[79] Swimming++; Running--;

ORN:  Today, I ran 6.2 miles in 58'20".  There was a three-mile tempo run in there, which I did OK on.  My splits for the tempo bit were off-target but still good [for me] -- 8'54", 8'46", and 8'37" -- just not good enough for the FIRST plan.  Still, I ran negative splits in hills.  Go me.

 

Last night, I swam 46 laps in some new hella fast swim trunks.  My usual trunks are these long bloomers with big pockets, which are great around the pool and at the beach.  However, when I am swimming laps, they act like a sea anchor.  These new trunks are square-legged and about as modest as these things come.  It's not a banana hammock, nor are they like thigh-length biker shorts.  Still, solid black and with extra fabric in all the right places, they are excellent at obscuring my shameful parts.  Nevertheless, I feel like a total whale wearing them.  I think if there is a fire at the YMCA, and I am in the pool with them on, I will take my chances with fiery, boiling death rather than be seen outside.  ["Local man survives a fire at the YMCA, but scars dozens of children for life with his pasty beer belly and nonexistent boy-parts.  Film at 11."]  As it was, I wore my regular trunks over them to cover my mortification until the last possible moment.  After dropping Little One off at her final swim lesson of the summer, I moseyed over to the lap pool, stripped down to my black beauties, and slipped into the water as self-consciously as if I were painted magenta.

 

Wardrobe aside, my swimming is getting better; I am still far from a strong swimmer.  I can do one and a half or two lengths, free-style, before becoming so winded that I switch to breast stroke.  Yet that's an improvement.  If I could just learn to relax and breathe properly, then I would have a much easier time.  When I have my face down in the water, and I'm swimming, something in my mind screams that I am not getting enough oxygen and I freak.  One huge inhalation isn't enough.  I have to suck down two or three breaths per couple strokes or I'll just die, or so I think.  This is a mental problem more than a physical one, I think.  I'm going to have to figure it out.

 

On Saturday, I was supposed to do 20 miles, but I fell far short of the mark.  I was camping near Rough River at the North Fork campground, and that place is crap for hiking and running.  Rough River, I have decided, is a resort for boaters exclusively.  There are no serious trails, and the roads are dangerously narrow, without shoulders, unsafe for distance running.  So I ran around the campground four or five times.  This made for a fantastic hill workout, but man, was it boring.  The loop I fashioned was about 1.1 - 1.25 miles and encompassed every loop, cul de sac, boat ramp, and parking lot I could safely access, employing State Road 79 as little as possible.  The prospect of doing 20 miles this way grew more and more depressing as I loped along.  I only squeaked out 5.6 miles or so before quitting in total frustration.  I'm so behind in my training.

 

[87] NSFB

NSFB = Not safe for breakfast.  Caveat lector.

 

ORN:  This morning, I ran my scheduled tempo run in the dark, around 5:15, and since I was in the woods part of the way, it was extremely dark sometimes.  It was so dark at one point that I looked down and thought I had spontaneously grown chest hair.  You know, because of my awesomeness finally paying off.  No such luck.  As I ran under the next street light, I discovered I had been running through clouds of gnats.  I had scores of tiny dead and dying bugs plastered to my sweaty, exposed chest and arms.  No telling how many I ingested or inhaled.  So anyway, I ran six miles in 55'09".  I ran the tempo portion too slowly [8'51"/mile on average], which is closer to my long tempo pace than today's planned medium tempo pace.  But considering the whole tempo phase was up and down the hills of Cherokee Park and that the last mile included a walk break, I'm calling it a win.

 

Yesterday morning, I swam 80 lengths at the YMCA, which is almost one nautical mile.  It was difficult, but I swam more distance, free-style, than I did last week.  I'm improving.  I wish I could use a snorkel, though.  I cannot get the breathing down.  I am convinced if I could breathe better then I would be able to free-style most or all of the workout, because I am not going very fast.  But when I get my face under water, my body screams, "OXYGEN, YOU FOOL!" and I start gasping.  I can suppress the panic, like I said, for about a lap and a half. Beyond that, I freak and switch to the breast stroke, at which I am inefficient but can swim all day long.  The workout was built around a sequence of eight laps plus two kick-board laps followed by a minute rest.  I repeated the pattern four times.  I was supposed to do five, but see above about panicking and breathing and whatnot.  I was less exhausted afterward, even though I swam more than last week, which causes me to think I am slowly improving.

