Mileage reporting week 12 2015

Ooooh, so close again! 11 minutes dead! One second! Sub-11 minute mile I WILL have you TOMORROW!
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Hello mileage friends. Long time no post. I've checked in once in a while, but no posts. So I missed about 5 weeks? So a brief catch up.

Dealt with some ankle tendinitis and top of foot pain. Backed off of running for a couple of weeks. Not by choice but because my wife decided we should be alpaca ranchers. We bought a herd (17 total).

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So 3 weeks was a whirlwind of buying supplies, tearing up a garden spot to turn into a pasture, planting pasture, fixing fences, renovating a barn, etc. Not much running, but I did have a 100% barefoot week. Only 9 miles total, but that made me happy. Injuries healed up and I went into the Antelope Canyon Ultras in good shape. I am the course marker and had no issues. I put in about 70 miles that week. A couple more weeks of light mileage and then my brother and I did a relay as a 2 person team (most had 5 team members) There were 6 two person teams, and 2 ultra runners. It is a 51 mile race around the St. George, Utah area. I was going to take it easy, but didn't. We took second place in the 2 person division, missed first by 4 minutes, total time of 7 hours, 9 minutes. Six miles shod, 15 in sandals, and 5 barefoot. I ran at my marathon PR pace. Sore muscles after, but nothing serious. Really happy with my brother's efforts. He has lost 20 lbs. going into the race and now is going to do the Zion 50k, skipping an official marathon. He ran his segments faster than me.

Last week headed out to set up another course at Monument Valley. 100 plus miles of course marking, checking flags, and cleanup. Roughly 60 shod, 35 sandals, and 5 barefoot. Recovering from lack of sleep, but physically fine.

Hope everyone is doing well and logging some mileage. Welcome spring, hope to kick off the shoes and sandals once in a while.
 
I did it! One mile. 10 mins 53 secs!

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Now for my next challenge .....
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Last week, you may recall I was going on a trail run on Sunday. It ended up being much more vigorous than anticipated, though still fun, but I was extremely tired and sore for several days. Here is a link to the blog and video I did about it, if you are interested: http://dailyimprovisations.com/runn...-pine-needles-to-stack-rock-near-bogus-basin/

Still, I did manage to get my runs in for the rest of the week, on the slow side, but I think it helped me heal. Total 31 miles, then dancing for 2 hours Saturday night.

However, I wasn't ready for my scheduled long run on Monday and only got in 6 miles. Getting ready to head out for the long run today, though!
 
Second week of running, building up barefoot again.
Sunday: about 1-1.5 mi bf on sidewalk path across the street, followed by a nice long slushy muddy shod hike with the kids.

Monday: walk to work and back: maybe 4.5-5 miles total. Weights at gym in evening.

Tuesday: 4 mi bf around the brick path by a lake, at my favorite park in town, while kids played on scooters and skateboard. The skin on my feet is definitely starting to get conditioned, which I said couldn't happen to my delicate feet, so that's good. In 40F temp, the brick work had been in the sunshine all afternoon, and was perfectly, delightfully warm.

Unfortunately, ALL my sandals and almost all my min shoes are coming apart (except my suede soft stars are ok, but too toasty warm most of the time).
I took some of the shoes to a local shoe repair and he said they were not save-able. :( So I am in the market for a new running sandal for any terrain that I don't want to bf on. Any suggestions?

I'm especially unhappy about the pair of wokova feathers I got late last summer and didn't put many miles on; the vibram has a hole where the toe fabric was attached. My last pair went for many hundreds more miles and abuse, and the cordura straps were what eventually failed, not the sole. Wondering if the new attachment techniques reduce the durability.

In any case, for right now I'm working on running bf around this great 0.4 mi square loop of brick work around a man-made lake in a nearby park. The view is lovely, the bricks are a bit chunky but still smooth, and the ground is debris free. I can do the sidewalk by my apartment, but there is precious little of it, and I don't like road debris on my bare feet. Yes, I am a princess.

