Top of the Foot Pain-only problem so far

Today I went out for a run in my traditional brooks, thinking it would be good to rest the extra muscles that you use when you run barefoot. However, around mile 1 I noticed a pain on the top of my foot. It was not a sharp pain, but it was enough to make me stop  and turn around and run back home. I've been doing research for the past 20 minutes or so and it seems that this pain is a common problem for people switching to barefoot (or vibram)  running. As mentioned numerous times in previous posts, when you run in vibrams  (as well as barefoot) you tend to put more stress on your calves. This in turn causes your calves to strengthen. However, in the in between phase when you calves are not yet fully strengthened, they can end up tightening. This in itself is not bad. However, it can lead to other problems. When the calf tightens, it pulls on 3 different tendons in the foot. Again, this is not a bad thing. However, when doing too much too soon, it can cause an inflammation on one or more of these tendons. Now for why this happened to me: In my opinion, Vibram 5 fingers allow to make more use of your leg muscles, and therefore allow you to run faster, easier. However, when running too fast for too long in the beginning can cause these tendons to inflame. Honestly I believe it to be the work of the run I did yesterday, 3.6 miles at a 6:40 pace, on asphalt. The week before this run was my workout week, I did not run in vibrams at all for the very reason of not getting injured. So yesterday I was anxious to get back into my distance work, and ended up overdoing it a little bit. I didn't even think that getting injured would be a problem. I figured that my calves would already be strong enough from my sprinting work. I guess I was wrong. Fortunately, this inflammation is very easy to get rid of, if treated early on. The general treatment seems to be rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory pills. I think I'm going to take the next week off at least, anything I do now won't help me for track anyway. I also plan on icing and taking some ibuprofen.

1/12/11 Follow Up

Not much to report on this follow up. Don't run in Vibrams if you're planning on getting your feet wet when its cold out or when its snowy. My toes were numb by the end of my run. I would like to say, a few people asked me if my muscles "hurt" after running in my bikilas. The answer to that would be no, I simply just use more muscles and muscle groups, which in turn makes my muscles more tired....which in turn strengthens my muscles in the long run.  Just a comment, some people are very skeptical about these shoes because they lack "traditional" support. Once again I would like to clear this up. In "normal" running shoes, you run heel to toe, which allows most of the force to be distributed along the shin/quad area. However, in vibrams you run with a midfoot strike first, which allows the force to be directed into the calf, this allows the force to be distributed relatively harmlessly, while strengthening the calf. (Just as a side note I have noticed slightly more definition in this area). "Traditional" support is not needed because of the midfoot strike. However, Vibrams are not for everyone. Extreme cases of pronation, as well as serious running injuries would require an athlete to work into vibrams much more gradually. It just depends on the person.
This Video explains the midfoot strike....and for the record  I didn't actually listen to what the guy talking is saying. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM&feature=related

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