No Run Today

Happy New Year

2nd run 12/30/10

After removing said splinter we started out running again. This time we went for 3.5 miles and we completed this in around 27 minutes, leaving us with a 7:42 pace. I have to say, my body was confused when I started to run in my brooks. I kept trying to run like I was barefoot. Eventually, the old "heel to toe" form came back and I began to notice something that I had always taken for granted. I realized that when I run in trainers, I have much more limited motion in my legs then when I run in my vibrams. By the middle of the run I could actually feel the range of motion that my legs had been doing for the 1st half of the run. This was about 15 minutes in and in comparison I felt no such tension in my legs from the vibrams. Also, I noticed that when I run in the vibrams I tend to take shorter strides and my feet are more "under" my body then when I run in my brooks adrenalines. I have to say I think I find the vibram style a little more comfortable, but that may change. All in all, either way gets the job done, whether you run in trainers or vibrams is up to you, I just like the feel of the vibrams better.
PS. the total of both of the runs would have been 5.58 miles in 42:37 which would be around a 7:38 pace

4th Run in Vibrams 12/30/10

Run with Val today. We started out fast and ended up covering 2.08 miles in 15:37, leaving us with a 7:30 mile pace. The vibrams felt good today. My legs and feet feel much more free to do what they need to. I would however like to caution the trail runner against doing a few things. 1) running on pinecones. It doesn't "hurt" exactly, its just a bit uncomfortable, not enough for you to want to actually go out of your way to run around them, but enough for you to notice it. 2) avoid stiff weeds/dead plants. We were running on a slightly overgrown trail with dead weeds and plants sticking up out of the ground (for you westminster runners its the new trail that follows the fence on corncob hill) and as we were crashing through the weeds I got several splinters. Though, I didn't notice it on the run. When we stopped for me to change into my brooks (the original plan was to make a quick switch and run the remaining time in normal trainers) I noticed that my leg was bleeding. On further inspection I found that I had a splinter wedged under several layers of skin, too deep to cut out, but not deep enough to hurt badly. We spent a good 10 minutes trying to get it out, and when we finally did it measured half an inch long (this was after it snapped 2 or three times when we were trying to get it out.) So just a word of caution to those of you considering vibrams-watch the terrain you run on. Also, as promised, I ran a few hills today. I have nothing to complain about, I felt lighter going up the hill and my muscles didn't lock up as much as they did in my brooks. Muscularly I have to say, I enjoy running much more when I run in my vibrams then normal trainers. All in all it was a good day, besides the splinter incident. I will soon post how the second half of the run went.

3rd Run Follow up

Nothing really to report. No aches, pains, strains, pulls, inflammation, (just a side note: did you guys know that the words "inflammable" and flammable actually mean "able to be caught on fire" and the word non-flammable means "not able to be caught on fire"), fractures, tears, or shin splints. The only thing that I notice is that my feet seem to be forming calluses. Other then that everything is all good. Another run tomorrow, I think I'm going to add in some hills (and maybe take it a little slower)

3rd Run in Vibrams

I have to say, my weakness when I run is my respiratory system. I just can't seem to suck down enough air, especially when its cold outside. Getting back in shape really sucks, but its worth it in the end, and that thought is enough to keep me going (usually haha). That being said, my third run in vibrams was once again great for my muscular and skeletal systems but terrible for my breathing. I felt no pain at all as I ran, besides the occasional large rock I accidentally stepped on. It was a beautiful day for a run today, besides the fact that it was still a little cold for my taste. About 5 minutes in I was besieged by terrible cramps, probably brought on by the fact that I ate too close to my run. They stayed with me the entire time. That being said, I still covered 2.01 miles in 13:55, giving me a 6:57 mile pace, which is a little fast for a distance run. Usually you would want to stay away from anything under 7:00 unless you were on a tempo run. I mentioned earlier this week that I felt a small pain on the top of my foot when I ran. After doing some research I learned that having a pain there is a common problem for those people transitioning into minimalist footwear. It comes about by running too much on the toes and not enough on the ball/midfoot. The article I read cautioned against this, saying that it could lead to injury. So today I made a conscious effort to not run as much on my toes. The pain didn't return. I do have to say, I find myself running faster in these shoes then I normally would. Usually I don't run faster then a 7:25 pace on distance runs because of the combined fact of the respiratory and muscular pain. However, I have yet to feel any muscular pain on my runs. We'll see if this fact holds true as my runs increase in length. Sprinting work starts next week, maybe I'll run a few sets in the vibrams to see how they would hold up.

