Tuesday 31 December 2013

On front foot running and new trainers.

I an going to start with a scream. AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

There, I feel much better now thank you. the reason for the scream is that I have just purchased a new pair of running shoes. And my word what a faff that was.

Firstly I am a size 12 (UK). Sometimes an 11 and for trail shoes I was looking for a 13 - to allow my feet to swell when running. Secondly I had researched and had an idea of the shoes I was looking for. The frustration came from either the shops not having my size in - which is annoying to start with, and secondly for the same patter from the sales assistants. No I don't want to try the brand you are pushing I know which ones I want thank you.

Blugh. In the end I bought myself a very lightweight pair of HighTechs. The are comfy and neoprene and have decent grip. Not purpose built trail shoes but should serve what I want them to.

Which brings me kind of to the next point. Part of the issue I had buying trainers is that I have worn my shoes to destruction. Actually I might get a bit more life out of one pair of them, but they are slick in terms of grip and have no padding in them anymore. Which is fine by me as I am used to them. However when people in the shops started talking about 'gel boost', 'double padding', 'blah blah blah' it meant that I shut off. I wanted very low profile shoes which would keep my running in a similar vein to what I had been used to so far.

Which all fits with the book I have been reading since Christmas Day, the very excellent Born to Run . Once again it highlights the benefits that front foot - or at least mid point striking - can have on running health and performance.

Which has lead to an interesting situation. I decided to give it another go, this time starting very very low on the mileage. Once again the speed was greater, even though I did my best to be controlled and mindful of footfalls. Fitness wise I felt fine, as you might expect being a little bit fitter and better than when I was trying this before. However, and it is a big however, I still got the same pains up my calf muscles.

Maybe its just not for me?

Or maybe I am not using my brain when I consider my injuries. If you think about the position of the foot on mid/front foot striking it raised the heel off the ground. This means the heel hardly impacts on the ground as it would with heel striking. Now a lot of data/papers/books/articles state that heel striking is bad for knees and hips as it transfers the impact straight up through the long bones to these areas. Front foot striking minimizes this by bringing into play all of the archway, ligaments and support network that the foot has evolved to have. OK so what I can hear you wondering, does this have to do with my straining of my calf muscles.

Well what if it isn't muscle strain? What if it is actually pain caused by using a tendon more than it is used to being used? Physiologically this would make sense, after all I still ran further in one continual plod than I would if I was sprinting in short bursts about a 5-a-side pitch (the other main time when I am forefront striking).

If it is an awakening of the tendon/ligament and it is due to standing on the ball of the foot more than what it is used to, or at least more continually, then surely I need to keep the mileage low to start with but just keep working on it in order to strengthen and improve that stamina.

I have no idea, if I am honest what the answer is. After all I don't really get injured so why am I once again considering changing how I run? Is it based on the ravings of a few books, or because it means I can still run in completely beat up trainers.

Or is it because I am not getting injured yet. I met with my cousins and uncles for a post Christmas drink recently and the majority of them (including my dad) are all suffering with knee injuries from running. In fact of all of them at least 4 have said (out of 6) that they won't run anymore due to knee pains.

Add to that the fact I am the second oldest in that group and a worrying trend opens up. Maybe I am looking to rebuild how I run not to go faster and further, but to stave off the need to be rebuilt myself!

This becomes especially salient in the light of my aim to run ultra events.

Like any sport the training will be fairly intense and I am expecting to need have to spend some time recovering before I am where I need to be. However my low profile trainers - very little heel - and a conscious effort to land on the front of my foot should see me right. Providing of course I can rein in my enthusiasm and keep the distances low enough to start with.

A few points to finish on. Firstly a quick flick through a load of running magazines show the majority of runners clearly landing with a heel strike. This added to the adverts for high heeled running shoes gives the impression that a more minimalist approach is still not seen to be the normal way to run, despite the evidence to the contrary. It also seems that even though the magazines always cover diet, core strength, stamina and equipment then never seem to have articles focusing on what should be the most important part of running, how you strike the floor.

Secondly I am by hook or crook starting to get more interested in human evolution and adaptation again - it never really went away just went quiet for a while - the evolution of the foot and the relationship between our gross anatomy and the mechanics behind the foot I am finding more and more interesting. Maybe I have finally found something that could hold my interest to study at PhD level?

Who knows? I am sure I will blog about it when I do though.

Happy New Year

Chris

Friday 27 December 2013

Back, never went away, honestly!

