Back on the Road
It’s been 12 weeks and 3 days since my amazing wee boy was born. 2 days before that was my last proper run. Sure, I got out for one run around a month ago, but it doesn’t count.
Now that Ross is becoming more settled, my belly is getting bigger and my sanity is crumbling away, i’ve decided it’s probably as good a time as any to get back on the road running.
The Last Three Months
People take time out from running all the time. It may be self imposed, it may be through injury or it may be because of a life event. Either way, i’m not the first and i won’t be the last person that comes back to running after time off.
For me, this has been my longest break from running for years. And because I don’t have an injury, I think that’s making me all the more eager to get back out there.
I haven’t sat on the couch the whole time though.
I’ve been making an effort to get out as often as possible. I take Ross walks up the trail I frequented (it gives me running pangs if there is such a thing) or just out round the corner and back at any opportunity. I got out for 1 run on the 12th of August with a friend. 5 miles. 10 minute miles but I felt really good during and after. I also started the 100pushups program through the Strength Challenge Facebook Group. I should note I’ve had to repeat a few weeks because of one thing or another. Furthest I’ve got is halfway through week five. I just demoted myself to week 4 again though – it seems it’s easier to get out running than find time for pushups!
Health Impact
I knew 3 months off would affect my health but I underestimated it a bit. I definitely feel unhealthy. And I feel slow. As an experiment, I used the Instant Heart Rate Android app to measure my heart rate (BMP) – once on my last run, then 3 times over the last 3 months.
As you can see I had a pretty healthy resting heart rate of 49 BPM on 4 July. Only 2 weeks later that jumped to 58 BPM (18 July). 2 months later I was really feeling it when i measured at 78 BPM (26 Sept). Today, my BPM has dipped to 72 (4 Oct). Hopefully that drop is down to an increase in walking activity in the last couple of weeks. I’m pretty shocked to see how much my resting BPM has increased. It’ll be interesting to see how it responds running again.
The Master Plan
First thing is first, I can’t rush back into running. For a start, I think my Achilles tendons have shrunk or at least they’ve lost their vavavoom. They might not forgive me for jumping into the Vivobarefoot Neo’s after so long.
Stage One
So, for just over a week I’ll be doing some Pose Drills, such as:
Not only will the drills help provide some strength and stability training, it’ll be a good refresher course in getting my technique right as soon as I start.
Stage Two
Let’s not set our expectations too high. Just a few miles on the first run then I’ll cap my runs at 4 miles for a few weeks after and no more than 3 runs per week. I reckon that’s all I’ll have time for to be honest. We’ll see though.
That’s It
Yup, that’s my master plan. Quite a departure from past days of methodically scheduling a training plan. No colour coded spreadsheets, no mileage projection graphs. Just past experience to guide me.
I know as long as I take it easy though, I’ll be just fine.
Lochaber Marathon – DNF
So there it is. My first ever Did Not Finish.
It’s now 2 weeks and 2 days since the Lochaber Marathon and while disappointed, I’ve moved on. And to be fair, my DNF could’ve been worse – from both points of view.
On the run up to the marathon I felt my training was going well. I had a few hiccups in terms of off weeks due to work and a niggle in my foot at one point but otherwise all was well. I ran a personal best (1:42:09) at the balloch to Clydebank half and I secured a 22 miler plus a number of other 17, 18, 19 milers wearing huaraches. It looked like the stage was set for achieving my goal of a sub 4hr marathon (secretly 3:55) wearing huaraches.
We left for Fort William at around 6am and arrived just after 9. What a beautiful drive up. It had been cloudy with some light drizzle in the morning but the sun was burning through the clouds and blue sky appeared at a rapid rate soon after our arrival.
I felt a little nervous as I collected my number and complimentary T-shirt but I was one of the first there so it didn’t take long. It was then back to the car for a little over an hour wait.
I refueled with some sports drink and a small piece malt loaf, which I’ve been doing with success for some time now.
10:35. I warmed up.
10:45. Safety briefing.
