage: 40 miles.

Another gorgeous (and hot) morning for a long team run, this time meeting up along Summit Avenue and River Road, starting around 8:00 AM. It was an out and back with opportunities to run 4, 5, 6, or 8 miles. I opted for the six mile run for a few reasons. Lesson learned for future Saturday team training runs is to maybe not stay out quite so late the night before playing poker with Jason and the boys. It was tough to stay hydrated and energized.

Still, my last workout for the week was over before mid-morning, and I've got the rest of the weekend ahead of me to relax and recover. So concludes back-to-back weeks with six consecutive days of training in each.

Today's mileage: 6 miles, in 68 minutes (including two water stops).
Week 2 mileage: 18 miles over 4 days of running. Had another two days of cross-training.
Total mileage: 36 miles.

Yesterday we had our first "track workout" with the team, out at Minnehaha Academy. It was a lot of fun, but some serious work by the time we got through everything. One thing I know for sure: I'm going to be getting much stronger over the summer. Lots of push-ups and crunches and lunges, mixed in between the progressively faster 400's.

Realizing I didn't have a good way to check pace or time or anything on my runs, I decided to head over to REI over lunch to pick up a new watch. So happy with the bargain shopping: from $370 down to $270 for their anniversary sale, less another $50 rebate from Garmin, less another $100 from a birthday gift card from my parents meant I was only out of pocket about $135, after tax. Nice.

Put it through it's paces on the familiar double-loop around Bredesen park later. Gorgeous weather. Forgot my iPod, but really enjoyed listening to the quiet padding of my almost barefeet again. Training continues to go very well.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 41:45.
Total mileage: 30 miles.

Good article summarizing some of the benefits (and challenges) of barefoot running:

When I first heard about barefoot running, several years ago, I was skeptical -- don't we need cushion to protect us from injuries, and why would I want to run barefoot, anyway?

But several months ago, I read a few influential articles (stemming from the popularity of Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run) and decided to give barefoot running a try. Why not?

Today, I'm happy to say I'm a barefoot runner, and I love it.

I've given away my Asics, and now I run exclusively with my Vibram Fivefinger KSOs or completely barefoot. I'm running as fast or faster than ever, lighter than ever, injury-free, and I feel connected to the ground I run on. My feet have become stronger, and I feel better. Running was always fun, but now it feels like play!

http://zenhabits.net/barefoot-running/

Alas, the hallmark of my barefoot running philosophy is regaining connectedness, mindfulness, and presence in your running and in your body.

Barefoot running is not about blocking or pushing through pain, or at least it shouldn't be. Rather it is about tuning-in to your own body's highly sophisticated set of integrated awareness systems, systems that communicate through feelings and senses that are being collected in real-time as you move. From my perspective, learning how to run well means learning how to tap into the feeling of running well, which more often than not requires baring the foot to get the full feel of what happens when you move.

http://barefootted.com/2010/04/so-you-wanna-start-running-barefoot.html

Getting better at getting up in the morning to run before work. Alarm went off at 5:30, and I managed to get to Bredesen Park a little before 6:00. Holy crap, was it ever muggy! Four miles later and I was drenched. Better earlier than later, I suppose, when the humidity will be that much worse.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 40 minutes.
Total mileage: 22 miles.

Today is a welcome day of rest on the training schedule. We had our second longer team run yesterday, meeting up at Runner's Gate in Lakeville for a good overview discussion on gear -- shoes, clothes, socks, energy gels and beans, as well as hydration gear.

The run was pretty straight-forward, just an out-and-back towards I-35. Pretty hilly. Figure those are good, though. I opted for the slightly longer course with a few others. Instead of turning back after two miles, we pushed ahead for another mile to finish up with six miles total. It felt great. Very manageable.

This is one of the things I continue to like about Team in Training: getting to know other people on the teams. Running six miles in May isn't all that bad on your own, but it's made that much better when you can talk with people. It's good to be able to condition yourself to carry on a conversation while running. So when we get to 15, 16, 17 miles later in the summer, it'll be very nice to have other people to talk with along the way.

Hoping to finish writing my fundraising letter (and e-mail) later today so I can get started on that. Working on a few ideas around corporate sponsorship that I want to investigate this week as well.