Hello one and all (all 4 of you).

I haven't written in a while (as documented here) but I have kept running. I haven't managed to increase my distances as much as I had originally planned but I have improved my times and my general fitness and stamina are much, much better. Which is always a good thing.

Plus I have entered a few races.

I have also made it through 4-5 months without an injury (if you exclude a few bruised toenails). I have however destroyed two pairs of trainers. By destroyed I mean the grip has been well and truly eroded and now they are a lot similar to running on the plimsolls when I gave that ago.

Which kind of, sort of, brings me to what this post is about.

I have been running, and getting better and refining how I strike the ground. I know that my back is much straighter now - less collapsing as I get tired - and my feet are kept below my body more.

I am also consciously trying to keep my number of steps high and my stride length low. This is very useful for trail running and also seems to help me go further without feeling completely shattered.

So all is looking rosey in the running world of Chris.

So what is bugging me. Surely all I have to do now is work on speed and increase the distances I cover so my body gets more used to it (same as going from 1 - 8 miles as going from 26 - 50).

In short I have plateaued.

In the last two weeks I have also injured my knee.

This occurred on a lovely sunny day up Bluebell Hill in Kent. I went for a nice run with Geoff and Nick the Meerkat. Unfortunately little did Geoff and I know but the hills up that area were slick mud from the rains. This made the initial pad out from the car park pretty treacherous underfoot. Unfortunately this culminated a few miles into the run with my slipping and - for once - actually falling over. In the process I managed to twist and land heavily on my knee. Although at the start it didn't hurt by the end of the run it was shooting pain into me and causing my great discomfort.

Awesome. The first few days following walking was sore but eventually my knee eased up and by the end of the week I was back running about.

Nothing major. I went for a run Christmas Eve Eve with Geoff, Dave and Nick the Meerkat. 8 miles nothing major, bit of fun trail and it wasn't until the end of the run that the knee began to hurt. OK so maybe a little more damaged than I originally thought but within a day (again) the pain had mostly subsided and movement was fully restored.

Which lead me to my boxing day run. I decided to go for a longer run than I have in a while. In fact I wandered 25 km in total. A distance I haven't covered since the trail marathon in September.

Here is the crux of it. I could have run further, fitness wise and slotting into my running I could have run much more.

However my knee began to ache towards the 20 km total. However instead of the sharp pangs of pain I was expecting my right hamstring began to tighten up. This I felt slowed me considerably towards home, however a later inspection of 1 km splits showed that the slowing down occurred long before the tightening of the hamstring.

Yesterday evening and today a secondary pain has been playing itself out. My Achilles feel like they have been stretched so much that now they are 'whipping' and 'popping' back in place every time I flex my foot with weight on it.

Which leads me to the dilemma I am looking to solve. Fitness wise I know that I can do more, but can my joints do it?

This is something that I think I need to work on. I may even lace up the old plimsolls and try running on a more minimalist sole to achieve this...

Saturday 24 August 2013

Early Reviews

So while I tuck into a breakfast of spiced noodles (very good I recommend it, maybe not for breakfast though) I have had a few days and a few runs to play around with the various apps I have been toying with.

Just by way of an introduction on this, so far I have been on two training runs. One of 2.1 miles and another of 5 miles. The rest of the time has been spent stretching and squatting and trying to speed up the recovery of my calf injury. Before I launch into my opinions I just want to say that today was very wet and close. Lots of humidity (for South East England) and that was really tough going. Humidity has to be my least favourite condition to run in!

Anyway that aside here are my current thoughts.

Nike+

First up is Nike+ Running. This so far is the only app which has needed calibrating with distance (it was initially .4 of a mile out). It is very simple to use and can be used in conjunction with Nike Training Club for a complete workout program. It also can be linked up to the various Nike+ devices available (GPS watches etc) if you have the funds or inclination. It also has the advantage of advertising its use on running machines, I don't run indoors so don't know about the other apps but Nike+ states this early on so I assume its a good thing? I really like the simplicity of it but it did crash out on me making me think I had lost my run data! Fortunately it had backed up an un-synced version of the run so a sigh of relief was breathed. I still however have no idea what Nike fuel is other than something you collect as you do more exercise!

Map My Run

I have to admit Map My Run is an app I have used in the past but never been very keen on. I like it in principle but I find the controls a little clunky and the feedback a little slow going. The ability to log foods and record calories intake and usage is very good, I just still am on the fence with it although I feel that is just a personal position. In terms of what it offers and what it can do the app is very good and very well put together. I just, I dunno, its just not for me I think. Sounds odd I know.

