myfootprint

My actual footprint =====>>>



May 25, 2013 (Saturday) [6.5 miles]

I've spent so much time the past few months running in the dark that running in daylight seems strange. At the beginning of my run is a little hill, which reminded me I haven't done much hill work since my last long 16 miles run two weeks ago. The reminder was my quads hurting. My speed slowing coming back, but I can only go as fast as my muscles will let me. The rest of the runs until the Marathon should be easy, so I won't push the pace beyond my easy comfort zone (i.e. no pain).

May 24, 2013 (Friday) [6.7 miles]

With 10 days of reduced mileage due to injury, I was finally able to get back on the training plan, just in time for the taper. I did feel a little pain when I was trying to up the pace, so I just backed off and finished with no pain. Wanted to go longer, but with the race only 10 days away, there's nothing to be gained at this point by pushing harder or longer. Just stick to the plan.

May 23, 2013 (Thursday) [10.6 miles]

Feeling much better this morning, but still keeping close to home, just in case. And good thing I did, because I had to make an unscheduled potty stop in the middle of my run. Good thing to know on race day: If you feel like you have to make a potty stop, don't wait, as you might not make it. I was hoping to go the full 12 miles, but the top of my right foot started to hurt, but at least my calves held up well. Today was the last double digit run until the Marathon, we are winding down.

May 21, 2013 (Tuesday) [5.4 miles]

Felt really good at the beginning of my run with little pain. I've been expecting to be able to get back to my longer distances, but for the past few runs, I've always come up short. Today was no different, but I was moving faster. Rest day tomorrow, hopefully this will be good enough for me to recover completely.

May 20, 2013 (Monday) [4.0 miles]

The easy run yesterday allowed my left tibialis posterior to get stronger without over stressing it. Still slightly sore, so I stayed close to home so that I could easily head home at the sign of any pain. Looks like I'll be short again this week on the mileage, but it's more important to have all my muscles in prime shape, and injury free.

May 19, 2013 (Sunday) [3.4 miles]

My left tibialis posterior tendon felt good most of the day yesterday, but by the evening, the soreness was back. When I woke up this morning, it felt about the same as yesterday, so I didn't expect to go far. Just after a mile, I could feel the muscle getting tight, with just a slight bit of pain. Injury prevention is more important than distance, so with today's short run, I only managed to accumulate only 28.9 miles this week, quite a drop from my 50+ miles weeks. Race is only 14 days away, I guess I got an early start on my taper.

May 18, 2013 (Saturday) [6.2 miles]

Since Bike to Work day was yesterday, I chose to skip my run, since my muscles were still sore, and I wanted to give them more time to heal. The bicycle ride was kept easy, and was only 7 miles to work, and 6 back home. I continued to massage the trigger points, even at work. Last night, I worn my compression sleeve on my lower leg to help in the healing. Much better this morning, I started slow, and didn't feel much pain. Still trying to keep the pace slow, and everything seemed OK. At mile 4, I felt my first muscle twinge, then a half mile later, some pain. I slowed down, and decided to cut the run short before doing any damage. I made it home feeling as good as I started, so things look great for tomorrow, though my mileage for this week is way down.

May 16, 2013 (Thursday) [9.8 miles]

The rest day was good yesterday, but knowing how sore my calves were a few days ago, I decided not to go too hard for today's 10 mile tempo run. The first mile felt good, but each mile afterwards, I could feel my muscles tightening, and my pace was dropping slightly. Six miles into the tempo run, I slowed even more as I could feel some pain (Mainly the left achilles). Another mile at an easier pace didn't help, and I knew I had to head home. Only problem was that I was 2 miles away. A combination of walking, slow running, but made it back without experiencing much pain. I know last week's workout was my peak mileage, and I'm still recovering from it. I was researching the source of the pain, and it appears to be my tibialis posterior. The trigger points in this muscle are difficult to reach as the muscle lies deep under several others.

