Workout #6 with VFFs... LongEST death-mill run!!!
Run attempt #6:
Location: 1-Mile to the Gym, then 5 miles on a treadmill!!!!!
Mileage: 6 Mile
Incline: Varied 0.0-5.6 incline
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: ~8:40min/mile
I think I've (almost) completely transitioned to the VFFs! 5 miles with decent sized hills and some speed work at the end... My vibrams are holding up well. I say almost because I've yet to run an actual marathon in my new kicks. We'll see how that goes. ... that was the run last night
As for the treadmill, I'm giving myself a freaking HIGH-five for 5 miles!!! That's HUGE for me. A few weeks ago I would kill myself to do 1 mile and count down each of the tenths of miles... ok, ok hundreths.
Treadmill Entertainment?
1) Killer hills to Flat: the range keeps me going and pushing through the miles!
2) What NOT to Wear-- seriously, who doesn't love that show? It's an hour and TLC is one of my favorite channels :) TV distracts!!!
3) PODCASTS??? I DL's a few tonight so tomorrow I'll test out the power of the podcast. I can only figure out how to DL on my mac through I-Tunes... DOES anybody else know a good site to get podcasts that work for apples??? Podbean did not seem to. :(
... What helps YOU get through your treadmill workouts??? I would love some ideas on how to speed the time up.
Happy Running!!!!!!!!!!
Stephanie
PS> I may be 3-glasses deep into champagne at this moment (yes, left over champagne from the New Moon board game night) so please excuse any typos!!!!
OOOH HUGE PS!!! I heard back from Vibrams on transitioning. I simply asked if they had a plan for transitioning into running with vibrams and this is what i got back today...
Hi Stephanie,
We always recommend starting as slowly as possible. There is a great website for transitioning runners called runbare.com/
You will probably find that running in FF will stimulate many more muscles in the feet and lower legs. Because of this, you need to ease into training by running 10-20% of our normal run at first and then building gradually fro there.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any further questions!
Cheers,
Georgia
Georgia Shaw
Marketing Associate, Vibram FiveFinger
Checking out the site and I'll be back for what I learned... I DO find it funny that VFFs require ANOTHER site to help transition. :P
Showing posts with label VFF Transition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VFF Transition. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Vibram 10-miler & Mud Feet
Workout #5 with VFFs... Long Run!
Run attempt #5: First Long Run- 10M
Location: Back part of the Flying Pig Marathon loop
Mileage: 10 Mile
Incline: Varied-- Large up and down hills
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: ~9min/mile
I completed my first longer run in my new vibrams. I waited until the next day for my "evaluation" of how the run went-- as should be done when transitioning into my new purple feet! As usual, I started off a little tight in my ankle and had to stop after about a mile to stretch it and run my ankle. After that, I stayed pretty loose. I feel confident in building up my mileage over the next 3 weeks, before my next marathon. Post-run thoughts? I'm surprised that my calves feel much more loose than before the run.
Run attempt #5: First Long Run- 10M
Location: Back part of the Flying Pig Marathon loop
Mileage: 10 Mile
Incline: Varied-- Large up and down hills
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: ~9min/mile
I completed my first longer run in my new vibrams. I waited until the next day for my "evaluation" of how the run went-- as should be done when transitioning into my new purple feet! As usual, I started off a little tight in my ankle and had to stop after about a mile to stretch it and run my ankle. After that, I stayed pretty loose. I feel confident in building up my mileage over the next 3 weeks, before my next marathon. Post-run thoughts? I'm surprised that my calves feel much more loose than before the run.
Mud Feet!!! aka. Embarrassing story #3 for the week!!!
Ok, I don't know how you'll feel about port-a-johns but I really don't mind them, esp if I'm on a run, need one and ta-daaaa there's magically one there! Like my own little poop-fairy godmother is watching out! Well Hyde Park seems to always have little construction sites going on, so there tend to be random port-a-johns all around. Not gonna lie-- when I find a port-a-john on a long run I get a similar feeling to discovering somebody has a completely open facebook profile. YAYAYA-- Kind of like that!
