Zen and the Barefoot Joggler

mow that grass

2009-07-13T15:23:00.002-05:00

It's a good day to mow the grass. Warm, low humidity, with grass and weeds that are far, far too long. At least the village hasn't sent us a threatening letter yet.

Update (7/14/2009): My yard is getting lumpier and lumpier. It makes for a much more challenging surface than anything I run on.

Chia in tea and yogurt

2009-07-11T09:57:00.001-05:00

chia seeds in water
Originally uploaded by kashmunkey

After reading Born to Run, I felt that I needed to give Chia seeds a try. I bought a canister at Whole Foods last night and ate some in yogurt in the evening.

This morning a put a tablespoon in my cup of green tea. I think I would say that I enjoyed them more in yogurt. I'll see tomorrow morning whether or not I can now run for hundreds of miles.

Hiccup morning

2009-07-09T12:39:00.002-05:00

Spheres afloat
Originally uploaded by glvierra

This morning's run was a bad one. I was way overdue for a bad one. One word can describe the main problem -- hiccups.

I did a bunch of 4 ball fountain flashes last night. Still not great, but maybe slight better than before.

Sleep Short Run

2009-07-08T14:17:00.003-05:00

Through the rabbit hole
Originally uploaded by Simon Crubellier

This morning's run was a sleepy one. I'm not sure why. I got more sleep than the night before, but somehow couldn't really wake up on the run. I ended up cutting it a little short, which gave me time to lie down for about 20 minutes after the run, which felt good. I believe that running and sleep need to find a way to get along.

I think Sunday will be a good day for a long run. It's been awhile since I've gone on a truly long run. A run of an hour and a half would be good. I think that Jeff Galloway said that a run of 90 minutes every couple weeks or so is a good idea for some reason or other. I think it has something to do with how the body metabolizes fat. I just know that runs of 90 minutes or longer feel really good.

I think I want to make a strong push to learn 4 ball juggling, more specifically, the 4 ball fountain. I was able to do flashes a couple months ago, but I stopped working on it, given how poorly I was doing the flashes. I had no control at all. However, that isn't a good reason not to work on this. I think I just have to keep at it, no matter how badly I'm doing it initially. I think the 3 ball cascade won't be easier until I start becoming more proficient at more difficult patterns.

80 Percent

2009-07-07T11:17:00.004-05:00

speedo_80
Originally uploaded by lichtfaktor

As of this morning, I've run 8 out of 10 days. Not quite 10 days in a row, but I had a good excuse for the 2 days I didn't run. Both days were days where I had to drive a lot, and I felt there was no way that I could stay awake on the road if I got up early.

My running continues to go well. I'm enjoying the slow, relaxed pace.

My headlamp is essential gear right now. Except on Sundays, all my runs begin in mostly dark conditions. Fortunately, by the end of the run, the sun has come up.

My feet were a little more sensitive than usual this morning. I'm not sure why, but it seems that this happens from time to time, where they are more sensitive for some unknown reason. I still have a hard time imagining how my feet will ever be in condition for a half marathon, but I'm sure it will happen in time.

Random Wining

2009-07-05T15:19:00.000-05:00

Mein Wein / My Wine
Originally uploaded by rpeschetz

Why did I have all sorts of aches and pains yesterday? The run, which was a little more intense than I've done in awhile? Or the chia? Wouldn't think the chia would do something like that. Or maybe just one of those random things. Seems better today.

I find sometimes that I'm quite a slave to things that I have little control over. Need to work to have health insurance, but what does that really get me? Is it really any kind of security?

I see all sorts of things that are wrong with this world, but most of the time I feel pretty helpless to do anything that really makes any kind of difference, even when it comes to living the kind of life that I would like to live.

I see the excelleration of our collision with nature only increasing. We are in free fall, and that can get going pretty fast.

I like Obama well enough, but what's facing us now has been brewing for over 10,000 years, the time when we decided that we no longer had to live by the same rules that the rest of nature lives by. See where that has gotten us. Some people point to all the successes of Taker culture, but I think those successes mean nothing if Taker culture is nearly dead because of its path of self destruction.

I'm more and more seeing eyeglasses as orthotics for the eyes. And I've already seen how valid orthotics for the feet are.

