Superbowl through Mardi Gras and Games Opening week of running!

[indigoiis]

I hear ya Rockinroll... I hate running and having cars come up. I live in a rural area and it's just a lot of headlights and no shoulders. I try to trail run whenever I can.

I did 5.4 today with DH on a trail/dirt road route with the beginnings of snow and wind, and two massive long hills (5% effing grade at mile 2.5 and mile 3.5 - basically a big saddle - out and back.) That was in place of a tempo run I was slated for.

It's good to run in the VFFs in snow - there may be snow in two weeks in Hyannis and i need to be prepared either way.

[Susan Otcenas]

Ended up with 11.6 miles this morning at just shy of 11 minute miles. That's slower than I usually do my long runs, though I wasn't really feeling particularly slow. My calves were/are still a little sore from snowshoeing, though.

[OakLeaf]

9 x 1 minute sprint intervals, then 9/10 mile barefoot.

I was still sore from Monday's long run and yesterday's yoga, so it was good mental practice. "Dig deep."


It's cool how even this little bit of barefooting is pulling everything together - the midfoot strike I learned in Chi Running, the foot strength I've started to build in yoga, the hip exercises and calf stretches the PT has me doing. I was really noticing on my long run on Monday how the outside of my left foot - which is often painful because there weren't any shoes wide enough for me - wasn't giving me any trouble. Like I'm really using the muscles of my feet even when I have shoes on, even when I'm running long, and my feet are getting functionally narrower. Woo-hoo!

[limewave]

Oakleaf--I'm not brave enough to try barefoot running yet. But glad you are liking it! I've started reading ChiRunning and am working on my form. I am enjoying it so far.

I did a :

1 mile warm-up
3 x 1600 @ 9:30m/mile
w/ 800m @ 10:30m/miles between
1 mile cool-down

I did it! Yay! I've never really done consistant speed work. This is new to me. I'm always so proud of myself when I can cross a work out off my calendar

[Grog]

This is a rest week for me.

I went for a 4 km jog this morning. I swear it's my heart that carried my legs, which would have gone nowhere on their own. I am mechanically fine from my long run, no pain no nothing, but my legs were SO HEAVY it was ridiculous.

I am planning to run longer tomorrow morning, maybe an hour if I can pull myself out of bed at 5 a.m. We'll see.

Then I have massage at night. I can tell already it's going to hurt: I haven't gone for years. Will report.

[hammertime]

6 miles....

felt good to get to the gym... haven't gone in a few days due to this crappy snow

[Jolt]

Despite how it may appear given my lack of posting, I have actually gotten a few runs in over the past week. More slowness and frustration, but I now think I have an explanation for why my running has been so rotten lately and why I've been feeling "blah" and not my usual hyper self. I had some labs drawn last week as part of the screening for a research study I was interested in participating in, and it appears I have some iron-deficiency anemia happening--hematocrit was 32, don't remember the other numbers off the top of my head but hemoglobin, MCV and MCHC were on the low side too. That explains a lot that I had been blaming, apparently incorrectly, on "winter blahs". A hematocrit of 32 isn't terrible, but I looked back at my last one that was done at a physical two years ago and it was 45 (and I seem to remember that I had tended to be on the higher end before that as well), so it's quite a bit lower than what seems to be my general baseline. The only reason I can think of is that my dietary iron intake must have been too low lately, since I haven't had any unusual bleeding or heavier menstrual flow than usual. So, time to take iron supplements for a while to replenish the stores and hopefully I'll be pretty much back to my crazy self within a few weeks.

[OakLeaf]

Oakleaf--I'm not brave enough to try barefoot running yet. But glad you are liking it! I've started reading ChiRunning and am working on my form. I am enjoying it so far.

I did a :

1 mile warm-up
3 x 1600 @ 9:30m/mile
w/ 800m @ 10:30m/miles between
1 mile cool-down

I did it! Yay! I've never really done consistant speed work. This is new to me. I'm always so proud of myself when I can cross a work out off my calendar

Yay lime! That looks like a tough workout. How did you feel afterward?

I've been working up the nerve to run barefoot for a long, long time. It was a combination of things that made me finally decide I was ready to try it. I've kept the orthotics in my shoes, and I definitely don't feel like I'm ready to go without them - barefoot, my feet can move freely; in shoes, with the limited range of motion, I feel like I still need correction.

Anyway, I'm not even up to a whole mile yet. And only on the beach! So far, the hardest thing about it has been last week when I took off my running shoes for a little barefooting, then didn't want to put my sandy feet back in them. I had to run across a busy road and walk the rest of the way home on my tender soles. Just a quarter of a mile - but Ow! Ow! Ow!


R&R - eeek! Be careful out there.

Jolt - hope the iron supplements work out for you. I kind of wonder whether I should try one now and then. I LOVE greens - probably eat greens four days a week - but so much of the nutritional content depends on the soil they're grown in.

[GLC1968]

I've been working up the nerve to run barefoot for a long, long time. It was a combination of things that made me finally decide I was ready to try it. I've kept the orthotics in my shoes, and I definitely don't feel like I'm ready to go without them - barefoot, my feet can move freely; in shoes, with the limited range of motion, I feel like I still need correction.

Oak - I was the same way, but two runs ago, I pulled my orthotics out of my running shoes (and replaced them with plain flat insoles from Walgreens since I'd long ago thrown out all my original insoles). As long as I pay attention to my form (mid-foot strike, light quick feet, good posture, relaxed below the knee, etc) then it's totally fine. I had highly corrective orthotics that I haven't run or hiked or played tennis without in 5 years. Two runs without them, and my feet feel 100% fine. The pain that prompted these things is no where to be seen! I don't know if it's from the barefooting or from the Chi Running efforts, but I'm thrilled!

And, the bonus? Without those things in my shoes - I have WAY more room for my toes! They can actually spread a little in my wide shoes - something they could not do with the orthotics in there.

Maybe try a half mile without them and see how you feel? It's so liberating!!

[limewave]

On tap for today:

5 miles easy with 3 acceleration strides (hopefully I don't slip on the ice!).