Sunrise in a Mirror

This was always one of the more tolerable things about being up early for PT (that and breakfast at the commons, mmm).  At Penn State, I often got to see this over Nittany Mountain:

Neat!

That was a few days ago.  Today I went out after work in my huaraches since my Vibrams still have holes.


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They really work pretty well, and I was tossing around the idea of running the marathon in those.  I have been running in them more after I wore holes in my Vibrams, but I'm just not completely comfortable with their reliability yet...I can't have logged more than 100 miles in them, and I just don't think that's enough time.  It would suck to have the straps rip through the rubber or something like that a few miles in.  I have little faith in my cobbling abilities.


Right after I got back, there was a knock on the door which made the whole thing a non-issue.

They have that new VFF smell, ahhh...

My shiny NEW Vibrams came!  I went back to the color scheme I had originally, partially to test the sizing issue that came up with my red 'Remix' KSOs.

Don't ask me to do this with my old ones

I still may do a few days with the huaraches between now and mid-September, but I think I'll do the marathon in these.  I know they work.  Maybe next year...unless I can make the whole completely barefoot thing happen =D

21

I'm done with that and my legs appear to be intact.  I wanted to have two 20+ milers done before the marathon, but with the injury I'm happy that I was able to get one in without re-injuring anything.  In fact, my legs feel better than when I started out; I mean, they're tired, but they don't hurt for no good reason.



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So here was my prep:

Water, Powerade, energy gels...credit card?

I've taken to bringing money or a credit card with me when I'm going out a long ways.  I haven't had to use it yet, but I figure it will come in handy if I get stranded.  The credit card is nice because it doesn't get soggy...


I didn't use the headphones either, but I thought I'd tuck them away just in case I wanted them since I had the room.  


I also brought along those little bags with 'GU' written on them.  These are what will be available to me during the marathon, so I wanted to see how my body responds.  They did seem to help stave off a little bit of fatigue, and I think I have a solid plan on how often I should take them for the marathon now.  The instructions are to eat one every 45 minutes, but I think I'm going to eat one 45-60 into the race, then 45 minutes after that, then every thirty minutes until I'm done.  I liked the way both tasted (although it was a bit weird at first), but I'm going to stick with the caffeinated ones during the marathon.


The following are a bunch of pictures I took along the Slippery Elm Trail, which is part of the Rails-to-Trails program.  I found it a while ago, and I've been saving it ever since for a long day.  I'm no fan of out-and-backs, but it was purposefully done so I wouldn't have to think about anything other than "turn around at Cygnet Rd," "don't get hit by cars at the crossings," and, of course, running.  Psychologically it worked out like loop because it was such a long run over unfamiliar territory; running back seemed mostly like a different run.

Just an open space Trails like this always make me think of Mirkwood from 'The Hobbit' Oi Nothing special...just where I turned around For a second I was was confused why the corn was blooming, especially with ears on it. Then I saw the climbers' roots. Stone geodesic Remember the holes in my FiveFingers?  =D

Shoes???

I ran to PT on Wednesday.



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And I did it in these shoes:


...which gave me this blister:

Seriously, who wears shoes?  It's better than "wearing" socks with my Vibrams, though.

Why would I have to wear socks with my shoes not designed for socks, you ask?  The new Air Force regulation requires socks in PTs and doesn't address minimalist shoes at all.  Hooray.

The Shortest Distance

...between two points is not the Grand Army of the Republic highway like I thought it was.  I didn't meant to be gone for quite nine miles, but it's all good--today was my day off so I had lots of time to recover.  See you soon, sports fans.



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1,000 Miles Already?

I'd have to look back and see if I have the records, but I estimate that, like last time, I got about 1,000 miles out of my KSOs.  

Poor little guys *sniff*

But that didn't stop me from taking them out today and yesterday.  Actually, today I meant to wear my huaraches but I forgot.  Maybe tomorrow.

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I found myself needing to turn around without any real road to do it on...so I cut between two fields.  It came out in somebody's yard and I had to run around the periphery of it to get to their driveway and out.  Oops.  

Looks like something I can run on...

Oh well, Farmer Brown didn't catch me so I call it a success!

More Signs

My right ankle is still a little bigger than my left, and it doesn't not hurt, but it's not enough to keep me from running.  As long as I don't do anything stupid I should continue recovering even with some long days.


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I scoped out my route a little before I left, so I knew I was looking for a road called 'gypsy-something'. I didn't realize how stupid a road it was until I got there.

Pick a qualifier and be done with it, communist!