So I'm on my run around mile 7-- 3miles from home and I've taken a GU without water-- you can guess what that means. I remember that up the road, along my route, there is a little bit of road work going on and there is a port-a-john that never seems to be used, but always maintained at the end of the week (oh yes, I check the maintenance dates). I think "YESS!!!" But I still have about a mile. I slow down a little when I see a HERD of runners coming toward me. Ugggh! One of the local running stores always has a huge group and they all run on the same roads saturday mornings in my neighborhood. Oh great. Well I start picking up pace because 1) I wanna look good in front of these other runners and 2) I HAVE to get to this port-a-john.
When I make my way through the oncoming traffic running 2-3 abreast (ps. how annoying is that??) I hear about a dozen people say or yell "Vibrams" or "Barefoot running!!!!" at me, which gets the attention of the maybe 2 people who haven't noticed my feet. Well... at least they know what they are and aren't staring at me as I run by with a look that says "why are your feet purple and where are your shoes??" like most people do!
So, I make my way through, get down the road and FINALLY get to my port-a-john (maintained the day before). I do my thang and head out. Well instead of going the 5 feet straight ahead to the road then running, I decide to take a cut through the grass a little... or the dirt, as it appeared to be. Not so much!!! As I start to sink into a foot of mud I realize I've made a big mistake. I make my way over to the road as quickly as possible, wading through the mud. My vibrams are COVERED in thick heavy mud. Now the "purple feet" look isn't sounding so bad, as I look like some sort of Yetti with mud-covered feet! Ick.
I run my last 2 miles to gym, going through the grass as much as possible to try and get the mud off. I can feel the mud going into the vibrams and it's gross. Once I'm at the gym, I gun it up the stairs to the locker room showers to get the mud off my feet and legs. I'm definitely happy I didn't have real shoes because they would have been very heavy and probably ruined. Oh well... at least I really got to test out the VFFs! They cleaned off well, dried easily and don't appear to have shrunken.
Took the day off today for a little recovery!!!
Ohhh and follow up to my photo-friday post? We had a little New Moon pre-gaming action last night, playing "New Moon" the board games (yes, there is a board game) and drinking champagne out of my new moon cup-- I knowwww what you're thinking... "wow this is one classy chick!" Orrrr probably more likely-- "wow, this girl needs a better Sat night life!" No worries, we went out after the game. :)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Photo Friday... my weekend drinks!!! & Vibram w/o #4
I took only 2 pictures during last weekends "activities" (I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what said activities are) and they were both pictures of drinks that I felt were good discussion points for my running blog-- esp leading up to another fun-filled (although non-marathon) weekend -- seriously, how can a weekend be fun if you're not running a marathon? pshhhh...
Drink #1) PoMeGrAnAtE MaRgArItA! Discussion Point 1: The amount of time I spend running in life, is directly proportional to the speed at which I start to get drunk!
2) Also, this isn't an "empty stomach-haven't eaten in hours- so the drink hits me fast" type of situation. I had, in fact, eaten about an hour before this. So I am, in fact, pathetic!
3) Is there anything better than a Pom martini/margarita?? Actually, just yesterday Shut up and Run made a post about the uhhhhh health benefits of Pom juice. hmmmm
*Yes, that's a sugar ring at the top... yummmm*
Drink #2) NEW MOON CUP--- does it really matter whats in the cup?? No- I don't think so!
Discussion Point 2: No, I'm not too old to make a fool of myelf over a teen movie... cup.
1) First and foremost-- Team Edward!!! If you're on Team Jacob we can have a lengthy discussion on why you're incorrect :0P Which team are YOU on?? Do you dare tell me???
2) I did, in fact, scream at the popcorn girl who was filling my coke cup up with a normal coke cup that I "NEED THE NEW MOON CUP!!!" much to Kyle's embarrassment. Do I care? Of course not, I have a really cool cup now!!!
3) I most CERTAINLY kept the cup (It's a hard plastic take home cup) and it was displayed on my living room table, until Kyle put it in the kitchen... I don't think he approves of my obsession/he thought the cup should be cleaned. whateverrrrr
4) What books/movies should you be ashamed of having an obsession over, but don't??