After a couple of runs at the lake last week, the skin on my feet was fairly raw (I have very thin, soft plantar skin), so running 4 miles at a time bf out the gate was probably not the best choice.
That said, my recovery after the 4 mi last night was basically a non issue, so maybe my skin will actually thicken if I let it.
 
Alpacas are awesome. Rick, you should see if one wants to be your running partner. That might make the news, barefoot running guy with alpaca for partner.

So this morning I crossed over 100 miles for this month. That makes 6 straight months where I've run at least 100 miles. With a few miles tomorrow, I will have 26 straight weeks of 20 or more miles. Averaging about 35 miles per week so far this year. Consistent running is definitely having effect. I'm getting faster. This morning I broke out of the gates with a first mile of 9:14, not really trying to go hard and for a good chunk of it into a tough headwind. I also think the hill sprints have helped a lot, even if I haven't been doing them as much or as consistently as I should. Fact is that I hate the walking around in between hill sprint reps and if the weather is cold, miserable, windy or wet, I often settle for just doing some easy miles.

Scedastic, have you ever tried the Xeros? I really like using the 4mm Connects, they offer just enough thickness to make debris manageable for those with more sensitive feet. The one drawback to them sometimes is you can occasionally catch a pebble up in between the sandal and the foot and sometimes that pebble just won't work free on its own. I think now I've run close to 1700 miles in Xero Connects and it's a simple choice for me as they're only about 30 bucks a pair including shipping. They do the job and they're inexpensive.
 
Scedastic, have you ever tried the Xeros? I really like using the 4mm Connects, they offer just enough thickness to make debris manageable for those with more sensitive feet. The one drawback to them sometimes is you can occasionally catch a pebble up in between the sandal and the foot and sometimes that pebble just won't work free on its own. I think now I've run close to 1700 miles in Xero Connects and it's a simple choice for me as they're only about 30 bucks a pair including shipping. They do the job and they're inexpensive.


I used to run exclusively in those, but almost every 2 runs I had to adjust the straps, and every month or two I had to change out the straps. It was annoying.
I liked the feathers because they were slip on/off, and fit just right nice and loose the first try.
The xeros needed to be adjusted until they were just right every time or they didn't feel right.
The feathers kind of always felt fine, a little loose or a little tight was no big deal.
 
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So I am in the market for a new running sandal for any terrain that I don't want to bf on. Any suggestions?

That said, my recovery after the 4 mi last night was basically a non issue, so maybe my skin will actually thicken if I let it.

I've been very happy with my Luna's. This last weekend, I misplaced them and panicked and it occurred to me that I should get another pair. I go barefoot a lot, but when I need them, I need them!

It has definitely taken my feet longer to condition/adapt than it has taken my kids, but it has been worth it. I'm still more tenderfoot than they are for both debris and temperature, but I keep trying and making progress. Just keep working with the ebb and flow of what you can handle. :)
 
It's good to hear from you Rick.

It sounds like you've been plenty active while incommunicado!


Hi Chris. I forgot to mention that I have not gone skiing in 2 months. Hope to change that this weekend.

Alpacas are awesome. Rick, you should see if one wants to be your running partner. That might make the news, barefoot running guy with alpaca for partner.

I'll have to try that. Maybe try to train a baby one next year. Looks like your running is going well. Nice Job.


Yesterday I did a hilly 8 miles shod. Really pushed myself which is rare. Redlining aerobically the whole time. 63 minutes with the last 3 miles at a 7 mm pace.
 
Hi Chris. I forgot to mention that I have not gone skiing in 2 months. Hope to change that this weekend.
I've had a whole 5 'outings' this year - only 2 were close to full days :( Enjoy your cross-training this weekend!



Yesterday I did a hilly 8 miles shod. Really pushed myself which is rare. Redlining aerobically the whole time. 63 minutes with the last 3 miles at a 7 mm pace.
That's a fine pace! As it's warming up a little here I'm back in LSD mode having spent most of the winter lightly dressed and running hard enough to be warm but not so hard that I was sweating profusely. It's all good!
 
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