The Off-Season

I consider the Holidays my off-season. I run through the Holidays, just not as far as I do in the summer. Ideally it’s better for me to run further in the winter simply because of the heat. Hydration isn’t much of a issue and my training partner, aka dog, can run further as well. However that not the case right now. My running has turned into hiking.

Hiking to me gives me the same rewards mentally as running, it just takes twice as long. It’s a great source of meditation. If you can set your mind at ease over the fact that walking takes a long time, then you can finally reap the awards that it brings. Physically is almost the perfect exercise. Your joints and muscles have no problem walking and it’s something that you can do well into old age.

Even though I’m in good physical shape with no injuries, I’m taking a break from running so I can recharge, not get burned out and renew my love for it. I’ve always felt people do not have the ability to go all out physically in any given exercise year round without repercussions. This article from Irunfar pretty much sums up my thoughts on it:

iRunFar.com

via Ultrarunning Off-Season Considerations: Time Off & the Return to Training.

Progress

My running has been smooth this winter. I am at the point now I can run up to 10 miles at a moments notice. This whole time since my last update I’ve stuck almost exclusively to trails. For runs less than three miles I’ll take my vibrams, but the majority of my runs are done with my New Balance trail shoes. 

The beauty of winter is my dog can run longer/faster. I’ve discovered the best trails in South Austin are mountain bike trails. This means my dog runs in front of me because since the trails tend to be narrower. In the summer time this would be bad because he would drag behind me slowly, but not so in the winter.

This winter I’ve also transitioned to running with a water bottle handheld that holds just a little bit of storage. Besides holding my phone, the best part of the handheld is that I’m able to carry a small pocketknife where a ID tag goes. I know pepper spray is better against dogs but I feel that a knife has more uses on the trails. Ideally I would like to carry a survival knife, but I just hadn’t found one I like. 

My next running goal is to just help my wife run her first half marathon. I plan on pacing a few 8 milers on the road with her. As much as I hate running on roads, I think the slow pace will help me with longer runs.

Beach runs.

I assumed I would have no problems running on the beach barefoot. After all there is probably no better natural soft surface other than soft sand. However I found out quickly after a hour of running close to the water that you can have big trouble with blisters.

Imagine your hands after swimming for an hour, they get all pruned up. Well the same goes for your feet and with the added pressure they create blisters. Blisters at this point are just a small annoyance to me since I’m somewhat used to them. I’m usually back in action in a day or so.

New shoes.

It’s been long overdue. After trying a few trail shoes on I’ve decided to go with the New Balance 110. It’s light, has a nice drop, good tread and the rock plate really helps out a lot.

It took a few miles to break them in to where they are comfortable to me. It’s a way narrow shoe than what I’m used to. At first I loosened my laces on my first run, only to get a blister later. Now I have no problem after tightening them and breaking them in. I’m going to stick with these for my long runs and technical trails and use my vibrams for runs less than 4 miles. All around it’s a pretty awesome shoe for trails.

The story of Micah True

Born to Run is currently getting made into a movie and the one thing I hope for is that it will incorporate somehow the death of Micah True. It’ll somehow bring everything full circle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/sports/caballo-blancos-last-run-the-micah-true-story.html?smid=pl-share

Too much volume

I’ve learned now not to pay too much attention to your miles per week. Instead I’m now focusing on getting really, really good quality runs in a week. In the past I did a lot of junk mileage just so I can look back on my stats to feel good about myself because I had a good MPW average for the past week. Now I just go out without a plan and tell myself either go out easy, hard or not at all (rest).

After my slight ankle sprain I’m building up my base again for some long runs. Now that I have a flexible work schedule and a wife who runs the dog more often, I’m going to do more solo runs. I’ve been at the point where I’m so used to running with a dog that when I do run by myself I have trouble with pacing. I go out way too fast. This is something I’m starting to work on because it will become problematic for long runs.

Little setback.

I was on a 27 week streak of running injury free until my ankle got sore. I would run through it but it’s sore in a pinpoint spot so I have taken running off completely in fear of getting a stress fracture again. I’ve been tempted to run through the pain like I have in the past but it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to injuries. All I can do now is rest and eat right.

Like most injuries I’ve learned from my mistakes. This time it I believe it was from not recovery long enough from a slight ankle sprain which I got from hiking with the wife. I thought I was fine but I went ahead and did a speed workout followed by a long run on pavement because the trail I normally run on was flooded. So to sum it up I believe the source comes from a mixture of a mild sprain, lack of recovery, pavement run and also it wouldn’t hurt if I got new shoes. Oh well. You live and learn.

MPW

My running has gone along very smoothly lately. For the past 26 weeks I’ve added simply a mile to my MPW. I’ve done this in part because I forgot that after 10 miles the no more than %10 per week thing is more than a mile. So after a very consistent 2 months I got some good base mileage and I’m ready to log a lot more MPW. Now that I’m running more consistently over a hour I have to practice eating on the run. Something I don’t like to do because I hate carrying things on runs.

Progress 2

I’m amazed at my recovery and my ability to maintain strict consistency. This means I stuck with my running schedule over the holidays without a problem. My routine lately is three days a week. Monday is usually a speed day, Wednesday is just take it easy and Friday is a long day at whatever pace. The best part of this schedule is that I can feel the results and running has become easier.

Today I’m recovering from a long day. It’s rare that my legs or sore from a long run but I ended up running a four mile with negative splits. To me I think that’s incredible. I had no intention to run fast but I just felt better as my run progressed and ended up running almost a minute faster ever mile. 8:30 mile one, 8:00 mile two, 7:15 mile three and 6:20 mile four. This is with a dog that stopped to pee a few times and with a couple of stops due to traffic crossings.

Progress.

I’ve taken the best approach to getting back into running shape and that is to take it slow. I started off with literally jogging .10 miles twice a week. That’s basically the equivalent of going to the mailbox. After 6 weeks I then started running three times a week. Now I’m finally at the point where I can run a quick 5k. This has been my mileage for the last 16 weeks. Notice how it’s almost a perfect ramp. I’ve been pretty good about not going more than 10% each week.