My Fitness Pal

I really like this little app. It was recommended to me by a friend and is more of a workout diary than anything else. It allows you to record your exercises, your food and tells you the calories you should be taking on and how you are doing based upon details you give it. For instance I want to maintain my weight (I am running for fitness not to loose weight) so it tells me how many calories I am down by etc or how many over my allowance I have gone. A neat touch is it tells your a projected weight if you keep your current diet and exercise regime up. I like this touch. Obviously it is a bit of a pain having to record all of your food and exercise onto the app however I found it has more varied foods than Map My Run and is a lot easier and quicker to use. Plus if you really can't find the food you can always create the meal yourself on there. All in I think this may be a keeper already. Very impressed with it.


Run Keeper

This was the app that all the notice boards and articles seemed to recommend. It is a very simple to navigate and intuitive app with some very nice features, if you like those kinds of things. For instance you can use its training programs for distance, pace or race improvements. You can set your own goals whether these are to run at a quicker pace or complete a race on a set day (the countdown to my half-marathon is a bit ominous though). It gives you the standard information same as the other running apps - distance, pace, incline etc - so on that front it isn't much different to the other apps. The one thing that puts me off it is that it speaks to you. I am sure you can turn this off but I haven't worked out how to do it just yet. I hadn't realised that the app did this until I was just over half a mile into a 2 mile run and she (its an American female voice) started barking out my pace and distance for everyone to hear. As someone who uses and iPod nano for music and the phone just for GPS I was not prepared for this and it threw me off my stride. Not really a fan of that feature, but I imagine properly plugged in it could be a great motivating tool. Just not for me I feel. Will still give it a bit more of a go though.

Map My Tracks

I will be honest here. Map My Tracks has not been used yet. It was only downloaded so that I could sync up any exercise on there with the Map My Tracks Endurance. Endurance has a neat setting that allows you to tone down the frequency of GPS connection allowing for maximum battery life for full endurance events. Next time I am off on a long hike, bike ride or some such I will use it then and see how accurate it is. If the delayed GPS still gives a good indication of distance/time/pace then I will try Map My Tracks on runs as well.

Backpacker GPS Trails

This is an app I have downloaded for my upcoming holiday. The principle behind it is that it will take your GPS reading and tell you of nearby backpacking routes and trails. The more you use it obviously the better the trails get realised. It also means that your trails, the ones you have rambled on, are recorded for you to load up again if you go back to the area. As I said this is more for when I am on holiday but, adverts and paid content aside, the main issue that seems to crop up is it is very American heavy. Will see how it shapes up on holiday but I am not at this moment holding out too much hope.

Strava

I have to admit Strava is still my favourite at the moment. There is a lot of frustrating features no doubt, people taking your records, leader boards showing some people to be superhuman and the time that it didn't quite record your path correctly so you don't get a record on a segment. However those are, to me at least, very slight issues. It maps routes very accurately really (was only seconds off my official Mid Kent 5 Miler time) if you shut other apps down on the phone the battery life will last pretty well (although if your in a weak GPS area it will drain it quicker - why I carry a spare battery) and it is just really simple to use. The simplicity is one of the main reasons I like it. I like that it has the challenges, my own stupidity aside, it is nice to have them as something to aim for when your not entered in an event. It is less ramming social interaction down your throat (most of the other apps constantly want you to tweet or post on Facebook your performance). Plus it has nearly a years worth of data on me now. That's pretty hard to give up (Run Keeper congratulated me on my longest single run today). So the others have to to be pretty special to ween me off Strava. Early days so far but the task, I feel, is a big one.

Thursday 22 August 2013

Friends, Injuries, phone apps.

I am an idiot at times.

Not always but quite often.

When we last left it I had finished a half marathon over trails and was nursing some sore calf muscles.

Since then I have continued to run fairly regularly, at times running to work and back, in order to average maybe about 5-8 miles a day. On top of this I have also struggled through another half marathon over trail (the same route as before) with my friends Geoff and Nick.

First thing to talk about, running with friends...

Some people really enjoy it. I sometimes struggle with it. I understand the communal nature and the fact that running with friends gives a social aspect and can help pull you along when you run, sometimes though I struggle to shake the feeling that if I need to stop and recover that I am letting my mates down. Plus sometimes I like to zone out and run almost zen like. Though running with friends is to be encouraged I think, for support and help and just someone to talk to on a longer run.

