Cuevas–Back in the Hills

The training plan I’ve set up for Leadville grants a day off from running each week, which I usually schedule for Sunday.  Sunday is a day when Nataly typically isn’t working and we often find ourselves splashing in the water at the bottom of the first waterfall at Cuevas.  That gets followed by a couple hour drive in the car and relaxation at home.

This week however I stayed in Cuevas to help Hugo cut down a couple of trees which will become some new benches for the park.   That meant Saturday was a more convenient day off and I went running Sunday evening after Nataly and folks headed home.

My run was just a hard, quick effort from the gate at Cuevas up to the first high point on the road to Bella Vista – total relief 650 feet.  That doesn’t seem like much, but there are a number of small climbs and descents along the way which get pretty steep.  Here's the GPS.

Today (Monday), I’m feeling the effects of 8 weeks off from running in the hills.  Soreness in the hamstrings and quads, and a touch of gimpiness in my left knee.  The run yesterday was my first real running effort in the new Brooks Pure Grit shoe which I bought back in October after injuring my foot, as well. 

I’m not entirely sure what to think of them.  They’re much more shoe than I’ve run in in quite some time.  All of my training for the Blues Cruise was done in Vibram 5 Fingers or NB Minimus Trail.  The Grit represents a step up in terms of cushioning and protection from my last year of running, while still maintaining the offset of the Minimus. 

The Good: I ran with greater confidence on the descents yesterday because I wasn’t afraid of small rocks on the road.  The Bad: That also meant I was landing more heavily on my heels – and I noticed my feet slipping forward and back in the shoe somewhat and possible hotspots developing under my heels.

In my two Imogene Pass Runs, I’ve developed giant blisters on both of my heels.  I ran those races in Brooks Cascadias.  Those blisters made for interesting races the following weeks as well.  My first marathon – the Boulder Marathon 2009 – was colored by the giant blisters on my feet, and I lost 10-20 places when both of my blisters blew on the final descent to the ski resort in the Steamboat 50 in 2010.  I chose to walk it in rather than arrive at the finish a bloody mess unable to appreciate the RD and all of his volunteers. 

One problem I have with all running shoes is that a size 13.5 is impossible to find.  I either have to wear a shoe which is half a size too big or a shoe a half a size too small. 

My sense from my initial trials of the Grit is that it is perhaps slightly longer than the Cascadia at the same size.  Maybe, then, a size 13 will fit me.  I suppose the other thing I could do is to cut a hole in the toe of the shoe like Ed McCaffery used to in his football cleats, but I’ve never been a huge fan of “modding” my shoes…

I wonder if I shouldn’t make my own pair of huaraches.  It would seem to be one of the best solutions for me.  A correctly sized sandal would provide protection from the hazards of the trail, and ignore the idiosyncrasies of my own special brand of foot.  It seems silly I haven’t tried them yet – that’s for sure.

Thanks for reading, and yes, after my run on Sunday I did jump in that pool...
Jay

Vein in the top of the foot

I've been able to get out running the last couple of days, albeit gingerly.

Wednesday I knocked out 9 miles in my Minimus trail shoes, though toward the end of the run I was wanting more shoe and yesterday I tacked on 7 more in my trusty old Cascadias.

Last night I noticed that I once again could distinguish the tracing of a vein across the top of my foot.  That of course means that the inflammation is going down.  It's still not gone (need an entire network of veins bulging up there), but it's getting better. The pain is easing off too.

All this is good.  This afternoon, I'll run 11 miles in Cuevas.  Not sure where, I expect the roads are muddy as there has been a fair bit of rain the last couple of days, but I really want to log 50k between today and tomorrow and then again between tomorrow and Sunday.  That'll essentially cap my "training" for the Blues Cruise and I'll really ramp up the healing process going into the race.

Gear wise, I'll go with my Vibrams today, Minimus tomorrow, and decide between them for Sunday's run.

Thanks for reading, and until Monday then...
J

Road to Bella Vista - deserving of it's own post...

My weekend in running.

As I noted in my last post my running had been a bit odd on the week.  Not so this past weekend.  In fact, it was downright spectacular.

Looking toward the road from the cabin.

Saturday got off to a slow start.  Nataly and I have been having some work done on the fence around the house and we had to settle up with the guy who completed the work for us.  I was unsure whether or not to knock out my run in the morning, or wait until we left and do it up in Cuevas.  I decided to wait.

For the sake of my blood pressure, that was the wrong decision, but for the sake of the run it was correct.

The guy whom we were supposed to pay at 12:00 didn't show until almost 1.  Then, when we got out onto the road, our assistant Mary called to say we'd forgotten Boo, Deneb's precious dog without which there would be no sleep.  We stopped for some chicken.  Eventually we started toward Cuevas somewhere after 2:30.  Me getting a run in was looking doubtful.

