A couple weeks ago (dec 13th) I did the Tucson Marathon.  In typical fashion, I’ve only gotten to blogging about it two weeks later. 

It was the culmination of all my training this year: an attempt at a Boston Qualifier on a fast, downhill course.  Coming off of my run at the Harrisburg marathon only a month earlier, I had some confidence going in – there I had run the BQ pace (7:15/mile, a 3:10 marathon)  through 13 miles, and wasn’t far from it through 16 miles (3:11 pace), before falling to a 3:14 pace at 20 mile, and hitting the wall there, dropping to finish at a 3:27.  It was a confidence builder, however, since it was the first time I held that pace for that long, and it was on a flat course.  Tucson is a notoriously downhill, fast, Boston Qualifier course, so I thought that the fitness gains I had made leading up to the race, combined with a more favorable course would be just enough to get me my BQ.  

I had one injury concern leading up to the race.  To prepare my body for the downhill course, I did some downhill repeats in the weeks leading up to it.  I knew it was a bit of a risk, but I thought to get a BQ, it was a risk I had to take.  It did not pay off, rather, I hurt my lower back, glutes & hamstring.   Thankfully, the hamstring trouble ending up going away pretty quickly, but the lower back & glute pain persisted.  I had some chiropractic adjustments, and curtailed some of my mileage, but it continued to be an on-off problem.   I went easy on a particularly important weekend – two weeks after Harrisburg, two weeks before Tucson, right in that sweet spot between recovering from one race and tapering for the next.  I did manage to get a good 8 mile long-tempo run in a week before the race, which went well.  I came in at a 57 mins, a 7:06 pace.  The miles came easy, and I finished strong, with my last mile in a 6:16.  Leading up to the race I went easy, but even a little 3 mile run on a treadmill was enough to aggravate it.  The injury on a whole was rather minor, not a lot of pain, rather, just some discomfort, but it can be hard to know how something will hold up after 26.2 miles, especially on a downhill course.  

The Race

The day began with my first and only complaint about the organization of the race – the burden of getting to the start.  The traffic getting to the shuttles that would take us to the start was just horrible, but not entirely unexpected.  Once we got there, we found the correct shuttle, and waited on the bus for forty minutes.  We ended up getting to the race start just 20 minutes before the start.  I typically like to have an hour, so I can use the rest room (takes a long time w/ those lines!) and warm up.  Of course, this wasn’t ideal, but I did have enough time to run around a little bit while shedding my warm up clothes, putting them in my drop bag, putting that on a drop bag bus, and to give some dry desert plants some much needed moisture

The race started, and I was right with the 3:10 pace group.  This was generally a strange feeling.  Strange, first of all, that there even was a 3:10 group.  Most races don’t have them.  Stranger, secondly, because I was actually keeping up with them.  I soon fell in to a pattern of passing/catching up to the group on downhills, keeping pace with them on the flats, and letting the group pull away a little bit on the uphills.  I was willing to take the pain that I knew would come from doing these downhills fast, and didn’t want to tax my energy early on the uphills.  Knowing this, I begun to strategize.  I knew that from miles 10-13 there would be some rolling hills before starting the massive descent (800 ft over 11 miles).  I decided I’d pull away from the group, especially on downhill and flat sections around mile 7, let them pass me during the rolling section, but stay close behind.  I’d then catch back up to them on the downhill section.  

Passing a 3:10 group seems like a tall order.   It came easier then I could have ever imagined.  I pushed forwad during this downhill section, passed the pace group at mile 6, and kept passing other runners.  I felt invincible.  I felt like I could run a 3:00 marathon.  I wasn’t too far off – I ran my first 9 miles in 1:04:14, which was a 7:08 min/mile pace, a 3:07:45 marathon pace.  I’m an experienced runner though, so I knew it wouldn’t last, and I knew it would be highly unwise to go any faster, if it even was to be going as fast as I was.  I kept the pace, and felt encouraged by how the race was going.  

Inevitably, the group caught me as we turned onto biosphere road, where the rolling hills started.  I tried to keep up with the group, but I had to let them pass me.  The hills certainly slowed me down in this section – after runing no slower then a 7:17 mile through my first 10 miles, my 11th mile was a 7:45, and my 12th mile was a 8:01.  I didn’t let it affect me, because I knew I had built in some padding, and that I was right on pace.  In the 13th mile, the descent started, and so did my resurgence.  I ran a 6:52 there, and was at a 1:34:05, enough for a 3:09:42 pace.  

The 11 mile downhill stretch from miles 13-24 is what I came out to Tuscon for.  A long decent at this stage of the race certainly makes things easier.  I was right on pace at mile 14, and had the pace group in my sites.  I wanted to catch up to them gradually, rather then make a sudden move that might just send me tumbling into oxygen debt.  Through 16 miles I was at a 3:09:31 pace, ahead of my Harrisburg time.  I kept the pace through miles 18 & 19, but was seriously starting to wonder how long I could keep it up.  The ubiquitous wall had hit me hard in each of my previous races somewhere around miles 20-23.   