Anyway.

So all my negative thoughts aside the main thing about running with friends is the fact that talking helps you to run at a steady pace and control your breathing. The best thing about running with friends is that if you get hurt or have an injury (like my sore calf) they will stop and let you stretch out.

In my case they won't leave you and will stay and physically stretch you in order to help you out. There is also the fact that they may know more exercises and stretches to help you out.

This was the case on my recent run with Geoff and Nick. Never once did they complain about me having to stop because of my injury. Never once did they consider leaving me and finishing the run (which they both could easily have done in a much quicker time). And both were on hand with much needed energy bars and stretching advice (and painkillers) to help me through the run so that I could finish too.

Plus Geoff bought me a post run beer (IPA excellent stuff).

Speaking of injuries my own calf injury seems to have gotten worse. I think I need now to be realistic about my recovery. Rather than just plowing through and trying to run through the injury I need to be active on my recovery more. Working on stretches and strengthening the muscle groups involved. From what I can see crunches and calf raises seem to be the order of the day.

I also think I will be giving the minimalist running a little bit of a miss for a while. Especially as I think my current injury stems from that.

Which is no good 2 weeks before the half-marathon.

Which is what I am running now (got my registration sorted out).

The worst thing about my calf injury is that shorter distances seem to be beyond me at the moment. Which is very frustrating. It also brings me on to phone apps.

For a while I have been using Strava as my phone app of choice. It seems brilliant and I have no issue with it.

Except.

Firstly on really long runs my battery drains very quickly. Something I have combated by purchasing a spare battery from eBay (but then smartphones don't seem to last long anyway).

Secondly the challenges, I know I don't have to enter or pay attention to them but I can't help myself. I also can't help trying to constantly go faster. Also my exercise regime has shifted now and is much more active than it has been in a while.

I have gone from 2-3 runs a week averaging about 3 miles a run to running 4-5 runs over 7 miles.

Strava is great for runs and challenging yourself and record keeping (though there is some criticism about it promoting reckless cycling by people trying to get KOM's on stages). However what I need now is something that can start providing more training. Specifically when it comes to food. I don't think my diet currently provides enough calories to help me recover from my exercises. After all I am not trying to loose weight just get fitter.

I have 3 apps that I am looking to use while I decide on the best one.

Currently looking the best is RunKeeper (it also has very good reviews on line and training plans).

I am also looking at MapMyRun (which allows the logging of food as well) and MapMyTracks (which has an endurance app for very long events).

I will let you know how my recovery goes and also how my app trials work out.

Thursday 15 August 2013

A Trail Half Marathon Up a Mountain

So my first foray into minimalist running left me with two very sore calf muscles. That evening I went to my friend Geoff's house prior to going to the cinema to see the very excellent Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. Geoff, who is much more experienced and fitter, introduced me to his foam roller.

I have to say that running your sore muscles over a foam roller doesn't sound like it would hurt to much.

The truth is that it's agony.

It is very uncomfortable however afterwards the muscles feel looser and much, much better.

Which I think was one of my first mistakes.

Of many.

The drive to the cinema, the sitting through a film and meal afterwards all served to start my legs seizing up. However at the time I felt fine and walking was, although a little limpy, not to bad at all.

So I agreed to a run with Geoff along the North Downs Way the next day. The route we planned was simple. Maidstone to the Shell garage near Tyland Barn Wildlife Centre then up a steep hill in Westfield Wood and follow the Downs along to Detling before running back to Boxley village and Maidstone.

I had done the route before and it is around 10 miles.

Nice and easy.

Second mistake.

The next morning I awake to the inability to walk properly. My sore calves from the day before are now causing me lots of discomfort.

So the day is spent stretching and trying to loosen them up. Eventually they reach a point where moving is, although still uncomfortable, not impossible.

Then I plug in and do a little bit of school work, still stretching my calves under the desk as I type.

This is followed by a big bowl of pasta in preparation for the afternoon run with Geoff.

My camel pack is filled up and readied - with a minor modification to where the lid has broken and has to be sealed with a sandwich bag! Trail mix and cereal bars are also packed into my bag and my phone is fully charged for the GPS.

Geoff arrived at mine and slowly, steadily we set off.

Running, even shod, felt much easier than walking. This was probably due to the bounce into each step and the lack of full movement in my ankle - which would stretch and move my sore calves.

