Mileage reporting 31st week of 2014

rickwhitelaw

Barefooters
Apr 27, 2011
1,870
2,525
113
Beryl Utah
Sorry for my absence the last two weeks. Arrived home from Germany and was faced with a ton of work. Got a few runs in including a 20 mile shod trail run at altitude that kicked my butt after being used to the low elevation of Germany. So back to this week with at note to not be wimpy as Dama is back. Welcome back Dama, we need someone to crack the whip around here.

Sunday - 23 shod trail miles with good hills at an elevation of 8000-9000 ft. Got invited to run with my friend and his friend ultra running legend Dana Miller. Tried not to bug him with too many newbie ultra questions or act like a teenage girl at a boy band concert. Had a great run. Dana set the pace and mileage goal as it was his training run for another Wasatch 100 coming up. He had a routine of running a short distance and then fast hiking throughout the run, even on the hills. It was a little slower than I was used to but in the end it felt great and I hardly felt like I had put in 23 miles. Seemed like I could have gone on forever with that routine. It was a great learning experience.

Monday - 5 barefoot easy miles around the farm. Felt so good after no bf runs in the last 2 weeks. Gravel, dirt, stickers, hay stubble, dogs.

Also, got word that I did not make it into the Bear 100 this year. A little disappointing because I feel like I am ready. Still going to keep the routine up and look for another 100 this fall.
 
Around 4 miles of intervals today.

Was kinda a bummer run, my legs felt really great, but I think I did not take in enough calories today, because I kept getting light headed whenever I pushed the tempo a bit...was a a weird juxtaposition of feeling physically strong but mentally weak today...I didn't likes it lol

Just pushed on and turned it into an interval run to get a little movement in...my body is still adjusting to running very bent legged though, so it was a good run to work on form...I feel like the strength is there now, but I am not habitualized to stay with the knees that bent.

I watch a lot of running videos of elite distance runners, and its amazing how bent the weight bearing knee is in the running 'pose', I certainly feel like I am running more athletically when I run with really bent knees.
 
18 miles in my Lunas because of that tender spot and because I want to make sure I can run these long distances in them so I don't have a crisis if I find the marathon course is all sharp chip seal. The run Included some sprinkler fartleks and a couple stops at an outhouse. Overall pace felt fairly breezy except for the last 3 miles, but I still worked on running light and it helped. Walked 3/4 mile home, plus tried to move consistently throughout the rest of the day, which wasn't too hard to find reasons to do with the chores I had for the day, but it really seems to help avoid stiffening up.
 
I fear I'm taking most of this week off from running. Didnt report last week since my mileage was much lower than usual just breaking 20 for the week - was hoping an easy week and my calf would be back to normal but its no better. I just don't understand, I've not pushed it anywhere as hard as I did last year, and my weekly mileage has been less (though my long runs are getting up to about where I was last year). Yet I get the torn feeling in my calf and its very tight at times. Took the weekend off and going to take most of this week off, maybe doing a bike ride or two mid/late week and starting back in with a jog over the weekend. I've been under a lot more stress this year I wonder if its just making my recovery that much longer.
 
I fear I'm taking most of this week off from running. Didnt report last week since my mileage was much lower than usual just breaking 20 for the week - was hoping an easy week and my calf would be back to normal but its no better. I just don't understand, I've not pushed it anywhere as hard as I did last year, and my weekly mileage has been less (though my long runs are getting up to about where I was last year). Yet I get the torn feeling in my calf and its very tight at times. Took the weekend off and going to take most of this week off, maybe doing a bike ride or two mid/late week and starting back in with a jog over the weekend. I've been under a lot more stress this year I wonder if its just making my recovery that much longer.

Do you use a roller to roll out your calves?

If you have a knot in the muscle or some scar tissue built up it can do that.

If you are not doing it already, get a golf ball or tennis ball, and roll the bottom of your foot over it, especially in the arch area, and when you find a tender knot, put some weight on it and roll it out, will hurt but makes running a much less achy affair.

After the feet, put a roller on the coffee table in front of the couch, and roll your upper and lower calves over top while watching TV, and again, when you find a very tender spot, soldier up to the pain and dig into it with the roller for about two minutes.

There are days where as a relative noob, who is still developing barefootin muscles, that I wouldn't be able able to run without rolling out the kinks pro-actively.