At mile 20 I was still miraculously on pace.  2:24:38, a 3:09:36 pace.  It was truly amazing that my race pace at 13 miles, 16 miles, and 20 miles had only varied by only 11 seconds.  I knew the wall was coming, but I was also willing to fight it.  Having been there so many times before in just the past few months, I wanted to battle it again, and push past it.  It came, and it hit me hard.  My pace dropped from mile 20 at a 7:37 to a 8:39 at 21.  A BQ was still salvageable in terms of pace, but I was fading.  I tried to motivate myself by trying to keep up with other runners, but it was hopeless.  Mile 22 I dropped to a 9:20.  A runner with a pi symbol on his back passed me.  I knew I wasn’t going to run better then a 3:14…

When you’ve hit the wall in a marathon, your goals very quickly change.  At this point, I was hoping to just run under a 3:20, but I continued to fade.  I would pick up water at aid stations, though I didn’t need it.  I was perfectly hydrated.  I think my body knew that by picking up water I’d slow down a little bit, and thus grant it some mercy.  Mile 23 was a 10:07.  I kept telling myself to go faster, but my legs just wouldn’t respond.  The 3:20 group had passed me, without much of a fight from me.  Now I just wanted a personal record, something I had done in each of my marathons this year.  At mile 24 I came in a 10:48, and 25 I was completely done, a 12:25.  I just kept hanging on, knowing the end was near, and that I still had a shot at a PR.  I ran my last 1.2 miles in 12:19 (translates to about a 10 min mile), including my usual dash to the finish.  My overall time was a 3:28:11, 23 seconds off of my personal record.  

There’s always a swirl of emotions after finishing race.  You always feel good on some level, knowing what you have just accomplished.  Of course, physically, you feel exhausted, especially if you ran well.  It’s hard to even walk, especially down hills and stairs.  It’s even harder to pick things up from the ground.  After this race, I felt disappointed, just knowing how much I put into it all year, and how close I came, before falling apart.  My final time does not reveal just how close I came.  I still think of it as being on pace through 20 miles.  That’s a start.  I can say that I have done something amazing this year, and that the training adjustments I made really paid off.  I went from a personal record of a 3:54:59 to having run 4 races faster then a 3:36 in a period of 4 months, and have really put myself in reach for a Boston Qualifier.  Next up: Year end review/analysis of how I improved drastically, and how I intend on improving further.

Have I really not updated since September 10th?  I kind of wish I updated more consistently, to keep you all along on my journey toward a Boston qualifier, but unfortunately I have not.  Better too busy running to blog then the other way around, right?  

Anyway, just thought I do a big recap of some of the key runs I’ve had in the past couple of months, as I start to get ready for my final marathon of the season.  

New Mexico Recovery/Transistion to Toronto Waterfront Marathon

I had a tough time recovering from New Mexico, mainly because I hadn’t quite built my mileage up before the race, and because the race had a lot of downhill.  This was a big concern with Toronto Waterfront only a month later.  In particular, I had a discouraging run just 2 weeks after New Mexico, suffering in the heat through 14 miles at over a 10 min/mile pace.  I started to grow pessimistic about my ability to recover in time for the next race.  Only three days later, however, I turned in a 34:06 for a 5 mi tempo run.  I had a pretty good track workout that week as well, coming at a 6:30 pace through 6 1 mile repeats w/ jogging rest, but had to cut the workout short with some injury concerns.  Fortunately, I give myself a lot of rest after doing speedwork, so nothing bad came of it.  

Toronto Waterfront Marathon – September 28th

With a 3:35 marathon under my belt, I wanted to make the next step towards my goal of a Boston qualifiing 3:10, so I decided I’d pace myself for a 3:20 for this race, even though I knew I could of paced myself for a 3:30 and come up well under.  It being an international marathon, there were only kilometer markers, and no mile markers.  I double-checked my math several times in the first half of the race, but ended up coming in at a little under 1:40, on a perfect pace for a 3:20.  I kept a pretty solid pace in the third quarter of the race, but in the final quarter I struggled.  I got confused and thought that a marathon was 44k – your mind is extremely easy to fool 20 miles into a race.  I got discouraged, and thought that not only was I not going to run a 3:20, I might not even beat my old time.  I tried to keep running well even in spite of it.   I was keeping ahead of the 3:30 group, and was surprised they had not passed me.  I kept looking out for them.  As I came up on the 39k mark, a spectator shouted “just 3k to go!” and then I realized, hey, he’s right, it is just 42.2k, not 44k.  I felt better knowing this, and tried to push hard toward the finish.  I had nothing left in me.  Then I heard a loud group of footsteps – the 3:30 group.  I fought to keep ahead of them.  I saw the 3:30 leader come up right next to me.  I knew I had to keep ahead of him to get that elusive sub-3:30 time.  He passed me in the final 1k.  

My final time was a 3:30:29.  I couldn’t help thinking if the course had mile marker instead of kilometers, that I would have come in under 3:30.  It was much like New Mexico.  I ran aggressively, and paid the price at the end, really suffering in the last 6 miles, and really slowing down.  I ran another personal record, but still came up well short of my goal.  With this time in books, I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t be able to qualify at the next race I had lined up, in Harrisburg, PA, a month an a half later, so I was seriously considering doing the fast, downhill Tucson Marathon in December.  