 

Still trying to figure out how/when I am going to get my long run accomplished this weekend.  We're going to be quite busy.

 

[89] 5x1000 seems like a strange workout but it isn't

ORN:  Last night I went to bed too late, and so this morning when the alarm went off at 5:00 telling me to go run, I chose to hit the pillow instead of the track.  On the treadmill at work, I did a 5x1000 interval workout.  The 1000 feels good to me.  1200s and 1600s are too long; 800s are too fast.  1000s are just right.  In total, I ran 5.22 miles in 52'11".  Here is the breakdown of the segments:

1. 4'52"
2. 4'52"
3. 4'57"
4. 4'53"
5. 4'50"

Those are all nice and even because of the whole treadmill thing.  I had it set on an incline, so it wouldn't be too easy-peasy.  One of the many disadvantages of running on a treadmill is that I am more likely to cut the workout short; in this case, I failed to do the one-mile cool down.  Oh well.  I'm floundering anyway. 

 

Yesterday, I did 20 kick-board laps in the pool while Little One rocked her swim class.  Tomorrow, I will do another swim workout.  I hope to be able to do more [and do it stronger] than I did last week.  I got a little coaching from a friend who's also a swimming pro, so I'm hoping that pays off in terms of easier breathing and better flip turns.  Unfortunately, the YMCA is planning on closing their pool for about a month in August for cleaning and maintenance.  Figures.  About the time I get used to swimming, I will have to switch back to the bikes and rowing machines.  Frustrating.

 

I wonder how much of my planned 20 miler I will actually do this weekend.  Anybody want to take bets?

[92] Race report: Magnolia 5K

ORN: This morning I drove two hours to run in the Magnolia 5K. It was the final race in the Kentucky State Park's 2009 race series. My official time was 27'42", and I finished second in my age group, earning me a medal. With my warm up, I have run 5.31 miles today in 47'15". My watch said the race was 3.31 miles, which, assuming that's right, would have made my adjusted time a much better 25'57". I'm not going to complain about it, though. The course had some challenging hills, and I just didn't have it in the tank today to do much better.

Not that a better performance would have garnered me a trophy anyway. The guy who took first place ran it in 20-something. Impossible. Again, I have no complaints about the day. It was a good day for a race, and I had fun. OK, well, I can complain about one thing.

Mr. Two-Sizes-Too-Small-Split-Shorts-Dude, I celebrate that you are a fit and trim 50-54 year old man. I hope when I am 50-54, I run as well as you did [taking home a trophy.] And I hope I look as good as you do. Seriously, man, you have a great build. Some of your tattoos impressed me, too. I can say all this because you were damned near naked, wearing nothing but split shorts that were at least one size too small. As my wife said when I described you to her, "Nobody wants to see that. Unless it's Brad Pitt in Troy. And only Brad Pitt. And only in Troy." And then she went to the video store for something. So next time you leave the house, please put on some more clothes. Six-foot-one and 190 pounds is just too much half-naked man for most people to stomach.

What about the race itself? It was well-managed, as they all have been. These are small races, fewer than 100 runners, which accounts for why a guy running over 27 minutes is still in the money. Still, the Parks department does a fine job. The course wended through a cottage area of Rough River State Resort Park, past the Lodge [twice], around the nine-hole golf course, and back up the road from a beach. As I said before, it was hilly. The hill coming up from the beach in the last half mile of the race was particularly nasty. But we runners and walkers had the roads to ourselves. It was a great day. Warm but cloudy with a nice breeze.

The first mile was fast because it was mostly downhill. I flew down the hill, trying to not let my legs brake me at all. Consequently, my first mile split was an amazing 8'04". If I had kept up that pace, I would have PR'd. Unfortunately, I started out too strong and the hills hit back causing my second mile splint to be a gasping 8'33". In the last mile, I tried to salvage the race and beat the runner next to me, but I only managed to squeeze out an 8'21" split. [She ended up beating me.] The rest of the race, the stretch, included that bastard of a hill rising from the beach, which I stormed up at a decent 8'30" pace.

