Saturday, April 30th . . . pre-race workout . . .

50 min. easy run with a half dozen 80-100 meter surges in preparation for tomorrow's 5k race.

Harry

Barefoot on Trails . . . yes you can do it . . .

Another picture in the Runner's World article. I'm running on the famous highline canal and yes, you can safely run barefoot over crushed and packed dirt trails.

Harry

Runner's World, June 2011

I'm featured in this June's edition of Runner's World in an article on "Running Form." The picture above is on page 86. Pick up a copy and let me know your thoughts on the substance of the article.

Harry

Friday, April 29 . . . rest day

nothing more to say :)

Friday, April 29 . . . rest day

nothing more to say :)

Thursday, April 28th . . . fartlek with surges . . .

60 min. fartlek on trails in the Evo's with a 10 min. barefoot warm-up. I threw in 12 x 30-60 second surges at 5k pace. I'm ready to race this Sunday. I will be running in the Evo's!!!

Running by feel and ditching the Garmin has really improved my ability to feel the paces and run relaxed. Tension is a killer in running and you have to feel what's going on with your body to understand the more relaxed you are, the faster you run, but the minute you add tension, things will start to fall apart and the changes of injury increase substantially.

Harry

Wednesday, April 27th . . . as the Eagles say, "take it easy"

Nice easy 35 minute run with 5 minute barefoot warm-up. Ran in the Evo II's since it was a bit colder out this morning and the Evo II has an extra layer of lining which also allow me to run sock-less.

There are so many basics to running that take so long to learn, especially for us recreational runners. Elite runners and/or those that ran competitively in college have a learning curve advantage over us. It doesn't matter if someone tells you to "run easy," you just can't learn what they really means until you experiment, trial and error, which also means you are likely to go through some injury cycles learning what they truly means as it relates to your body.

Harry

Tuesday, April 26th . . . speed work . . .

My last hard workout before Sunday's race. 24x200 alternating between 3k and half marathon pace. Everything felt great and I did the workout on the roads in preparation for Sunday's 5k road race.

I ran in the Evo's and I feel strong, mentally and physically.

Harry

The Great Hopi runners . . .

Great story about the history of the great Hopi Indian long distance runners. I especially liked the following:

"The Hopi runners ran barefoot and plunged into cactus and thorny bushes without the slightest hesitation." Or, they ran in ‘moccasins’ that Hopi women made for him on the reservation, and a shirt thatdepicted the legendary ‘winged’ (flying) snake of the Hopi."

Here's the full story: http://zero-drop.com/?p=320

As I continue to get sucked (yet again) back to my bare feet :), I've returned to the Evo's (put the Nike XC's in the closet only for mountain terrain until I find a good zero drop mountain running shoe) combined with my barefoot running. Something keeps pulling me back . . :) . . . maybe it's my "Blackfoot" blood . . .

Harry

Monday, April 25th . . . easy run . . .

I was planning to take today off but I felt good when I woke up so I decided to take a quick easy 40 min. run plus it would be good to workout after yesterday's Easter feast in which I had a few too many sweets. After many years, I'm able to enjoy these easy runs because I have the discipline (most of the time) to run easy and use easy runs to help me recovery from hard runs.

I ran in the Evo's and I'm going to stick with the Evo's for right now as the closer I get to barefoot, the better I feel. I like the Nike XC's but I'm starting to only use them when the terrain requires it. I going with the most minimalist footwear I can get away with taking into account the type of run, terrain and weather. It's also nice because my feet have adapted to the point that I can run in the Evo's sock-less without getting blisters which is great. The Evo's are awesome without socks.

HHH

Sunday, April 24th . . . recovery run . . .

55 minute recovery run in the Evo's with 10 min. barefoot warm-up. I went sockless in the Evo's and they felt great. I'm very happy with the Evo's but I can't wait for the new Ultra.

HHH

Saturday, April 23rd . . . followed by a great run . . . Evo land . .

So yesterday's awful run was followed by a great run today. A wonderful 90 min. run with a 10 min. barefoot warm-up, ending with 5x800 at sub 6:00 pace. Now, I'm mentally ready for next week's 5k race. I'll do some 200 meter work mid-next week, then I'll really be ready.

So what did I learn? I was quickly reminded yesterday that you can't force speed and pace. You must listen to your body and it will tell you when it's ready to run fast. You also can't run with any tension. Speed results from relaxed running. These are all things I know but didn't practice yesterday and my body quickly let me know and ended my run early but I was rewarded today . It's the great thing about running as there's always tomorrow, and it's better to alter or stop a bad workout and resume the next day as opposed to forcing the issue on tough days which commonly trigger the injury chain.

The other thing I'm learning is the difference between "feel" and "float." When I want to "feel" the run, I run in Evo's. When I want to "float" I run in the more cushioned Nike XC's. Of course, when I race, I want to "feel" the run so I'll be running in my Evo's for next week's 5k.