Toronto Waterfront Recovery/Harrisburg Transition

My recovery from the Tortonto Waterfront Marathon went a lot smoother then New Mexico.  Because I had done the distance recently, the 2nd marathon was less of a shock to my system.  The best evidence of this was 8 days after Toronto, I put in a good tempo run of 6 miles in  40:36.  I was encouraged by this and sought to achieve my goal of 16 miles in 1:56 a few days later.  This would have been a 7:15 pace, the same pace needed for a 3:10 marathon.  I came up well short in a 2:04, a 7:48 pace.  

The following weekend I had greater success in achieving my goals.  I did Yasso 800’s – 800m repeat, with 400m jogging rest.  The idea with these, if you haven’t heard from Runner’s World, is you do 10 of these and the average time in minutes and seconds will tell you what you can run a marathon in hour and minutes.  Naturally my goal was to hit them in a 3:10.  I felt that this was possible since I was hitting 6:20’s in my mile repeats.  I ran my first half conservatively, but kept them all under a 3:10.  I was very strong in my last two, hitting them in 2:55, and 2:56.  I averaged a 3:02.7.  Does this mean I can run a 3:02 Marathon?  I wish…I also heard that you may need to add 5 minutes for it to work.  3:07 would work for just fine for me too…

The week after that I ran in DC Road Runner’s predict-your-time 5 mile race.  I wanted to be aggressive here, so I put down 29:59 for my time, hoping that I could hit the amitious time.  I probably could have played it safe, but since I had been running faster then I’ve ever run before, I thought I was being reasonable.  I ran a 32:48…about what I would have predicted if I weren’t being aggressive…oh well.  

Harrisburg Marathon – November 9th

I really looked forward to this race, since it was the closest to home.  The drive was only a couple hours, and it sure beat driving to Toronto!  I also had more time to do a full taper leading up to it.  WIth this added rest, I again wanted to be ambitious.  I considered only for a second trying to pace myself for a 3:20, knowing that if I did, I would certainly come under it.  Instead, I decided to go for the BQ pace.  Either I’d hit it then, and Tucson would be nothing but a celebratory run (or a chance to push for a sub 3:00!), or I’d at least come close, and really set myself up for Tucson.  

I found the pace surpisingly easy early on.  My first mile was a 7:00 even.  This was a good sign, but I knew that I’d have to fight hard throughout this race to keep it up.  6:42 was my next mile.  My new record for fastest mile in a marathon…and this wasn’t downhill either!  It was certainly time to slow it down.  I settled into a grove, running just over the 7 min/mile pace.  Thriteen miles in, I came in at 1:34:07, a 3:09:30 pace.  Things were looking good, and it was feeling surprisingly easy.  After not being able to do my 16 mile run a few weeks prior in under 2 hours, I came in at 1:56:57, on pace for a 3:11:15.  I knew I was close, and told myself “I’m 10 miles away from Boston”.  

I tried to keep pace as we entered a park, which contained the only significant uphill of the course.  I was a little off the pace here (7:58, 8:10, 7:49), but I wasn’t completely out of it.  I knew I had to pick things up for a Boston qualifier, otherwise I was at least looking at a sub 3:20 performance.  Twenty miles in I was still holding a 3:14:22 pace.  I knew that this was when I started to drop off in previous races, so I just focused on a fellow race.  We kept battling.  He would start to pull away, and then I’d catch up to him.  We’d take turns differntly, but always end up side to side.  He slipped past me at a rest stop, and I couldn’t catch up to him.  That’s when a man in a tutu passed me.  Yeah, that was kind of weird.  I’d expect that in the back of the pack, but don’t expect someone to come flying past me in under a 3:20 pace, 21 miles into the race.  

Twenty Three miles in I was still on pace for a sub 3:20, in fact a 3:17:41.  I was determined not to have the same kind of fade I’ve had in previous races, but I had absolutely nothing left in the tank.  I kept moving, and kept telling myself to go faster, but my legs were not responding.  At this point I knew I was toast.  I ran some awful finals miles: 9:04, 9:52, 11:07, 11:13, and 2:01 in the last .2.  I had again faded at the end.  My final time was 3:27:48.  After being in 3:10 range for so long, I felt distraught that I had lost 10 mins of my time in the final 4 miles.  Once again, I ran my fastest time ever, but still felt disappointed.  

So, that’s everything, up until my last race.  More on how things have gone since then, and my preparations for Tucson are coming up.  Tucson is next week!  It’s mostly a downhill course, so I’m hoping I can finally get that 3:10!

Last weekend was the big weekend – my first marathon of the year, my first step towards a Boston Qualifier, and a true test of my current training program.  

I arrived on Friday in Albuquerque at 12:30AM, eight hours later then expected, due to bad weather at the Dallas Airport, and the ensuing flight cancellations.  I woke up the next morning at 5:30AM, with my jetlagged body thinking it was 7:30AM.  So I didn’t get a lot of sleep then, nor did I the night before the race because of the 3:45AM start.  