The first part of the run, the slow and steady climb to Westfield Wood went without incident and in a fairly respectable time. The first two miles taking 9:03 and 9:39 followed by a steady 1 mile ascent to the woods at 11:30.

So far so good.

Then the run through the woods up to the North Downs Way. We decided to take a slightly different route up to the top of the hill and after almost getting run down by a mountain biker found that the progress was very steady and slight on the incline.

This worried me as the usual route was a steep incline followed by a semi-plateauing allowing for a walk then run onto the trail.

Either one of two things would happen. The route would not lead to the North Downs Way or the route would suddenly ramp up and have a very steep, lung busting incline.

It was the latter.

We went from 326 ft elevation to 626 ft elevation in under half a mile.

Geoff being used to this sort of thing jogged up without seeming to break stride. I can't run that sort of elevation when my legs are working properly, the best I managed was a 'powerful' stride up.

In my corner though, I never lost sight of Geoff. Although I did have to push off my legs with my arms and one point!

So having climbed in total from 86 ft to 626 ft in 2.50 (ish) miles we then started jogging along the undulating terrain at the top of Westfield Wood. Geoff was in his element in among the trees and trails and although I know he could have kept a quicker pace I managed to keep up fairly comfortably.

At this stage we had managed a mighty 4 miles.

We still hadn't decided to run a half marathon at this stage, we were just out on a nice long trail run on a warm afternoon.

After a quick stop to take on some food and water we proceeded along the North Downs Way. The views from the top of the hill down into the valley that Maidstone and its neighbours occupy are amazing. This and the ever changing terrain. The looking out for slick chalk or large flint pieces really help keep the mind occupied and help you forget about any ailments of fatigue that you may feel.

If that fails then there is always the fact you are running with someone to chat to.

From a personal point of view running alongside a much more experienced and better runner helps 'pull you along' in that you don't want to hold them up or in my case seem to be weak and struggling in front of a friend.

I remember the Hell Runner training run just under a year ago when a large group of us (Geoff included) went for a run after school. I spent most of the run at the back floundering and wondering what the hell I was doing.

Today on this run, even though we probably were not going as quickly, I was at least holding my own.

During the ducking and diving in and out of the way of branches (or through a branch as I did at one point), with Geoffs watch beeping to tell us of each successive mile we completed, we hit upon the idea of extending this and doing a full half marathon distance.

Mistake number 3.

The reasoning was simple. As it often is.

We had run for 5 miles with, apart from the steep incline, no real issues. Even my calves were holding up and surprisingly I was not suffering with my back or knees. I had a fear that not being fully fit my landing on each step would be heavy and might jolt or jar my knees or lower back. Fortunately I feel the route we were on might have been much more forgiving than I had expected.

So the die was cast. Instead of cutting back through Boxley we would stay on the Pilgrims way to the Shell garage and then retrace our steps back to Maidstone via the full length of Grange Lane. This was the lane we ran half of on the way to the garage as we cut into it from my house. Once we had run Grange Lane we could then run up a nice steady hill to Penenden Heath and should, in theory, be able to finish our 13.1 miles at the Bull and have a drink.

Simple!

Mistake 4.

The run to Detling was fairly simple and quite pleasant. We ran down the hill and got onto the Pilgrims way. We chatted about ideas for careers outside of teaching, put the world to rights and jogged on.

Eventually the trail we were on died away and we ran along a road until it started up again. We were just under 8.5 miles.

Then things got tough.

The distance from 8.5 miles to 10 miles hurts.

I think it is a psychological thing. I think that when you are on your way 'out' on a run the first 5-8 miles seems to come up fairly easily. You feel fresh and each step takes you closer to the halfway stage. Then you reach about 7 miles and you are halfway to a half marathon.

Whoot! Etc.

However it then feels like the slog kicks in, you have still all that you have run so far to do again. Your strength starts to sap. You begin to question what you are doing and focus starts to become harder to come by. You need to drive yourself on almost by sheer force of will.

Or maybe that is just me.

What I do know is that the lane we ran down between 8.5 and 9.3 miles (so less than a mile) was very hard work.

Once the 10 mile marker came things got a little bit easier again. This was down to a few things I think. One, the psychology of being inside the final 3 miles kicks in and you get a boost helping you feel that this is do able. Two, this part of the route was downhill.

So the steady incline at Grange Lane came and went and the run up the gradual hill back to Maidstone appeared. Before we knew where we were, with sore calves (Geoff even admitting his knee was starting to hurt) we arrived at the Bull.

