Vibram Five Fingers KSO

I've been reading about the Vibram Five Fingers and it's about time I picked up a pair and started getting used to wearing them. So, how do you pronounce Vibram? Maybe I've never heard anyone say 'Vibram' outside of my family but we all say vIbram with an 'i' sound, not veebram with an 'e' sound. I'll just stick to my old ways and say it with an 'I' sound. Don't ask me how to say 'Sorel', as in Sorel boots. I was never sure.

Back to the Five Fingers... I picked up a pair of the KSO model in black-camo a week or so ago and tried them on with Injinji socks. I plan to wear them with the toe socks so it made sense to wear them when I figured out what size was right for me. My second toe is longer than my big toe so that's what drove the size. I ended-up in a size 44 and I usually run in a size 11.5 road shoe. That's what works for me, maybe not for you.

I'm taking it slow getting used to wearing them. Every other day I'm walking a mile and then running a short amount. I started with a half a mile and I'm up to 1.5 miles, which is what I ran this morning. The KSOs are very comfortable and based just on feel, I'd much rather wear them than regular running shoes. My plan now is to do 3 short runs a week in them during the winter to supplement my outside running. Hopefully by next Summer my feet will be quite a bit stronger than they have been. Ideally, I will be less susceptible to the minor foot injuries I get from time to time during hill running or long races.

So far so good in the KSOs, but since my feet feel so good now as I'm writing this, they will surely hurt like heck when I wake up tomorrow morning. Things like that usually happen after I write something. :-(

Have a safe and happy New Year everyone!

--Mark

2011 prelim plans again

It's been several weeks before I first thought about what to run in 2011. I have a short list of my old and new favorites plus a 50K trail race and a half marathon that will be new to me.

I'd rather run on trails than on the road for races. In 2010 I ran a mix of races and ended up with 72 road miles and 110 trail miles. With my plan below, I'll have 38 on the road and 106 on trails. As always, my plans are subject to change due to family activities but here's my current plan:

4/2 - Ron Daws 25K
4/15 - Trail Mix 4-person Team run (12.5K per person)
5/1 - Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon
6/18 - Bighorn Trail Run 50K
7/2 - Afton 25K
7/9-10 - Run the Keweenaw 3.5M/11K/25K series
9/24 - Birkebeiner Trail Marathon
10/22 - Door County Fall 50 team relay

I think that's about all I want to squeeze into 2011.

--Mark

foot pain

It figures. In my post on Saturday I wrote that I was "Injury free. Knock on wood." Well, the knocking on wood didn't really work. Tuesday morning I ran on a chunk of hard snow and my left foot rolled outwards. Ugh. I immediately got a sharp pain just forward of my ankle bone at the left side of my foot, maybe an inch up the side of my foot.

It hurt some while I finished up my run. I'm glad I had no more than three miles to go when it happened. Even today it hurts a bit (sometimes) when walking. I won't be running at all now until Saturday so hopefully it will be mostly healed by next week.

I would rather not 'whine' about an injury but I'm recording this info here so I can go back later to see what happened. At the Surf the Murph, I had a similar injury and walked it off for an hour and then ran another 10 miles. The next day there was no pain or sign of the injury. The injury from Tuesday happened and there is still slight pain today. Never any swelling or bruising.

On some internet searching the injury is in the same area of where 'Peroneal Tendonitis' injuries occur. I'm not assuming that's what I have. Whatever I do have seems like it's minor and should fix itself soon.

What I do know is that I really need to get back on the wobble board again and then get some Vibram Five-Fingers to use as a tool to get my feet stronger.

My only bright side of all of this is that I have done well in daytime trail races where I can see my footing. If my steps are carefully placed and I don't roll my ankles, I'll do just fine. With unsure footing that I can't see well, that's when I have a problem. Ugh. The reason I'm thinking about this is due to my plan of running the Bighorn 50K next Summer. I think if I'm careful with my foot placement, I'll be fine. Knock on wood. haha

--Mark

misc - shoes/crosstraining/winter

shoes

My new ASICS shoes are working out great. I have 125 miles on them and they feel great and I'm so glad to be in these new shoes. They even felt great with Yak Traks on them for my 25K at Afton (Pederson Benefit Run) last weekend. I better buy some more pairs of them before they're discontinued, if that hasn't happened already.

crosstraining

I've been adding some crosstraining the last two weeks. My new Mon - Fri workouts, at Lifetime Fitness, will be something like this:

Mon - run 6 then Yoga
Tue - run 6 then Total Conditioning (Strength) class
Wed - run 6 then Kickboxing
Thu - run 6 then Strength training
Fri - I do cycle class and just move my legs for an hour with almost no resistance. I'm the ultimate slacker in this class.

The first week of the added crosstraining was tough. I found a lot of muscles that are not primary muscles used for running. Soreness was the norm for week one.

Sat & Sun - I have a goal of running 12 to 20 on one day and also trying to get around 40 to 45 weekly miles.

winter

I also want to do more snowshoeing this winter. I'm going on a snowshoe hike with my wife tomorrow but I would like to substitute those weekend miles with TBD hours of snowshoeing whenever I can this winter.

Injury free?

I'm injury free. Knock on wood. I've not had much for injuries for quite a while. Keeping my miles under 45 per week helps a lot and I've added crosstraining to get other muscles stronger again and also to help strengthen my feet.

--Mark