Why would we evolved as such a myopic species? I suspect that we are no longer using our eyes the way evolution intended. Is there a way to change habits so that they are less myopic? It kind of sucks that I like to read so much.

I saw some cicada shells this morning. That can only be bad news in terms of future morning runs. Once again, it will be time to face that fear.

Sleepy Five

2009-07-02T14:41:00.002-05:00

I did get up and out the door this morning, but I think my sleep deficit is taking it's toll. I have a few aches and pains that have sprung up today, which came as a surprise. There was a point at work today, where I could hardly keep my eyes open as I was trying to get a task done.

But on the positive side, I did feel great by the end of this morning's run. I'm not sure if it's endorphins or something else, but I enjoy the daily fix.

Four Days

2009-07-01T11:26:00.002-05:00

Fours colors
Originally uploaded by Tambako the Jaguar

4 days in a row now. This is starting to feel more and more like a streak.

The good thing is that this feels like something that is working well with my body. My 5K recovery continues to go well. The remaining soreness is very minor. I think the tough thing for me to do now is to keep my effort down. I don't want to push a run at this point.

Given the time I'm getting up to run, I'm barely awake when I start off. It's interesting to see how I wake up as I run.

I'm not a big believer in stretching or warming up before a run. Instead, I like to start off gradually and ease into a run. It just feels like the right way for me to get a run started.

3 Day Streak

2009-06-30T15:31:00.004-05:00

False ego
Originally uploaded by photoprofiler

No, not joggling, but running. This morning's run felt pretty good. The flow was there.

Still sore from Sunday's 5K, but a mild sort of sore. Not much in terms of stair issues this time. I can see that this 5K took a lot less out of me than past 5K's. I think at this rate, I could easily run another 5K on Sunday, but I won't.

I've now got 2 years of barefoot running in. It seems like the only real way for me to run. I'm not sure I could run in shoes if I had to.

And after a couple years of doing this, I feel like I've learned how to do it to some degree. And I definitely no longer question whether or not I can do this. It seemed for a long time, I really wondered if barefoot was really right for me, even despite the fact that my knees felt so much better.

Run like a 4 year old

2009-06-29T13:55:00.002-05:00

I ran a 5K yesterday. It was an okay race, slow, but enjoyable. A few people wanted to talk to me about barefoot running during the race. Given the slowness of my pace, I had no trouble engaging in conversation. By the last mile, the crowd had thinned a great deal, and I was able to run at a decent clip.

The real fun came after the race, running with my son in the Youth Mile. He had a blast, and his joy was infectious. At 4 years old, he hasn't yet learned that running isn't supposed to be fun. I found myself finding a way to run at his pace, which was pretty cool. It reminded me of something I read recently that the two mistakes most runners make is that they don't run their slow runs slow enough or their fast runs fast enough.

So this morning, I ran a nice recovery run very, very slowly, with lots of walking mixed in. I think I may have finally figured this one out. Slow, slow, slow. I would like to see how well I can continue this kind of slow, relaxed pace in the days to come.

Also, I think I might be on another streak. Sure it is only 2 days in a row, but I just have a feeling about this. I think if I keep my pace and effort low, I can run daily. At least I hope so.

Negative splits

2009-06-27T09:05:00.001-05:00

I'm still really enjoying Born to Run. It's kind of like several books in one.

Walking

2009-06-26T11:43:00.002-05:00

After my upcoming 5K, I'm going to try to do a lot more walking. My foot continues to bother me on and off, and maybe more walking would help. At least it's worth trying.

I had a pretty good walk last night after I got home from work. The only downside of walking is that people tend to look at me a little funny. I think somehow running barefoot is more socially acceptable than walking barefoot.

Running for fun

2009-06-25T15:56:00.002-05:00

running leopard
Originally uploaded by denalidog

I had a pretty decent run this morning. A short run at the crack of dawn. The temp was in the upper 70's, and it was quite humid. Summer is definitely here.

I'm now about 2/3 into Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. I can say without a doubt that it's one of the best books I've read in years. One thing that keeps hitting me is that the runners he describes in the book love running, and they have a ton of fun on the run. I was thinking about this as I was running this morning. I was focusing on feeling the joy of running, without thinking about anything beyond that.