5) I'm determined to find a free audio copy of the twilight series to listen to in my marathons!!! I can't think of something I would rather do more with my running time than listen to this stuff!! If you happen to know where I can find a copy, I'm all ears!!!! Slash I will love you foreverrrrrrr...
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Workout Numero 4 with the Vibrams...Run attempt #4: 6 Mile Tempo
Location: 2 outdoors, 4 Treadmill
Mileage: 6 Mile
Incline: Slight uphill to the gym 1 mile, 4 mile "random" setting on the mill-o-death, and 1 mile downhill home
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 8:00-8:20 min/mile
Bob was kind enough to send me this link on transitioning to barefoot running. I've been reading up and it sound like you slowly increase your miles then you'll hit a point where your legs say "ok, that's enough" and you're very sore right after or the next day-- primarily in your lower legs. Well folks, my magic point is 6-miles. No biggie though, this is expected and this site actually has different programs to make your transition...
The idea is to test your legs out little by little. I chose the "Average" foot stregth program...
*Sample program provided from the Run Natural Blog.*
My mileage/evaluation period just about doubled this program, but they currently don't have an "advanced foot strength" program. So their day 6 is my mile 6-- I definitely have a little achilles and calf tightening post-run last night and today. So today I'll take an easy day to loosten up then resume my increase on Saturday. According to their site "it only gets easier..." after 4 miles, hopefully that works for my mile 6!
Foot Evaluation: (how are the feet holding up) My feet are taking to the vibrams in a few ways....
1) I'm starting to get an arch in my foot. I wish I had my camera yesterday. It was raining on my way to the gym and when I got inside I saw my footprint for the first time... and there is an arch!!!! Even with the vibrams on.
2) My calves are getting bigger... apparently that is possible!!! I'm so not going to fit into any of my high boots anymore. Ugh...
3) The pads of my feet are gettig a bit torn up... starting to peel and get callased over. Kind of gross, but at least they're accepting the vibrams.
4) I got my first "sore" (blisters/cutes/etc) from the vibrams. I was running in the rain, then came inside and ran. I got a little bit of a nick on the inside of my left foot. May be from how I had the vibrams tightned using the chord in the back.
Vibram Evaluation: (how are the vibrams holding up) I've notived a few things...
1) I have my first small hole (mind you I've been wearing these things everywhere and doing every kind of workout in them... including spinning!). I thought spinning (being up in the saddle esp) would help the pad of my foot get stronger in the vibrams. At some point I must have caused a tear getting out of the bike. oops. Hopefully it stays small
2) Running in big puddles in vibrams had its pros and cons. Pro: They don't hold water like sneakers, weighing me down. Con: It's like running in water shoes-- they tend to rub a little when wet.
3) My toes get cold :( I'm going to look into getting their more covering forms of vibrams-- the classics are very open. Also, looking into getting the Injinji socks!
... so far so good!
Going to try for a 10 miler tomorrow. This will push and test both my ankle and my vibrams! If I can make it through this run then I'll feel much more confident about 1) Running Myrtle Beach in a few weeks at all and 2) Running in my vibrams.
If the vibrams bother me, I'm gong back to shoes for these next two marathons, and the rest of the training on the way. If my ankle hurts, I'm going to see a sports ankle specialist next week. Wish me luck!!!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Garlic-Parmesan Turkey Burger (Yumm) and IR
It's no secret-- I loveeeeee me some red meat. I often gross people out when I stress to the waiter that my burger be "as RARE as you can possibly make it!" In fact... my favorite post-marathon meal is a cheeseburger and fries! Terrible, right? Besides the obvious fat, cholesterol and calories, my new obsession "Born to Run" (really, they should be paying me for all this PR), has found me more reasoning to stray from my red meat habits...
The author is discussing a "traditional western diet" as being full of animal proteins, especially red meat...
"when cancerous tumors are removed by surgery, they are 300 percent more likely to grow back in patients with 'Traditional western diets' ..." ...."Why? Because stray cells left behind after surgery seem to be stimulated by animal proteins."
Ok, now I tried the vegetarian thing, and that just isn't possible, but I do think its possible to find substitutes for red meat without giving up taste!!! I've been making these garlic-parm turkey burgers and they are SOOO good, even a rare-burger-eater will enjoy!