We had no difficulties on the road and eventually pulled up to the cabin around 4:30.  With Hugo's help, I had the car emptied quickly and I was changed into my running clothes (without Hugo's help) and ready to go.  I hit start on my GPS at 4:41 PM for my 1 hour 15 minute run.

Beautiful Green Mountains.

My schedule called for a run with a variety of options.  Had I done it in La Guardia, it'd've been form work, instead it was hills (strength training for runners).  This weekend I actually did 2 runs on the same road, the road to Bella Vista (you can see the GPS tracks here and here).

By the time I'd finish Saturday's run, it'd be getting pretty dark, but no headlamp would be needed.  The thing that was remarkable about my workout Saturday was that I was cruising.  Felt effortless.  Climbing was easy, descending was smooth.

Gearing wise, I was sockless in my VFF Trek Sports, with my Garmin and nothing else.  As far as effort went, when I do "running strength" workouts I use a heart rate ceiling:  No higher than Zone 4.  That still gives plenty of horses to push it on the climbs and I worked on form on the descents - bent knees, high turnover rate, forefoot strike etc, etc.

Typical scene, lots of veg.

Distance wise, this run was nearly identical to a run I took a couple of weeks ago when I went to Cuevas by myself, but temporally, it was five minutes faster.  I worked harder on Saturday's effort, but only marginally - average HR was 2 beats per minute higher.  Anyway, Saturday's run covered 8.5 miles and had an elevation gain of 1250 feet and finished with a "Hot Damn! That was freaking fantastic."  A workout like Saturday's is the reward for the days when one just doesn't care to get out, but does anyway.

Sunday, well that was another kettle of fish entirely.  I didn't really care to get out, but it was my long run - the most important of the week.  It was raining, then it wasn't, then it was pouring.

Nataly thought it would clear, and when I left, I thought she might be right, but within 15 minutes of leaving it has started misting and for the rest of my workout, something would be making me wet either from above or below.

The road which Saturday had been dry with sure footing was now slick and muddy.  For the most part the traction was fine, but there were parts of the road where the mud was downright treacherous.  Toward the top of the final climb before I turned around, I felt like I was sliding backward 3 steps for every 4 I was taking forward.  Then on the descent, because I'm essentially a wimp when it comes to injuries, I proceeded with extreme caution.  My timing for yesterday's workout was a bit off - whatever.  It's possible that I can blame my shoes for my difficulties in the mud, yesterday I went with the NB Minimus, but I'd be shocked if my VFFs would do much better.

Friend along the way.

One of the great joys of running in Bolivia is that darn near everywhere you get to share the road with livestock.  Sometimes they manifest themselves in the form of demon sheep, but most of the time I'm running in close proximity to herds of cattle.  The road to Bella Vista has lots of cows along it's length, as well as a horse or two.

The cows themselves aren't really much of a worry, it's their residue that I'm not a huge fan of.  Yesterday in the rain, well - yuck.

Anyway, I'm really starting to like using this road as one of my main training routes.  Even though when it's wet the mud and cow effluent make it less than a jungle paradise, the route has a bunch to offer.  Yesterday at my turnaround point I seemed to be almost to a spectacular vista, but I was so sick of sliding around in the muck I decided I'd get there another day.

Not single track.

Given the weather yesterday and timing of my run on Saturday, these pictures were obviously not taken this weekend.  In fact they were taken back in May.  The photo to my left was taken at just about the mid point of my run on Saturday.

Today I'm pretty darn sore - calves, quads, glutes, abs, lower back....  I don't do a boatload of climbing here in La Guardia and so this was my first real up and down weekend as it were.  I ended up with nearly 3500 feet of climbing over 23 miles.  Not a bad couple of outings at all.

Anyway, thanks for reading and watch where you step.
J

Cabin, sweet cabin.

On injuries and barefoot running (Part 2)

What went before.  Short recap:  I ran in normal shoes with orthotics and my feet hurt.  I tried Vibram Five Fingers as an alternative to surgery.

Anyway, after my first several runs in my Vibrams, I realized that it was going to be a process transitioning into the new footwear.  I had more than slight difficulty climbing stairs after a run of anything more than 2 miles and my calves would hurt for days afterwards.

But it wasn't all bad.  Something else was going on.  The pain in my foot (self diagnosed as Plantar Fasciitis) started going away.  In fact, within 2 months of twice per week runs of 3 miles, the pain in my foot disappeared in it's entirety.  I was convinced.  Minimal footwear was the way to go.

Then I read Born to Run.

I was even more convinced.

