Category: road running

Summary March 18-24

On By siegmunaIn Barefoot, barely coherent rambling, Dum Assery, fitness, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Low points, Motivation, road running, Running, Running Partners, Slogging, SummaryLeave a comment
Sunday March 18 AM 5.1 Miles, 740′ 41:33 Easy morning run across the power lines, not really concentrating on anything in particular, just trying to log some miles, and hit up the hills a bit.
PM 1 Mile 9:31 Barefoot Typical shakeout, trying to slow these down a bit now that it’s warmer (and thus more tolerable on the feet/body when going out at the end of the day) concentrating on efficiency, and foot placement…

Monday March 19 AM 5.1 Miles, 740′ 41:46 Early wake-up run, nothing particularly notable…
PM 5.1 Miles 740′ 44:00 Ran as the sun was setting, making for some pretty cool sunset views (portions of the trail point almost due-west). The sun had completely set almost precisely at the first turnaround point, making for a headlamp-oriented trek back, which was surprisingly challenging, and made for some extremely questionable footing.

Tuesday March 20 AM 5.1 Miles, 740′ 41:08  Feeling rather run-down, normally I try to do a more ambitious run on Tuesdays, but even getting out for 5 miles seemed like a pretty large task. Average pace, nothing extraordinary about the run, other than my general sense of lethargy.

Wed March 21 AM 1 Mile, 8:47 Barefoot Long class day, had to make sure I got a run in early, since my motivation after a 12 hour day is always questionable at best.
PM 4.1 Miles 175′ 28:00 Up-tempo short run, didn’t particularly plan on going fast, but I left the house pretty quickly, and almost immediately hit a moderate downhill, then just tried to hold onto the cadence/stride length for as long as I could… not bad for a week where I’d been feeling certifiably like crap every time I laced up.

Thurs March 22 AM 11.2 Miles, 1300′ 1:46 Ran to, and around Schooleys Mountain, I had originally planned to do 4 loops of the mountain, instead of the 2 I typically do, but dehydration hit me rather early in the run, as I’m definitely not used to the ~70 degree weather we’ve been having lately. Did get some decent sunburn on my shoulders however….
PM 5 Miles, 360′ 36:13 Snappy broken-shin loop. Didn’t necessarily plan to run this quickly, but sometimes it happens. Also, afterwards, I managed to fit a foot-long sub, 4 slices of pizza, and several beers into my stomach… I think my legs may be hollow….

Friday March 23, 11.6 Miles, 1500′ 1:47 Allamuchy loop. I left relatively early, in an attempt to beat the inevitable heat in the forecast, but even at 9am, my car’s thermometer was reading near 70, and left me dripping with sweat within the first 15 minutes. While I ran at what felt like a pretty hard pace, the total time says quite differently, it must have been the dehydration…..

Sat March 24, 20 Miles, 1080′ 2:36 Easy 10, hard-ish 10 with Jeff and Dave. This was Dave’s penultimate long-run in preparation for the Boston Marathon, and with the combination of a pace pickup at mile 10, and failing to bring anywhere near an adequate amount of food (only some gel chomps, and a bit of GU) and water (we brought none) should make for a pretty okay simulation of worst case marathon scenario (also, Boston gains ~780′ and loses ~1220′) so, if somehow Dave manages to not eat, and avoid all of the Aid stations, he’ll still be okay.

Totals 74.3 Miles, 7335‘ Vert 10h20m

Pseudo-recovery oriented week. Right from the get-go, I was feeling fundamentally like crap every time I went out for a run. This of course, IS congruent with my general training plan, relying substantially on residual fatigue, and trying to get myself used to running when I simply don’t feel well/strong/hydrated/fed. The unseasonably warm weather (we seem to be about 2 weeks ahead of schedule) made for some rather substantial dehydration on Thurs and Fri, which is something I should be trying to get used to, and in my opinion, makes bonking seem downright pleasurable in comparison. On the brighter side, in spite of my generally low energy levels, my legs are feeling great, and the transition from burning sugar to burning fat (aka bonking point) is becoming a lot smoother. I can recognize the point where the glycogen supply is dwindling, and as a result of experience gained over the past few weeks, simply put my head down and keep moving until the new fuel source is stoked, and running smoothly.

Uphill

Beginning to look… Spring-ish

Allamuchy Summit

Summary March 11-17

On By siegmunaIn Depletion, Dum Assery, Falling, fitness, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Low points, Motivation, road running, Running, Summary, trail running, ViewsLeave a comment
Sunday March 11 AM 5.1 Miles 740′ 40:09 Usual Power Line trip, trying to concentrate on maintaining consistency of effort throughout the rolling hills/alternation of technical trails, road, grass, and mud. feeling pretty happy about the ~8min pace that seems to be the average for the course.
PM 1 Mile 8:15 Shakeout, playing around with the latest zero-dropped New Balance road shoes that I picked up the week before.