Afterward, there were water bottles, bananas, and apples to recover with. Race officials quickly compiled the results and handed out awards for the current race [two deep in the age groups and overall male & female] and the overall series [top two male and female.] There were also door prizes, but I didn't win any.

I had every intention of running the remaining 12 miles I owe to the FIRST plan today, but it started to drizzle. Call me a wimp, but after that tough race, I wasn't up to running for two solid hours in the rain. It's 17:21 right now, and if I can, I may run the remaining 12 tonight. More likely, though, I will do them tomorrow morning. Unless it's storming.

[94] Tem-pwned!

ORN:  This lovely, cool morning, I ran a 7.5 mile tempo run in 1:11'07".  Even though I missed my target pace on the tempo portion of the workout by about 20 seconds/mile, I am well pleased with my performance.  The course was very hilly, yet I hit it hard from start to finish and felt strong doing it.  I ran the same workout on the same course last week; this time I didn't feel like I was dying near the end.  I attacked the hills and finished feeling great.  I rocked it.

 

Yesterday was a cross-training day, so I swam 30 laps at the YMCA while Little One was in her swim class.  I swam on Monday, too, but that workout was all kick board.  Yesterday's involved actual swimming with the arms and legs -- eight lengths plus two with just the kick board followed by one minute of rest.  I was supposed to do five repeats of this sequence, but I could only manage three.  I had time to do one more, but I was dead.  I'd struggle to freestyle maybe a lap and a half, and then I'd alternate breast stroke and back stroke until I switched to the kick board.  Swimming is hard, but I'll get better.

 

Interesting tidbit about swimming: it is easier to read about how to do flip turns on the internet than it is to actually do them in the pool.

 

My feet continue to not hurt, and I celebrate that.  All in all, training is going well.  I just need my attitude to catch up with my body.  My motivation level is crap right now. I'm only being so faithful with my schedule because I have a plan, and I'm on autopilot with it.  I'm not feeling the passion these days.

[96] Shoe review: Nike Free 5.0

ORN:  On this cool, foggy morning I ran a descending ladder interval workout, from 1,200 meters down to 200 meters with 200 meter rest intervals, one mile warm-up, and one mile cool down.  How am I able to mix metric and Imperial units with reckless abandon like that?  It has to do with math and awesomeness.  I won't bore you.  Anywho, I couldn't be more pleased with these results:

 

1,200 meters - 5'46" target - 5'49" actual
1,000 meters - 4'46" target - 4'50" actual
  800 meters - 3'47" target - 3'41" actual
  600 meters - 2'49" target - 2'48" actual
  400 meters - 1'51" target - 1'51" actual
  200 meters - 0'50" target - 0'51" actual

 

All in all, I ran 5.4 miles in 52'42" and was totally spent by the end.  My legs were twitchy all day, in fact.  That's how you do a speed workout.  Moving on.

 

This is my third week running with Nike Free 5.0 trainers.  I discovered the Nike Frees while researching barefoot running.  Lately, I read a lot about barefoot running and whether or not it's better for injury prevention than running with shoes.  There are interesting studies showing that there is no significant relationship between wearing running shoes and injury prevention.  [See this article and you can Google others.]  In fact, I've read that running shoes can contribute to injuries by forcing your foot to do unnatural things, like heel strike, which can cause problems from your hips on down.  I'm not qualified to judge whether these studies are valid or not, but barefoot running passes my gut test.  It seems obvious that humans have evolved to run.  We are born naked and shoeless into this world; therefore, shouldn't it follow that we are intended to run barefoot?  We are built to handle the stresses and loads of galloping over the plains, chasing dinosaurs and whatnot.  But I agree with my wife that we are not built to run on asphalt and broken glass, which composes most of the running surfaces I experience these days.  So as I considered sipping from the barefoot running Kool Aid, I looked for a solution that included some measure of sole protection.