Talking to other runners, many of them were curtailing expectations for the race because of the high elevation (went up to 6100 ft), the hill at the beginning, the possibility of heat, and the early start.  I kept my expectations the same, shooting for a 3:30, even though my best time was a 3:54::59, and I had to deal with all those factors I just mentioned, and far less then an ideal amount of sleep.  I didn’t think the eleveation was high enough to be a factor, the downhill section would be steep and long enough to make up for the uphill, and I just kept reminding myself that my legs had not felt better before a race ever.  I was completly healthy, and wasn’t about to make any excuses, I just wanted to go out and run the race I knew I was capable of.

The race was to start at 5:30AM, so I took the earlier shuttle out there, and started my warm up and drills.  It’s the first time that I’ve actually done a warm up before a marathon.  I was hoping that this would help me run faster in my first 1-3 miles, rather then spending those warming up.  

The race started in the dark, on the far right lane of a desert highway.  There weren’t any pace groups, and people weren’t necessarily lining up in order of likely finish, since there were only 260 runners, so few that the starting position really didn’t make much of a difference.  With no sense of how fast I was going, I came through my first mile in 9:30.  This was slow, as I was hoping to keep an 8:15 going up the initial hill.  I started to hear the voice of common sense – it’s high altitude, it’s uphill, it’s the first mile of the race.  Then I told myself, “no, I’m not running that race”.  I’m going to run that 3:30, not settle for another 4 hour race.   I picked up the pace, but still had little sense of how much.  I didn’t see a mile marker #2, so I checked my watch after that, 7:30 pace for #2&3.  I had overcompensated.  I tried to slow it down, and settle into a good pace, but then I came in at a 9:22.  I didn’t feel like the early hills were all that steep or were taking a lot out of me, but I do think they were a big part of why my initial pace was so erratic.  

I started talking to runners, trying to figure out what kind of pace they intended to run.  I kept getting the same answer “oh, I’m just trying to finish”.  That made want to run faster…I wasn’t just looking to finish Today, I was looking to run a 3:30, and I wanted to be running with people that wanted to do the same.  I started to get into a groove as I was passing people, running an an 8:14 pace for miles 5 & 6.  That’s when I caught up to one runner in particular, who I also asked about expectations.  He gave me the usual answer, but also asked me if I was planning to run a 3:30.  Finally, I had a clue about where I was in the pack of runners.  

I kept pace with this runner, who I would come to know as Sergio, for a few miles.  We talked about his home town of Albuquerque, his 5 year running hiatus, how I lost 20 pounds, and the running stuff marathon veterans usually converse about while pounding the pavement.  The conversation put me at ease, and as we came to the end of the uphill section, the sun was rising, and we began the 8 mile descent, one of the main reasons for doing this race.  

I quickly made up ground.   I pulled away from Sergio, wanting to let gravity pull me forward.  I ran spectacularly fast miles, including a 6:47 10th mile, my fastest by far in a marathon.  This put me at just over a 3:30 pace.  By halfway, after more fast, downhilll miles, I pulled into a 3:26 pace.  I would be ecstatic if I could run that.  

Sergio caught up to me at a rest stop, and we started a patern.  I’d slow down at a rest stop, take a gel, he’d pass me, then I’d catch up to him, pass him, then slow down at a rest stop.  This was a great dynamic throughout the race, and really motivated both of us.

I kept it steady throughout the flat third quarter of the race, running sub 8 minute miles.  By mile 18 I noticed a slight slowdown to an 8:06, but would have been fine if I could sustain it.  I planned to take my fifth and final gel shot at 20 miles, forgo the remaning rest stops, and pick up the pace.  I ended up taking the gel at 19, since there was a rest stop there, and I didn’t know if I’d have one at 20.  There would be one at 20, and I tried to see if neglecting stopping there would be enough to increase my pace.  It wasn’t.  With 6.2 miles to go, I knew I just had to run faster and ignore the rest stops.  This had worked well for me in the past.  I came in the next mile at a 7:50, keeping me at a 3:28:05 pace.  At this point I knew a 3:30 was in my grasp, and that I’d shatter my PR no matter what happened.  I still wanted that sub-3:30.  

That’s when it all started to fall apart.  That 7:50 maybe was a little too fast, perhaps I overesitmated what I had left.  The next mile was an 8:30.  Fine, just keep it there, still could come in under 3:30.  The race was starting to take its toll, especially on my left groin, which had been hurting since mile 8.  I was starting to fade.  

9:08  If I could just keep it strong the last 3.2 miles…I’d have a sub 3:30…

9:32  People were passing me, a rarity in the late stages of a race.  I tried to fight back, tried to catch up, but it was hopeless…

10:36  We had long ago started passing the slower bunch of half marathoners.  At this point I had trouble keeping pace with some of them.  

I ran the final 1.2 in a 9:19 pace, sprinting, as always, to the finish.   

I felt like crap when it was all over.  I couldn’t walk, sit, eat, drink, go up or down a curb.  Really the worst I’ve felt since doing my first marathon.  It was great.  I ran a 3:35:41, beating my previous best time by nearly 20 minutes.  I place 2nd in my age group, and took home a beautiful prize (which fortunately survivied the flight home):

Well, my first marathon of the season (of 3, maybe 4) is coming up this weekend.  I’m doing the New Mexico Marathon on Sunday.  With multiple marathons on my schedule the idea is to get race ready by racing.  The most specific way to train for a marathon, simply put, is to run one.  So with that said, I by no means intend to Boston Qualify in this race.  I hope it will prepare me for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September and Harrisburg Marathon in November, which is the race I intend to peak for.