The Importance of Core Strength in Running

All runners agree that the absolute worst thing that can happen to you during a race (besides pulling a muscle or breaking a bone) is getting a cramp. For sprinters it ruins their entire race because of the very short distance they have to cover. They just don't have time to make up ground. Depending on the "magnitude" of the cramp, where it is, and how long it lasts, distance runners can be similarly affected. Sometimes you recover in time and sometimes you don't. So what can be done to prevent these?
Besides the obvious answer of working harder to get in better shape, I have found one activity that always helped me fight cramps in the long run-having good core strength.
When most people get cramps it is because there running form falls apart and they end up doing weird things like hunching their shoulders or having their head roll around on their shoulders, or even slightly bending over. This causes muscle groups to either strain, overcompensate, or just be in awkward positions. All of these things can be combated by having good core strength. Now of course that doesn't mean you should stop your runs early and do extra core. Not at all. If you seem to be getting cramps any time you race then be sure you run for  longer then you have before during your workouts. Only after you have done your full run should you do your core exercises. Push-ups, crunches, flutter kicks, and any other type of abdominal workout will help you with this problem. In my junior year of high school not a race would go by when I didn't get a cramp. My senior year I trained harder over the summer and did extra core over the season. I soon noticed a dramatic increase in my "good races" and a dramatic decrease in my "bad races" So all in all, if you are getting bad cramps when you run do core exercises. You won't get immediate results but eventually, over the course of a month or two you will notice improvement.
P.S......before doing any of this make sure you watch your eating habits...even an olympic athlete can get cramps if they don't eat correctly before their runs.

Some other things I would like to comment on

Unfortunately I did not have a chance to run today. I had to watch my little brother. However there are still a few things that I would like to comment on.
When I woke up this morning and as I started walking downstairs It felt like my entire foot was.....stretching...for lack of a better word. It just felt like the muscles in my foot were relaxing. It was a very odd feeling. Maybe it has to do with the vibrams and maybe not. Also, I can't believe I haven't commented on this before: vibrams are not the best cold weather running shoe. When you wear the shoes it is not recommended that you wear socks with them so basically all thats between you and the cold air is a thin rubber sole and some under armor like material. I was wearing them outside with my brother and after 30 minutes I decided to change into my brooks. Its not as noticeable during runs because of the body heat generated from physical activity
One more thing I would like to comment on: when I wear the shoes I tend to get a small pain in the joint where my second toe connects to the foot. However if I take the shoes off and crack my toe (effectively relieving the stress I believe) The pain does not return (it also works itself out after about a minute of running)
I still believe the 5 fingers are a very comfortable shoe, and if the training aspect doesn't work out with them I would still wear a pair around the house or for other activities, but so far training has been great!

Post Run Review

My feet and legs feel good. No aches or pain at all. The arch soreness I had yesterday did not come back today. Maybe over the weekend I will try two 10 minute runs one earlier in the day and one around 4:00 and see if my legs hurt at all after the second one. Usually after I run in normal trainers I at least have some soreness in my shins. This pain has not carried over to the vibrams yet...and hopefully it won't ever.

Second Run in vibrams

Freezing cold today. I didn't get a chance to run before 5 so it was about 20 degrees when I started. Today I went for 13:28 in the vibrams. In this time I covered 1.82 miles, leaving me with a decent 7:23 mile pace. I have to say, cold weather does terrible things to my body. I had cramps everywhere during the entire run. As far as feel goes, the shoes felt pretty much the same as they did yesterday. Since it was getting dark, I decided that I would only run up and down my street about 10 times. This meant I had to run more on asphalt then on grass. The beginning of my run went much better today. My body seemed to remember that It shouldn't go heel to toe in these shoes and there was no painful pounding of the heels. However, by the 7th lap of my street I did notice a dull ache on the top of my right foot, as well as a very very small ache on the bottom of my heel. I think I can attribute both of these aches to the frozen ground-the grass was almost painful to run on, and the fact that I think that I pulled the top strap of the shoes a little too tight. All in all, for my cardiovascular system the run was miserable. For my muscular and skeletal system it was pretty good.

