Fastest run...ever.

Today I didn't have a lot of time to devote to running, so I decided to take this run fast. I wore my vibrams for the entire run, and besides some numb toes, I am very happy with my performance. My route was a mixture of rolling hills and one big half mile long hill that I ran up and down. All in all, the route was only about 3.65 miles, however, I ran it in 24:30. That means that I was running at a 6:42 pace, making this my fastest distance run.....ever. The awesome thing is that I feel like I could have kept this pace up for at least another mile or two. Physically, the run was great, my lungs didn't hurt at all, even though it was around 30 degrees with a wind chill. My muscles didn't hurt any worse then they usually do on my runs. However, I did notice once again a slight pain on the top of my left foot. I think that I can attribute this to not running in the vibrams at all last week and since it doesn't hurt after the run, I don't think it will be a problem. Hopefully I will have another run tomorrow....and (hopefully) my body will allow me to run it slower!

Komodo Sport

The new Vibram 5 fingers Komodo sport model is available at http://www.rei.com/product/811202

Ladder Workout-1/10/11

This was my last workout of the winter training season. I did a mile warm up, plyos, and hurdle stretches. However, the second I started my first 100, my quad tightened up painfully. This workout was not run at my full strength, I used each of the heats as more "strides" rather then sprints. After the first 150 and 200 my quad loosened up much more and I was able to run my 200 at a 29 pace. However, the cold got the best of me during this workout, it made it hard to breathe and in turn, made it harder to recover. For the rest of the week I'm going to be running distance in vibrams, hopefully this will allow that quad to recover and strengthen.

Friday's Workout-20 minutes of stairs

This was a rough workout, I did them in the stairwell of my high school. The stairwell has 4 flights of stairs  & 24 steps per flight = 96 stairs. I ran all 96 steps 18 times. In between each set of stairs I did a specific core exercise, which I will post at the end of this entry. For the first 14 sets of stairs, I stopped my watch whenever I did abs. However, it started to get late and I felt like I needed to get home, so for the last 4 sets I had to let it run so I could finish the workout. The entire workout is as follows:

stairs-every step
25 pushups
Stairs-every step
50 crunches (straight)
Stairs-every other step
25 squats
stairss-every other step
30 seconds of flutter kicks
stairs-every 2 steps
25 push ups
stairs-every step
50 crunches (side)
Stairs-every step
50 crunches (side)
stairs-every other step
25 squats
stairs-every step

I did this routine through twice in 21 minutes.

Thursday's Workout 10x200s

Originally, this workout was supposed to be 8x200, with each set being under 32 seconds. My goal was to get them all done in 30 seconds or under. However, during this workout I was not very consistent. My times ranged from 27 seconds(my fastest) to 31 seconds (this one was after I ran the  first 27). The average time of the entire workout was 29 seconds, which is fine with me. I think I am going to set my goal workout pace for this track season at 26-27 seconds consistently. This would put my 200 splits at 2 seconds slower then the pace of my high school pr in the 400. I feel like I can accomplish this goal by mid season, which would benefit my 400 time considerably. All in all, it was a great workout, I felt really good about it, so I threw in 2 extra runs.

1/8/11

So I've been busy doing college workouts these past few days. As I have said before I am not wearing my vibrams for workouts yet, which is why there has been a lack of posting this week. However, starting tomorrow and then continuing until I go back to college I will start up posting again.

40 minutes, 16 in brooks, 24 in vibrams

Run with Val today.
So, I started out todays run very sore and tight, mostly because of the sprinting workout that I did yesterday. I decided that last time I changed into my brooks halfway through a run it was a very awkward transition. This time I decided that I would start in my Brooks and change into my Bikilas. The first half of the run went alright, we ran 2.31 miles in 16:50, giving us a 7:17 mile pace. Nothing to complain about on this first half, I began to loosen up around halfway through and the rest of the run was virtually painless on my muscles. The second half of the run (in my vibrams) was 3.12 miles in 23:10, giving us a 7:25 pace. This half of the run went very well, however the transition was a little rough, I was trying to run heel to toe in my vibrams, something that should never be done. After a few minutes however, I began running with "proper barefoot form". Unfortunately I am more sore than I was before the distance run so tomorrows big sprinting workout may have to wait. I'll see how I feel.

First College Sprinting Workout of the New Year

So I must say, I'm pretty angry at myself. The workout I was supposed to run was 2(7x20meter sprints) or 2 sets of 7 20 meter sprints. However, my brain was confused and I actually ran 2 sets of 7 75 meter sprints 2(7x75). But who said a little extra work wasn't good for you? Anyway I did not run this workout in my vibrams, I feel like it will be at least 2 more weeks before I will have worked into them enough for a light workout. However I still feel like they benefited me during the workout.
For those of you who aren't sprinters, Proper sprinting form (in a nutshell) is running up on your toes, and driving your knees, all while still being relaxed. This means that much more stress is put on the calf muscles then on someone who would run distance. Vibram 5 fingers make you use your calf muscles more when you run distance and (logically) this causes them to strengthen. I feel that this directly benefitted my sprinting form. I have been sprinting for almost 4 seasons now and my form has always been good, but never great. I don't think that its just a coincidence that my form suddenly just got better, I think it has to do with the vibrams. Even wearing my brooks I felt lighter on my feet and I felt like I could move my legs faster than I ever have been able to. I can only attribute this to the short time I have been running in vibrams  because honestly, I haven't done any heavy sprinting work since last track season. I am very interested to see how this new style of running helps my sprinting times. Tomorrow I am going out for a recovery distance run, 40 minutes. 20 in brooks and 20 in vibrams.
PS-it was cold today

Post Run Review 1/1/11

Well the calves are very sore. For those of you who lift weights it feels like your arms do after a big bench and curl workout. However, after about 5 minutes of plyometric stretching, the soreness and tightness subsided considerably. It doesn't feel like a bad pain, more like a "I worked hard" pain. Other then that, there seems to be no muscular/skeletal problems. I'm probably going to go for a shorter run tomorrow, just around 10 minutes as recovery.

1/1/11-First Run of the New Year

Today I was feeling adventurous. I was tired of running the same 13 minutes of road everyday. So I decided to go for a longer run. I mapped it out as 4.26 miles. It involved rolling hills as well as one big hill that lasted for about a mile (those runners in westminster know it as the tahoma farm hill). Anyway, I covered this distance in 30 minutes and 43 seconds, giving me a very strong 7:12 mile pace. One thing I would like to comment on is that in all my years as a runner, I don't think I have ever run a 7:12 pace (comfortably) for any sort of distance run. Yet I have to say, this run felt comfortable. Sure I had cramps to work through but it wasn't unbearable at all. I feel like Vibrams allow you to have more use of your muscles then traditional footwear, it just seems easier to run in them. Also, I do notice that I have increased my foot turnover-meaning I take more steps. Now-how did my body deal with the longer run? Quite well if I do say so myself. It was a good day for a run so extreme cold/heat wasn't an issue. It was a painless (muscularly) run until about the 3rd-ish mile. I felt a tendon or ligament  on the inside/back of my calf/ankle acting up. However, it worked itself out in three or so minutes. Other then that my muscles and bones had nothing really to complain about. After the run I did notice a bit of tightness in my left calf and immediately after I stopped running I did feel a slight burning in my shins but it worked itself out by the time I walked upstairs to begin typing this. All in all this was a good run, I'll be posting the post-run analysis of how I feel in about an hour. If nothing gets injured in the next 2 weeks or so the vibrams are definitely going to be my new training shoe .
-the picture at the top is the hill I forced myself to run up