100-Up (or what lots of barefoot/minimalists are now talking about after Christopher McDougall’s NY Times Article)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Robinson — 3 Comments

So, this morning – I was unable to get myself out of bed to go and run. I think knowing it is around 30-40 degrees in the morning and 60ish after work is not helping. I see a pleasant evening run in my near future. However, since I did not run – this post must be about something else right? INDEED!

Yesterday, while reviewing interesting things on the Interwebs, I ran across a NY Times article by Christopher McDougall published the day before. It was, as one might expect when he is mentioned, about running. Specifically (again, no surprise) about something that could help barefoot/minimalist runners.

Picture from Wikipedia

He had found an Essay written in 1908 titled ““W. G. George’s Own Account From the 100-Up Exercise.” Walter Goodall George was born in 1858 – so there were obviously no Nike’s, Fuel Belts, VFFs or any of the other wonderful things we are used to having as modern runners. With training himself – he ran his first race and won in 4:29 (with a 45-yard handicap given to him as he was a “noob.”) At the age of 21, he won the mile (again in 4:29) and the four mile in the 1879 Amateur Championships. Ho won the mile and four mile the following year at the Amateur Athletic Association, and set a new amateur world record in august with a 4:23.20. Read more ›

Tagged with: 100 up, 100 up exercise, Barefoot Running, Christopher McDougall, distance running, McDougall, New York Times, VFFs, Vibram Five Fingers, W G George, William Cummings
Posted in barefoot running, Cross Training, Other Exercise, running

A wonderful evening run, and a nice way to start the day.

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Robinson — 2 Comments

I hadn’t run the entire time on vacation, despite bringing my running clothes and having access to a “fitness center.” It wasn’t that the one treadmill in the “fitness center” wasn’t good enough – but that the walking I did was. I (of course) wore my Vibram Five Finger Bikilas – the brand new red ones. Each day we must have walked at least 5 miles and at the end of the day my calves were sore. The good news, is that it was a “Good” sore – of a well used calf muscle, and not a “OH MY GOD I AM IN PAIN!!!!” type sore. Since I am “Starting over” – it seemed logical to me to not put further stress on a well exercised muscle that has been my injury point. Last Night however, my calves were doing well – so I took off for an evening run.

I had my phone with me to track the distance, but had the volume down so that I was just enjoying the run. I had a loop in mind that was somewhere between 2.5 and 3 miles, so off I went. It was AWESOME!!!! No pain in my muscles, no Achilles tendon pain, no shin splints – it was GREAT. It was one of those runs that make you look forward to your next run. This seemed especially remarkable to me as my “Track-record” hasn’t been very good for running in the last month or two. Usually I would be wheezing and questioning why I had taken so much time off – but not last night! It was like a cosmic-reward for doing the “right thing” and taking it easy.. (ok, maybe not.. but it is how it felt!) I was especially pleased that the first two miles were each under 9 minutes!

Marine corps marathon 2011

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Robinson — Leave a comment

I got to see the beginning of this years Marine Corps Marathon and it was a sight to see. It appeared that the last runners crossed the starting line around the 20 minute mark and there were clothes EVERYWHERE!!!!

Later in the day we were over at the national zoo, and I saw my first marathon finisher. Even if she hadn’t been wearing here medal, the “omg I forgot my compression shorts” walk was a dead giveaway. I never saw a person so happy with themselves.

Of course throughout the rest of the day we saw more finishers, but I suspect that none of them felt s much of an accomplishment as the first one I saw.

Congratulations to all the finishers!

Posted in running

Marine Corps Marathon Expo

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Robinson — 2 Comments

So, this was my first expo, even if it isn’t my first marathon. I will have to admit, it was pretty awesome. I could have spent an entire pay check there, though granted – that isn’t as much as I might like,and I suspect I could have even gone over that.

I should have some pictures up for your viewing pleasure after I return to NY. I don’t have a great internet connection here at the Sheraton National.

I picked up my “packet,” even though I am not running, and the turtleneck is nice! I got a shoe-pouch for IDs and other great swag. I did try to find “will run for margaritas” author, but couldn’t. None the less, the runner’s porn was incredible..

Posted in running

Listening to my body, even when it seems lazy.

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Robinson — Leave a comment

Two miles on the Dread-mill last night. This allowed me to appreciate one aspect of “starting over” — a 2 mile run on a treadmill is easy to deal with. 20 minutes comes and goes fairly quickly, especially when compared to the days I have done 7!! I kept the dreadmill at a steady 6.2 mph, and ran for 20 minutes plus a dash to make it an even 2.1 miles. Felt fine (though boring), no real pain of any sort – no noticeable tightness in my foot like my run outside. One difference is that I wore my old Vibram Five Fingers Bikilas, instead of my new ones. The new ones are a size bigger (42) to help with room for socks in the winter.