Originally I had thought about running a 7:15 pace for a long as I could hang on for, then just hanging on to finish.  I think that’s a little risky, certainly at this point in my training.  Instead, I’m hoping to keep a solid 8 minute pace, staying with the 3:30 pace group for at least the first 20 miles, then do an assesment.  I’ll see how I’m feeling.  If I’m feeling well, I’ll make a move, charge ahead of the group, and run the remainder of the race solo.  Otherwise I’ll try to hang on with the 3:30 group until the end.  In either case, I should shatter my previous marathon PR (3:54:59).  I think if I can do this, it will be a big confidence boost, and will validate how I’m training.

I’m happy with how my training has gone lately,  particularly in the past couple of weeks, where I’ve put in a 1:29:36 12 miler (7:27 pace), a 30:18 4.5 mile race on trail (6:44), a good set of 8 800m repeats w/ 400m rest (all at or under 3:15), and a memorable run on the Appalachian Trail where I somehow was able to run the second half of my run, which was uphill, faster then the first downhill half.  The only question mark is if I’ve put in enough miles.  Because I’ve been doing my long runs on the Appalachian Trail, including some very hilly rocky sections, and doing my runs based on time, not distance, my longest long run has been only 15 miles.  This run took me three and a half hours.  That’s just how much the conditions of the trail slow me down.  I’m hoping that the length of time and the mental toughness forged on the trail will be a good trade-off over mileage.  This race will be the test.

I feel like I’ve gotten more fit in the past couple weeks, but the heat and humidity of a Northern Virginia summer have kept me from posting times that reflect that.  This morning it was 71 degrees, overcast and rainy – I couldn’t ask for better conditions in the summer.

There were a ton of runners out there Today… maybe because of the gloomy-but great weather, or maybe it’s just that time of year where more runners start popping up on trails, training for fall races.  I saw a few runners go by while I was warming up, probably from the Ashburn Running club, and wondered if I’d be able to catch up with them during my run.  Motivated by this, the good weather, and the need to prove to myself that I was faster then the times I had been running this summer, I ran a quick first 1.5 miles, all of it under a 7 minute pace.  During my runs in the normal summer heat, I’d struggle to get out to a good start.  Satieted by this start, and feeling good, I then decided I’d slow it down a little bit.  I knew I had 12 miles to run Today, and I knew my body wouldn’t be quite used to the faster pace.  I also figured it may start to warm up later.  I got into a good rhythm running about a 7:30-7:40 pace (really should start keep track of mile splits…).  I started passing runners left and right.  I even caught up with one runner who I saw with a pair of Newtons.  Unfortunately I caught him at the end of his run, so I didn’t get to ask him how he liked them

As I approached halfway through my run, I wondered how long I’d be able to sustain this pace.  It certainly felt like the runs I was doing last spring, which were some of my best training runs of my life, but again, I wasn’t sure how my body would respond to the faster pace, after running a snail’s pace all summer long.    I tried to keep it together as I turned around, and tried to hold a good pace until 3 miles to go, where I’d pick up the pace.  When I got to that point, my left groin, a troublesome spot for me the past couple years, started to feel strained.  Since my hamstring injury came on a run like this, and when my groin was bothering me, I backed off the pace.  I think I very reasonable could have run a negative split, or at least a sub-1:30 time if I picked it up even a little bit in the last 3 miles, but prudence over valor, as they say, and I still ended up with a respectable 1:30:49, a 7:34 pace.

To put things in perspective, in my half marathon last Spring, I came in at 1:38:20, a 7:30 pace.  I’m usually a lot faster in races, so the fact that I’m even close to running that is a good sign, even if injury kept me from training much leading up to the race.  My goal this week was to run a 1:33, and two week later run a 1:31 at 12 miles, but I’ve already done that.  If there’s good weather two weeks from now, may be able to press for sub 1:30.  In any case, I’m well on my way toward my next goals, 14 in 1:45 (7:30 pace), 16 in 1:56 (7:15).  My hope is that if I can sustan a 7:15 pace through a 16 mile training run, I’ll be able to hold it for a full marathan if I come into it well rested.

Good weather helped me run a good time Today, hopefully that means even better times come Fall, when a day like this is the norm.

Quick post this time…

I found a couple of scientific articles that support the barefoot running paradigm:

http://www.coachr.org/barefoot_running.htm

http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm

http://www.damienhowellpt.com/pdf/barefoot5.pdf

First link’s a little dry, have to warn you.  The other two are more accessible.  None of the studies are conclusive, and none of them examine a great amount of subjects in a controlled enviroment for a long term period of study.  Perhaps that’s next, if it is at all feasible.  Nevertheless, the info does support a lot of what is beleived anecdotally: Running w/ shoes interfers with proprioception, can increase risk of injury, in particular ankle sprains, and is less efficient then barefoot running.

