Day Seven, 358 To Go

January 7, 2013

One week down, 51 to go!

It was an uneventful run tonight.  I was a tad sore, but it went away after a couple of minutes.  Honey and I had a nice, cool evening run together.  She was not feeling well again today, but I guilted her into going.

First, I told her the situation:

Its late, its chilly, its wet and you feel like crap.  But, if you bag on tonight's run, your streak is over and no matter how hard you try, I will always be better than you.

That got me "the look" which makes me cringe every time.  You know what I mean.  If any of you are married, you get "the look" at least once a day.  I think is is in the manual they hand out to women before they walk down the aisle.  It must have a horrific title like, "How to Dominate Your Man For the Next 50 Years With Only Your Eyes" or "How to Crush Your Husbands Balls Beneath Your Feet and Have Him Beg For Mercy" or "How to Fake an Orgasm, and 1000 Other Ways to Demoralize the Love of Your Life".

Seriously, she was feeling bad and I just told her that if you think you can run tonight, but you aren't going to because you just don't feel like it, just put on your shoes and go.  If you do that one night, it makes quitting the next night so much easier...and the next and the next and so on.  The great thing about running is that all you need is a pair of sneakers.  Just put them on, and go.  Sure, you can have all sorts of fancy equipment, but those are just enhancements that sometimes do more harm then good.

Lets talk about fancy equipment, shall we?  I use the Garmin Forerunner 305.  Its not the most recent iteration of Garmin's GPS watches, but since it still works, I'm not upgrading.  The newest version, the Forerunner 610 sports a touch screen and is smaller and more accurate, but it costs $350!  Check it out here for more info: Forerunner 610

Anyway, the version I have gives me all the information I need and it is possible to customize multiple screens.  I can see my speed, my pace, my distance, the elevation, hill grade, heart rate, average heart rate and pace and speed, when the sun rises and when the sun sets...oh, and I think the actual time.  No runner needs all this, but I guess it is nice to have.  It can be a great training tool (there is a way to set up complex workouts too) and it is nice to know how far you have gone and your pace.

Sometimes, though, it is nice to just run.  Just put on your shoes and go.  Don't worry about how fast or how far you are going. Just go.

I need to try that more often, because I am f*cking addicted to that damn watch and the stream of information it gives me.  You know when it sucks though?  In a long race like a 1/2 Marathon or Marathon...you look at the watch and it says 3 miles...then 3.1 miles...then 3.4 miles...and so on and so on and finally, in what feels like hours and hours later, you look at your watch again, and the bastard has the balls to show you 4.2 miles then 4.3!  AHHHHH!  Its like crack.  So, it takes some getting used to in the beginning, but eventually, you only look at it every minute instead of every 10 seconds.

Really, the only other technology you need when running are a few good pairs of synthetic blend shirts and shorts (never use cotton!) and you are good to go.  That leaves us with probably the most expensive part of running...the shoes (and I suppose socks..they can be $8 to $10 a pair).  Running shoes can run you anywhere from $30 at DSW to over $150.  And according to Runner's World and every other magazine or shoe maker in the world, you have to replace them ever four to six months or 300 to 500 miles!

I went through this every six months...I would buy a new pair of shiny shoes and begin to wear them out right away.  After hearing about the book Born to Run and reading a bunch of studies (mostly inconclusive) about the new craze of barefoot or minimalist running, I decided to try out the Vibram shoes (I did eventually read Born to Run...excellent read!)

They are weird.  The first time you put them on, they feel strange.  The first time you run in them, they feel weird.  When was the last time you ran barefoot?  As a kid, maybe?  Well, these shoes may protect your feet, but that is about it.  There is no support, no arch, no cushioning, no nothing.

As you can see, mine are a bit worn out, but I don't see the need to get new ones since they don't have any holes and there is no cushioning to speak of.  The one problem I do have with them is they smell.  Seriously.  I can clear a room.  I need to find some sort of spray or use Febreeze or something!

The key to running in these "shoes" is to start slow and build up your miles very slow.  Because our feet have been pampered for years upon years wearing shoes, they are not strong enough to run barefoot.  Also, because there is no heel lift, your foot drops more than usual, and it puts extra strain on your achilles tendon.  That has been the biggest problem for me.  But, prior to wearing them, my biggest problem was my knees.  Since I started wearing them, I have had virtually no knee problems (other than when I walk into furniture in the dark).

I don't think I will ever go back to wearing regular sneakers to run, even when I do a triathlon.  You should see me trying to put these on in a hurry...my little piggies like to invade each other's spots and I end up running with three toes in one, uh, toe thingy (I have no idea what to call these f*ckers, so deal with the term toe thingy).

I'll end tonight with our numbers for today:

Time: 15:00

Distance: 1.15 miles

Pace: 13:03/m

Max Pace: 11:20/m

Calories: 115

Avg HR: 99

Max HR: 109

Goodnight!

Run for life!!