Born to Run works on at least a few different levels. It's an engaging story, with a large cast of colorful characters. But it's also a thought provoking investigation into the meaning of running and how this relates to our evolution as a species. And there is a description of what when wrong when the running became a commercial venture.

But there is something working in my mind at the moment, which is something that breaks the conventional rules about running. It seems that there are examples where people ramp up their running distances, and don't even come close to following the 10 percent rule. Basically, they go from no miles, or few miles to a ton of miles is short order. I wonder why this is.

Thoughts on Born to Run

2009-06-24T12:48:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to organize my thoughts about Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I think this will take some time. I wanted to take a quick stab at it and come back to this later as some of this sinks in.

It's probably one of the best books I've read in years. I might even rank it up near Ishmael in terms of enjoyment and impact.

Here are some of my thoughts and impressions:

It combines many elements -- Castaneda, Quinn, running, story telling, culture, evolution, flow, deliberate practice. In fact, the only area of interest that I've had in the last couple of decades that isn't somehow included in this book is juggling. It's not that McDougall is writing this book with me in mind, but because of some of the profound truths contained within it, it's easy for me to experience this book through the prism of my own experience.
Despite the fact that the Tarahumara run in shoes, they are very minimalist and not that far from barefoot.
McDougall gives a good history of the modern shoe fiasco.
The Tarahumara might very well be classified as a Leaver Culture.
The section on human evolution further enhances McDougall's main thesis.
If I haven't said it already, the thesis is something like this -- Humans were born to run. It's part of our evolutionary makeup. However, for various reasons, we've mostly lost contact with this part of our being.
A huge element to becoming a good runner is becoming a joyful runner. Without connecting to the joy of running, excellence is impossible.
The ultra community is on to something.
I think if I focus more on the fun and joy of running, all other goals related to running will take care of themselves.
The book works on several levels. The story is compelling. The characters are fascinating. The ideas about shoes, evolution, Tarahumara culture, ultra running, and running in general are food for thought.
Even with this book being as popular as it is, I doubt barefoot running will take off in a big way.

Duct Tape to the rescue again

2009-06-22T15:24:00.003-05:00

Duct Tape Diana
Originally uploaded by Mark-B

For yesterday's run, I duct taped my right big toe, and the results were great. No fear that I would re-injure it, and I was able to run without any issues. I went kind of hard the last 3 miles of the run and am feeling it today. It's the first time in quite awhile that I've felt sore the day after a run.

I'm about 30 pages into Born to Run and enjoying it a great deal. I will probably have more thoughts on this later as I get further along.

It seems like Summer hit all at once this year. I could really feel the humidity yesterday morning. It seemed like the first run of the year that was truly a Summer run. I try not to fight the heat, but just go along with it.

Sat morn tidbits

2009-06-20T09:13:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling the wrath of the little guy. I made a small mistake, which he is very unforgiving of. I'll wait this out, and I'm sure he will come back around.

I'm planning on trying duct tape on my big toe for tomorrow's run. I think with a bandaid on the tip, and duct tape wrapped around, that I will be able to protect it enough for a run. I'm still surprised that this little thing turned out to be such a big thing. At least it didn't get infected.

It seems like my running has had a few setbacks the last few months, but at least I'm still running, and I believe I haven't lost a whole lot in terms of conditioning.

We survived the latest deluge with only minimal basement seepage and a small pond in our backyard. But no real flood this time. After last summer's flood, we're a lot more wary of.

My juggling is still at a plateau, but not a good plateau. I'm competent, but not nearly good enough to be a decent joggler at this point.

Maybe shoes aren't so bad

2009-06-17T10:00:00.001-05:00

I admit that I can't jump like this barefoot.

afternoon toe update

2009-06-16T17:41:00.002-05:00

My toe was starting to trob by late afternoon, and I was a little concerned about how it would look when I finally got home and took off my shoes and socks. After doing so, and removing the two bandanges I had put on my toe, the results are pretty good. It looks much, much better than it did 10 days ago when the injury first occured. It's stinging a little after putting on some liquid bandage, but not too bad, and definitely no signs of infection.

My toe will live to run another day.

