Friday, October 30, 2009

Mud Race Update

Here is an event coming up for those looking for a mud race challenge. THE WARRIOR DASH They are holding these all over the country and you enter as an individual. The challenges on the site look pretty cool. The one I will be attending will be in the Southeast in Mountain City, Georgia on May 22, 2010.

My next event with be the Matthews 5k at Stumptown Park on November 7th.

Friday, October 23, 2009

My Aching Feet!

After 3 runs on the road under my belt in 10 days with my Vibram Five Fingers, I thought I would try running my favorite trail in Renaissance Park which is just under 3 miles. My longest run was this past Tuesday which was just shy of 2 miles so I figured a run on dirt with under 3 miles shouldn't be too bad.

I went out to the park with my friend Terry from work and let him take the lead on the single track as I figured I would be slower having to watch out for anything that stuck up out of the ground. My first challenge was gravel which was painful but not excruciating. Other challenges were roots and the fallen leaves that hid acorns and other matter. My cardio was fine but towards the middle of the run I was cringing at ever bad step. By the time it was over, my feet hurt and still hurt today but I can walk just fine but I am reminded with each step. The road runs were actually way less painless. The good news is that the pain is just soreness in my feet and not much else so a day or so of healing and I can try it again.

I dread doing the run again next week but I have read in this article that the more you run barefoot (technically I am not barefoot but I am as close as I can be in those Vibram shoes) the more your feet toughen up. It should only get easier. This run was definitely the most painful thing I have ever put my feet through but if it makes them stronger and makes me a better runner I will keep doing it.

On another note, my co-workers had a good laugh at my expense over my Vibram Five Fingers. I am used to their ribbing as most of the things I do are rather unconventional. I am sure they think I am a nut (and perhaps I am) but I truly believe the evidence of how barefoot running is better for you that I just don't care what they think. I was never very comfortable in running shoes so this feels right in my mind.

My goal is to run the 5K in Matthews in my Five Fingers on November 7th. With a couple more weeks to go and at least 4-5 more runs I should be more than ready. I will have more updates leading to the event.

Friday, October 16, 2009

The Hypervest

I have been asked about my weight vest by some people at my karate class so I thought I would do a quick review. I bought the medium 10 pound hypervest from HyperWear.com as a birthday present to myself back in early September. I have used it in my karate classes and use it in my workouts and have recently started running with it. So far I am quite pleased and I am starting to notice greater leg strength. It is easy to put on and take off and it fits me perfectly. I like that it can be hidden under a tee shirt or my karate uniform. The best feature to me and the reason I bought it is that it does not bounce on my shoulder like other vests when I run and I still have a full range of motion. It also seems to dry very fast after I sweat in it and hang it up.

The only negative thing I have to say about it is that adding and removing those little weights. I doubt I will be doing that very often but I do want to wash it every now and then. The model I bought had five pounds preloaded and I had to manually add the additional five pounds of little weights. Using the installation tool that was supplied was not as easy as they made it look in their video - perhaps due to the newness of the vest. Maybe it will get easier to add and remove the weights now that it is broken in. I will post an update when I finally wash it. By no means is this a deal breaker for me. The pros definitely outweigh the cons and I highly recommend this vest if you want to add an extra challenge to your workouts.

If you want to buy one, please use the link below and type in hyper3 as the coupon code to get a 3% discount...

HyperWear.com

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Running Journal - Days 1 and 2

I decided to run in the Matthews Rotary Club 5K on November 7th. I plan to run this race in my Vibram Five Finger KSOs. I have been wearing them regularly for about a month now and I have gotten used to them. They feel more like a glove on my foot than a shoe. Yesterday morning I took them out for my first run. I decided I would do about 8 minutes for starters. I am going to slowly adapt my feet to to the 5k distance. I also wore my 10 lb. hypervest to add an extra challenge to the short run. I felt good but my thumb toe on my left foot was bugging me but not enough to stop. This morning, it was raining and about 56 degrees and after warming up in my garage I decided to to do a mile with my Five Fingers and weight vest again. The good news is that I am not sore at all today and my feet feel fine. The run went well. I enjoying the coolness of the light rain as I ran. I felt more stable in the Five Fingers on the wet pavement then I probably would have in regular running shoes. I did the route from my driveway to the exit of my community and back (slightly over 1 mile) in 9:54:92. Tommorow, I will do the run without the vest and see how I fare.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday Lunch Workout 10-9-2009

Maybe it is the weather (rather overcast and gloomy) or maybe the fact that my diet has been less than perfect but this week's Friday workout which was identical to the workout last Friday, October 2nd was rather lackluster. My Airdyne bike number was 3.10 which was .10 less than last week. Not a major deal. My overall time was 42 minutes and 10 seconds which trailed last week time of 41:37 by 33 seconds. Also not a major deal but from a psychological standpoint I like improving each week.

So what was different this week? One big change was I split up the 30 and 25 rep segments into smaller segments in the 3rd and 4th rounds and resting briefing in between each segment. That rest time probably made the difference as I did feel solid during the exercises. On the bike I didn't push hard where I should have. I needed to keep my RPMs around 5000 and in my last 2 minute round I was struggling to crank out 3000 RPM at certain points. I started my first round strong but things diminished afterwards. I am thinking the strong start may have made helped wear me out sooner.

Nevertheless, there is always next Friday and I am determined to beat 41:37!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Friday Lunch Workout - 10/2/2009

My original plan was to do an intense 25 minute tabata during my lunch hour at work today when I realized I forgot my handy gymboss interval timer. Instead, I created my own workout - a sort of crossfit style workout and used my watch to time myself...

4 rounds of....

2 minutes on the AirDyne Bike - Yes we actually have one in our gym
30 spins right with the Bulgarian Training Bag (BTB)
30 spins left with the BTB
25 Box Jumps (using a Reebok Step with many boosters)
25 thrusters with the BTB
10 burpees

After the 4 rounds I ended with 2 minutes on the bike for a total of 10 minutes on the airdyne. It took me 41:37. The first two rounds I wore my 10 pound medium size HyperWear Weight Vest. The last two I did without the vest as I needed more energy to get through the workout which was kicking my butt. The bike odometer read 3.20 when I was done. I will try to beat that number next time. I also kept losing my grip on the BTB doing the second set of swings on the last couple of rounds.

It was the thrusters and burpees that really knocked me out. My last set of thrusters I had to split into two sets with a small break in the middle and I had to break my momemtum on burpees on the last few sets to get to 10. So all in all there are plenty of areas to improve.

I think I may make it my regular Friday workout.