You Could Get Those Cheaper Online, but. . .

With just a little search engine magic, one can often find amazing deals on running shoes. When budgets are tight that is a great way to shop. I will often go ahead to my local running store even though it means my bill will be a little higher, there are a variety of reasons I'll do that.

I can't give a list as to why you should support your local running store, but I have a great list of reasons that I will support my local running store.

Before I go into it I need to say that Trax Running does not pay me, sponsor me, or otherwise attempt to persuade me to say nice things about them, I just like to say nice things about them.

1. My local running store is staffed by runners and triathletes, people who have tried various shoes and watched others try various shoes and have well informed opinions on shoes and other running gear. I have been there more for free advice and tips than I have been there to buy things.

2. Supporting my local running store helps support their community efforts, Trax hosts a variety of free running clubs, 0 to 5K training, bike rides, elementary school running clubs, and so on. I'm happy to think that buying a hydration belt there instead of on the web helps support these efforts.

3. I can try things on before I buy them.

4. The people at Trax will watch you run, look at the wear on your shoes, ask questions about what you need in a shoe before they sell you a pair of shoes to make sure they give you the right shoes instead of the ones you think you want.

5. They know when all the running events are, support the local running events, and even put together my city's first marathon.

And finally, when I shop online, I feel like a customer, when I shop locally I feel like a part of the running community.

Outrunning Zombies

Artwork by Nathan Hendricksen

While watching season two of "The Walking Dead" the other day I had a thought. (Yes, season two, I'm a year behind.) I am sure that other runners have thought of this as well.

Zombies in TWD are a bit faster than the classic Romero zombies that are near and dear to my heart, but still if Shane with a busted ankle and Otis (God rest his soul) can stay ahead of the zombie horde as long as they did, surely an easy 8:30 mile pace would keep me well in front of them.

So, season two episode one instead of hiding under a car, I think I'd have said, "OK, you guys trap yourselves under there, I'll get my long run in."

"Hey walkers! Follow me!"

Knock out a couple of miles at an easy pace, find a side road, loop around, add in some speed work to get them off the trail, head back to the group.

I could have saved Sophia.

Lazy Week

This week has been "lazy week" for me.

I've done some light workouts with kettlebells and body weight, but no running. It has been really hard to discipline myself, I really like to run. Especially since my wife is getting ready to go out for a run on this beautiful morning. I am very tempted to go with her.

The thing is, I've been running injured since February. So I need time to heal and recuperate. I've not allowed myself the time I needed to get better. I had certain goals I was set on meeting, so I kept pushing. As a result I stayed injured and never really got the chance to train as hard as I would have if I were healthy. This may be why I fell short on my goals.

So now, I must learn from my own mistake and heal.

Lazy week it is.

Barefoot Running: Is it really better?

The results are in!

Studies have been conducted, performances have been examined, runners and coaches and podiatrists have been surveyed.

Even the studies are being studied.

It turns out that barefoot running is:

more injurious than shod,
less inurious than shod,
more efficient than shod,
less efficient than shod,
bad for your feet,
good for your feet.

It all depends on which study you pick.

So I would like to remind anyone who is reading this of a couple of things.

When you see an article that starts with something like, "Studies show that there is no one best way to run, with even elite long-distance runners showing a variety of styles - but wearing lightweight shoes is better than none," you should go past the headline, and read the article. If it is a news article you should then find the studies that were cited, when you read the study, it is a good idea to think critically about their methodology and see if there are possible flaws in the study, it is also a good idea to see if other studies support that study or refute it. 

Short version: Headlines have one purpose, to get you to read the article. The headlines will take a scientific article and turn it into an advertisement. This goes for barefoot running, and any other hot topic as well.

The other thing I would like to remind people of is this.

If what you are doing is working for you, keep doing it. If you are a barefoot runner and it works for you don't switch to a shoe with exactly 10mm of cushioning because some study said it was 1.9 percent more efficient. If you are running injury free in a cushioned shoe, you don't have to go barefoot just because your barefoot running friend told you it cured his asthma. 

Go out and run, barefoot, nearly barefoot, or with whatever shoe works for you.

For me running nearly barefoot boils down to two simple things. When I started doing it, my running aches and pains stopped, and, very simply, I like the way it feels.

Starting From Scratch

In February of this year, I over trained while getting ready for the Fall Creek Falls trail race and wound up with a nasty case of plantar fasciitis. I had lots of running I wanted to do afterwards and a goal of my first sub 20 minute 5K, so unfortunately I kept running injured and therefore never fully healed. Interestingly, my right foot was worse off to start with, and it seems to be fully healed while the left foot is still sore. So I've decided that Saturday's race was my last for the season. It is time to heal.

I'm taking some time off from running, doing some foot strengthening, massaging out some tight muscles, massively reducing my mileage.