Monday March 12 AM 11.6 Miles 1500′ 1:39 Allamuchy in stunningly gorgeous weather. Mid-60’s with clear blue skies, perfect for running shirtless. I took a gnarly digger somewhere around the 7 mile marker, after failing to see a stick stuck in the ground in the middle of the trail, which according to the log book is the first time I’ve fallen since Jan 23, so, I figure I was probably overdue.
PM 4 Miles 730′ :48 Met up with a friend for an afternoon shakeout run through Allamuchy, this is the first time in a while that I’ve run at such a moderate pace, which was probably for the better, I think this is something I should try to integrate more often, rather than running hard all of the time.

Tuesday March 13 AM 11.6 Miles 1500′ 1:42 Another stunning day on the mountain, I took off my t-shirt well before reaching the summit, making the fact that I even wore it to begin with seem abundantly silly, I suppose I need to get used to it being warm, and what the clothing requirements are going to be like….
1 Mile Barefoot 8:40 Hit up the local track on my way back home for a quick little shakeout, felt great to run on the track/grass for a bit.
PM 4.1 Miles 175′ 30:52 Night-time run through the neighborhood, trying to keep things loose, and keep my legs used to running without ample recovery time.

Wed March 14 AM 21 Miles 1300′ 2:56 Columbia trail and Schooley’s Mountain. The NF 50 involves a pretty substantial climb both at the beginning, and at the end of the race, so I’m trying to simulate it on my longer runs by starting out in my usual state of residual depletion, running up and down a mountain, then running for another hour or so, then running up and down a mountain again, this time on soggy legs. Other than the dehydration (~70 degrees) things went rather well, and the view from the summit was fantastic, sad I didn’t bring a camera…
PM 1 Mile 9:13 Finally, it’s warm enough to run barefoot in the evenings, I must have been pretty beat up, since usually my shakeouts are >9min pace….

Thurs March 15 AM 15.3 Miles 1300′ 2:10 Ran around town on the roads, at ~7:45 pace, then while deliberately under-fueled, headed up the power line trails (after a change of shoes) to try to hit up some vert/technical trails. Bonked really hard about a mile or so into the trail, but recovered by the time I made it back to the house, would have done another loop, but my ankle was being a little suspect, and the inevitability of a second bonk made hitting more trails seem like a recipe for injury….
PM 5 Miles 360′ :38 Snappy-ish Broken Shin Loop, Jeff and Gene were running exceptionally well, which made for a pretty nice kick in the last mile.

Fri March 16 AM 10.3 Miles 1480′ 1:26 Doubled the power line loop, added a few tenths at the end. The whole trail was exceptionally muddy, which much to my surprise, made it a lot of fun, and added to my confidence of the MT110 to gain purchase in just about any terrain.

Sat March 17 AM 15 Miles 500′ 1:55 Ran through Denville/Boonton/Mountain Lakes with Jeff. I was on pace for ~7:10 average until mile 13 or so, when some GI issues that had been lingering throughout the day finally came to a head, and forced a fartlek for the remaining miles.

Totals: 106 Miles, 9585′ Vert, 14h51m

 Overall, a pretty productive week, more miles in 7 days than I’ve ever done before, although, part of me thinks that I can more than likely do more both comfortably, and without substantial risk of injury (time/motivation etc providing of course). This also puts me at ~3 miles short of 200 miles in 14 days, making for a rather substantial prolonged effort as well (also 14 day PR). Overall, things feel rather solid, the usual list of minor discomforts that one would typically associate with higher mileage, but nothing is setting off any red flags. I’m getting rather comfortable with the soreness in my legs, as well as finding my bonk point to be a bit further delayed(running for ~2hrs today at an aggressive clip with no energy related troubles, just the GI issues). For the next several weeks, assuming things remain healthy, I’m going to try to stay around the same general mileage, but probably integrate a lighter day, and extend the long run in preparation for the upcoming 50 mile effort, as well as trying to hit a bit more concentrated vertical gain, and continue working on the impending bonk/hydration issues.

New Balance Minimus Road

Shirt as neckerchief

Summary March 4-10

On By siegmunaIn Barefoot, barely coherent rambling, Depletion, fitness, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Low points, Motivation, road running, Running, Running Partners, Summary, trail running, ViewsLeave a comment
Sunday March 4 AM 5.1 Miles, 740′ 40:02 Power Line trails, relatively quick trip up and down, feeling a bit soggy from the previous day.
PM 1 Mile 8:17 Light shakeout run to end the day, things feel pretty loose.

Monday March 5 AM 1 Mile 8:13 Unsure how busy I was going to be, so I decided to get the early AM mile in to keep the streak alive, and cross my fingers that I’d be able to do some “real” running later.
PM 5.1 Miles, 740′ 41:17 Power Line Trail, a student cancelled on me, giving me enough time to get a quick 5 in before the sun set. I decided to run in a more minimal shoe, to try to put a bit of a built in limit on my speed on the technical portions due to the lack of protection underfoot, I’m not sure it actually slowed me down, but it certainly made me a lot more mindful with regard to where I placed my foot on the rockiest sections of trail.