Ground Turkey (Any fat %, but I prefer a very lean turkey-- you really can't tell a difference)
1 Egg
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
~1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I get reduced fat)
~1/4 cup chopped onions
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
Pinch Basil and oregano
salt/pepper to taste
optional: 1/4 cup chopped celery
Easy Steps:
1) Combine all ingredients-- I suggest mixing with your hands-- don't ask why, but I feel it adds taste haha!
2) If the mix is too mushy add more bread crumbs
3) Form Patties--- Turkey burgers need more time to cook through, so I wouldn't make these overly thick!
4) Cook on a stove or grill
There should already be enough cheese in the recipe, but if you want a cheese-turkey burger, I suggest using shredded mozzarella.
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IR: Went to the Dr. today. She says it looks ok to try and ramp up the mileage and "see how it feels"... so basically I'll be doing my own diagnosis. She also told me that the area that hurts (I can target it a little better now) is the deltoid ligament ....
From the "Sports Injury Clinic":
The deltoid ligament is on the inside of the ankle and provides support to prevent the ankle over pronating. (Pssshhhh Apparently not!) It is rare for the deltoid ligament to be sprained (HA!) as the fibula bone tends to prevent the ankle from moving far enough to sprain or over stretch the ligament (BAD fibula, bad!!). A deltoid ligament sprain is often associated with a fracture of the fibula or other bones in the ankle.
Well apparently I'm defying all physical odds, since I didn't fracture a bone (acc to the Dr. and the fact that I can run on it- knock on wood).
That's it for today-- took a day off from working out today! I exercised my shopping muscles instead... and boyyyy were they in need of a good workout!
Happy Running!
The author is discussing a "traditional western diet" as being full of animal proteins, especially red meat...
"when cancerous tumors are removed by surgery, they are 300 percent more likely to grow back in patients with 'Traditional western diets' ..." ...."Why? Because stray cells left behind after surgery seem to be stimulated by animal proteins."
Ok, now I tried the vegetarian thing, and that just isn't possible, but I do think its possible to find substitutes for red meat without giving up taste!!! I've been making these garlic-parm turkey burgers and they are SOOO good, even a rare-burger-eater will enjoy!
Ground Turkey (Any fat %, but I prefer a very lean turkey-- you really can't tell a difference)
1 Egg
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
~1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I get reduced fat)
~1/4 cup chopped onions
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
Pinch Basil and oregano
salt/pepper to taste
optional: 1/4 cup chopped celery
Easy Steps:
1) Combine all ingredients-- I suggest mixing with your hands-- don't ask why, but I feel it adds taste haha!
2) If the mix is too mushy add more bread crumbs
3) Form Patties--- Turkey burgers need more time to cook through, so I wouldn't make these overly thick!
4) Cook on a stove or grill
There should already be enough cheese in the recipe, but if you want a cheese-turkey burger, I suggest using shredded mozzarella.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IR: Went to the Dr. today. She says it looks ok to try and ramp up the mileage and "see how it feels"... so basically I'll be doing my own diagnosis. She also told me that the area that hurts (I can target it a little better now) is the deltoid ligament ....
From the "Sports Injury Clinic":
The deltoid ligament is on the inside of the ankle and provides support to prevent the ankle over pronating. (Pssshhhh Apparently not!) It is rare for the deltoid ligament to be sprained (HA!) as the fibula bone tends to prevent the ankle from moving far enough to sprain or over stretch the ligament (BAD fibula, bad!!). A deltoid ligament sprain is often associated with a fracture of the fibula or other bones in the ankle.
Well apparently I'm defying all physical odds, since I didn't fracture a bone (acc to the Dr. and the fact that I can run on it- knock on wood).
That's it for today-- took a day off from working out today! I exercised my shopping muscles instead... and boyyyy were they in need of a good workout!
Happy Running!
RE-Learning to Run... Day #3
Day three in recovery mode and with my new Vibram 5 Fingers
Run attempt #3: 4 Easy
Location: Treadmill (kill me now)
Mileage: 4 Mile
Incline: Cross Country Road (aka holy hills!)