I also did the calf-lifts 3 different times throughout the day. I suspect these are the reason that when I awoke this morning, ready to hop on the dread-mill, that my calves were sore. Going under my new “listen to the body” – I skipped running. I am concerned that I have to be careful here.. My body may just be slothful. Seriously though, I figure that I needed to skip it – as I am building my calves up from NOT running in the VFFs for almost two months. This is especially true as I stopped running, due to calf injury. My wife was also nice enough to point out to me that the calf exercises I am doing also strengthen the ankle in general. BONUS!

Thats it for the day – only a few more days of my “Feasting” existence.. We have a reservation on saturday for Fogo De Chao – the greatest restaurant of all time. Once we get back from our little vacation however – back to eating properly!

As a Note: I had to edit yesterday’s posting. The new toe socks were NOT Injinji socks, but from a company called “SMARTWOOL”

Tagged with: Fogo De Chao
Posted in recovery, running, running shoes, vibram five fingers

Product Review: SmartWool Toe Socks

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Robinson — 2 Comments

So, After wearing my black toe socks since I got them in May (washing them every night), They finally got a little hole in the heel. (Those Darn Socks!) I figure that I got my money out of them – considering I wore them at least 5 times a week. Yes, one pair – five times a week – washing them every night. I figured at $12.00/pair – I was going to get my moneys worth!

Well, I have not yet attempted to darn these darn socks – but figured I needed another pair. Off to EMS with my wife!!!!!! They had no black Injinji Socks.. Or VFF Trek LS… or Red Bikilas… Wasn’t a good shopping day there. My wife insisted I get at least A pair – even if they didn’t have black, so I went with the greenish-grey ~~smart wool~~ SMARTWOOL brand. I chose this pair because it was the only pair they had in the right size.

On the road again… I just can’t wait to get on the road again…

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Robinson — 2 Comments

So, on my before-last post – I was talking about doing the couch to 5k.. And here is what I discovered.

I can’t do it.

It was BOOOOORRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!! And exceedingly aggravating. Now Mind you, I’m not saying it isn’t a good choice for a new runner – but to go out there and “jog” (I’m notajogger either!!!!) for only a minute, and then walk for a minute and a half (and repeat until you hit 20 minutes)- when I know I can just run the entire 20 minutes…. I couldn’t do it. Read more ›

Tagged with: Marine Corps Marathon
Posted in recovery, running, running shoes, vibram five fingers

Sometimes it’s feast, and sometimes it’s famine.

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Robinson — 1 Comment

Now, by looking at my title and knowing this is a running blog, one might assume I am referring to sometimes you can run a lot, and sometimes you can’t.

Well, in this case – I meant it literally. On my last post I was going to go run – yet I forgot a couple of things. I forgot that my son’s chorus was restarting on monday. That I had a cub scout meeting to run on Tuesday. That it was my wife’s birth-week. (we celebrate for a week, not a day).

So in honor of this important week – we have been feasting a lot. I like to think of it as “creating incentive to run.” Moe’s on Tuesday. Kampai Japanese steakhouse on Wednesday Probably something bad today too (and this is not counting the weekend when we can REALLY misbehave..)

So, I felt I owed you folks an explanation of my silence.

I haven’t run. 😦

But I PROMISE that I will this weekend!

Posted in running

Woo Hoo! A New beginning!

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Robinson — Leave a comment

So today is going to be my “First” day of running again! I’m pretty excited about this, while dreading the monotony and boredom of doing “less than I know I can.” But then that attitude is what got me into this situation in the first place isn’t it?

So today’s “schedule” for the couch to 5k is:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Hopefully my kids want to go with me. It will make it MUCH easier to follow the plan as my daughter will not hesitate to ~~whine~~ encourage me to follow it accurately.

I do still have some minor pain in my shins, so I am a little nervous to see how that goes.

yup.. That’s it.. Short post today. But I will let you know how it goes!

Posted in running

Stupidity is painful in running (unlike most of life ) to the stupid person.

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Robinson — 1 Comment

First comment today – is on my leg. The calf/shin doesn’t “hurt” anymore. Though It still feels off, definitely not up to running yet. Its hard to describe how it feels (wonky doesn’t explain it does it?), kind of tight, almost sore – but not quite.. Today is my first day of not wearing a Compression Sleeve to see how it feels.

Now the rest of Today’s post is brought to you courtesy of my old friend Michelle, who was kind enough many (many, many) years ago to rent me a room back in my Navy days. She had responded to my last post with this:

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve been thinking about your situation and wanted to post my 2 cents. Take it or leave it.

I have watched you post about injury after injury which is “normally” a indication of over-training. I’m wondering if there is a way to have someone assess your running posture? Since you have a background in track, is it possible that you are running too forward and too fast (indicative of track running) for longer endurance runs? The shin splints tends to suggest this as well. If this is the case, I would highly suggest taking a look at Jeff Galloways running plans. He uses splits to keep you from really over doing it, but surprisingly speeds up your overall time. I use his training plans all the time. Check out the Disney World Half Marathon plans – that’s the next half marathon for Keith and I. Read more ›

Tagged with: Couch to 5K, Jeff Galloway, Road running, Shin-Splints, Strain (injury)
Posted in running, running injury

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: