Success??

I took a week and a half completely off from running. I went to the gym tonight and did a really easy 1.5 mile run on the treadmill. Nothing hurt, but then again, nothing really hurt when I was running...it hurt at random other times. I'll see how it feels tomorrow. I did ice down my heel tonight after running. Cross your fingers...

The pool is my friend

I'm taking this week off from running to try and get through this annoying injury. It hasn't been hurting, but I haven't really been trying to run. I swam a couple times last week and I'm back in the pool this week. I started lifting weights again, and hopefully I'll get my core strength back to where it needs to be. I'm hitting the pool up again tonight, and then its on to Vermont tomorrow for a weekend of snowboarding.

Snow Run 2K10

I need to write a recap, but here's a video and some pictures from our Snow Run!

The video is amazing...



Pictures!

Injured!

Well, I have to make the public admission. I'm injured. I've tried ignoring it, but its not going away. I'm worried. I initially thought I was just having achilles issues and maybe it is, but this seems to have now centered at the top of my heel. It's a sharp pain and it hurts. It even hurts to touch sometimes. Not good...

I've been swimming. I've been lifting, but nothing replaces running. I'm not sure what to do...

Is it possible?

I've missed swimming?

My achilles was hurting a lot today, so i decided to take off from running. I went to the gym and lifted and then swung down to sit in the sauna for a bit. I hadn't been down in the pool area of the gym since November. The usual lifeguard immediately greeted me and asked if I had a lane. I told him "no" and he told me I could jump in lane 1 if I wanted it. I decided, "what the hell?" I climbed into the pool and swam for the first time since Nov. 22.

I've always hated swimming, but found myself realizing that I missed swimming. I don't know how that's possible, but I really liked being back in the pool. I only did 20 minutes, and I was sucking wind, but it felt good.

Last night I ran a little under 6 miles. It felt great and I had no issues with the achilles. Today was a different story.

And you thought I was crazy...

I've got nothing on this guy.

First run from the new apt

I did my first run from the new apartment this evening. I ran down to central park, did a loop, and came back for a little over 9 miles. My achilles has been giving me some issues, but it felt fine for the entire run except for one downhill section. I'm not sure what is causing it, but I'm thinking its due to a really tight calf muscle. My right calf has been ridiculously tight for the past couple weeks.

I'm excited to explore some new running routes from the new apt.

An opinion I can agree with

The explosion of barefoot/minimalist runners due to "Born to Run" is really ridiculous. People blindly believe "facts" that are thrown out in a book that contain absolutely no sources, footnotes, or end notes. Studies, facts, and figures are used liberally in the text, but not backed up by any sort of bibliography. The story itself is very interesting, but I was turned off by the author's incessant need to blame every running injury on shoe companies (Nike in particular). Those who know me, know that I could be considered slightly biased due to my job. However, I would have had the same reaction regardless of which shoe company McDougall decided to blame for injuries. Another issue I had with the book is that he took several facts about Nike (and Bill Bowerman) and negatively construed them out of context to fit his argument for barefoot running. People are blindly throwing out their running shoes and opening their wallets to purchase pairs of Vibrams. I'd be interested to know if McDougall gets some sort of kick-back from Vibram.

Anyway, back to barefoot running itself...I think its a wonderful compliment to running in a pair of trainers. I think there are plenty of people out there who can successfully run barefoot without issues. I do think, however, that it is not for everyone and its not a "cure all" for people with running injuries. Those who choose to ditch their Nikes need to ease into barefoot running.

Back to the subject of this post. I read this post on facebook this morning and its the first time I've really found myself in agreement with the overall point of an "article" on barefoot/minimalist running.

45 minutes

Just did a quick 45 minute run with Ozzie after work. Its fairly brisk out, but the run was nice. We kept the tempo down, but still clipped off a decent pace (at least for me). Forty-five minutes sure goes faster when you are running with someone.

It was my first run as a 32-year old. I didn't fall apart, so I suppose I'm doing O.K.

Happy Birthday

As a birthday present for myself, I decided to punish myself. I just registered for the North Face Endurance Challenge Bear Mountain 50 Miler. May 8th. Its on!