It wasn't 13.1 miles.

We were a mile and a bit shy.

Bollocks.

Right a quick change of plan, I knew a route that was 1.1 miles and would loop us around to finish at the Bull, we set off.

We reached the top of a hill up Boxley Road and opposite Heathfield Road. Geoff admitted he didn't have much left. I knew I had already gone past that point.

Short cut.

Through Heathfield, it might just about bring us up to the distance we wanted.

We jogged down the road, worried that it was a cull-de-sac but nonetheless plowing on. Pace completely disintegrated at this point and we were running 12:56 miles.

We reached the main road sooner than expected. Geoffs GPS watch (which we were going on) said that he had half a mile left to do. We did not think we could do half a mile but we were too close to quit.

We ran down past a pub (tempting) and through Heath Woods. More trail and fairly flat. My vision began to go funny due to the low light inside the woods. I struggled to keep my breath from being ragged and had to focus on taking one step at a time.

I find when I get close to finishing runs of set distances that the temptation is to 'run away with it' and try to finish strongly. I get a tremendous sense of anxiety at wanting to finish, for it to be over. This time I had no energy for such an endeavour.

We stopped just off from the park at Penenden Heath. Geoffs GPS still had us shy of the distance. I quickly checked mine.

My app claimed we had run 13.3 miles.

Big grin on my face 'that'll do for me'!

We decided to run around the heath to the Bull for our celebratory drink of IPA. During the run around Geoffs GPS watch counted down to the magical number and it too eventually claimed we had run a half marathon.

Quickly to the bar, with the little strength I had, I returned with the drinks to assess the stats.

13.5 miles covered.

2 hr 30 minutes moving time.

Average pace 11:09/mile.

1,054ft elevation gain.

Calories burnt 2,474.

Total time of run 2 hr 46.

To put that into context the last time I covered a half marathon distance my time was 1 hr 48!

This run hurt. The walk home (in the rain) hurt.

Getting in and out of the bath hurt.

Putting antiseptic cream on my chaffed nipples and rubbed groin hurt.

My shoulders from carrying the camel pack (of which I drank the full 2 litres during the run) really hurt.

My lower back still hurts.

I slept in long socks to try to stop my calves from hurting. They still hurt.

Stairs are my nemesis and sitting/lying/walking all hurts.

And yet.

And yet I feel great.

I really do, I know I can run a half marathon faster. I intend to do just that over the next week.

I know the future is in front foot running, I just need to spend some time working up to decent distances again and learn from the mistakes of pushing myself.

Yet all the pain and sores and feeling sick fade away with the sense of achievement.

We decided that any run is made better sounding by adding 'trail' in front of it. However with the elevation gain being over 1,000 ft we can add 'up a mountain' to the end of what we did.

That feels a pretty impressive statement!

'A trail half marathon up a mountain'.

Excellent stuff!

So whats next?

Well Strava has 3 categories for 'long runs'.

Half marathon (tick).

Long run - 20 miles.

Marathon - 26 miles.

It sounds insane but next up is 20 miles to try, although I might wait until I can walk a bit more freely first.

Though it isn't insane.

Just ridiculous!

And I can't wait to give it a go.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Beginnings

I began running when I was a PGCE student. I ran because at the time I realised that other than Friday night football it was the first real time in my life when I was not doing any form of sport. Up to that point whether it was football training, swimming, rugby training, rowing or martial arts I had always been involved on a fairly regular basis in some form of sport.

So there I was an old rugby shirt, pair of shorts beat up trainers and mp3 player plodding my way up and down the streets of Cheltenham where I lived. I had no idea of the distance I ran, I had no idea of the times I was running, I just put some music on and ran a circuit. Most days I came in out of breath and often very sweaty.

Once I moved from Cheltenham to Bristol to begin my teaching career I forgot about evening runs and became swamped in the world of professional teaching. Eventually things began to mount up around me and I once again started running. This time instead of running for fitness I ran to unwind. Again I ran quite hilly routes and again I had no concept of time or distance. This time though I ran in slightly lighter clothes and had a different pair of beat up trainers.

My geographically interesting teaching career moved on then and I switched sides of the country and moved from Bristol to Kent. Instead of running I borrowed a bike and began cycling each evening. Instead of just going out and cycling I had a more modern phone and a GPS app to record distance and times.

Fast forward to this academic year.