The problem is, with all this time I'll not be running, I need to do something to not lose my mind.

I'm sure I'll think of something.

They Tricked Me!!

What a rotten trick!

It was race day. I woke up earlier than planned, there was still no daylight coming in through the window, I rolled over, felt around to find my phone and flipped it open to provide a little light to see. I slid out from under the covers leaving my wife to sleep a little longer while I started a pot of steel cut oats with apples and cinnamon, and more importantly, a pot of coffee.

I put on my shorts, wiggled my toes into my Vibram Fivefingers running shoes, and slid into my bright yellow/green technical fabric running shirt, a color I thought had disappeared along with "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" before I started running nearly two years ago. Since it was a cold damp morning I added another layer to wear until race time, running pants and a rain jacket. My wife and daughter got up and got ready as well.

It was my day to run the 5K race at the 10K Classic in Bowling Green KY for the second time. This was my PR race last year, and I was running again with hopes not only to PR again, but to come in under 20:00 for the first time. My wife was running the 10K with hopes of running it at about a 10 minute per mile pace for a 62 minute finish time. My little girl was running the Children's Classic, at age four this would be her fourth race, but her first one that she got to wear a bib. We loaded up the car and headed into town singing along to "Little Liza Jane".

We arrived at the race, relaxed in the car for a bit, then headed to the starting line. I ran a short warmup, then got in line ready to run my heart out. The starting siren wailed, I ran. Down the street around the corner up the mile long first hill. I finished mile one only 9 seconds behind pace for a twenty minute 5K. Remembering the course from last year, I knew that mile one was the toughest mile of the course with a flat second mile and a third mile that had one short uphill and the race finishing with about a quarter mile down hill sprint to the finish line.

The 5K and 10K cover the same roads for the last mile or mile and a half so when I saw the mark on the road that said "5 miles" I "knew" I only had one mile to go.

What a rotten trick.

I turned left for that last little uphill, a young man, perhaps 9 or 10 years old passed me, I don't like being passed at the end of a race, but I knew that downhill sprint was coming and was confident I could catch him. I turned right for that quarter mile, downhill, all out, everything left in the tank sprint, and I gunned it, I passed the young man who had passed me, I charged toward the. . . finish line?

"Where is the finish line?" I thought. "There are some areas fenced off for construction, that is probably blocking my view." Onward I charged. "Where is the finish line? It's not here, they must have changed the course, it's probably just around that curve at the end of the road."

I blasted forward. Still no finish line. "Maybe we run all the way back to the start line," I thought as the young man passed me again. I was slowing down. The people off in the distance ahead of me were turning away from the start line.

"It must be around the corner there."
Nope.
A little slower now as I was exhausted from my premature sprint.
"Just around the curve?"
Nope.
"Up this hill?!?!"
"Where is the finish line!?!?!?!"
"Aaah, the Western Kentucky stadium entrance! We go in there, and charge onto the field."
I shifted gears again and charged through the entryway and saw that we had to go all the way down the football field, circle around, and back up the middle of the field. 170 yards never seemed so long. My gears were grinding to a halt.

I crossed the line one person grabbed the tag from my bib, a second handed me a water, a third looked at my face and asked, "Are you okay?" The look on his face told me the look on my face was far from looking OK.

I nodded that I was OK.

I finished in 21:11, 11th place overall, 2nd in my age group. I'd like to thank the really fast guys for running the 10K instead of the 5K.

(Moral of the story, make sure you look at the course map, even if it is a course you think you know. Also, make sure the mile markers aren't from last years course.)

My wife finished in 57:12. Five minutes faster than her goal. My daughter sprinted across the finish line with a smile on her face.

So I didn't reach my goal, I blame it on the early sprint, my wife exceeded hers, my whole family had a blast. They really make this race more than just a race, it is a celebration of fitness.

Today's race was a trick and a treat.

I'm A Little Fast, But That Doesn't Really Matter

I'm not fast fast, but I am a little fast. I don't have any illusions delusions about it, but according to this chart, my 20:30 PR does put me on the left edge of the chart over there. I'm aiming for <20:00 tomorrow, but I've been aiming for that for quite a while now.

Will I nail my goal tomorrow?

I don't know, and really, it doesn't matter.

My performance in that race tomorrow won't change the world, nor will it change my community, and it really won't change my life.

What has changed my life is the commitment to training that I have held preparing for this race. Getting up before sun rise and running, going out trail running with my wife, setting a good example for fitness and diet for my daughter and stepdaughter, and kung fu students, those are the things that will make a difference.

So tomorrow, at the Medical Center 10K classic I will run the 5K race, and I will finish in under 20 minutes.

Or I won't.

Regardless I am going to run my butt off.