Barefoot runner injures toe and tries to blame shoes

2009-06-16T11:56:00.002-05:00

Shoes I'm wearing like they're the last pair of shoes on earth.
Originally uploaded by queenrobot

One step was all that it took. My good run turned bad. I scraped my previously injured toe and scraped my 10 day old scab right off from it. So once again, my toe was a bloody mess. I cut my run short so that I would have time to clean up the wound.

But I'm blaming a bad pair of shoes on this. What? You heard me. It's the shoes' fault!!! A week and a half ago I had to wear a pair of dress shoes for an extended period. It was the following morning that I ininitially ended up with the bloody toe. From what I could see and tell, I believe that a blister had formed on tip of my toe from the shoes, and that with the run, I managed to scrape it open.

In the past I've scraped my toe in such a way, without any noticeable damage, but I think this time, the shoes had primed me for a more major injury.

I guess there is no way for me to know this for sure.

Let me just say, that this won't keep me from running. Nope.

But I am pi$$ed that I had to cut a run short this morning. I think in the end, it will be fine. It was just an unplanned easy run.

Nolan Ryan challenges conventional thinking on pitch counts - Joe Posnanski - SI.com

2009-06-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

This reminds me a bit of the conventional wisdom about shoes.

Even with low pitch counts, modern pitchers seem to be injured at a rate that is pretty high. It would be interesting to see if there are any actual numbers on injury rates.

Maybe pitchers should try pitching barefoot, instead of messing with their pitch count.

Nolan Ryan challenges conventional thinking on pitch counts - Joe Posnanski - SI.com

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breaking the pattern

2009-06-13T10:49:00.003-05:00

Broken Pattern
Originally uploaded by Lee Coursey

After 7 straight runs of following the every third day pattern, I'm considering breaking the pattern and running Sunday instead of Monday, and then maybe running again Thursday to balance things out. The problem with running Monday is that I need to go into work especially early, which means that I would have to run very, very early, which I'm not thrilled about.

My feet and legs feel good, but I don't really want to push my luck too much here.

I think the other alternative would be to run Tuesday instead.

I might just see how I'm feeling tomorrow morning.

Steady, upward progress

2009-06-12T11:49:00.007-05:00

RecentRuns
Originally uploaded by Zataod

I had another pretty good run this morning. Both my feet seem to be feeling better, and the toe is good as well. This morning couldn't have been more perfect, except for the lack of light before the sun finally got it's ass out of bed 35 minutes after I left the house. The temp was a hair above 50, with little or no wind.

I found that I got stronger as the run went on, which always feels like a good sign.

I'm realizing now that my foot issue (achy toes) was really a good thing. I had to take a short break from running (7 days off), then come back slower, with more recovery days between runs. I'm now to the point where my overall monthly distance is where it was before, but I'm doing the miles spread out in a different way. No more Sunday long runs, but my regular runs are now longer than before, and I've been able to increase the distance in a methodical way.

I think part of this is liking the asthetic of the bar graph that comes up went I enter in my runs online. I think that running every 3rd day is giving me more recovery time, but also forcing me to get more out of my runs. At some point soon, though, the upwards progress will level off. The thing standing in the way right now is time. I'm at about the limit of how early I want to get up on the morning. I can squeeze out another 10 minutes or so, but I'm not going to do much more than that. I figure then I'll just find ways to get more out the runs in other ways.

Winners get all the credit

2009-06-12T08:46:00.002-05:00

I find the following grade report on the NBA Finals game 4 to be puzzling. Basically, the two teams played nearly equally well, resulting in a game tied at the end of regulation. Yet, the Lakers players got pretty good grades from this reporter, and the Magic players were panned. This is the reverse of the grading from Game 3, which the Magic one (also a close game).

The way I see it, these teams are nearly evenly matched, but a play here or there is what ends up swinging the games.

Stan Van GundyÂ fails as Magic coachÂ in crucial Game 4 of Finals - NBA - SI.com

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By the way, I'm a big Phil Jackson fan.

Ad for barefoot running

2009-06-11T15:29:00.001-05:00

I never thought I would see an ad advocating barefoot running until I saw this last night:

Exhaustive workout, just through watching

2009-06-10T15:09:00.002-05:00

I was tired and sore just by watching this video. I aspire to something like this, but I'm far, far away from realizing this vision.