Second Run Today and follow up on Vibram Run

My second run today had to be cut short by the weather. In this run I used the brooks adrenaline  exclusively, as I said I am only running in the vibrams once a day for no more then 15 minutes. Anyway. This run was worse. Originally planned to be 45 minutes, this run ended up covering 2.15 miles in 18:49...giving an 8:40 pace. This is absolutely a terrible and unacceptable pace for me. However, i do admit the the elements of nature played a part in this slow time.
 After my vibram run at around 12 this afternoon I noticed that my legs felt fine, there was only a slight soreness in the arches of my feet which quickly went away after about 5 minutes (literally). Other then that, It was one of the most pain free "post runs" that I have ever had.
    On the other hand, the run later today (brooks adrenaline) was terrible afterwards. My knees hurt and my shins felt a little sore...and I didn't even run for that long or that fast. I guess only time will tell if it was just a coincidence that I didn't hurt after my vibram run, or if the shoes are actually helping my shins and knees.
I am planning on having another 15 minute vibram run and a 40 minute "normal" run tomorrow, weather permitting.

First run in Vibrams!

Just a bit of background information-
I have always been a high stability shoe guy, usually wearing asics gels, and in the past year the brooks adrenaline.
My first run in vibrams went really well-ok so it went well except for the first five minutes. Up to the five minute mark I had struggled to find my stride in the unfamiliar feel of these shoes, I was running flat footed, and landing heavily on my heel-it was painful, and I debated stopping. Then the pain stopped. I began adjusting to the shoe. I began to run more on my midfoot and my heel began lightly striking the ground instead of the pounding it had received in the first 5 minutes. My posture improved, I was running more upright than I did in my brooks. Also I noticed that I was taking shorter strides. Overall the run only lasted 1.92 miles. I covered this in 13 minutes and 50 seconds, leaving me at a 7:12 mile pace including my awful start. I felt like I could have kept going at this pace for at least 5 or 6 more miles. It was a completely different feel then running in traditional shoes. I could feel the ground as It changed beneath me. Today I ran on at least 3 different consistencies of grass that gave me various natural cushioning , 2 different types of asphalt, and 2 Different types of concrete. I now understand why all of my coaches told me to never run on concrete-it hurts, literally the only thing that keeps runners from getting their feet pounded off by their own stride is the advanced cushioning in their training shoes. Overall, it was definitely a positive experience, my shins and feet feel fine as of now, and the muscles and tendons in my feet feel GOOD. Vibrams definitely allow a more natural approach to running. Over the next few weeks I will be increasing the times of my runs by 5-7 minute increments every week. We'll see how they hold up over longer distances...say 6 or 7 miles. The link to my training schedule is on the right hand column of this page under the name "logarun"

Sprinters mentality Vs. Distance

The age old question-It has been around since the beginning of high school track and field- Who works harder? distance runners or sprinters? I have an answer. Neither works harder then the other. they just work differently. While distance runners do have the claim that they can run more miles (which they can) that does not make them harder workers. Sprinters get just as sore, just as out of breath and just as winded as distance runners would. Both teams have their faults. Sprinters have slackers that only run workouts at around 30% and distance runners have slackers that hide in the woods from the coaches. The difference lies in the mentality. and the mentality of each of the two respective groups comes out in their training. Sprinters focus on putting forth all their energy, all their effort, and all of their willpower into 400 meters or less. Distance runners use their effort and willpower to keep themselves going for laps or miles. I have yet to see a distance runner run a 200 within 23 seconds and under. And I have yet to see a sprinter run a mile under 5:00. It just does’t happen. Something that was once meant to be a friendly competition between two teams, used to create a better work ethic, has now taken on a whole other meaning. Some distance runners view athletes who do cross training with sprinters as slackers. When in reality one light distance run substituted for a decently hard speed workout would actually help the distance runner in question. The same goes for sprinters, although when a sprinter goes and runs with distance they also are given the negative connotation of “overachiever” when also, in reality, the extra distance work is helping run their races better. Truly the attitude in high school athletics has taken a turn for the worse. A track team is a team and should function as such...without the drama of a 7th grade classroom. Now obviously there are exceptions to the rule. We all know of the slackers who actually skip workouts....So in conclusion: in my opinion neither sprinters nor distance runners work harder, they just work differently. If anyone says any type of workout was too easy then 1) they are not running fast enough and 2) they should have been in the front the entire time. 