I am convinced that a lot of injuries are the result of continuing to run with a knot of muscle or scar tissue built up in the muscle, and that rolling it out is a big aid in continued training.

Its one of those things thats uncomfortable for a few minutes, but keeps you running longer and harder.
 
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Yes, I roll. It does help but the effect seems only temporary. I've always struggled with calf soreness (I started off barefoot with very weak calves) and I haven't really noticed a long term difference between rolling and/or stretching compared to nothing at all really, but its hard to compare - different times different amounts of soreness, etc.
 
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Took the weekend off from running last week, felt good to take 2 days of downtime in a row.

Ran 3.53 yesterday, mostly easy, little pickup at the end. 7.04 miles today with 2 miles on the lower end of tempo pace.
 
Sorry for my absence the last two weeks. Arrived home from Germany and was faced with a ton of work. Got a few runs in including a 20 mile shod trail run at altitude that kicked my butt after being used to the low elevation of Germany. So back to this week with at note to not be wimpy as Dama is back. Welcome back Dama, we need someone to crack the whip around here.

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Hahaha, as always, my pleasure. Nice mileage by the way, when I grow up I want to be just like you.
Sorry to hear that you didn't get into the race but there is always a next time.
 
Yes, I roll. It does help but the effect seems only temporary. I've always struggled with calf soreness (I started off barefoot with very weak calves) and I haven't really noticed a long term difference between rolling and/or stretching compared to nothing at all really, but its hard to compare - different times different amounts of soreness, etc.
Sorry to hear about this. One of the reasons I switched to the maximum aerobic function approach was to avoid re-injury of trouble spots, which always seemed to happen if I pushed trainng. I know you know about this, but I just wanted to send an encouraging word your way. Letting yourself rest and/ or back off some will probably help. A deeper injury can take time, though.
 
Sorry to hear about this. One of the reasons I switched to the maximum aerobic function approach was to avoid re-injury of trouble spots, which always seemed to happen if I pushed trainng. I know you know about this, but I just wanted to send an encouraging word your way. Letting yourself rest and/ or back off some will probably help. A deeper injury can take time, though.

Don't want to stir up a big MAF debate again... I did sort of try it. And almost all my running this has been around my maf. I hope its just overuse, and maybe I'm just not letting it fully heal. Because I've really taken the pace easy this year and given up racing and very careful about ramping up my mileage slowly, yet my calf is bothering me much worse.
 
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Collar bone out of alignment. I hadn't even thought to check that, maybe that's the source of all my problems! :p

Seriously though, I didn't even know ones collar bone could go out of alignment, and how do you tell? You been drinking again before running? :wacky:
 
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Don't want to stir up a big MAF debate again... I did sort of try it. And almost all my running this has been around my maf. I hope its just overuse, and maybe I'm just not letting it fully heal. Because I've really taken the pace easy this year and given up racing and very careful about ramping up my mileage slowly, yet my calf is bothering me much worse.

Huh. I didn't think I was stirring up debate. I guess I think of it more as running with more moderation and gradual building up than a strict programmed approach. Anyway, we all have our weak links in our running that we have to problem solve. I hope you can figure out yours. :)
 
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Tuesday - 20 miles (6 bf, 14 sandals) Had planned a long run but woke up and had to much work to do so I ran throughout the day in short bursts checking the fields and irrigation, running back to the house, running down to the shed to work on equipment, running back to check and change water, repeat. Not a continuous run, but the miles added up.

Wednesday - 6 shod miles. 2 mile warmup, 3 miles of intervals, 1 mile cool down.


Don't want to stir up a big MAF debate again... I did sort of try it. And almost all my running this has been around my maf. I hope its just overuse, and maybe I'm just not letting it fully heal. Because I've really taken the pace easy this year and given up racing and very careful about ramping up my mileage slowly, yet my calf is bothering me much worse.


Sorry to hear about this. Hope you figure it out. Are you still able to hike?

Sorry to hear that but these are two great fall races.

http://www.aztrail.org/ultrarun/

http://www.mogollonmonster100.com/

Stagecoach is "easier" but both are done in beautiful country and the RD's are solid people and they put on great races.

Thanks for the links Abide. I have heard of both and Mogollon is on my list, but the description is intimidating. I better get more experience before attempting this one. I will consider Stagecoach but travel expenses might be a concern. (Also the 30 hour cutoff)

Right now I am really considering a Grand Canyon Quad crossing the second week of October.