So with that established…does barefoot running necessarily mean landing on the ball of the foot?  Is a ball of the foot landing any better then heel-to-toe?  In particular, is there a difference for longer distances?  Does a shod ball-of-the-foot landing have similar benefits to running barefoot?  These kind of questions plague my tiny little brain…more on that later, but alas, time for some sleep, as I have a 10k race coming up on Saturday.

There are a number of ideas of how to prevent injuries – running on trails, weight training, doing long runs slowly, or even incorporating walking breaks (Jeff Galloway’s perspective).   Another perspective is good bio mechanics.  There’s a growing trend of running techniques out there: Chi Running, Pose Running, and Evolution Running, all of which have one thing in common: landing on your forefoot/midfoot (aka “ball of the foot”), rather then the heel.

I touched upon running this way when I discussed barefoot running and the Vibram FiveFingers.  In either case, the tendency is to land on the ball of the foot, and this enables the “lower-leg spring” to be activated greater.  This is the combination of the plantar fascii, achilles tendon, and the calf muscle, which function together to absorb energy upon impact and release it as you take the next step.  While this initially causes some soreness while adapting to the new stress in that region, it’s quite clear that it’s better suited for handling the shock forces than the knees and hips, which take more abuse in a heel landing.  I think the animation from Newton Running illustrates it best.

After developing my “lower-leg spring” w/ my Vibram FiveFingers, I started to incorporate a forefoot/midfoot strike with my current pair of running shoes.  It has not been a seamless transition.  I tend to run faster at the beginning of my runs, and slower at then end then I would w/ my normal heel strike.  I think this is because the technique does allow me to run faster, but I don’t yet have the necessary muscular endurance in the muscle groups that are greater used.  I end up deriving more power from the glutes, for instance.   This is potentially a good thing, as the glutes are the biggest muscles in the human body, so I would think it would have more potential for power then pushing w/ the quads.

A strange aspect about the transition is that I’m finding it difficult to accelerate while running on the balls of my feet.  When I ran track events in high school on track spikes, I’d run on the balls of my feet, so I’m used to running fast that way.  I’m also used to shifting to the balls of my feet when sprinting to the finish of races and training runs.  Running fast seemed to come natural in this manner, but accelerating while having run the rest of my run on the balls of my feet seems to be more difficult for some reason.  Perhaps, again, this is because I’ve yet to sufficiently develop the necessary localized muscular endurance.  Time will tell if I’m able reap the benefits.

Another post I’ve been meaning to do for a while…

Before the start of this year, I decided to dedicate it to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. This is a daunting goal, as my age group would require me to run a 3:10 marathon. My marathon best was a 3:54::59. I did think I had the potential to reach a 3:10 marathon, however, since I’ve run well at shorter distances, with a PR of 1:10::53 for 10 miles (7:04 pace), faster then the 7:15 pace I’d have to run to qualify. I’ve also looked at race performance calculators and they all predict me running at or close to a 3:10 marathon when I’m capable of running at that PR pace for 10 miles.

After running the JFK 50 miler last November, I knew that I would a) need some time off from running before I could put in a good season, and b) really need to concentrate on speed to get back to my old 1:10 form. Because of the need for rest after the 50 and it being winter, which inevitably means losing some quality training time (say, if the track’s covered in snow and ice…I’ll still run out there, but of course I won’t be able to run as fast), I knew that I wouldn’t be able to put together a qualifying marathon in the Spring. I instead decided to shoot for a qualifying marathon in the Fall, but build for it in the Spring by getting back to 1:10 form, and then running a half marathon, to see where I was at. I would then take a little bit of time off/light 2-3 weeks, but stay in reasonably good shape, and go right into training for the Fall marathon season.

That was my goal, and I sought to achieve it with a modified version of the program I’d use for my BQ attempt. I’ll post that on here soon, but in short, it meant alternating alternating weekends of back-to-back long runs with track work, and having a rest week once every 5 weeks. One of the back-to-back longs runs was a “long tempo run”, and the other was a long run on trail, where I only timed myself, and didn’t worry about pace. I also lifted weights, after I hadn’t been able to with a previous hand injury. I progressed from machine weights to dumbbells to power lifting & plyometrics.

During this training, I incurred two injuries: a relatively minor one (that didn’t keep me from running, but did slow me down) in the left calf region, and a more serious one in the left hamstring, which forced me to curtail my mileage & drop out of the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. The calf injury was definitely caused by weight lifting. I simply did too much weight too soon w/ calf raises. When I was younger, it never seemed to be a problem, I could add & add weight, and if I could lift it, it wouldn’t hurt me. I guess it’s a sign of getting older – I’m a geezerly old 24