HHH

Worse Run in 18 Months

I have my first 5k race this year coming up so I used my Garmin for my run this morning with the intent to do 800 meter intervals on the roads at race pace and it was the worse workout I've had in over 18 months. In fact, it was so bad I stopped my workout half way through, quit and went back home. The good news is I'm finally smart enough to know when to stop.

For the first time in over a year, my left Achilles felt tight with slight soreness and the minute I felt that I stopped running, and the cause was clear. I ran the first few 800 meter intervals at sub 5:30 pace but I wasn't running my feel. I didn’t let me body set my pace because I was running according to my Garmin and a pre-determined workout I set the day before . . . 25 min. warm-up into Intervals at race pace, ending with a cool down. Well, my body wasn't ready and in fact didn't want to run at race pace today and I could hear my body telling me during warm-up that it just wanted to run nice and easy but I decided to force the issue. Then, I compounded the problem by "forcing" race pace on my body and further compounding it by looking at my Garmin to make sure I was hitting race pace, instead of running by feel. The result was not only not running by feel but actually running faster than race pace as I was more focused on my Garmin than the signals from my body . . . the complete opposite of running by feel.

I am so happy I had the discipline to stop and now I feel great with no pain . . . just frustrated by a bad workout but there’s always tomorrow which took me years to recognize. It’s much better to stop before you do something bad to your body. Recovering from a bad workout is just a mental thing but recovering from injury is the worse . . . always do the former.

This is a stark reminder as to why I ditched the Garmin in the first place and why I started running by feel. In fact, that finalized my decision to race without a watch from now on, and so my next race will be my first race with no watch and I don't be going back to my Garmin during any of my regular running/training. While I wore a Garmin during my race last month, I never looked at it once and I ran a good time and hit all the splits I wanted to hit so I don’t see any advantage to using the Garmin, at least for me as a recreational runner (I get why elites us it and other technology). Ultimately I don’t know what my new approach to running will yield in terms of race times but that’s becoming less important to me as my body is responding great to just “run hard” and the time is the time, the result is the result.

It also a reminder that you can’t “manufacture” or “force” speed and pace as it has to come naturally. In fact, forcing speed just causes me to slightly change my form. When I forced the issue this morning, I noticed I had a shorter stride and faster turnover but that’s NOT good in this case because it’s not my natural stride and turnover. Just as you can have too long or a stride and/or too low of a cadence, you can have too short of a stride and/or too high of a cadence. This is where you define your own style (i.e., watching Kim Smith at Boston was hard to watch as she runs with your arms all over the place, hips moving, etc., but she led the pack for 20 miles before having to drop out so who am I to criticize . . . maybe that’s how she is designed).

Matt Fitzgerald said in one of his books, that we ran with Haile and Haile took 9 strides to his 8 strides and when he tried to match Haile’s turnover, it just didn’t work and his form feel apart. Obviously, form and technique is something we all should constantly work on but there’s a point where you find “your own” natural form and style and it may be a mistake to alter that.

HHH

Thursday, April 21st . . . easy run

45 min. easy run with 10 min. barefoot warm-up. I'm within the 10 day window before my first 5k race this year. Between now and race day, I'll throw in some hard 800 meter intervals, then some hard 200 meter intervals later next week, then a few easy runs before showing up the starting line next Sunday.

I'm working my way back into 5k shape as I was focusing more on the 10k (but 10k's are difficult to find so I'm back to the 5k) so I need to make some slightly adjustments, most of which has to do with the first 1200-1600 meters of the 5k. I have to come out a bit faster in the 5k than I do for the 10k, but also be careful to not come out too fast. This is why the 5k is so tricky strategically. I break down the 1st mile of the 5k into 2 800 meter sessions and I have a goal for each of the fist 800 meter sections and if I'm within that range, then I'm usually good for the rest of the race.

I'm looking forward to it.

HHH

Back to the 5k . . .

I didn't realize the 10k was a dying race, at least in the U.S. After spending last year focusing on 5k racing, I was thinking of focusing on 10k racing this spring/summer but there are so few 10k races to choose from. In fact, they are difficult to find. In speaking with a race event coordinator, she said 5k races are easy to pull together, and the half marathon continues to grow in popularity and the marathon will always be around and as a result, the 10k and 10-mile races are few and far between.

Being that I'm not one to drive a long way to run a short race, I've decided to focus back on the 5k as it's easy to find 5k races within 10-20 minutes of my house. This also means I need to tweak my training schedule and approach to get back into 5k shape. This simply means more focus on shorter intervals and faster tempo running to improve my leg turnover. It also means a mental change as it relates to a little "suffering." I don't mean suffering in a bad way but given the intensity of the 5k race, you must welcome a bit of suffering both in racing and training. In training, you need to push yourself a bit more, especially in the speed work so you get use to the feeling of going at or near "all out."

HHH