First day wearing vibrams

This is the first day I had my Vibrams on. I just wore them around the house but I have to say, many of the reviews I read were completely true. They really do mold to your foot and sometimes you forget that you are even wearing a shoe. The ground is much more noticeable, I even noticed a difference in the hardness of the asphalt between my driveway and one of my family members. I also can notice a difference in the thickness of different carpets throughout my house.All in all they are very comfortable shoes and while they do get a little sweaty, It causes me little or no discomfort. I feel like these shoes will be used strictly for trail or track running, asphalt seems like it would hurt to run on. I'm taking my first run in them tomorrow, only 15 minutes which would equal about 2-2.5 miles.

Upcoming Posts

Sprinting mentality vs distance running
Balancing Speed and Endurance (in mid distance and distance racing)
The Importance of Core strength in both sprinting and distance running
Value of Cross Training
1st run in vibram
***Note all topics discussed on this page are of my own personal opinion. I cannot promise that there are any valid scientific claims for any of them. I am writing based off of my own experience and of research that I have done on my own. Feel free to disagree with me, I would like to get other people's opinion.
-Jake

What are Vibram 5 Fingers?

The Vibram 5 finger Bikila is basically a 3mm insole that is kept on your foot by under armor-like material and a Velcro strap. Basically someone along the way had the thought that "humans have been running barefoot for millennia," its how the early man started to hunt, with the lack of guns and other ranged weaponry, humans were forced to run their prey into the ground-and they didn't wear their ultra stable brooks adrenaline shoes or ASICS Gels. They wore their own feet! There is new research that-while controversial-holds some degree of truth. You see, according to the research that I have read, not many of these hunters ever got the common running injuries such as shin splints, stress fractures, inflamed tendons, etc. If they did, then natural selection would have quickly killed them off. There was a foot study done comparing the feet of barefoot tribes in africa and a population that wore shoes for everything. The result-the barefoot tribe had much healthier-and stronger feet. There was another interesting result of this research-People who wear one type of shoe a lot (say dress shoes for work) tend to develop a foot shape that looks like their shoes. (I'll be posting several articles at the end of this blog post so you can see the pictures yourself.

     So back to the running thing. What makes these shoes so different?? Well, the main difference is how your foot strikes the ground. Next time you go for a run notice how your foot hits the ground. It should be heel to toe. this is the most comfortable way to run in most training shoes. Now once your run is over, try doing some barefoot stride outs. Notice the difference? The ball of your foot strikes first and your heel follows it. This is how people ran thousands of years before the invention of the shoe, let alone the trainer. Vibram 5 fingers allow you to run as if you are barefoot, it "frees up" your legs and lets your muscles do what they do best in the most natural way possible. Its an interesting theory, and to me, it makes sense. Over the next few months I guess I'll find out.
Here are the links from my research:
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/05/07/vibram-five-fingers-shoes/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/barefoot/
also if you go to the vibram 5 finger web site it gives a pretty good overview of what their products are meant to do-after all they ARE selling them haha