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 9:20 avg min/mile
Report: If you missed yesterdays post, I opted for the device of torture instead of the road so I wouldn't look like some sort of purple-footed hitch hiking freak if I had to stop and walk. I psyched myself up, convinced myself that the treadmill is just like the road and I could be safe and warm inside! This is going to be just great, really....
Mile 1: Ok, not so bad... it's nice to be warm inside, and we're on a flat ground. My ankle feels pretty good. I do my usual half mile, then stop to rub the tendon/ligament/w.e and most of the tightness goes away and I continue my merry little jaunt...
Mile 2-3: OMG! Have I mentioned that I HATE treadmills??? It was all fun and games until this stupid machine decides to incline at a level I never knew humans were capable of walking, let along running, at! Cross country my butt-- I ran cross country and I never thought I was scaling a building! The good news? My ankle isn't bothering me on the hills-- which combine both actions that usually give me pain: kicking back in my stride and walking up stairs.
Mile 4: Please oh please let it be over soon... Legs, just hold out a little longer-- I promise it will be over soon and I won't do this to you again. You've done nothing to deserve this!!!! Usually when the hill starts decending, it drops by about half the incline-- but not in the last mile!!! They give you a surprise and only drop it by like half a degree, just to feel that extra burn! Gee what fun.
Post Run: Thank god that's over! Ankle survived pretty well and I made it thorugh my first full treadmill workout. That is the longest I've ever run on the torture chamber and I'm glad to be done. My ankle? Not too bad... again, I noticed if I lost form and pronated (as much as you can in VFFs) it would get very tight. Other than that it seems ok... Going to see the Dr. this morning.
Vibrams: I'm definitely getting used to them. I'm currently trying to contact Vibram to hear what they have for a suggested weekly milage & long runs to get acclimated with the shoe. I've read a lot about people's ventures into vibrams... they all seem to get really sore at first from the VFFs. Either my legs are so used to the torture I put them through with marathons, or I haven't gone a far enough distance to feel them yet. I do know (depending on what the Dr. says) I need to decide this week if I'm going to be ready to use the VFFs in 2.5 weeks for my next marathon. If I'm not I need to get back into shoes. One of the most agreed upon suggestions is NOT to switch between shoes and your VFFs regularly. But this is looking days ahead, today the focus is what the Dr. says.
No embarrassing vibram moments to report today!!!!
Give-a-ways:
Road ID- here
Pink Dots Custom Creations here
Run attempt #3: 4 Easy
Location: Treadmill (kill me now)
Mileage: 4 Mile
Incline: Cross Country Road (aka holy hills!)
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 9:20 avg min/mile
Report: If you missed yesterdays post, I opted for the device of torture instead of the road so I wouldn't look like some sort of purple-footed hitch hiking freak if I had to stop and walk. I psyched myself up, convinced myself that the treadmill is just like the road and I could be safe and warm inside! This is going to be just great, really....
Mile 1: Ok, not so bad... it's nice to be warm inside, and we're on a flat ground. My ankle feels pretty good. I do my usual half mile, then stop to rub the tendon/ligament/w.e and most of the tightness goes away and I continue my merry little jaunt...
Mile 2-3: OMG! Have I mentioned that I HATE treadmills??? It was all fun and games until this stupid machine decides to incline at a level I never knew humans were capable of walking, let along running, at! Cross country my butt-- I ran cross country and I never thought I was scaling a building! The good news? My ankle isn't bothering me on the hills-- which combine both actions that usually give me pain: kicking back in my stride and walking up stairs.
Mile 4: Please oh please let it be over soon... Legs, just hold out a little longer-- I promise it will be over soon and I won't do this to you again. You've done nothing to deserve this!!!! Usually when the hill starts decending, it drops by about half the incline-- but not in the last mile!!! They give you a surprise and only drop it by like half a degree, just to feel that extra burn! Gee what fun.
Post Run: Thank god that's over! Ankle survived pretty well and I made it thorugh my first full treadmill workout. That is the longest I've ever run on the torture chamber and I'm glad to be done. My ankle? Not too bad... again, I noticed if I lost form and pronated (as much as you can in VFFs) it would get very tight. Other than that it seems ok... Going to see the Dr. this morning.
