Hill Yes

Great 6.8 mile run with my friend ME this morning. He is training for a fall marathon and was up for some hill training. We kept the pace well below 8:00/mile which felt good given that I have done a lot of long slow running lately. 6 months ago my PR for a 5K was 24:17, now I am comfortable holding 7:45 for almost 7 miles. The progress has been fun and has come mostly from just getting out and putting the miles in. Losing weight helped a lot with speed too.

I love the run depicted above cause you do all the work early and then have 2 miles of downhill running to get home. It doesn't look that daunting, but the small second hill is actually the killer on this run. It is a bit steeper and it comes after you thought that you were done with running uphill.

It was a perfect morning for a run, cool and clear. It was just one of those days that you just keep thinking, "what a great run"....

Can't wait to do this again.

Sunrise Sunrise

This morning was a great one for a run. I left the house with my headlamp and reflector vest on and came home with my sunglasses looking at a beautiful sunrise. I ran the dirt roads just across from my neighborhood which take me past new build subdivisions, barns (functional and falling down), working farms, and miles of fields. I saw only one deer, but the birds were out to provide a soundtrack to the run.

My knee felt a little better and my hip felt a little worse. I think I've been walking funny to compensate for a few days. It wasn't a fast run, but that wasn't the point. I feel great and I've got 6.3 more miles for the log.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out tomorrow morning and it will be as nice as today.

Vibram Fivefingers - Five Toes

I did something that I vowed not to do. I purchased a pair of Vibram Fivefinger "foot gloves". I wanted something to mix it up a bit. My left knee has been hurting a bit over the last week and I'm eager to try anything that seems to create evangelists the way that Fivefingers do. I went with the TrekSport model, size 43 for my size 10.5-11 feet.

I ran 3.2 miles in my toe shoes yesterday and then slipped back on my Nimbus 12s for another 6.1 miles. There were noticeable differences. The first was that I was SLOW in the Fivefingers, about 30 seconds per mile. The second was that from about halfway between my knee all the way to the ground my legs got a very different workout. That is the idea, I know, but everything from my achilles to my shins to my ankles felt very tired while running. My stride was shorter, my heel striking was limited, they performed as advertised.

Putting the Nimbus 12s back on felt like jumping onto a trampoline. It was very strange for about the first 1/2 mile. I noticed a difference in my stride that carried over from the Vibrams that must be okay. (I'm not ready to say that all things associated with Fivefingers are great). All in all it was a nice Sunday morning run.

I'm going to keep with the Fivefingers 2 times per week, 3 miles per shot. I'll see if I keep noticing anything. They are still crazy looking. I'll try to use them on my early AM runs!

Strange Season So Far...

Late February, I started running again. I had surprised myself last fall with a 24:17 5K PR and a respectable 2:02:49 half marathon, but until February hadn't really been running more than once or twice a week since last October.

Since February, I have been trying to keep my runs to a minimum of 60 minutes while maintaining a low heart rate. Listening to all 65 minutes of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" album has accompanied me through most of these runs. I wasn't really focused on anything else. I lost 20 lb in about 6 weeks. I noticed that I felt great on the soccer field (I still sucked at soccer, but I felt fast). The good results from building this base have continued...

I have had 3 PRs in the last 40 days.

1. Burns Park 5K - 00:20:35 (00:03:42 faster than previous PR, 2010 Ann Arbor Turkey Trot)




2. Bayshore Marathon 10K - 00:42:39 (00:09:33 faster than previous PR, 2005 Nike Run Hit Wonder)




3. Dexter Ann Arbor Half - 01:43:43 (00:19:06 faster than previous PR, 2010 Detroit Half Marathon)

For the first time in my life, I feel like I am running fast. I know that I'm not speedy by some people's standards, but it has been a lot of fun.

What is next? I don't know. I have signed up for three sprint tris, the TRex Series, so that should keep me busy for the near term. I also signed up for a 5k swim, the Swim to the Moon race in September.

I am a little worried that the races distract from the consistent 60 minute runs, which is probably the whole reason that I am running faster. I want to make sure I keep the focus on those long slow runs. Based on the McMillan race predictor, I should have run the half faster, so maybe working on endurance is the right thing to do. I could probably lose another 5 lbs too, I think 180 might be an ideal weight for my 6'3" frame. Based on recent results, I'd love to take down that 04:39:51 marathon PR from 2005 but a soon to be expanding family (November due date) might limit the free time. I'm okay with that, there will be more chances to run!