The hamstring injury also could be attributed to weight training, but it’s more complex. Two days after significantly increasing the weight for squats & deadlifts, I did a long tempo run of 10 miles. These runs had been going spectacularly well, with my last 10 mile run coming in at a 1:13::36, and I was consistently improving every 2 weeks. I was foolishly ambitious with this run, and wanted to see if it was possible to break my old racing PR in a training run. I felt some soreness in the glute & hamstring, but nothing usual, just the normal recovery from some hard lifting. I kept pushing throughout the run, and knew that I was coming close to breaking that PR, but in the final miles I knew I wouldn’t reach it. I came in at a 1:11::48. The next day I ran on the Appalachian Trail for 2 hours, 45 mins. I was still pretty sore, so I went particularly easy. A week later, while running on the track, I experienced some hamstring & glute trouble at high speeds, so I went slower. It got worse from there, and I reduced my mileage, speed, and I stopped weight training for my legs. I dropped out of the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, but was able to put enough running in to do the Frederick Half in 1:38::20

In spite of these two injuries, and running the half marathon in a 1:38::20, when I hoping more for a 1:30 (which many race predictors would indicate is where I’d have to be to run a 3:10 marathon) I still consider my Spring 08 season a success. I proved to myself that I could get back to running 10 miles in nearly a 7 min/mile pace. After a couple of years of ultra running, I wasn’t sure I could get back to that speed. While a 1:30 would have given me more confidence, I still feel like I gave myself plenty to build upon for the Fall.

Lessons learned after the break.

Lesson 1: Record weight training workouts

of course, one of the most important aspects about training is injury prevention. During the Spring 08 season, I twice injured myself, largely because of weight training. I still continue to believe that weight training is actually a very good way to prevent injury, but I think it must be monitored closely. I record every run I do, with some significant detail. Going forth, I’m going to do the same with weights. I’m hoping this will keep me honest, keep me from going up too quickly or just doing too much in general. I’ve already started this week, recording reps, weight, and intensity.

Lesson 2: Long Tempo Runs

The Spring 08 season was my first attempt at my new training program, which featured long tempo runs. I incorporated these because I had success with long, fast runs in the past. The problem was when I’d run 23 miles or more at a somewhat fast pace, I’d often injure myself. The common adage about long runs is to just put the miles in, and don’t be too concerned about pace. I knew that if I wanted to get faster over a long distance, I had to have runs that were fast & long. So I decided I’d do runs of 6-16 miles at tempo speed, but only attempting each long tempo run after running the same distance in prior runs enough to be comfortable with it.

I found the long tempo runs paid great dividends, and built my confidence for races. When I did a 12k race at Burke Lake, it was easy for me to think about it as just a little faster then my long tempo runs. During the Frederick Half, I really felt like I was used to a sustained effort.

The long tempo runs may have played a role in my hamstring injury. I still think the root here was lifting, but maybe if I went a little easier when I was feeling sore it would have prevented the injury from really manifesting. I think I’ll perform these at a lower intensity in the future.

Lesson 3: Monitor Body Weight, composition

I was always a skinny twig growing up, so I never really kept track of my weight. Last Fall I was training for an ultra, doing 60-70 miles a week, so I ate a lot. I have a naturally fast metabolism, and with my training load, I wasn’t concerned with watching my weight. This was also after fracturing a bone in my hand, which kept me away from the gym. Even with 54 mile weekends, I packed on a few pounds. My metabolism has slowed down due to age (again, I’m 24…I should get a senior discount at Denny’s) and because I didn’t have as much muscle.

They say that you improve by 2 seconds a mile for every pound you lose. I don’t know if it’s exactly that, but I certainly did feel it began to get easier as I worked down to my normal weight. I ate smaller portions, and I typically didn’t drink anything but water. As I got back into weight lifting & built more muscle, my body composition was far more favorable. I had lost my weight was rolling right along. I know, it’s not a big “lesson” there, but I’m not your typical American with a weight problem, or someone who’s only working out to “keep my weight down” or anything like that. It was a new thing for me to deal with (again, I’m getting old…AARP membership ads should be coming in my mail next week).

So there you have it, a wrap up/lessons learned for Spring 2008. I’m keeping these in mind this Summer, as I get ready for the Fall marathon season.

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but I wanted to put a few miles in the Vibram FiveFingers over a period of time and give myself a chance to get used to them before giving them a full review. I’ve also neglected my blog the past month because I’ve been busy with work and had been out of town a couple weekends (congratulations to a certain doctor on her graduation and new apartment!). But alas, here we go:

I felt the biggest difference the first few times I ran in the Vibram FiveFingers KSO (Keep Stuff Out). It was quite a stimulating experience. I felt the ground better then I thought I would (not quite the same as being barefoot, but much closer then I expected). I was naturally inclined to run on the balls of my feet, rather than the heel strike I’ve come accustomed to in my running shoes. This was a great sensation. I felt like I was running on a couple of springs, rather then in shoes. My feet muscles, Achilles tendon, and calf muscles worked together to act as this spring. Of course, the days after my initial runs left these groups sore, like they got a good work out. It also left them stimulated, like I’d learn a new way of doing something.

These initial runs were short, slow, and run on a grassy, mildly hilly course. Typically just 1 mile was enough early on for my feet & calves to feel like they got a good workout. I also didn’t want to chance a foot injury from trying to do too much too soon. I noticed a big difference on hills – powering up them on the balls of my feet is good running form, and something that I’ve worked on, so it came very natural to me. Going downhill felt unnatural. I was more tempted to use my heel here, not necessarily to initially land on them, but to land on the ball of the foot, then slide down onto the heel.