Tuesday March 6 AM 13.2 Miles 4880′ 2:45 Drove out to Mt. Tammany to try to muscle through some vertical gain and loss over some exceptionally technical terrain. 4 Consecutive summits while self-crewing from my car in the parking lot. Finished the run in the midst of a pretty substantial bonk, and rather dehydrated. 2 Miles Barefoot 16:48 Done immediately upon returning home, it felt great to lose the shoes after beating my feet up on typical NJ rocky trails for a few hours.

Wed March 7 AM 10.2 Miles 1480′ 1:24 Double trip on the Power Line loop, academic requirements shortened my morning, so I had to decide between more miles, or a better view point, miles won out.

Thurs March 8 AM 11.2 Miles 1300′ 1:36 Schooley’s Mountain via Columbia trail. Since I’d been trying to concentrate on hitting some more substantial uphill, I thought it would be best to hit up Schooley’s instead of Allamuchy. I typically access the mountain via ~3 miles of rail-trails before beginning the ~5 miles of up and down that the mountain provides, so the vertical gain and loss is fundamentally concentrated to the middle 5 miles of the route, with no real relief from vertical change. It’s not the highest local point, but the trails seem to go straight up the mountain, and straight back down, forcing you to crest the top twice in each loop, with very few switchbacks, and almost no stretches of true flat. Bonked pretty hard on the rail-trail return, only to have it exacerbated by my body’s acute inability to adjust to the ~70ish degree temps we had; a far cry from the 30’s and 40’s of late. Also, first time I’ve lost my shirt since Jan 1st, complete with some tree-induces scrapes from the descent, man it feels good to be outside with that degree of exposure again.
PM 2 Miles Barefoot 18:20 Shakeout immediately upon returning home, trying to keep the calves loose, and remind my heels to fully release.
PM part deux 5 Miles 360′ 41:30 Broken Shin Loop. Relatively light group this week, Just the Bob’s, Brian and myself, everyone took it easy for the most part, keeping it as a decent shakeout trot.

Fri March 9 AM 20.4 2030′ 2:39 Ran the first ~10 on local roads at ~7:30 pace, then quickly changed footwear for a double loop on the power line access trails. Things felt great until ~mile 12 where the bonking started rearing its ugly head. Bonk number one was relatively easy to recover from, sucked down a GU, and kept things moving, but ~5 miles later it hit again, with no sugary GU left to save me, I had no choice but to grin and bear it. Strangely enough, after the inclines were done, and I was able to run down some technical downhills, my spirits lifted, carrying me through to the end with relative ease, at a much quicker clip.

Sat March 10 AM 15 Miles, 500′ 1:56 Met Dave and Jeff for a wicked early pavement session (as in pre-dawn) through the greater Denville area. Things felt surprisingly solid/consistent throughout the run, with a minor low point in the 13ish mile range, but I think it was more related to knowing that the finish was near than it was a metabolic lag.

Totals: 91.2 Miles, 12030′ Vert, 13h15m 

This was without a doubt, the bonkiest week in recent memory, it seems like every time I went out for more than 60 minutes, (excepting this morning, where I took a GU at the 1hr mark for a 2hr run) I had to struggle through some sort of depletion-oriented low point. Granted, in the shorter runs it was only for the final mile or so, but on the longer, more sustained efforts, it seemed as if I’d hit that low point several times. While the bonk is inherently unpleasant, with it’s grogginess, and associated low mood, it’s good training for the inevitable low points that a 50 mile race is going to provide, as well as an opportunity to look inward, and find some of that extra grit. On a positive note, a 7 day 90 mile effort hasn’t left me too beat up, in fact short of the usual soreness, nothing is out of order.

The naked runner returns…

Power Lines!

Summary Feb 26-March 3

On By siegmunaIn Auditions, Barefoot, barely coherent rambling, Clarinet, Depletion, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Low points, Motivation, Music, road running, Running, Slogging, trail runningLeave a comment
Sunday Feb 26 AM 5.1 Miles 740′ 37:25 Power Line trails, I think this is a PR, but I’m honestly not sure, nor do I feel like going through my log to find out… if it’s not, it’s certainly close. Felt pretty snappy overall, we had a cold night the night before, which made the muddy parts of the trail freeze, making for better traction, and more secure footing.
PM Hash No mileage, no time, wasn’t keeping track. Limpy laid a pretty shiggy trail, full of briars rocks, boulders and hills. I’ve decided not to count the hashes as part of my mileage, since they’re much more socially oriented than they are actual running events….

Monday Feb 27 PM 3.2 Miles 690′ 27:43 Schooley’s Mtn. I was going to run 5-6 on the mountain, but I wasn’t feeling into it after the first lap, and had been extremely foolish with my footing which led to some overstretching of my left ankle. I did run into some pretty cool folks on the summit, it’s nice to see people out on the trails again, after a winter of fundamental solitude.
PM Part Deux 2 Miles 17:16 Barefoot shakeout. It feels wonderful to lose the shoes, I’d forgotten how great it feels.