10:55. Everyone makes their way to the start line. I felt very alone for some reason.
11:02. The klaxon sounded and away we went.
I started a little fast. The target was 9 minute miles or under. I was just above 8 for the first couple of miles but soon settled into a slow but comfortable pace (8:50 possibly).
After the first town it was a beautiful route. Loch eil to the left on the outward leg. Supporters stopped at parking areas to cheer on runners and hand out jelly beans.
At around 6 miles I started to notice it was getting warm. A high of 21 degrees (c) apparently. Once again I was running a hot marathon. This was slightly annoying as the warmest I had trained in the last 4 months was at most 10 degrees (c).
Not to worry. Although I was feeling it, I passed the half way point in 1:56. Still felt strong though and had confidence – I kept looking at my pacing band that said ‘you can do it’ at the top.
My run time fueling had consisted of a SIS Go gel every half hour. In hindsight it may have been too frequent. At 2hrs 30 I took my 5th, which made me feel full. I didn’t feel I needed it to be honest but ‘stuck to the plan’.
It wasn’t long after I started to get a stitch. I tired to run with it but eventually had to slow to a walk, not far from the 19 mile mark , pressing my side to ease the discomfort.
It was either a mistake to stop or a blessing in disguise. I had a sudden realization that my feet were pretty sore. I had felt something a little earlier in the run, but thought I had stepped in a damp area at a water stop and maybe got a little stone stuck underfoot.
I stopped and took the huaraches off to get rid of the stone that wouldn’t shake. Nope, the ‘stone’ was a giant blister that had formed and the ‘water’ was it bursting. Made a right mess. That wasn’t the only one, however. My left foot was effectively the kitchen area at a blister party. The right wasn’t so bad but still painful.
It’s funny that I had been so focused I blocked out what was now a very obvious pain. At that point there was ‘only’ 7 miles to go. I decided to grin and bare it.
I ran (very slowly) for a few minutes then had to walk. Ran, well, shuffled for a few minutes then had to walk again.
After what seemed like an eternity I approached the 20 mile marker. 6 more miles to go I thought. You can do it, I said to myself as I hobbled along. Almost immediately after that thought I heard a man sitting in a first aid jeep ask if I was OK… I paused for a second… no. I’m not OK.
20 miles, 3hr 10min, DNF.
I got in the 4×4 and Jim, the nice volunteer, drove me back to the first aid tent. There, another nice fellow (can’t remember his name unfortunately) proceed to treat me as best he could – rinse my feet with sterile water – then tell me it was the worst case of blisters he’d ever seen.
So what went wrong?
I don’t know is the straight answer. I’ve tried to determine what differences there were between on the day and previous training runs and the only thing appears to be the weather. It was suggested that my feet may have been sweating too much?! I’m not sure.
I said at the start it could’ve been worse from two points. Firstly, I got to 20 miles before quiting. It could’ve been worse if it was 8 miles I guess. And secondly, I’m lucky it didn’t turn serious, i.e. my feet didn’t get infected, and have been healing well.
Either way though, I’m not dwelling on it.
Future marathons
There probably won’t be any. I won’t consider it for 3 or 4 years at least. I’ll never say never though. I can see myself doing long training runs, almost marathon distance but as for a marathon race itself, I just don’t seem to have much luck.
I’ll stick to half marathons, 10ks and… 5ks from now on I think. I don’t have a 5k PB yet so it might be fun getting fast for that.
Huaraches
I still like my huaraches but I’ll admit I’ve lost a bit of confidence in them. I couldn’t run in them just now anyway and not for a while yet either. When I do don them again though I’ll keep the runs short. 4 miles or so.
I still want to keep the minimal thing going but I just couldn’t go back to chunky Asics, so I indulged in a pair of Tera Planna Neo. First impressions are good! I really like them but I’ll leave the write up to a post of its own.
There we have it. My first DNF. I think I’ve been quite mature about. I think anyway.
Have you ever DNFd? What happened after, did it spur you on, deflate you or did you accept it?