May 14, 2013 (Tuesday) [4.0 miles]

It's not good start when my left achilles tendon feels tight right when I start running. Today's workout was suppose to be a 4 x 1.5 mile, but after the warm up, my left achilles tendon did not feel much better, and there would be an occasional twinge. I was hoping to just go slow, and maybe I could get in the mileage, but after 3 miles, I felt like I'd better cut it short, before I did more damage. After my run, there was a little swelling but little pain, so I will definitely take advantage of the rest day tomorrow.

May 13, 2013 (Monday) [5.5 miles]

Warm this morning at 63°F, and the crickets were very noisy. A new moon and clear skies made for great star gazing (at least when the street lights are not too bright). I actually was able to see Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) clearly for the first time in years. This was suppose to be a recovery run, but I think I went too fast, because at mile 3, my left achilles tendon was getting sore, and I had to slow way down to make the pain go away.

May 12, 2013 (Sunday) [16.5 miles]

Final long run of the training plan, and I could really feel the effects of culmulative fatigue. I've done long runs before, but this is the first time I really was in prime shape, and was actually able to run the correct pace for all the training runs leading up to the long run. The last few miles were pretty hard. Although I consumed an energy gel at mile 8 and 12, I had to take one more at mile 15, because I felt so worn out. If this run was suppose to simulate the last 16 miles of the marathon, I think it worked. This week is the maximum mileage (59 miles) for the plan, next weeks up to and including the marathon will be around 50.


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History

I first began running barefoot in 2006 when I was doing a swim-run event (Aquathlon) with the Triathlon Club of San Diego, and accidentally brought two right running shoes. I knew the only way to complete the run was to go barefoot, as some of the other club members do. The soft sand beach run actually felt good, and the lack of shoes made my feet feel very light.

I would often see club members running barefoot on the street, which seemed rather brutal on the feet, but some people say the same about running barefoot on the sand. After reading several articles about barefoot running, I decide that 2010 is the year of the bare feet. One of my main purposes is to avoid injury. I haven't been about to run weekly for a whole year in over twenty years. No major injuries, but just minor pain in joints that takes the fun out of running and forces me to rest to recover. Another reason is to try to minimize the calluses on the ball of my foot (3rd metatarsal bone) and my big toe. A properly aligned foot should have pressure evenly distributed, and running barefoot will help strengthen the muscles of the foot. My first goal was to do the run portion of a Sprint Triathlon running barefoot which I completed in July 2010.

As my training distance increased I set my sights on possibly a Half Marathon. I had always loved the La Jolla Half in April, so I was targeting that as my first barefoot running race. I then found out there was a Half Marathon on my 50th Birthday in January, and increased my distance more agressively than normal. By November 2010, I finish a training run of 13.1 miles, so I felt confident about my first running race in a few months. I ended up completing 4 Half Marathon races in 2011, and also an Olympic distance (1.5K-40K-10K) triathlon in October.

Running Background

I wasn't much of an athlete when growing up. I played some tennis in high school, and always enjoyed riding my bicycle around the neighborhood. In October 1987, I decided to run a marathon on a dare. I had been riding my bicycle for two years, completing several century (100 miles) rides. I figured I was in good shape, and even though I never did any distance running in the past, running 26.2 miles seemed easier than riding a bicycle for 8 hours.

My first "run" in October 1987 was for 4 miles in tennis shoes at a 10 minute/mile pace. My 2nd run the next day was for 6 miles. In January of 1988, I bought some running shoes, and began my training for the Long Beach Marathon on May 1, 1988. In March and April, I was logging about 100 miles a month. I completed (barely) the Marathon in 4:42:59 (the first half was under 2 hours) and didn't run again until the next month.

I never did run another Marathon again, but did many Half Marathons with the fastest being 1:49:31 in April 1989. Most of my running was during short triathlons, but I did do a 10K in August 1991 @ 46:20. My fastest one mile time-trail was on October 24, 1991 at 5:55. By 1994, due to family commitments, my exercise was reduced to bicycle commuting. It wasn't until 2005 when I decided to get back into triathlons that I started running again. In 2007 I was able to complete several training runs at a half marathon distance. Injuries (usually right knee soreness) never allowed me to run longer distances every week, and often I would have to rest for several months before running again. I torn my right calf in June 2005 (but didn't know it at the time), and torn left calf in March 2007.