Tuesday Feb 28 AM 12 Miles 1500′ 1:46 Allamuchy Double Summit. For some reason I keep on making wrong turns here, adding a few tenths… I really should pay more attention to the trail markers instead of running straight by them. Beautiful day overall, rather warm, and a wonderful summit.
PM 1 Mile 8:22 Shakeout, not quite warm enough to go naked foot but still nice to move the legs a bit and try to flush them out.

Wed Feb 29 AM 5.1 Miles 740′ 39:19 Power Line trails, snowing pretty heavily, but not sticking too much, making for a really fun run. I’ve always liked running through the snow, something about it is very humanizing.
PM 1 Mile 8:06 Cold, rainy shakeout.

Thurs March 1 AM 5.1 Miles 740′ 40:49 Rainy, cold, muddy less than ideal running conditions, but the slipping and sliding was both fun and challenging. I run this route a lot, and it’s always a very different kind of experience, especially when the weather is as mercurial as it’s been in recent weeks, in spite of it’s lack of view points, these trails provide a wide variety of challenges, and their proximity to my home is ideal.
PM 5 Miles 360′ 36:51 Broken Shin Loop, trying to earn my pavement sessions by picking up the tempo a bit, and really attacking the uphills (small though they may be).

Fri March 2 AM 5.1 Miles 740′ 41:19 This route has gotten progressively slower this week. I’d have liked to run a lot more, but I had to travel into NYC to play in a Mock Audition for the Vienna Philharmonic, so time was a bit of an issue.

Sat March 3 AM 20 Miles 1220′ 2:38 Long run through Denville with Dave. We started at a very reasonable pace (~830-9 minute miles) but after mile 10 we progressively amped up the tempo, running several miles in the mid 7’s, and dropping to 7:10 pace by mile 17, followed by 3 miles back at 8-proper. Pretty good session overall, and it’s amazing how slow 8’s feel after several miles in the low 7’s.

Totals: 64.6 Miles, 6730′ Vert, 8h41m

February Totals: 270.75 Miles 22760′ Vert  38h4m (Vert is low, many runs were not logged)

Not exactly the most productive week, in fact, I think this week goes on record for having the most aborted runs, be it failure to start, or abbreviating planned distances. With the Mock Audition on Friday, I spent a tremendous amount of time in the practice room over the course of the week. I also had to put together my CV and a recording for some potential summer work, which took more time and energy than I had originally anticipated. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to get a more substantial amount of vertical gain, as well as get back into more training-oriented total mileage, as opposed to the sort of resting on my laurels distances that I’ve run in the past 2 weeks.

Since I haven’t been doing anything overly inspiring on the mountain, here are some of the best musicians in the world making wonderful things happen.


Summary Feb 19-25

On By siegmunaIn Depletion, Hours, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Low points, Motivation, road running, Running, Running Partners, Slogging, Stress, Summary, trail running, Views, Waning, Whining, WinterLeave a comment
Sunday Feb 19, 1 Mile, 8:31 Typical shakedown mile, figure I should take a couple of days extra light after the 8 day 117 mile effort….. things felt good, legs a bit heavy, but nothing unusual


Monday Feb 20, 1 Mile, 7:46 Same as previous day, it’s strange how lacking my life feels without substantial mileage… In spite of a full day of class/rehearsals/practicing/generally doing things I need/should be doing, the omission of a morning and evening run makes the day seem… empty

Tuesday Feb 21, 6.4 Miles, 270′ 50:49 Had to get some work done on my car, landed a ride back home from dropping it off from the shop, and relied on legs to retrieve it. Tried to add as much vert as I could en route to the shop, but alas, only a few hundred feet. Everything felt very soggy, heavy legs, and general lethargy, could have sworn I was running 9+ minute miles… but apparently I was an eyelash under 8’s…

Wed Feb 22, AM 5.1 Miles, 740′ 39:53 Power Line Trails, slightly up tempo, not pushing too hard since this is supposed to be a “recovery” week, Again, things felt relatively soggy, not particularly weak, but certainly not what I’d consider strong.
PM 1 Mile, 8:02 Usual evening shakeout, just trying to get back into my normal rhythm/swing of things.


Thurs Feb 23, AM 12.1 Miles 1650′ 1:48:26 Allamuchy Double-summit, although I foolishly took a wrong turn adding a half a mile, and some vert, you’d think that I would know the trail system by now, but apparently my autopilot is lacking. Beautiful warm day, and it feels fantastic to be on the mountain proper after a few days of not really running/hitting the pavement/running the local power line trails. Things still don’t feel 100% strong, but then again, I think I’ve completely forgotten what truly fresh legs feel like, and they’re certainly no worse off than what I’ve been dealing with for the past several weeks, so I suppose I should consider myself fundamentally recovered from last weeks mileage stacking PR.
PM 5 Miles, 360′ 36:54 Broken Shin Loop. I started out with the group but after about a mile… maybe an eyelash more, a cloud of darkness seemed to cloud my brain, causing me to simply take off up the hill. I’m not sure what exactly it was, but I seemed immediately confronted with my own interpretations of personal failures, inequities, and all other such things that seem to linger in the sub-conscious. Needless to say, I felt an insatiable urge to continue to rest of the run in solitude, and picked up my pace significantly to earn some space/enjoy the rhythm of a few miles run harder than I would have planned for the back 5 of a 17 mile day….