Vibrams: I'm definitely getting used to them. I'm currently trying to contact Vibram to hear what they have for a suggested weekly milage & long runs to get acclimated with the shoe. I've read a lot about people's ventures into vibrams... they all seem to get really sore at first from the VFFs. Either my legs are so used to the torture I put them through with marathons, or I haven't gone a far enough distance to feel them yet. I do know (depending on what the Dr. says) I need to decide this week if I'm going to be ready to use the VFFs in 2.5 weeks for my next marathon. If I'm not I need to get back into shoes. One of the most agreed upon suggestions is NOT to switch between shoes and your VFFs regularly. But this is looking days ahead, today the focus is what the Dr. says.
No embarrassing vibram moments to report today!!!!
Give-a-ways:
Road ID- here
Pink Dots Custom Creations here
Monday, January 18, 2010
I DON'T have purple feet!!!! (RE-Learning to Run... Day #2)
Day two in recovery mode and with my new Vibram 5 Fingers
Run attempt #2: 3 Easy
Location: Road
Mileage: 3 Mile
Incline: Varry
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 9:00 avg min/mile
Report: I decided to test my ankle/tendon/injured thing out on the road today. I found and easy mile that circles my apartment so if anything happened I wasn't too far.
Mile 1: I started with an easy pace, getting my ankle warmed up. The loop is flat, followed by a long graded downhill, then a long graded uphill back home. Half way through my ankle got a little tight on the long downhill, so I stopped for 10 seconds to rub it a little. After that it started to warm up.
Mile 2-3: I was still feeling good going into my second loop, so I extended the loop a bit, which gave my ankle a good test... the BIG hill near my apartment! Still felt a little tight, but not painful. By the end of the run, after getting more and more warmed up, I wasn't even that tight.
Post Run: After the run I stretched a bit and I could feel my ankle was a little sore, but nothing too bad. The funny thing is, when I press on the tedon/bone area it still hurts as much as it did early last week, but when I use the ankle (running/walking/etc) it doesn't hurt like it did. Not sure what that means, but hopefully the Dr. will tell me its ok and give me the go ahead on running Myrtle Beach in 3 weeks. :)
Vibrams: This was my second running attempt in my vibrams, my first time outside and they felt great. I've always wanted to run on the front of my feet with good running form, but -- let's face it!-- when we get tired our form is the first thing that goes, and we fall back on my heels. Well, the vibrams give you no choice. Try running in your bare feet... you'll notice it's very awkward if you do land on your heel-- much more natural to fall on the front of your foot with very even footing (no overpronation). I also found running on uneven surfaces (the right edge of the road), my shoes tended to wear out on the inside of my right foot... so when I run on flat surfaces, my shoe forces me to overpronate as well. The vibrams don't wear that way, and allow you to run naturally on the uneven surfaces.
Vibram embarrassing moment #2: I know people make comments about my vibrams (or what they usually think are "socks")-- in the gym, at work, walking around the grocery store... but I thought when I ran, nobody could notice!! Wrong... they noticed! I had a few people stare at my feet in stopped cars at a red light. Then I was running by a woman who was getting her groceries out of her car and she came to a dead stop when I was about 10 feet away, followed me with her eyes on my feet, until I was out of sight.
Sigh... I know it must look like I'm running in either socks or my feet are purple, but seriously, when did staring become ok??? I need a shirt that says "No, these are not socks. Yes, these are shoes, No my feet are not purple." I feel that will help answer most questions people are wondering.
Icing, a movie, then off to bed to get my foot elevated!!! Woohoo.
Run attempt #2: 3 Easy
Location: Road
Mileage: 3 Mile
Incline: Varry
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 9:00 avg min/mile
Report: I decided to test my ankle/tendon/injured thing out on the road today. I found and easy mile that circles my apartment so if anything happened I wasn't too far.
Mile 1: I started with an easy pace, getting my ankle warmed up. The loop is flat, followed by a long graded downhill, then a long graded uphill back home. Half way through my ankle got a little tight on the long downhill, so I stopped for 10 seconds to rub it a little. After that it started to warm up.
