Harder Faster Better Stronger

I can't believe it has been 10 days since I updated the blog. And what an interesting 10 days it has been. To sum it up: a couple of fun runs in Boston, a trip to the ER, a beetle in my undies and a visit to the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Now, moving on.

Ever since I hired Christine Hinton as my running coach, I have been very consistent with my running. I haven't been as consistent with my cross-training, but i have to blame travel a little bit for that. I am on vacation this week so I plan to rectify that by hitting the gym hard on my non-running days.

Saturday's long run of 7 miles was awful. I got out there at about 8 in the morning. it was only 73 degrees, but with 90% humidity, it was extremely unpleasant. I completed the run, but I thought I was going to die. I had to stop several times and I was so slow during the 'back' part of the out and back course. I felt sluggish, my body ached--I thought I would fall out a couple of time. I just wasn't prepared for the humidity.

I planned a little better for today's weather and I was determined to have a good run. What did I do differently? Glad you asked:

• I got out there at 6 AM. It was 62 degrees and 90 humidity. Sun wasn't beating down on me for most of this run.
• Brought out the Hammer Endurolytes. I popped a couple of these halfway through the run.
  
• Took Hamer HEED instead of just water. Christine sent me a sample.
• As a back up, I had Gu Chomps ready to go.

The result? Fantastic run. I only had to do 5.5 miles and it was supposed to be an easy one, but I couldn't help but push myself a little. The best part? With every mile, I got faster--not by much, but faster none the less. The first mile was clocked at an 11:00 pace. The last half-mile was at a 9:40 pace. And I didn't even feel winded after the run was done.

I think the time of day had the most to do with my run going well. Not having the sun mocking me with every step really helped. I am sure the HEED and Endurolytes helped too. I never got dehydrated and I felt strong through the entire run. I think on these humid days I will have to skip plain water and make sure I have some sort of sports drink with me. This was my first real experience with Hammer products and they appear to work very well. Any suggestions on other Hammer products I should be looking at? Oh, I didn't have to touch the Chomps.

Song you should add to your run playlist: No You Girls by Franz Ferdinand

Free Your Mind

I got another pair of shoes. Yeah, I know, my wife already told me. I have a problem. So what did I get this time, you ask? Nike Free 5.0 V4's. There are a number of reasons I decided to try these out. I have been reading a lot of articles and blogs about barefoot running. Not sure I will ever get to the point where I am comfortable doing that. Nike Free, however, are an alternative to barefoot running; supposedly they mimic the freedom and movement of naked feet but offer the protection you (I) beg for. I did some research (read: surfed the net) on the Free and came across this article. Read it. It talks about the history and development of the shoe. Well worth the time. Nike actually put some effort into the research and production of this shoe.

So what's so special about this shoe? In my opinion, it's the sole. The waffle fill sole permits the shoe to move in just about any direction. For example, pick up your shoe and flip it over. Now try to twist and bend it. It doesn't go far, does it. The Free's waffle sole allows it to move, twist and shift in any direction. Supposedly this lets your foot react in a more natural way.

The Free is not meant to replace your regular shoes. It is a training tool to make your feet and legs stronger, thereby making you faster. It is recommended that you start off slow with these bad boys, let your body get used to them--otherwise pain and discomfort. Nike even has a training schedule to help you get use to them.

So you probably noticed the oddness of title of the shoe--Free 5.0 V4. There appears to be 3 types of Free's: 7.0, 5.0. 3.0. This should make a little more sense when you see my list below that I got from the official Nike Free website.

10 = Average Running Shoes
7 = Beginning Foot Strength Training, Everyday Support
5 = Increased Foot Strength Training, Medium Support
3 = Advanced Foot Strength Training, Minimal Support
0 = Barefoot

I bought the 5's before I realized this. I doubt it would have mattered though. I don't think I would go through 3 set's of shoe to gradually get my foot use to minimal support.

I decided to try them out on my long run today. It worked out that I would be using the treadmill for today's run. I planned to only do a mile in them, but I was enjoying them so much I went for 2. After the switch, running in the Karhu's was odd. Or difficult. It is hard to explain the feeling. One, the Karhu's are a lot heavier. Two, it almost felt like I could feel the extra support/constriction of the Karhu's. It took me half a mile to settle in and to stop thinking about it.

Moral of the story is this: I dig the Free. Not sure how much it will help, only time will tell. But it is hard not to recommend them. In fact, as soon as we got home, the wifey ordered herself a pair (from Running Warehouse of course).

Any experience with the Free?

A Boring Update

I had this big plan to complain about another flight delay and how it through off my schedule on Monday and blah blah blah. I figured it wasn't important. Besides, I think it would be more amazing if I typed "I arrived at my destination with no delays". Of course, that has to happen first before I can blog about it.

So, back in beautiful Salt Lake City this week. Seriously, I like this town. Sure there is a layer of nuttiness to this place (no offensive), but who cares. There is no humidity (yet--not sure if there will be even during the summer), it has lots of places to run, and for the most part people are pretty friendly.