Fri Feb 24, 5.1 Miles, 740′ 40:14 Feeling a bit beat up from the previous day, and having a substantial amount of professional commitments to attend to throughout the day, it seemed like a good day to lay low, nevermind the rain, and subsequent shiggy trail conditions. I did, however, manage to stretch my ever-sketchy left ankle more than I’d like on a slippery rock, and convinced that I had rolled it, found myself running while cursing in torrents and knotting my fists, only to realize after several hundred yards that it was feeling normal.

Sat Feb 25, 15 Miles, 620′ 1:53:32 Up-tempo pavement session with Dave and Jeff. Legs felt certifiably like crap (although extended flat pavement sessions typically have that effect on me) but then again, running when my legs feel awful is a substantial part of my training plan. Having the company is certainly advantageous for getting my sleepy self out of bed in the morning, as well as sharing the burden of pacing throughout a run. Also, ankle felt fine, good sign.

Totals: 51.7 Miles, 7380′ Vert, 6h54m

It feels strange, and extremely self-righteous to say that a ~52 mile week is a down training week… even with 7380′ of vert. In addition to the mileage reduction, this week provided me with a noticeable amount of professionally-oriented stress, most notably agreeing to a Mock Audition in front of the Vienna Philharmonic coming up this Friday (3/2) which I’m still feeling substantially under-prepared for. This forced me to substantially increase my practice time (which was a bit easier to do given the mileage reduction, and abundance of energy I had as a result thereof) which is something I have no qualms with, but for reasons I cannot understand, I felt often overwhelmed both with the sisyphian amount of work I had to do, as well as consistently confronted with reminders of previous failures ranging from personal to professional to the fickle things, such as my mounting pile of laundry. As such, I’m forced to conclude that at this point in my life, ~52 miles in seven days is far too few for me to maintain a level head, feel balanced, and in touch with myself, my surroundings, my body, and keep my stress levels at bay. This being said, I don’t anticipate this upcoming week to be substantially better as far as base level stress is concerned, with a Mock Audition on Friday, an Audition to record, and a last minute orchestra gig on Saturday (there goes my chance to go for an indulgent weekend destination binge run!(but alas, I do need to pay my bills)) Hopefully an increase in general daily mileage will prove advantageous to my mental health.

Dave (left) and Jeff

Running Store Fail

On By siegmunaIn Barefoot, barely coherent rambling, Dum Assery, Expletive, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, road running, Running, shoe modification, WhiningLeave a comment

Disclaimer: The author of the following rant is a bearded, long-haired, barefooted mountain runner who often runs multiple times a day exclusively in “minimalist/barefoot” shoes. While he chooses not to self-apply the name hippie, it would not be an inaccurate description, and the following paragraphs should be read with this in consideration. Also, this rant is about the running store in general, not any specific establishment.

Rant written by this guy…

I hate the running store. It bothers me on many different levels, from the most basic frustration that there is an entire industry built upon selling us things we don’t need, to the brick and mortar face value experiential existence of these awful establishments. This being said, I understand the necessity of the running store, I have to wear shoes, I have to buy them somewhere, someone needs to make money selling these shoes, and someone needs to make money manufacturing these shoes. These are all very simple concepts, and I have no qualm with the capitalistic nature of these endeavors. In fact, I’ll even forgive the running store/shoe company for manufacturing the over-built foot-coffins that they sell the most of. I’ve long since given up on the idea that the majority of runners will abandon these form debilitating shoes in my lifetime.

My gripe with the running store this time around is substantially more personal. In the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting different stores in an attempt to find a new pair of road running shoes to replace my present pair of MR10’s. Now, when I go into a specialty store, there is a certain degree of knowledge I expect from the salespeople, I also expect them to look their part. So if I go into a camping store to buy a new 65 liter backpack, I expect to be sold this item by a knowledgeable person, who most likely has attempted, if not completed a thru-hike in their life. This would usually constitute them as an expert in the field, and compounded with the abundance of knowledge that the representatives of companies impart on the floor-sales persons, should give the salesperson the knowledge to effectively assist me in finding the most appropriate tool for my needs. In my experience, no one works at a specialty store unless they’re specifically interested/active in whatever that store sells. You work at one of these stores to be around the community, and take advantage of the fantastic discounts it avails you, not for the meager wage that they most often pay. This in mind, I expect my running store to be staffed by runners who make me look/feel like a recreationalist. I do not expect to be assisted by Kilian Jornet, Ryan Hall, and Anton Krupicka, but I would like to at least be able to imagine my salesperson having run the Boston Marathon, or at least A marathon, or have participated in collegiate XC, or something to that effect, but instead I am approached by individuals trying to hide their beer bellies under a polo and track pants….