After a couple of weeks on the grassy course, I decided I’d try a mile in them on the W & OD (paved) bike trail. I definitely felt the pavement more, which is one of the advantages of the FiveFingers – you’re more capable of sensing what punishment you’re submitting your feet & legs to. And punishment indeed it was. I wanted to try running more quickly in them, and I couldn’t avoid the temptation of the speed that naturally came with the springiness, so I went at a quick, but not all-out pace and in my offseason form, ran a 6:57. The speed and the hard surface combined to be a much greater shock to my lower legs then any of the runs before, and left my calves & Achilles sore for about a week. That’s a lesson about adjusting to these – start slow, short, and soft, then gradually proceed to longer, faster runs on harder surfaces.

A lot of the sensation and the benefits that come from the FiveFingers could be achieved by running barefoot. You’d get better feedback from your feet, but the trade off is you’d have to develop tougher skin. In the FiveFingers, you don’t need to do this because they act as a tough layer for your feet. Not only do you adapt faster, but you don’t have to worry about the risk of puncturing the skin of your feet with anything sharp.

So that was about the FiveFinger experience, but as for the “shoes” themselves, they’re of an intentionally simple, minimalist design. A thin rubber layer sole joins the cloth layer that goes over your feet with the stitching and adhesive found in most conventional shoes. The opening in the cloth to stick your feet in is elastic, ensuring a tight fit there to “Keep Stuff Out”. This is a good feature for trail runners hoping to keep debris out of their shoes (in other words don’t buy the “Sprint” model if you want to run on gravel). The shoe stays on the foot via a single velcro strap. The rubber sole is grooved, to allow for greater traction – a good feature for trail running, or some of the other intended uses of the shoe, such as water sports or rock climbing. Last but not least, I’m sure you’re aware of the most prominent feature – the individual compartments for each toe.

The minimalist design does warrant some durability concerns. I can’t see the velcro strap maintaining it’s stickiness after miles of mud, dirt, grime, grass, etc. I could also see the cloth loosing it’s binding to the rubber after contending with sharp objects on the trail. Nothing has happened to suggest that either really would happen, just some concerns. FiveFingers are a pretty recent innovation, so there is kind of a risk involved in using a pair long-term.

In conclusion, I’d recommend these shoes to anyone trying to improve their running form, particularly those learning pose running or Chi Running, which both teach forms that emphasize a barefoot-like stride and landing on the balls of the feet. They’re also a good way to transition from shod running to barefoot running. I think it’s also good for runners needing excellent proprioception, like in trail running, where you need to know where your feet are landing before making the next step, or parqour where learning a soft landing is invaluable. If you have any foot injuries, FiveFingers could help or hurt. Take it really slowly, and see if the development of your feet muscles helps your injury.

I’ve long thought that running barefoot could be quite beneficial. I used to regularly do strides on grass, and noticed my feet getting stronger. I’ve been doing some reading on barefoot running lately, and it’s commonly believed by barefoot runners that running barefoot may have the following benefits:

• Better proprioception – you know where your feet are relative to the ground
• Landing softer – you learn to land more softly, thus having to absorb less impact
• Midfoot strike – you have a natural tendency to strike with the midfoot, rather then the heel, which is commonly believed to be more efficient. Almost all elite runners run in this manner.
• Better efficiency – you’re more able to convert the energy from the shock of landing from one step into forward motion for the next
• Stronger feet muscles
• Injury prevention

Of course, the last point is key, and has a lot to do with the others – with better proprioception, by landing softer w/ a midfoot strike, and by having stronger feet muscles, you’ll be much less likely incur maladies such as plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, and impact-related injuries. This is of course assuming that you have built up to running barefoot gradually.

So, in summary, running shoes are believed to make you run in a far less natural manner. Because running barefoot is more natural, it’s how our bodies were “meant to” work, so it’s more likely to work well. There are, however, obstacles and drawbacks to running barefoot, in particular, sharp objects on the ground. Any runner can tell you getting a cut on your foot is a very bad thing.

With all this in mind, I thought it would be cool to have a minimal shoe – really more like a “foot glove”, a small layer of rubber on the outside, just enough to protect the feet, but not any real structural support like conventional shoes. Later that week I was reading up on the Bull Run Run, a race I did couple years back (my first 50!), and I came across this article for a test run of the Vibram Five Fingers. This is exactly what I was thinking of! I did a little more research, and was just so intrigued by the product that I decided to go out to Winchester (one of three places in Virginia that sells them) to buy a pair.

Now that my race is over, and I’m in my two-week offseason, I’ve been experimenting with this shoes. It’s quite a unique experience. I’ll post more on that later. In the meantime, here’s some links about barefoot running, the debate between barefoot and shod running, and the Vibram Five Fingers:

http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html

http://barefootted.com/

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/barefooting/barefoot_running.cfm

http://runningbarefoot.org/

Other bloggers’ experiences and debate:

http://www.keith-in-training.blogspot.com/2008/03/vibram-fivefingers-ksos-part-i.html

http://bryanontherun.blogspot.com/2008/04/sorry-keith-counterpoint-on-barefoot.html