Yesterday's mileage: 6 miles, in almost exactly an hour.
Week 1 mileage: 14 miles over 4 days of running. Two cross-training days mixed in as well.
Total mileage: 18 miles.

"Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

- William James

Was reminded again today how amazing inner strength can be, and went out after dinner to test it out. Just a simple two mile loop, which has typically taken me about 20 minutes to finish. Tonight I slipped on the Five Fingers and had fun pushing myself faster. Finished in 18:29. Felt great.

Today's mileage: 2 miles, at about 9:15/mile.
Total mileage: 12 miles.

Cross-training yesterday, and a short run this morning. Woke up late, felt sluggish most of the way around my 2-mile loop. Convinced myself to keep going at the end and ended up doing four miles. Picture-perfect weather, again, and so nice to finish up my run for the day before it was even 7:00.

Today's mileage: 4 miles in 40:30.
Total mileage: 10 miles.

I've been thinking about running another marathon this year for quite some time. It had been simmering on the back of my brain for several years, at least, this thought that I'd be celebrating twenty years in remission by running Twin Cities again. When I finally looked at the upcoming fall calendar for TNT, though, I was surprised to see the Dublin Marathon in Ireland. Never been to Ireland. And Dublin is only a short ferry and train ride away from Lancaster.

Running the local marathon is very important to me, but I began asking around about the viability of running two marathons within three weeks of one another. Both have significance beyond just the run. So I talked to friends and family and pondered the decision for the better part of the month of April before trusting my intial instinct: just go for it. Tackle the bigger challenge for any number of really good reasons, not the least of which is ensuring I wouldn't regret missing out on a chance to return to England.

Along those same lines, I'd originally set my personal fundraising goal at $20,000. It's a good, clean number. Twenty thousand for twenty years. It's also the threshold I'd broken ten years ago when I'd last run Twin Cities.

But something was gnawing at me. Something about pushing outside of my comfort zone by running two marathons, but not doing the same thing with my fundraising goals. You need to dream big, right? Even if you don't reach those goals, you're better off with setting the bar as high as you can. You might be surprised at what you can achieve.

With that in mind, I'm hoping to raise $40,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society between now and the end of October. Should be a very good challenge.

Today's mileage: two miles before work, a gorgeous loop around Bredesen Park. Early morning sun angling through the trees, cool but not cold, and only a few other runners out.

Total mileage: 6 miles.

Met up at Lake Harriet this morning at 8:00 AM for the first team training run. There was a very good turnout, and near-perfect weather for a short jog around the lake. I am so glad that I started running again in mid-March. My first run, then, was me gasping for air after about a mile, struggling to finish just two miles. My legs were sore for days afterwards. Today I could actually enjoy this first team run, the sunshine, the people, and the conversation.

Met a few other runners, including Tyler, all of twenty years old. He was diagnosed with ALL about a year ago, and is just about six months removed from a bone marrow transplant. So awesome.

Today's mileage: about 4 miles. Didn't wear a watch, so I'm not sure how fast I ran, but I'm guessing it was somewhere around a 10:00 minute mile.

Total mileage: 4 miles.

Wednesday night was the official kick-off for the fall season events for Team in Training. Was privileged to be asked to speak for ten minutes or so, as one of the program's honored teammates. I've been working on a short speech over the past two weeks, mostly at the informational events I'd been attending, but I wanted this one to be a little different. Part of the goal, obviously, is to share my story. I felt like I'd been doing pretty much a straight chronology: here is what happened. Here is what happened next. It was bad. And then it wasn't.

I tried to talk more about the parallels between endurance events and my experience with chemo. That while you ultimately own your treatment, you don't get through it alone. You need the help and love and support of many, many people along the way. That you should know, going into it, that there will be good days and bad days. Sometimes lots of bad days in a row. And it's how you choose to respond to those bad days that define the quality of your character.

I feel like I always forget something when I do one of these speeches. Didn't matter, though. I was surprised when I'd finished speaking and the assembled participants in the room -- maybe a hundred people? -- stood and clapped for me. Never received a standing ovation for anything before. Very, very humbling.

Some long overdue changes are going to be made around here. Among other things, there will be less of the "story" available (and maybe organized a little better). Colors might change. Might also drop a few other links here and there, in particular to highlight what's I'll be doing to celebrate twenty years in remission.

Much more to follow.