They’ve Arrived!
I’ve had my eye on Terra Plana footwear for a while but now I’ve finally got my hands on a pair!
They’re a little more suitable than huaraches, which I’ve lost a little confidence in after the Lochaber DNF a few weeks ago (race report to follow, I promise!). I’ll still wear the huaraches, but only on short runs.
I wore the Neos into town earlier and first impressions are they’re very comfortable! I have really wide feet and these are the first shoes I’ve worn in a long time that feel really roomy, particularly in the toe box. That’s to be expected though I guess. Anyway, can’t wait to get out for a run in them!
The Truth Behind the Barefoot Craze
I saw this headline on the front cover of this months Runner’s World.
Seriously?!
Telling your readers about a shoe guide then insinuating Barefoot running is a “craze”?!
It’s chat like that on a front cover of a popular magazine which causes splits in communities. It’s tantamount to sectarianism in the running world and it’s not right.
Granted, once and if the reader can be bothered to flick to the article it kind of positively highlights the benefits of barefoot running (not without a hint of sarcasm here and there) but people seem to be completely missing the point about it all. Who gives a monkeys what you wear or don’t wear on your feet?! It’s the person that does the running.
Stop focusing on what you’re wearing. A £100 pair of shoes isn’t going to make run faster and taking to the roads barefoot isn’t going to reduce injury if you don’t have a basic understanding of running mechanics. It’s technique that determines how well you run or injury prone you are.
Before your next run, think about how you do it. Are you running as efficiently as you can be? Get a book about running form the library, Google it, do whatever you can to increase your knowledge about it. Please don’t rely on a shoe (or no shoes) to correct your mistakes. Be pro active. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll be a happier runner for it.
New Minimal Shoes – Gola Retrieve
When I say new, I’ve had these for around 4 weeks now. I’ve only worn them a few times in that period but overall I’m happy with them. They’re light (around 250 grams per shoe) and thin soled, which met all of the criteria on purchase.
The toe box is quite narrow and it doesn’t help that I have wide feet. Because of that, both of my little toes rubbed slightly. However, after a couple of runs the material stretched and that issue is pretty much now gone. Comfort wise, they’re surprisingly hard underfoot, which is contradictory to their flexibility. Can’t figure it out. Believe it or not, Barefoot running feels more comfortable.
Today I ran just under 9 miles in them; the longest I’ve run in any kind of minimal shoe. They felt great and I could imagine myself running half and even full marathon distance in these.
The Gola’s are a great shoe overall. I’ll use them for longer runs at the moment and for any midweek runs when it gets too cold for my bare feet in the huaraches, which are still my favourite piece of running gear!
Happy running all!!
Transition to the Darkside – A Change of Plan
Plans are there to be changed if required.
A couple of months ago I set a mileage plan for transitioning over to barefoot / minimal running. The plan was very prudent, building up mileage slowly. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to how quickly my body is adapting. As such I’ve been able to increase my miles a little more than first anticipated.
Below – the original plan on the left, new plan on the right:
In the original plan I should be doing 3 miles a week barefoot. At the moment, I can run 4 miles in one outing and I’m confident I can now run 2 barefoot workouts of 4 miles each for the next 2 weeks. After that I’ll move onto 3 workouts of 4 miles each per week. (I should note I’m still running with regular shoes on my other workouts too)
I think the hardest part for me (mentally anyway) will be increasing the single run mileage, e.g. from 4 to 6 miles. It’s a silly thing to think, I know. I think the fear is that if I do that little bit too much I’ll get hurt. But, as you’re probably shouting at the computer right now, it’s completely contradictory to my confidence at the start of the post. That said, even though I feel 4 is my safe limit at the moment, in a few weeks I’ll feel a whole lot different I’m sure. Well, it doesn’t hurt to still be a little cautious, eh?!
I don’t think my weekly mileage will increase above 24 – 26 miles for a while, next year at the earliest, so it’s safe to assume from the revised plan that I could potentially be fully barefoot / minimal by mid November, early December.