 

As if by magic, about the time this barefoot running conversation started heating up on the t00bs, the wise folks in Nike's marketing department thought it might be a good idea to get ahead of the game.  After all, if you have a bunch of smelly hippies running without shoes in the park, then that's revenue not going into Nike's deep pockets.  And thus was born the Nike Free line.

 

I'll let you go research the shoe itself -- its features and whatnot.  I'm going to assume you've done that and expound on my experiences with them.  I cannot deny they feel strange.  The upper feels like you are wearing a sock rather than a shoe.  But that's a good thing.  It gives me the illusion that I am running barefoot.  In fact, it feels lighter than any shoe I've ever used apart from a sandal or water shoe.  Running in them takes a little getting used to, but not as much as Nike suggests.  They say you should ease into running on them, starting with a day or two out of a typical training week and building up.  I didn't do that.  I jumped right in with both feet.

 

Running in it, I feel everything going on down there.  That's an unusual sensation for me.  Usually, when I shop for shoes, I don't want to feel the road.  It's hard and covered with painful little stones.  I want to wrap my feet in soft pillows of unicorn giggles and rainbows.  The Nike Free strips away all that sissy crap and gives me a much less mediated experience of the road.  It takes some getting used to.  After each run, in addition to my normal sensation of fatigue in my legs, my feet also feel like they've gotten a workout, which they have.  They don't feel beaten and abused.  It's like they're getting used for the first time.  They're having to do the work my Viking forefathers' feet had to do as they ran up the coast from the ship to plunder Europe.  Now, my feet have to pronate and absorb shock as they were designed to do.  They flex, stretch, and push off naturally, without artificial restrictions or enhancements.  In short, I feel my feet getting stronger.  I think the shoes have actually improved my plantar fasciitis. 

 

I would recommend these shoes to anyone whose feet have normal arches, normal strides, and no need for lots of support.  I don't know how high-arched or flat-footed people would like the lack of structure in the shoe.  One complaint I have is that, since the upper is barely there, when I run with my Polar foot pod, my instep gets pounded by the little 2 ounce gadget bouncing up and down on my laces.  After my long run Sunday, I felt like a smurf had been hitting my foot with a hammer for 10 miles.  It's still tender a couple days later.  I gotta figure that one out.

 

The bottom line is that I am pleased with the shoe, would buy it again or would even consider going to the 3.0, which is lighter and even closer to running barefoot.

 

[98] I suck at this

ORN: Today I did what only the foolish or space-station-bound would ever attempt. I set out to run my full 15-mile long run on the treadmill at the YMCA. I managed to do 10.12 miles in 1:40'36" before quitting. If I ran another step, I would have lost my mind. I promised myself I would do the remaining five miles on the road later on.

I failed.

I chose, instead, to rest and eat pork mai fun and then take a bath. I'm not feeling very well, and I decided to baby myself. Ten miles is plenty. I'll do better next week.

[101] Hills and speed don't mix

ORN:  This morning, even though I coveted an extra hour of sleep, I drove to the park and ran 7.2 miles in 1:11'32".  I ran one mile easy, five miles at marathon pace, and then a mile-point-two easy to cool down.  Everything was dandy, even the hills, until the last mile of the tempo section.  Running up to Hogan's fountain killed me, and then the run up Barrett Hill raised me from the dead and killed me again.  Somewhere between these two hills was when my energy failed me, and staying on pace became nearly impossible.  I finished glad the run was done even though I missed my goal time by five minutes.

 

Yesterday, I did 20 laps in the pool using just the kick board.  Then I did the FIRST plan's strength exercises.  Combine that with today's hilly tempo run, and my thighs feel like punching bags.  Tomorrow, I think I will do that rowing-biking workout.  It was fun.

 

Also yesterday, I kicked off the intense [read: obnoxious] phase of my 2009 Chicago Marathon/American Cancer Society campaign.  Within 24 hours, my network of friends, family, and colleagues chipped in almost $300 -- fantastic.  In fact, it's an fantastic start on my fund-raising goal of $2,000.  Thanks to all who've donated thus far.

 

If you want to help out, donate here:  http://main.acsevents.org/goto/ed.hammerbeck.  Be sure and check whether your company does matching funds.