A group of friends from the school trust I work at suggested we all enter the Hell Runner (8 miles through mud and bogs and sand and woods) 'yeah OK I'm in' was pretty much my response.  We all went for a training run together and it soon became apparent that my just running to keep fit left me in a different category to my running colleagues all of whom seemed able to run much further and much faster than I could.

I however managed to finish the Hell Runner (with the help of my friend Dave) and felt an enormous sense of achievement for being able to shove my body through the mud and distance.


Now why bother with all this introduction. Well because since then I have started running more regularly. Originally I ran once again to release the tension and stress of the job (I am a science teacher) but things seem to have changed up recently. 

The name of this blog comes from something my other half often says to me when I pull a hair brained stunt or do something stupid that flies against the public perception that I am, in fact, a fairly intelligent and respectable individual. Often this may be buying lots of DVDs or records, mostly it is for falling in drunk having popped out for an hour to see some friends. 

On this occasion though it is my idea to train for distance events.

Barefoot.

OK so I am not coming into this completely blind. I have been building up my distance and my pace with regular runs and recently ran the Mid Kent 5 Miler in 41:52. And I use Strava to record my runs on my phone so that I can keep a record of how far, fast and long I am running for.




Now here is the deal. Currently I am entered in the Kent Coastal Half Marathon (although at time of writing due to a mistake on my part I am actually entered for the full marathon...). I have also been reading various books on running such as Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich and The Barefoot Running Book by Jason Robillard.

Now as a biologist the idea and concept of barefoot running appeals to me. From an evolutionary angle it all seems to make sense. However I am still not sold on the idea of running outside with nothing on my feet. At least not yet. A trip to a pebbly beach gives me all the feedback on how sensitive my feet are at the moment even though in summer I tend to wear very little on my feet (espadrilles, Converse, flip flops etc). 

So what to do with 3 weeks until the half (full) marathon? Well the answer is simple follow the advice of people who know what they are on about. Start training barefoot or minimalist along side my normal runs. This was the tendons and muscles in my legs and feet can get used to running barefoot but I can still crank out the 13+ mile runs needed to be ready for my next event. 

Brilliant but I do not aim to buy a pair of expensive 'minimalist' running shoes to ease my way in. Instead I have purchased a pair of 50p (in the sale) white plimsolls. 

No those aren't them but they look very similar. 

Now all the articles and advice I have read on minimalist (I am going to use that phrase as I aim to at least have something on my feet) running state that due to the different muscles, ligaments and tendons being used (owing to the lack of heel and cushioning in your trainer) you should start from scratch. This literally means run a mile at a time.

Which brings me to today and the first run for this blog.

Now I am not a fast distance runner, nor am I an extreme distance runner but I do pride myself on a few things. Firstly my pace tends to be fairly consistent even over half marathon distance. Secondly my breathing is very steady and deep during my runs. Thirdly I do not feel that I am a heavy footed 'heel planter' when I run.

I like to imagine that my running is fairly natural and uses the arch in my foot and a slightly forward lean to conserve energy and spring into my next step.

I would like to think that.

Today's run blew that idea away. Totally.

The first thing you notice running without a built up heel is that you naturally strike the ground with the ball of your foot more. You are conscious of it. You can feel your toes spreading as more weight than normal is distributed amongst them. This is good, apparently this is natural, if you think back to times when you have run barefoot (as a child, on the beach, on grass at a picnic) this is what happens. 

The second thing that I noticed is that my heel hardly touches the ground at all. Maybe, just maybe, a little kiss here and there. This means that my 'ride height' felt taller than normal and strangely looser because of it. 

Finally the whole enterprise felt lighter and quicker. As my feet lightly touched the pavement (which oddly could be felt through the thin sole of the shoe) and my heel hardly planted to slow me down, my spring was more pronounced. I felt in the air a lot longer between strides even though my pace seemed quicker and more assured. My weight too felt more forward on the balls of my feet, driving into each next step instead of being lost somewhere. 

The difference, I think, could be summed up like this. When I run normally I feel like I push off one foot then the other. When I ran minimalist I felt like I was springing from step to step.

The proof of the effectiveness is in the times though. Before I knew what I had done, I had managed to run 2 miles in 16:23. To put it into context that gave me a 1 mile pace of about 8:21. My race pace for the Mid Kent 5 Miler (a race remember) was 8:12 per mile. 

So an easy going training run (albeit shorter in distance) was not far off a race pace that I had trained for. This can be read two ways I guess. One that I run the same kind of pace regardless of the situation. Or that the minimalists might be right and running in this way is a more economical means of conveyance. 