Mile 2-3: I was still feeling good going into my second loop, so I extended the loop a bit, which gave my ankle a good test... the BIG hill near my apartment! Still felt a little tight, but not painful. By the end of the run, after getting more and more warmed up, I wasn't even that tight.
Post Run: After the run I stretched a bit and I could feel my ankle was a little sore, but nothing too bad. The funny thing is, when I press on the tedon/bone area it still hurts as much as it did early last week, but when I use the ankle (running/walking/etc) it doesn't hurt like it did. Not sure what that means, but hopefully the Dr. will tell me its ok and give me the go ahead on running Myrtle Beach in 3 weeks. :)
Vibrams: This was my second running attempt in my vibrams, my first time outside and they felt great. I've always wanted to run on the front of my feet with good running form, but -- let's face it!-- when we get tired our form is the first thing that goes, and we fall back on my heels. Well, the vibrams give you no choice. Try running in your bare feet... you'll notice it's very awkward if you do land on your heel-- much more natural to fall on the front of your foot with very even footing (no overpronation). I also found running on uneven surfaces (the right edge of the road), my shoes tended to wear out on the inside of my right foot... so when I run on flat surfaces, my shoe forces me to overpronate as well. The vibrams don't wear that way, and allow you to run naturally on the uneven surfaces.
Vibram embarrassing moment #2: I know people make comments about my vibrams (or what they usually think are "socks")-- in the gym, at work, walking around the grocery store... but I thought when I ran, nobody could notice!! Wrong... they noticed! I had a few people stare at my feet in stopped cars at a red light. Then I was running by a woman who was getting her groceries out of her car and she came to a dead stop when I was about 10 feet away, followed me with her eyes on my feet, until I was out of sight.
Sigh... I know it must look like I'm running in either socks or my feet are purple, but seriously, when did staring become ok??? I need a shirt that says "No, these are not socks. Yes, these are shoes, No my feet are not purple." I feel that will help answer most questions people are wondering.
Icing, a movie, then off to bed to get my foot elevated!!! Woohoo.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
RE-Learning to Run... Day #1
In my Injury Report (IR) I mentioned that I was taking a week off and trying to mend my pulled tendon-ligament-heel bone area. We aren't exactly sure what is causing the pain, but at first I was feeling a "ripping" sensation every time I kicked back in my stride. Well I've been testing it out and it feels much closer to a tightening sensation. After I warmed up with a 45 Min spin class today, I decided to test it out on the... (dun dun dunnnn) Dreadmill! ugh!
Run attempt #1: 1 Mile Slow Treadmill
Mileage: 1 Mile
Incline: 0-2 grade
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 9:30 avg min/mile
Report: I started with a 10 min/mile and felt pretty good so I conducted test #1, increasing my pace to around 8:20 min/mile. I felt a little tightening. I think this is because, the faster I go, the more I lose my form and start to overpronate. I had to OVER-overpronate during the marathon, because it made my knee feel better-- that's how I ended up hurting my ankle! So as long as I run with a forced arch in my foot- landing correctly it feels great. If I let my foot roll in, my ankle hurts.
So then I decided to conduct test #2-- incline! I increased it up to incline level 2-- not a huge amount, but enough to make me really push off with my foot. Not bad!!! A little tightening, but nothing that was going to pull.
Vibrams: My first attempt with vibrams was on the treadmill. I had planned on running with my sneakers, but after a week of walking around and exercising with the Vibrams, the shoes just felt SO heavy. Also, when I started running in the sneakers, I couldn't change my form and it felt very uncomfortable. The vibrams have already started giving me an arch and my shoes have been worn enough to be flattened on the inside, causing my foot to further pronate.
I like the vibrams so far. It felt very natural to run in them and they allow me to run in a comfortable position. Also, they have these little tab like things on the back. Immediately I thought... "oooh blistersss!!" However, I have a scab on the back of my ankle from the chip holder in one of the races last week. If the vibrams were going to cause a blister/cut they certainly would have annoyed the scab-- I looked after I was finished and the scab was fine!!