Yes, not only is it a lane road, but apparently someone thought it necessary to split it into east and west.


I suppose West Gypsy Lane Road is probably just a quirky victim of the city's naming conventions as they and the lane road evolved, so that's okay.  But what's this sign's excuse?

Got my own kthx

Tic Tac Toe

Made it three days in a row, so I think I'm going to not push things and take a day off tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be good enough to do a long day this weekend.



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Before that I mowed the lawn.  I was hoping this would be much more impressive, but clearly the GPS is mostly meant for more linear travel.  I promise I wasn't mowing the neighbor's lawns across the street.

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Still back!

I went a little farther than I meant to, but after about 10-15 minutes I didn't really notice my injury any more.  That could have been from just getting warmed up, the Ibuprofen kicking in, or a little of both.


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Hopefully I'm still good to go tomorrow.  Two random photos.

The sign says Heinz U.S.A Picnic They must really like good ketchup at that house

Do you think I'm in a college time?

I'm back, baby!

Look who's running!  Saying that I'm back might be a bit premature, but today was the first day I felt comfortable enough running.  My plan was to do a figure eight kind of pattern so that I could cut my run short if I had to.  My ankle was getting a little twingey at about 23 minutes, so I did just that.  



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Since I had all that time I was going to use for more running, instead I finally got about to doing the analysis of a video I took a long time ago:

Someone knows a little too much about MS Paint

It's kind of hard to see the forefoot strike, but it's there.  When you're running minimalist, you're trying not to land on your heels--still not up on your toes, but somewhere in the ball of your foot region.  Your foot travels all the way forward with your toes pointed up, and it travels backwards just a bit, striking the ground after it's already coming back towards your body, as seen below.

Stop Bruising You Coward!

I taped up my ankle.  Pressure directly on the medial malleolus hurts, so I taped underneath attempting to keep everything in the proper place.

It didn't work.

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Grrr.  So I walked home.  At least I got to take this picture:

He's from here, don'tcha know.  Apparently he comes back for Bowling Green's Winterfest sometimes.

Here's a picture of where I ran today:

Ugh and more ugh.  Stupid ankle.

For some reason, after my ten-miler on Monday my ankle got all swollen like I'd sprained it, but not until after I'd had a snack and got a shower.  I have no idea what happened.  I'm stuck babying it until I can run on it again, which sucks with the marathon so close.  I swam yesterday and ellipticalled today, but I really want to get a long run in this weekend.

Huuuuumid

Sara and I moved!  It was good timing as far as my training is concerned because I needed a few days off, but I got back into it today with a 10-miler.  I went to find this lazy creek here:

So muggy the creek doesn't want to move, either

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Things were going fine.  It wasn't extremely hot, but it was very humid.


I was so angry at myself for not bringing my shears when I left my house, because I could've collected like twelve blocks of brown wool:

If you got that joke, you too have a problem

I occupied the rest of my time thinking about cornses.  I thought maybe I could steal some for dinner, but I'd have to, like, stuff it in my pants.  Despite the fact that my wife does salt her corn, I don't think she wants it done with my sweat.  There were all these signs for genetically modified corn:

High-performance corn, bitches

Delicious science!  And what great service! Reminds me of 'A Farewell to Kings'

Mmm...genetics...

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm all for genetically modified crops as long as they're flavorful, aren't inbred into a corner, don't harm the local environment, and increase crop yields with less pesticides and fertilizer.  I don't think it's going to give me cancer or anything...except for that corn they modified in the 70s that grew hair made of asbestos.  That stuff probably will give you cancer.  The nice thing is it grows in the Sahara and the Canadian tundra.

So what happens when you mix humidity, a less-than-stellar diet due to moving, and thoughts about corn?  Runner's trot.  Luckily, I found a porta-potty a few minutes after it came on...I forgot to snap a picture, but this is an artist's rendering of how it looked to me:

I made it home with no future incident.  However, I was nursing a twinge in my right leg, and after my shower my ankle got all swollen.  No idea what's going on there.  I hope I can keep running: the marathon is only a few weeks out!

Over the River

Sara and I are moving this weekend (with some help from her parents!), so it's most probably the last time I'll have the chance to run over the Maumee River.


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Near the end of my run I was thinking about how tired my legs were, when out of nowhere a suicidal bunny tried to run under my feet.  I jumped and yelled, thankfully not as little girly as I've done in the past when things surprise me while I'm running, but still enough so to get some laughs from the guys walking about fifty yards away.  Also, I got a nice jolt of adrenaline to finish my last couple hundred yards, so that was nice.