Secondly, the running store almost NEVER has what I desire. It took me five stores to finally locate a pair of 3/4 length tights, (located at REI… not a running store) and I’ve yet to see the MT110’s in any establishment (mine were ordered online). Split shorts for men are also in short demand, and while my choice in attire may not be the most popular, we ARE talking about a niche store, are we not? I expect them to be able to provide me with the running garb I desire. Never mind the often pathetic selection of shoes for my demographic. As previously mentioned, I’ve been looking for a replacement for my MR10’s. The update is officially out (Minimus Zero Road) although, no stores anywhere near me seem to stock it, and while I love my pair of MR10’s, they have 833 miles on them to date, meaning that what little cushioning they had, is long-gone, making a new pair feel rather cushy to my foot these days. I’d continue to run my present pair, happily, if the outsole were not beginning to fail, but replacing them with a new, identical pair, would require a few hundred miles just to break down the cushioning enough to make them feel similar to these.

833 Miles… and still ticking
Upper Still intact…

This last bit, has less to do with the store, and more to do with the manufacturers of running shoes. As I mentioned previously, I understand the economic requirements of the industry, at an elementary level at least, it’s simply not worth making something that doesn’t sell… this, makes sense. However, the running shoe company continuously fails to provide my demographic with a sustainable shoe, something that I do not have to modify to fit my needs.

Raised heel? Not if my breadknife is handy…

I’ve tried on several pairs of shoes over the past few weeks. Mostly a collection of Saucony, and Brooks models, attempting to find something that I feel like I can run high mileage in, but won’t interfere with my form/posture. My basic requirements of a shoe can be seen here. For the most part, my requirements of a shoe haven’t changed very much, lightweight, wide toe box, small-ish stack height, minimal drop (4mm seems about right, i also like zero drop) fundamentally, I want to feel the trail/road, but not be annoyed by it. The shoes I’ve encountered however, meet few if any of these requirements, and these are what the manufacturer is claiming as a minimalist/barefoot shoe! Most often I find that the shoe has a stack height akin to the traditional over-built running shoe, but has omitted the raised heel, and while I understand the impulse to do this, these are NOT the shoes that I’m seeking! Otherwise, it seems, that if a shoe has a reasonable stack height, and a reasonable drop, it’s outfitted with an over-cushy insole that negates the whole purpose of a shoe like this. If I wanted my feet to feel like they’re walking on clouds, I’d buy a pair of Asics, or Hoka’s, but I want a glorified racing flat, that allows me to feel the ground, and doesn’t bother my form. Now I know, I can remove the insole, and I do, but shoes with removeable insoles often use the insole to hide the shoddy sewing work that lies underneath it, which for those of us who prefer to avoid socks like the plague, is a complete deal breaker. All I’m asking for, is access to shoes that I can wear sockless, and let my feet feel the earth. Is this too much?

I very well may be a barefooted sot, an idealist searching for a shoe that doesn’t exist, or perhaps it does, but it’s yet to be donned by my foot (until I bought the MT110’s I didn’t think my ideal mountain running shoe existed without extensive modification). Understandably, with the obvious exception of multi-day music festivals, the barefooted long-haired 20-something demographic is not traditionally the most lucrative demographic to appeal to, and it seems that the available running shoes reflect this. Some companies understand (*cough* New Balance, *cough* Merrell) So perhaps I’ll break down, and mail-order a pair of Minimus Zero’s, they’ve gotten good reviews here and here, so it’s probably worth the gamble, especially knowing that it appears to meet my needs.(I may also try the road glove) While I may have just wasted a bunch of time ranting about the running store/shoe companies, this does not mean that I’m going to refuse them my patronage, but rather that I’m going to patronize them begrudgingly, because in spite of their consistent failure to satisfy my needs, they’re still the best (only) game in town.

Summary Feb 5-11

On By siegmunaIn Barefoot, Compression Socks, fitness, Foam Rolling, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Random, road running, Summary, Views, WinterLeave a comment
Sunday Feb 5, AM 5.1 Miles, 42:04 Power Line trails, left calf/ankle has been sore, making technical terrain a little more difficult.

Monday Feb 6, AM 1 Mile, 9:32 Originally left the house to do ~5 miles, but my calf/ankle was really acting up, causing me to turn around at the half mile mark.
PM 2.0 17:02 Short shakeout run in VFF’s to try to diagnose the goings on in my lower left leg. Allowing the heel/achilles to fully relax seems to help a lot.

Tuesday Feb 7, AM 11.6 Miles, 1:42:43, 1500′ Allamuchy loop, powerhiking most inclines to take the stress off of my left calf. Powerhiking seems to be getting faster, as I’m losing very little time compared to when I run the whole course (~2-3 mins over 12 miles).
PM 2.0, 16:36 Continuing the shakeout, strangely, a slow-ish couple of miles at the end of day seems to really relax my left leg.

Wed Feb 8, AM 5.1 Miles, 38:42 Power Line trails trying to push the speed, new course record, and  positive I can run it much faster if I go all out.
PM 1.0 8:17 Neighborhood loop, cold roads are forcing me to give my Five Fingers a workout instead of going naked foot.

Thurs Feb 9, PM 1 5 Miles, 40:23 Broken Shin Loop with the guys, typical Thurs.
PM 2, 1.2 Miles, 11:00 John Needed to keep his streak alive, and traffic made him show up to the run just as we were finishing the five mile loop, so, Not to let anyone run alone at a social run, another mile tacked on for the streak.