Have I gone from one extreme to the other and is my plan now too drastic? I hope not. As I said, my body has adapted a lot better than I previously thought. My feet and lower leg muscles are way stronger than they were back in June. And, something which I think is pretty key, my technique has improved considerably since it was analysed back at the end of July.
So, I’m another step closer to completing the transition and running has never felt better. Let’s hope the new plan works. If not, I’ll just change it again.
Barefoot on a Budget
Who knew that running with that barefoot feel could be so expensive. New minimal footwear like VFFs, EVO’s, Teva’s, Racing flats, etc, all can cost around £60 – £100 a pop! If I could, I’d run completely barefoot but we all know that’s not always practicle. So what are the options available to someone wanting to go ‘barefoot’ on a budget?
So far, I’ve tried 2 types of minimal footwear that won’t break the bank.
Minimal Experiment 1 – Aqua Shoes
I picked up a pair at my Local super market for £5.99. They’re not the prettiest but they ticked all the boxes for a low cost solution: Thin sole, zero drop (heel to toe), ample room in the toe box for the foot to spread on landing and no supprt.
As you’d imagine with this mass produced footwear, there’s no half sizes or custom fitting. They felt ok on but because the only thing holding them on is cord loop around the ankle, they did slosh around a bit.
The soles aren’t made for running either, obviously. They haven’t done as many miles as the 2nd type of shoe I tried but are already shoing signs of wear. Also, the sole isn’t puncture resistant so extra care should be taken to where you step!
Overall I think they’re ok as a spare minimal shoe. Something to keep in the car just incase you fancy a run. I may use them more during the winter though as you can wear socks with them and they’re slightly more water resistant than the next experiment…
Minimal Experiment 2 – Huaraches
Acouple of weeks ago I ordered a Huaraches kit from invisibleshoe.com and when they arrived, I fell in love with them.
At around $30 [£19] including (international) postage, they don”t break the bank. I opted for the Do It Yourself kit rather than have the folks at invisibleshoe.com make them. More fun I reckon. Plus, they have really easy to follow instructions on the website.
That was my Friday night sorted then, making Huaraches. The next morning I took them out for a test run. Wow! They felt great. Superb ground feedback, which is primerily due to the tough 4mm Vibram cherry sole included in the kit.
As the name suggest, you do almost forget you’re wearing them while running. On my first run, I hadn’t tied 
the laces on my right foot tight enough so I was aware of them slightly and some rubbing occured. But, I adjusted the laces and now they feel great or invisible as the case is.
I’ve clocked around 14 miles in them so far now including a wet run. I was a tad apprehensive about runnning in the wet with them – the fear being my foot would slip around. In reality, they’re held on well enough with the soft but very strong lacing and because light quick footwork is required for barefoot running, there’s no huge driving force in each step which might cause slippage.
I’m really stunned at how much i like these running shoes. What initially started as an experiment and a laugh for my wife (at my expense) has very quickly turned into my favourite shoe.
Go With What You Feel the Most Comfortable In
I haven’t completely transitioned over to “barefoot” for all of my runs yet – I’m about 30% barefoot at the moment – but I can see myself sticking to the Huaraches for a long time. We’ll see how it goes in the winter though, I may revert to the aquashoes. Either that or I’ll experiment with wearing thick socks with the Huaraches (I’d have to customise them for the teo string).
If you’re a barefooter and fancy dabbling in minimalist shoes, I’d highly recommend giving these shoes a shot. They’re great fun and feel great on.
Do you run ‘Barefoot’ on a budget? If so, what do you wear?
Running Technique – Under the Spotlight
- [starting with] Landing
- Weight bearing
- Later weight bearing
- Intended Pose
- Pose
- Entering flight phase
- Flight phase 2
- Landing again
DailyMile updates
- Paul posted a workout February 14, 2012
- Paul posted a workout February 13, 2012
- Paul posted a workout February 9, 2012
- Paul posted a workout February 7, 2012
- Paul posted a workout February 5, 2012