About Me- a long and boring history

I am a Freshman in college and I have been running since my sophomore year of High School. I have run 3 seasons of cross country and 6 seasons of track. I have been a varsity runner for 2 of those cross country seasons and 4 of the track seasons. I started out running cross country with times that ranged from 24:00 (my first race) to 20:30 (my Pr my first season). During track I really decided to focus on speed and during indoor I ran with the varsity runners even though they were well above my head. I earned my first varsity letter during Outdoor track when all of my training kind of paid off. I substituted twice for our 4x800 meter relay and once for our 4x200. My "PRs" of the season were 5:07 (mile) 11:17 (3200) 2:17 (800) and 24 (200). Overall I was happy with my season.
      The summer before my Junior year I got lazy, I only ran 7 or 8 times the entire season. But I got lucky. My body retained much of the "work hard mentality" and once cross country came around  I found myself starting 5th on the team. This year my times ranged from 20:17 (sick during this race) to 17:47 (ridiculously easy course). But usually I fell around the 19:20-18:40 range. During indoor track my Junior year I used it much like i did my sophomore year, as a building stage. My prs this season were a 2:10 in the 800 and also a 56 in the 400 (I was a fill in for the 4x4 relay). These were the only races I ran during this season. Also, our 4x800 team made it to states this year, but due to myself being sick and foul play (a trip) to our top runner we didn't do very well.
    During outdoor my Junior year I continued with my 800 time, dropping it to a 2:09. My coach also found that I had potential as a 400 runner. So, halfway through the season he had me start running the open 400. My time quickly dropped from a 56 to a 53, a pretty solid time for only a few races run in my opinion.  I found that my best weapon during this race was the endurance I had from cross country, in the last 100 meters where everyone was dying I was the guy still sprinting up from lane 5.
      My Senior year came with a surprise-captaincy for the cross country team. Over the summer I had trained hard and started off the season very well. Our team did very well during the season , taking second in our county as well as second in our region (we tied for first and the other team beat us out by half a point in the tiebreaker) My Pr this season was during the second race of the season, an 18:09. until the middle of the season I ran around 18:25 and under. However I got sick for a week and had to miss 2 meets and a week of training. This majorly hurt me mentally and physically. For the second half of the season I was struggling to get under 18:30. During our championship season I began to notice the outside of my ankle acting up-painfully. Turns out nothing came of it, but it did affect my performance in all 3 of our championship races, making my best time 18:30 and my worst 21:20.
   During track I decided to forgo distance work and concentrate solely on my 400. During the indoor season (again used for building) my prs were 1:16 (500) 39.09(300) and 56(400) . I was a bit disappointed with my 400 time, but when your indoor track is 200 meters, the turns really kill you.
       Outdoor track is what I consider to be my most successful season of my career. I started off running a 52.2 in the 400. and a 24.01 in the 200. I then began to realize that the 200 was my key to a successful 400 race. as the season went on I still ran in the 52.6 and under range, but never breaking that 52.2. Then during one of our mid season meets I passed out on the last 100, skidding across the finish line and receiving 2nd degree burns on my shoulder and arms, as well as my face (luckily no scarring occurred on the face). This put me out for 1 meet and 1 week. As the season drew to a close, the seniors on our team realized something horrible-senior prom was the night before our regional championship.Personally- I only got about 3 hours of sleep. The day of the championship was the biggest success as well as the biggest failure in my career. I qualified for the finals in the 200, running a 23.2 and received 5th place in the finals by .02 seconds. This meant i did not qualify for the state meet by .02 seconds. i was quite upset. Our 4x2 also got 5th place by a similarly small margin. I decided to sit out the 400 because the 4x200 and 400 are always back to back. I shouldn't have done that. There was literally an hour between the 4x200 and 400 today. the 4th place time (last time to qualify) was a 53.6-a time I knew that I could have beaten. Needless to say, once the 4x4 came around I was pretty angry at the entire day. I was determined to make it up in this 4x400. Our team, once again, was seeded at 5th and we only needed to drop 2 seconds in order to get the 4th place. I believe we could have done it. Until our 2nd leg got cut off almost dropped the baton, and pushed into another lane. By all means, according to the rules and regulations the other team should have been disqualified, however, I guess the official was feeling sympathetic that day so he didn't do it. Needless to say I was furious. by the time the baton got to me (I was the anchor leg) we were in last by a good 100 meters (thats a lot of ground to make up in a 400 for those who don't know). However, I didn't care. I went after that runner fueled by fury and caught up to him at the 250 mark, stayed with him until the 300 and passed him right at the 315. Even though we didn't qualify for states I was "happy" with my race, and I consider it to be the best race of my career.
    Over the summer I ran with a few of the guys from the cross country team, we mostly did long runs 6-13 miles. I decided not to run cross country my 1st semester in college, I was worried that my ankle would start acting up again. Now I have started my training for indoor track which begins on January 19th.

Whats going on

Hello,
I created this blog to put my thoughts on the vibram 5 finger Bikila vs traditional running shoes down on "paper". As many people know, sometimes thoughts and impressions fade the longer we do something or use a product. Mostly I will be blogging after my runs exactly how I felt during the run and then again sometime after. Hopefully it will help other people make the decision if minimalist footwear is right for them.