Overall, I would say Run Attempt #1 was pretty successful... but I have a ways to go. I'm going to try to do 2 tomorrow and if that feels good and my doc gives the OK, I'll try and run 4 on tues.
Run attempt #1: 1 Mile Slow Treadmill
Mileage: 1 Mile
Incline: 0-2 grade
Shoe: Vibram 5-finger classics
Pace: 9:30 avg min/mile
Report: I started with a 10 min/mile and felt pretty good so I conducted test #1, increasing my pace to around 8:20 min/mile. I felt a little tightening. I think this is because, the faster I go, the more I lose my form and start to overpronate. I had to OVER-overpronate during the marathon, because it made my knee feel better-- that's how I ended up hurting my ankle! So as long as I run with a forced arch in my foot- landing correctly it feels great. If I let my foot roll in, my ankle hurts.
So then I decided to conduct test #2-- incline! I increased it up to incline level 2-- not a huge amount, but enough to make me really push off with my foot. Not bad!!! A little tightening, but nothing that was going to pull.
Vibrams: My first attempt with vibrams was on the treadmill. I had planned on running with my sneakers, but after a week of walking around and exercising with the Vibrams, the shoes just felt SO heavy. Also, when I started running in the sneakers, I couldn't change my form and it felt very uncomfortable. The vibrams have already started giving me an arch and my shoes have been worn enough to be flattened on the inside, causing my foot to further pronate.
Overall, I would say Run Attempt #1 was pretty successful... but I have a ways to go. I'm going to try to do 2 tomorrow and if that feels good and my doc gives the OK, I'll try and run 4 on tues.
Friday, January 15, 2010
I may or may not be emotionally cheating...
So yesterday a local radio was talking about different forms of cheating-- one thing they said was that women actually find it worse to emotionally cheat than actually cheat. After a little bit of debate, it was decided that emotional meant-- having feelings for, being in love with, devloping a strong relationship with, etc somebody other than your signif other. Well...
I'm in LOVE I'm in LOVE and I don't care who knows it!!!!
Meet my new love, or should I say loves (that's right, I'm an multi emotional cheater)...
I'm in LOVE I'm in LOVE and I don't care who knows it!!!!
Meet my new love, or should I say loves (that's right, I'm an multi emotional cheater)...
(my right foot isn't weird-- its my compression sock!)
I'm the proud new owner of Vibram Five Fingers!!! After reading the book "Born to Run " (seriously, read this book!) I had to try these out! Also, with my ankle/heel/tendon/w.e hurting I wanted something that forces stability in the small muscles/tendons of my feet. These are awesome!
The only down side to these: EVERYBODY keeps asking me what are on my feet and calling them socks... they're NOT socks!!!! Ugh!!! I tried to run to the grocery store quickly last night and had so many people stop me.
I've yet to run in them, with my ankle hurt, but walking around in them feels really good. I can already feel it building my arch back up (I have flat feet). Also, the guy at the store said they're kind of hard to get on the first couple times, until your toes get used to it-- but my toes slipped right into them the first day!!!
More to come when I can FINALLY run and let you know how they hold up!
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IR: So far, I'm feeling a LITTLE better. I tried pushing off and it feels more like a tightness rather than a ripping! That's good. I'm still resting from my normal running :( Which means I've been doing every non-high-impact class my gym has to offer...
Zumba: The first class I tried. My grandma actually told me that I should try this cause she goes all the time. One thing I learned... GRANDMA is NO LONGER going to these classes!!!!! I will not have my grandma doing "booty rolls" or "dropping it like its hot!!!" Just not acceptable. Do you hear me grandma???
Urban Warrior: I'm a member at Urban Active and this is a high rep, low weight class. Its a scorcher, but fun!
I'm going to "Triple Fit" tomorrow morning and I'll let you'll know how that goes. I can also do a little elipticizing (sp???) and cardio lifting. Woohoo... I'm going to be buff after a week!!!!
Thank you to everyone for your well-wishes and good luck!!!!! Keep it up and maybe I'll be back to running next week!!! *Fingers Crossed*
Happy Friday
-Stephanie
PS. Give-a-way lost and found:
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