Fri Feb 10, AM 11.6 1:45 1500′ Allamuchy loop. Mentally I had planned to use Fri/Sat as back to back 20+ mile runs, but halfway through the first loop, it was becoming obvious that doing a 20 today would be a total slog-fest. In spite of the week being relatively light, I’d been less than diligent with my hydration/nutrition, which seemed to catch up to me here.
PM 1.0, 8:23 Shakeout

Sat Feb 11, AM 21 3:18:18, 2900′ 21 Mile through Allamuchy with 1 crew stop at my car to replace a handheld, change my shirt, and grab a Gu. I often find that long runs done solo involve a tremendous amount of mental strength, especially when fatigue sets in. The run itself was very mercurial, ranging from about as tired as I’ve felt on a run, to several minutes later feeling great about moving through the woods, the body/mind are strange things (and how we operate metabolically is even stranger). In spite of feeling like I had been going rather slowly for the duration, I finished only ~1 minute behind my previous time.

Totals: 67.6 Miles, 9h58m vert 5900′

Strange week, with the nagging leg soreness, and fundamentally bailing out on two runs, but within the range of mileage I had hoped for, as well as surprisingly consistent times considering how slow I was feeling at times.

Split shorts in February…

Incline

21 miles in Snow…

Summary Jan 29 – Feb 4

On By siegmunaIn Expletive, fitness, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Random, road running, Running, Summary, WinterLeave a comment
Sunday Jan 29 AM 5.1 Miles, 44:14 Power Line Loop in minimalist shoes to recover from the previous days long run.
PM 1.0, 8:20 Shakeout evening mile to keep things loose, also run the “Butters” hash during the afternoon, but not recording it as proper mileage.

Monday Jan 30 AM 6.0 Miles, 44:19 Running local roads slightly up-tempo from my typical off-road pace, feeling a head cold coming on.
 PM 1.0, 9:34  I’m beginning to think these light evening miles are kind of important…

Tuesday Jan 31 AM 10.15 Miles, 1:15:05 Normal pavement 10 miler, definitely getting sick, and losing the motivation to drive to a trailhead.
PM 1.0 9:40 Finally it’s warm enough to run barefoot, although I’ve lost some of the toughness on the soles of my foot since the summer, it still feels great to lose the shoe, and get out in skin.

Wed Feb 1 AM 1.0 Miles 8:44, Wasn’t sure if I would have the energy/motivation to run again in the evening after a ~14 hour day in class/rehearsal/teaching
PM 3.21, 19:05 Mustered up the gumption to put a few miles on, and decided to go quickly, it’s nice to see that I still have some pep in my legs, and even better to think that I can run a ~5k at this pace and not feel like I’m particularly exerting myself.

Thurs Feb 2 PM  6.5 Miles, 55:28 New Shoes!!! I finally retired my MT101’s and replaced them with the “upgrade” MT 110, so far, this shoe is fantastic, the input from Krupicka and the Skaggs brothers has created a killer mountain shoe (more to come on this later, when I have a few more miles in them)
PM 2, 5 Miles, 41:19 Broken Shin Loop

Fri Feb 3 AM 5.1 Miles, 41:26 Power Line loop, testing the new kicks, and feeling like hell as a result of a gnarly head cold.

Sat Feb 4 AM 5.1 Miles, 43:22 Same loop, this cold is really bumming me out.

Total Miles:50.16   6h40m

Pretty light week(did I really just say that about a week that had 50+ miles and 12 separate runs?), although I think my body could use some recovery time, and the (still lingering) head cold definitely took some wind out of my sails. Didn’t track vert this week, as I’m still working on acquiring a reasonable means to do so. Otherwise, things feel pretty good, save for some lingering soreness around my left ankle, which apparently has still not regained 100% of its strength since rolling it last July. I’m also experimenting with some different nutrition variables, adding Udo’s Oil again, as well as some supplemental protein and vitamins to try to maintain higher mileage in the upcoming weeks without totally feeling like crap.

Lastly, here’s a video of a great band that a few of my friends are part of:

Summary Jan 15-21

On By siegmunaIn Cold, Depletion, Expletive, Falling, fitness, getting hurt, gore-tex, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Life, Merrell, Ouch, Random, road running, Running, shoe modification, Snow, Summary, trail running, Views, WinterLeave a comment
Sunday Jan 15, AM 5 Miles, 42:19 Broken Shin Loop with Limpy, Roadie, and Jeff Boy-ar-Dee. Met the guys for a frigid AM run, wish I had worn socks, and managed to freeze my beard pretty well… although, the companionship made the wind and unreasonably cold temperature a lot easier to deal with.

