Running almost barefoot

Last night I took my first experimental run in Vibram Five Fingers.
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.cfm

To set the stage a bit my run training has been terrible this summer, (in part due to an injury in the spring). Despite running in several sprint triathlons my run is about where you'd expect it to be after 3 to 6 months off. That being said a 5K is readily doable, if not in an impressive time at least in an almost reasonable time.

If you've not seen nor heard of Vibram Five Fingers you can see a picture of them on the website above or here:

http://twitpic.com/jprve -

They are basically like wearing gloves on your feet. The soles are of a relatively tough yet flexible kind of rubber that makes it feel like you're barefoot but with feet toughened by years of BEING barefoot.

Our run starts though some neighborhood streets before getting to a dirt/gravel trail. I was expecting that running on cement might be the tough part but it really didn't feel all that different. (my buddy did say I was a lot louder...meaning my feet were flapping on the pavement!) That first half mile or so really just felt like an experiment...what is it like to run in these?

Once we got onto the trail things were even easier. These shoes are REALLY light so you hardly feel them and the soles protect your feet while at the same time letting you feel the difference in the terrain beneath you. It might be too graphic a description but it is almost like running in bare feet with really built up callouses across the entire bottom of your foot.

I made it though about the first mile to mile and a half running then started to alternate between running a block and walking a block. Somewhere about halfway through mile two I started to feel it in my calves and a little on the balls of my feet. They'll tell you that you need to re-strengthen you feet before taking on long distances in these and that your calves will need some work too and they aren't kidding.

The final block or so I was still able to really lengthen out my stride...which I normally can't do...and it even felt more "normal" to be running that way. I normally "feel" a run in my hamstrings and core first...this was definitely different.

In the final analysis I think I'll be working more and more with these. My calves are achy today but not any worse than I would expect to feel after a couple weeks of no running.

On the upside these shoes are way comfortable. My experience in this first go was that my running stride wants to move towards a more natural gate than when I am in traditional running shoes. I tended to want to stride out and even sprint, probably just because it felt like being in bare feet. I didn't feel any pain from stepping on anything but I could feel the differences in ground surface...which was kind of cool.

On the downside I did stub my toe once or twice which resulted in pretty easily wearing a hole in the lightweight nylon upper on the shoe. Now, had I caught my foot like that in regular shoes I might have stumbled rather than just folding over one toe...so, good on the injury side...but poking a hole in the top of my shoe that easily is a bit of a bummer.

If you're thinking you want to try these let me strongly recommend trying on at least two or three different sizes. You'll most naturally be focused on how they feel on your toes when you first out them on due, in large part, to the fact that it takes some work to get your toes lined up right. Even though I did try on two sizes I wound up with probably one size too big because of this. The import thing to check is how far back your heel is seated in the shoe. Seating your heel back correctly after you get them on will adjust how well your toes match against the other end. Don't trust that the guy in the shoe store will know this!

In all? I like 'em. I'll run more in them and probably get a second, better fit pair. (Unfortunately you really can't return these after about the first wearing.)

If you like being bare foot then I really recommend giving these a try!

The Old Testament

Shweew.

For those on the journey of reading through the Bible chronologically this year we've made it through the Old Testament this past weekend!

It has been interesting to read this as a continuous story once again. Each time I do different themes seem to emerge. I think I caught a different glimpse this time than I have in times past.

It is becoming more and more popular these days to hear people referring to the Bible as irrelevant, as a book written to specific people groups thousands of years ago with no practical purpose today other than perhaps a quaint set of moral guidelines. Interestingly enough the stories in the Old Testament seem to revolve around a similar theme.

The nation of Israel was lead out of Egypt on a journey complete with an amazing set of miracles proving that God was indeed with them and fully in charge. God gave Moses His laws on the mountain...the equivalent of the Bible for His people...and, as the story goes, they rebelled.

Read through any of the prophets, through Chronicles and Kings and you'll see a constant combat between those who think that God's laws are no longer relevant, hence they turn to other gods, and those who seek to reestablish the law that was delivered to Moses. Nearly every one of the prophets calls the people to "remember" what God has done. There really isn't any "new" teaching once the law is given, no changes in policy or procedure, no additional requirements, just a call to go back to following it.

In fact it seems to me that almost the entire old testament, after the giving of the law, is the story of God's call to His people to return to Him. Sometimes they do and there is peace, sometimes they partially do, more often they don't until they are finally exiled.

At the end of the story of the Old testament they are back in Jerusalem and again they are called by godly leaders to remember, repent, and return to the Lord...and His word.

Amongst all the crazy genealogies, the complex and detailed laws, the long lists, the poetic flair of the minor prophets, there is a single thread that is constant throughout:

Remember who I AM.
Repent of your forgetfulness.
Return to Me.

A simple message and one we shake our head at when we heard it over and over again through nine months of reading through the Old Testament.

But clearly a message that echoes through the ages and needs to be heard even more loudly today.

Fall Frenzy Triathlon: Are you kidding me?!?