From how I felt when I ran I believe the latter.

Now the downside, and the reason why you have to start from scratch. 

After 2 miles I still felt fresh and relaxed but my calves did not. They felt stretched, like they had golf balls in them, like a baked potato that had just been split open. In short they hurt. 

Curiously nothing else hurts, not my left knee (often it can feel a little 'weak' after a run), not my shoulders, back (lower specifically), hamstrings or quads. Just my calves. Which makes sense if you think about it. Running without the heel catching the floor much means that the calves are stretching much more than they are used to. This naturally will take a bit of getting used to. Which is why you should only start with very short distances and work your way back up to the longer distances that you might be able to run 'normally'.

Now for the ridiculous part. 

I was walking back home. 

I should have taken a short cut and got home, stretched off and showered. 

I was walking back home.

I couldn't get past the feeling that I was running faster and wanted to prove it.

I was walking back home.

I kept stretching my calves to see if I could ease off the pain a little and allow me to run some more.

I was jogging back home.

I knew there was a segment I had set on Strava a 1.1 mile 102ft elevation run that has a best time of 10:23.

I was jogging to the road where the segment started.

I reached the road where the segment started and upped the pace. To my surprise the pace upped easily, so I kept pushing it. 

And then some.

I set a fastest ever half mile (3:29) and then disaster struck. 

Up ahead in front of me at the brow of the first hill was another jogger. I started to hope that he would cross over or take a different route. I knew what would happen if he stayed on the road in front. I would feel obliged to race him. 

Like I said, ridiculous man.

He turned the corner and I lost sight of him. I was still powering up the first hill and I hoped that when I rounded the corner the jogger in front would have crossed the road and I could just concentrate on running home and seeing how fast I had done this segment (on sore calves remember).

I rounded the corner and he was ahead of me still, about 300 meters away. 

I did not give an instruction to my legs to speed up. 

But they did. 

It is very easy to lengthen your stride when you run on the balls of your feet. As it is easy to lengthen your stride it is easy to quicken your pace and to appear, to yourself at least, like you are sprinting. 

This happened. My pace upped and the man in front soon became the man behind. I did not really see him next to me at all. I felt like a middle distance runner passing someone on the home straight. 

Still running on the balls of my feet I reached the top of the second hill and began the decent down to the final flat straight of the segment. 

I have never descended that hill so fast. 

Normally each step is slightly planted and static and I ease my way down. Today I flew down it. Whether this was a spike of adrenaline or whether this was due to better feedback from the ground I am unsure but before I knew what was happening I was approaching the flat straight home. 

Then it hurt.

A lot. 

On hilly terrain my body was able to deal with the pain in my calves due to the fact I was either controlling my pace down hill (barely) or working on pushing up a hill. Now there was no consideration like that. 

I started to plant my feel as my calves gave up on me. I had pushed too far. Less that 200m to go and my pace started to fall away from me. For the first time in ages my lungs began to hurt as my breath lost is usual deep and steady rhythm. My long powerful strides became a shambling gait and through nothing more and force of will I managed to reach the end of the segment and cross the road to finish. 

Then I ran a further 20m (if that) before with lungs that felt like wet bags of cement and a phone down to 14% battery I stopped the recording of the run and limped down my street to my door to stretch off.

It was then I realised my error. No not pushing myself, at this time the lovely brain chemicals had been released and I felt amazing, if in pain. No I had stopped the GPS app to soon. 

Like most running apps Strava works at a +/-100m accuracy. Which means that in order to record a segment or a distance or a challenge you have to run about 100m further than you aim to. 

I fell foul of this once when completing a 10k challenge and it robbed me of a personal best. 

The same happened today. 

So the final segment was not recorded as a segment. Which means no new pb on that route. Which means only the half mile has been recorded. 

I can however look at the data and the timings from the map.

My personal best on the 1.2 mile segment was 10:23. Today I did it in 8:30. On sore calves. In plimsolls.

My best 1 mile record is 7:40. Today I ran a mile on the segment in 7:20. 

Now the segment is part of my regular run, sometimes I run it quickly sometimes slowly. The mile is recorded wherever I run. 

That includes flat canal running when I'm at my parents and ultra hilly running on the North Downs way. 

It annoys me that my mile and segment pbs have not been recorded. I am however excited by the prospect that minimalist running seems, at the moment, to be a better and quicker way to run.

The challenge has been set now to keep this up and to get some actual results from it.

Challenge accepted.