I pretty much resolved myself to becoming a fully minimal runner.  I understood the challenge, given the problems I'd experienced initially, but I thought everything would be fine.

For a while I logged several miles per week actually barefoot.  Why?  I ran Homey to far one day and he shredded his paws.  I decided, "He doesn't wear shoes, so..."

Our next run together was something like three miles bare.  Cool experience.  My feet chaffed a bit on the concrete sidewalk, but overall I enjoyed myself.  I think our longest barefoot run together was in the neighborhood of 6 miles. Several times during these runs with Homey, I got the "look." The "Wait!  That dude isn't wearing any shoes!" look.

After the Steamboat 50 I had nothing more on my schedule for the forseable future.  A sort of ambiguous feeling I might do the Desert RATS trail running festival in Fruita, but no real plans.  I started really ramping my minimal miles.

I remember a run in VT around Thanksgiving.  In fact, I believe it was on Thanksgiving Day itself.  I got out and ran 11 miles in my Vibrams on icy roads.  It was a good run, but the next day I had extreme difficulty going down the stairs due to the pain in my achilles-s.

I backed off my minimal miles and backed off my miles in total really until January when I started logging virtually all of my runs in my Five Fingers.  I developed chronic Achilles Tendonitis.  I still have it actually, though it's improving.  I hope.

I also experienced something else this year.  "Pain in the top of the foot."  I read up on that and quickly decided to take a couple of days off.  That's gone now and doesn't seem to be coming back so we're good on that front.

I'm a habitually shod runner and I've been running as such for the better part of 25 years.  For me the transition to minimal style has taken 2+ years and is still ongoing.  Since April, I log my 2 longest runs in any given week in the NB Minimus.  There isn't a lot to that shoe, but it's a hell of a lot more shoe-like than any of my Vibrams.

One thing that's different recently is that I've really started adding form drills to my workout repertoire.  I run barefoot around the house with my son using a ridiculously high cadence, or ridiculously high knee lift, or kicking myself in the butt, or skipping.  He thinks it's great fun.

I run a mantra through my head while running out on the roads.  Lift up, don't push off; lift up, don't push off; lift up... This is resulting in improvements in my achilles, but a slight tap on the back of my left heel is enough to make me shudder in pain.

The point of all this is that NYT article seems to be dead on in my case.  There's good that can be had from running in normal shoes and good that can be had from running minimally, but there's bad to be had from both too.  If anybody wonders why I don't run barefoot here in Bolivia, take a look at this post.  There are many, many perfectly good reasons to wear shoes while running.

While all isn't roses in this minimal runner's garden, I am going to continue with the experiment until something forces me to stop or I can run pain free.  My hope/goal is to run the Space Coast Marathon in November in my Bikilas and set a worthy marathon PR in the process.

Anyway, thanks for reading and be careful out there.
J

Holy Customer Service Batman!

A bit of background.  Brandon penned this piece about the Minimus and he tipped me over the edge from wanting to lusting.  I've been wanting a shoe with a bit more to it than the 4 pairs of VFF's I've been rocking since January for my longer runs.  But, I didn't want to go all the way back to my Cascadias.

Go CU!

Before I left for Bolivia in January I was on something of a quest for the New Balance MT101, but nowhere did I find a size 14.  I ordered a pair through a local store, but when they finally came in, I had other things I had to do with my money.  I knew this shoe was coming out but hadn't parsed the timing of it's release properly.

Once I started seeing chatter about the shoe, I realized that I could possibly have a pair brought down to me when my Mom comes to visit at the end of this month.  I couldn't take it anymore and pulled the trigger on the unnecessary expense last Thursday when I also bought some gear for the kitchen (also coming in my Mom's luggage).

The scale shipped on Friday (the same day I expected the shoes to ship), but come Monday I hadn't gotten a shipping advice, so I penned this note to New Balance Customer Service - online:

Subject: Customer Care - Help with My Order

I'm curious if my order:
6251856
Has shipped or will ship prior to the 23rd of March.
I am having the shoes brought to Bolivia by someone who is coming to visit me.  They leave on the 30th of March.
Thanks.

Yesterday I got a shipping advice and I thought, "Ok, that works.  It'll be close, but the shoes should arrive in VT before Mom leaves on the 31st."  Later in the day, I looked at my phone and saw this reply to my note in my inbox:

Dear Jay,

The shoes are shipping today, 03-22-11, with a scheduled delivery for tomorrow, 03-23-11.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to send us another e-mail.  Have a nice day, Jay.


Joe S.
Customer Care

That's just remarkable.  The shoes will arrive today in Vermont alongside of the scale.  Seriously above and beyond - and via a web contact form too.  Thanks New Balance.

Thanks for reading,
Jay