I have had 2 great runs since I arrived. Yesterday I headed outside for an easy run around town. And this morning I went out for a speed workout. You know, I have been running outside so much lately i'm starting to get a little spoiled! Have I mentioned how much I hate the treadmill? I hate the treadmill.

I planned on a longer post but I am really tired.

2009 Clean Air Challenge Race

The family took part in the 2009 Clean Air Challenge at the OKC Zoo today. When we woke up this morning, we weren't sure if the weather was going to hold up enough to take Piper to her first race. We figured this would be a great race to take her to since it was at the zoo, and runners were given free passes to enjoy after the race.

The weather man assured us that it wouldn't rain. It would be a little cooler, he said, but no rain. Great! So we got Piper up a little early and headed out.

My only real complaint was the porta-john situation. Two. TWO! That's it. Not sure of the numbers, but there was a lot of people there. Way to many people for 2 toilets. The line was ridiculous even as the gun went off to start the race.

Oh, before I forget, their were timing chip mats at the beginning and end of the race. Rare at small, local races. Happy to see that for sure!

It started raining a little after the rain started. The downpour began half way through. Ugh. I am not a fan of running in the rain. The stroller kept Piper covered so she was fine.

Piper had a blast! The wifey pushed her and had no problems. She was a little mad at herself for having a slower time, but I explained that pushing an extra 30 pounds is hard work. Otherwise, they both did great.

Afterwards, we went to the zoo but only spent an hour or so there. It was a little cold and we were all starting to get hungry.

GPS DATA
Time: 27:55
Pace: 8:58
Split Pace: 8:51, 9:09, 9:04, 7:45
Check out the course here.

Is it Summer Already?

Dumb dumb dumb.

That's me!

I have learned my lesson. That lesson is: when you see the weather report and it says that the morning will be nice but it will be crazy humid by noon, don't go running at noon.

Instead of going running first thing in the morning, I opened my laptop. Then I opened Outlook. The rest is history. I finally make it out to the lake right around noon; it got to the point where I knew if I didn't go out when I did, I wouldn't make it out. It was 80 degree's but it was as muggy as I have run in this year.

But, I made it through the entire 4.5 miles I had planned. I minor victory I would say. I need to get some of those magic pills Terri gave me when I was in Boston. I think those will help me out.

This weekend I am doing a 5K race at the zoo. We decided it might be fun for Piper to come with us. The wifey would push her in the new, killer running stroller we recently purchased. Then, we could walk around the zoo and see the animals. Well, mother nature is cooperating with that plan. It is supposed to rain. Hard. I'm still going, but the wifey and Piper will be staying behind. Boo.

Put Me in Coach Part 2 - The Plan

I received my training plan for the month from my coach. She wrote it out so that I would take Sunday's off. Of course, I have the flexibility to change it up due to my travel schedule. I don't want to go in to too many details of the schedule, but for this month, I will be doing 2 quality runs a week and 2 easy runs. Also, I scheduled myself for a 5K next weekend. I'm sure my performance will suck like most of my 5K's these days.

Instead of taking it easy today, I decided to do tomorrow's scheduled run (I will do Tuesday's scheduled run tomorrow since I will be traveling all day--I am so ready to go home). It was a simple 4.5 miles at an easy pace. To be honest, I wasn't in the mood to run. This "vacation" is taking an emotional strain on me and the wife. All I really want to do is stay in the bed and pull up the covers. But I know I would have to explain why I didn't run or why I didn't follow the plan that was put together for me. And frankly, why am I going to pay for a service that I don't plan to utilize? So I got my butt on the TM and did my run. It turned out to be a good one. That's 4 GREAT runs in a row! What's up with that?

Put Me in Coach

I have decided to get a running coach. I feel like my running could be a lot better with a little coaching and some accountability on my end. It is hard to get motivated when, in my head, it doesn't really matter if I run 4 miles instead of 6. I started searching for coaches in the OKC area and couldn't find anything. Besides, the more I think about it, the more I worry about the cost. So, I have decided to go the route of the long-distance/internet coach.

I had never done this before and I wasn't really sure what to look for. I came across The Running Coach, Christine Hinton. Christine ran in high school, ran in college, has completed marathons and triathlons, and coached local high schools. She has written articles for many magazines including Runner's World. Oh, she just ran Boston. She seems like the real deal.

I know what you are thinking: "How can a long-distance coach help". To be honest, I don't know. I do know that she sounds like she knows what she's doing. We had our first talk the other night and I found out she has been doing long-distance coaching for over 10 years. She asked me a lot of questions: goals, what I am currently doing, my running history, etc.

Christine wants me to track my calories for the next couple of weeks. I think I will start doing that once I get back home from this "vacation". I know this is an area I have been lacking in for a while. She also wants me to run a 5K as soon as possible for something of a baseline.

The cost of the service is $100/ month. I will keep you posted on my thoughts and let you know if I think it is working. I am excited about it and I can't wait to get started!