Monday Jan 16, AM 11.6 Miles, 2:04 Ran through Allamuchy with Dave, again, wicked cold (~8 degrees) but we covered roughly 1550 feet of ascent/descent over the course of 2 hours, without running particularly hard at any point (but managed to test some speed on a few technical downhills). We also took the time to take some rather contrived trail-running photos, and upon returning to the car, and changing, my jacket (a lightweight softshell) froze completely solid… I suppose winter has come….
PM 3.85 Miles, :40, Turkey Brook loop with Roadie, Jeff, and Hairy, a nice second run of the day, trying to stay loose, also wore uber-minimalist shoes to concentrate more on biomechanics.

Tuesday Jan 17, AM 4.85 Miles, 40:39 Power Line Trails, completely frozen over, making for a rather nice variety of rocks, and frozen mud, good traction, fast trail, I think this is either THE, or close to the fastest time for me on this route… eventually I’ll check the log-book and find out. Also, took a pretty great digger tripping over an embarrassingly small rock.

Wednesday Jan 18, AM 10.15 Miles, 1:16:04 Tempo-ish hill run through the local roads, running this route at mid 7 pace is becoming increasingly easy, I’m going to need to find a harder tempo run in the next few weeks… or pick up the pace substantially (still haven’t decided which yet)

Thursday Jan 19, AM 4.85 Miles, 41:02 Power Line trails… Ground has softened up a lot creating a strange combination of really soft mud, ice, rock, and frozen soil, footing is a complete guessing game. This variety of trail conditions is part of how, and why I run the same routes a lot, I may cover the same ground, but each run is fantastically different from those that precede and follow it.
PM, 5 Miles, 37:52 Broken Shin Loop, ran ahead of the pack, and then was chased down by Bob, power of ego overtook my better sense, causing this intended recovery run to be much faster than I would have liked.

Friday Jan 20, PM 4.85 miles, 44:16 I originally tried to run 10+ at Allamuchy, in fact I drove all the way there, stood outside my car for a few minutes, used the bathroom, and instead of running, returned home…. a  few hours later I pushed myself out the door for the Power Line loop, and ran the whole thing convinced that I was falling asleep

Saturday Jan 21, AM 10 Miles, 1:26:41 Ran through Schooley’s Mountain and surrounding Rail Trails during a snowstorm. This was by far the most challenging run of the year, mentally, physically, and especially with regard to the elements. The snow made for questionable traction(causing me to fall on level trail), as well as providing additional drag/forcing me to keep my knees higher than I would otherwise like, not to mention the constant head-wind, and snowfall pounding my face. There’s a beauty to the solitude of being the only runner out there in this sort of weather, and the challenges that face you while attempting to run trails under  these conditions.

Total Miles:  60.15 8h52m, Falls: 2 Frozen Beards: 4

Gino also has his beard frost over

Jeff around Turkey Brook

Dave and I on top of Allamuchy (Photo courtesy of Dave Franz)

Ice Beard at Allamuchy (Photo Courtesy of Dave Franz)

Descent is steeper than this shows (Photo courtesy of Dave Franz)

Finally, it snows

Downhill in the snow

Summit!

Summit Profile

Not quite postholing, but close…

Week Summary Jan 1-7

On By siegmunaIn Cold, fitness, getting hurt, gore-tex, hashers, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Merrell, road running, Running, shoe modification, shoes, Snow, Summary, trail running, Winter3 Comments
Sunday Jan 1, 6.1 miles, 51:37 Ran through Brooklyn and Prospect Park. Started off the year by running shirtless in split shorts, far cry from my usual ice-encrusted beard for the winter months

Monday Jan 2, 6.0 miles 44:19 Running local roads, trying to alternate trail mileage with roads in an attempt to not completely surprise my body with the sudden jump in mileage from last month to this.

Tuesday Jan 3 AM 5.22 miles 55:48 1300ft elevation gain/loss through Schooley’s Mtn Park, would have run longer, but mild ankle issues made the effort cut short after summit #2.
PM. 6.0 miles 43:41 Same route as Monday morning, getting quicker, decent tempo-ish run

Wednesday Jan 4 AM 4.85 miles 43:58 running along local powerline access trails, steep ascent/descent, overall tough run, but within ~1 minute of personal best
PM 4.85 miles 43:30 Rarely do I run a double that includes the same course twice, even rarer that I run the second loop faster… I blame it on the shoes (MT101’s in the Eve, as opposed to uber-minimalist Merrells in the AM) Felt sluggish, but the stopwatch says otherwise.

Thursday Jan 5 AM 10.15 miles, 1:24:55 Hill run on the roads, this point in the week I’m starting to feel the residual fatigue of higher mileage (especially compared to my lackluster numbers in Nov/Dec)
PM 5.0 miles, 40:50 Broken Shin Loop, felt rather anti-social Ran the second half of it with Roadie, first half being Chased by HH, sorry about the moon….

Friday Jan 6 AM 4.85 45:55 Semi-recovery-oriented run over powerline trails considered doubling it on the spot, but prudence got the better of me.
PM 6.0 miles, 50:26 Still in recovery-running mode, legs feeling rather soft by this point

Saturday AM 5 Miles, time: ???? (55??)Freezing Cold Hash

Totals: 64.02 miles 9h20m, Frozen beards: 4, Falls, 0 (hash excluded….)

I have no excuse….