Parker Colorado: Fall Frenzy Sprint Triathlon: September 13, 2009

My goal for this race was to try to beat 90 minutes for the 500M swim, 11 Mile bike, and 5K run.
I had run the same race back in 2006 so I was somewhat familiar with the course.

The morning started out windy and cold. Cold is bad, wind is worse. I got myself situated in the transition area by about 7:15 and with a 10:30 pool start I had time to walk the run course and check it out.

We wound up getting into the pool a little ahead of schedule. This was by far my best swim experience of the season. I opted to go in the third position in our lane, two ahead of me, two behind. The two guys ahead of me were pretty quick and pulled away slowly while the two behind me were rather slower than I was and fell back. That left me with a pretty open stretch in which to swim. I had estimated my swim time at 9:30 and came in at almost exactly that. I exited the pool feeling great and had a pretty good spring in my step as a jogged the 100+ yards to the transition area.

I got to my bike at the same time as a woman who was sharing the bike rack with me was getting back from the ride. We had discussed earlier whether it was cold enough to switch to a long sleeve shirt for the bike leg so I asked her opinion as we were both changing shoes. She said the wind had been bad and that yes, it was probably a good way to go. Fortunately I had guessed that would be the case and my long sleeve shirt was the one I had handy. I pulled it on, started reaching for my helmet and suddenly realized I had put it on backwards! Growling in frustration I quick pulled it back over my head, got it sorted right way round, donned my glasses and helmet and headed out. The whole mini-fiasco probably cost me all of 7 or 8 seconds...10 max...no biggie.

The bike ride start out blazing. I was feeling good and the up hills were fewer than the down hills on the start of the course. There are two nasty hills in the middle to last section of the course and these turned straight into a nasty headwind. On the first I gritted it out, getting way further into my granny gears than I had wanted to but managing it ok. The second, and steeper, hill comes right after a sharp right hand turn that forces you to lose almost all your momentum from the previous downhill. I blew my shift here and by halfway up it I was struggling. For a brief moment I thought I would actually lose enough momentum to have to stop and walk. It's funny the sort of internal dialogue you have with yourself at that point:
"This is nasty. I need to walk it for a second."
"WALK IT?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? SUCK IT UP!"
"Hey man, I'm losing pace and may fall over any second."
THEN PEDAL MAN, PEDAL!!!"
"Dude."
"DUDE!
The louder voice won.
I kept pedaling and finished in a decent time.

I got into T2 and prepared for the dreaded run.

Due to an ankle injury back in May I haven't been able to do many training runs this summer...in truth probably only five or six all told since June. I glanced at my watch as I was leaving transition and saw that I had probably somewhere around 30-35 minutes to get the run finished if I wanted to break the 90 minute mark.

The run course passes right by the finish line on the way out, people headed in both directions and a LOT of spectators watching for their friends to finish. As I came through the first corner there a toddler, young enough to be still wobbly on his feet, staggered out right in front of me. I had seen him coming, thanks to the preparedness training of all those drivers ed films back in high school, and decelerated into an exaggerated slow motion spin around the kid all the while slowly saying "Ooooohhhhhh Nnnoooooooo!!!" This got a chuckle from the crowd. A few seconds down but good fun to be had and it helped the kid's mom not feel so bad that her child had gotten in the way.

The run itself was a nightmare. I knew that I had managed to run without walking at all in 2006 but my training had been much better then. I also knew I could run/walk at something around an 11 minute/mile pace which was going to make it pretty close if I was to break 90 minutes. The course is 1.5 miles or so out and them about the same coming back. I was definitely stronger on the way back in, my watch spurring me on, but at my best I was still barely shuffling along like some ancient Chinese aristocrat at the end of a bad meal.

With about 50 yards to go you come to a steep uphill dirt back that climbs about 10-15 yards...steep enough the only a few people manage to run up it...most walk, leaning far forward.
I got to the top and had another conversation with myself:
"Dude, stop and catch your breath."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? THE END OF RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!"
"Ok, walk slow then"
"you WIMP...GO,GO,GO"
"Grrrrr"

I managed to lurch into a shambling jog, gasping around the corner and through the finish line. I glanced at my watch and knew it would be close.

An hour or so later...

My glasses are still in my car so my wife is running her finger down the results list. I'm feeling pretty good that my name appears in top half of all finishers. She finds my names, traces across and then turns to look at me with a bit of a look...almost as though she has just smelled something nasty.
"Do you really want to know?", she asks.
"Crud....yes", I grunted.
"1 hour, 30 minutes, and 5 seconds."
I said something that rhymes with trap, is brown, and means the same thing as a word for the sound made by a large bell...followed by:
"Are you kidding me?"

Put your shirt on right the first time, juke past the kid instead of clowning, don't converse with yourself just run to the finish, to one less deep breath at the edge of the pool...ANYTHING gets you back five or six seconds.

"dude"
"DUDE!"

Fall Frenzy Triathlon: Last of the season?