A PB @ 10K in VFF

-= The lit =-
There was no handing out copies of Byron or Fielding. There might have been the odd author running among the 822 participants, but most of the runners were there to have a good race and enjoy the absolutely great scenery.

Sunday was the day of the literary run in Haarlem. It is a run, I have wanted to participated in for three years, but never got around to do it. On Sunday, I did. The Missus and the young Padawan joined me to the sports-center where the race began.

-= The Run =-
Though, I had not trained specifically for any speed or distance, I decided to have a look at the state of my fitness in this 10K. Despite the light anticipation of the elevation I knew I would encounter, I started with a steady pace, overtaking runners left and right. About three K's into the race, I went up the steep-ish hill that is primarily infamous among cyclists. Though this was a heavy climb, others seemed to be in more pain than I was and I continued my overtaking-streak on my way up.

Near the end of the run, things became heavy and I started to feel the heat of the day. Still I kept up my pace and managed to run a personal best at a 10 K run.

The official time is 50:35, with a 5:03 min/K avg. It is a bit of a pity that my Garmin had trouble picking up a signal in the building that the race started and ended in. This resulted in incorrect registration, so the most correct time and distance I have for this run is the official registration.

-= Shoes =-
To my great surprise, I saw no-one else running in Five Fingers, neither did the Missus. Despite the 822 people in the 10K runner-field, I was likely the only one in VFF's. Still, there were some people in minimalist shoes - I saw one guy in Saucony Kinvara's and another in  a clearly 0-drop, 0-support shoe, I did not recognize.

-= Recovery =-
The balls of my feet were sore because of the cobblestones and the strain caused by the speed of my run. I discovered that there are two things very important in recovering from a run. The one is a pint of buttermilk. The other is a nap in the garden with your feet up on a second chair. Three hours after the race, I was way less sore and was running around the BBQ grilling burgers.

On independence

There are many reasons why I run. In an earlier post, I mentioned some of the reasons I could come up with while thinking about it. Still, there must be many more - unconscious - reasons why I feel jealous of the runners that I see while doing other stuff (driving to a shop, riding my bicycle to the train station at bl..dy 5:50 in the morning, going for a walk with the Missus and the little Padawan - who, by the way, despite his being three is showing a serious urge to run and some impressive speed in doing so!

-= Stats =-
Among the more concrete and visible reasons why I take so much pleasure in running is generating statistics and numbers. Reading many blogposts and other bits of writing on running, I know I am - thank goodness - not the only one.

As for my numbers on 2013 so far, I feared that they would be a sorry lot. Not only did my sad excuse of an injury prevent me from doing slightly longer runs until a month ago, the long and cold winter and especially the ridiculous wind-speeds were hardly helping in finding the courage to go out. In order to keep running through the winter, I seriously needed to screw my courage to the sticking place (though not as murderously as in the Scottish play: F.ck you, you f.cking f.ck, what do you mean?).

Looking back to the first four-and-a-half or five months of the year, I was happily surprised to find that there were only two weeks, where I did only one run. The rest of the weeks I did two or more. Click the image to the left for a larger view of my Garmin Connect Calendar overview. More detail is in the table below.

+----+-----+----------+-------+---------+-------+--------+------+
| #  | Day | yyyymmdd | Time  | Runtime | Dist. | Y2D    | Pace |
+----+-----+----------+-------+---------+-------+--------+------+

| 47 | Sat | 20130511 | 16:26 | 45:06   | 8.19  | 336.97 | 5:30 |
| 46 | Wed | 20130803 | 20:39 | 39:15   | 6.75  | 328.78 | 5:49 |

| 45 | Sun | 20130505 | 11:01 | 57:16   | 10.14 | 322.03 | 5:39 |
| 44 | Fri | 20130503 | 20:07 | 1:00:11 | 10.13 | 311.89 | 5:57 |
| 43 | Wed | 20130501 | 18:48 | 45:28   | 8.16  | 301.76 | 5:34 |
| 42 | Mon | 20130429 | 19:59 | 1:07:50 | 11.72 | 293.6  | 5:47 |
| 41 | Sat | 20130427 | 13:55 | 55:33   | 9.76  | 281.88 | 5:42 |
| 40 | Wed | 20130424 | 20:01 | 32:38   | 5.84  | 272.12 | 5:35 |
| 39 | Sun | 20130421 | 17:41 | 46:51   | 8.25  | 266.28 | 5:41 |
| 38 | Fri | 20130419 | 20:39 | 38:43   | 6.6   | 258.03 | 5:52 |
| 37 | Tue | 20130416 | 12:34 | 30:31   | 5.84  | 251.43 | 5:13 |
| 36 | Sun | 20130414 | 11:37 | 57:33   | 10.06 | 245.59 | 5:43 |
| 35 | Fri | 20130412 | 18:06 | 38:07   | 6.56  | 235.53 | 5:49 |
| 34 | Tue | 20130409 | 19:51 | 38:47   | 6.61  | 228.97 | 5:52 |
| 33 | Sun | 20130407 | 12:29 | 59:50   | 10.26 | 222.36 | 5:50 |
| 32 | Fri | 20130405 | 10:24 | 47:53   | 8.26  | 212.1  | 5:48 |
| 31 | Wed | 20130403 | 20:10 | 37:50   | 6.54  | 203.84 | 5:47 |
| 30 | Mon | 20130401 | 15:33 | 45:55   | 8.79  | 197.3  | 5:13 |
| 29 | Sat | 20130330 | 15:00 | 47:13   | 8.23  | 188.51 | 5:44 |
| 28 | Wed | 20130327 | 18:56 | 39:19   | 6.6   | 180.28 | 5:58 |
| 27 | Fri | 20130322 | 12:18 | 43:13   | 7.06  | 173.68 | 6:07 |
| 26 | Wed | 20130320 | 19:42 | 38:42   | 6.59  | 166.62 | 5:53 |
| 25 | Mon | 20130318 | 19:39 | 39:50   | 6.82  | 160.03 | 5:50 |
| 24 | Sat | 20130316 | 14:35 | 47:10   | 8.21  | 153.21 | 5:45 |
| 23 | Sat | 20130309 | 10:59 | 44:38   | 8.23  | 145    | 5:26 |
| 22 | Wed | 20130306 | 19:55 | 38:40   | 6.6   | 136.77 | 6:51 |
| 21 | Mon | 20130304 | 12:04 | ?       | 8     | 130.17 | 5:09 |
| 20 | Sat | 20130302 | 15:25 | 47:01   | 8.29  | 122.17 | 5:40 |
| 19 | Wed | 20130227 | 19:55 | 38:25   | 6.6   | 113.88 | 5:47 |
| 18 | Mon | 20130225 | 12:17 | ?       | 9     | 107.28 | 5:09 |
| 17 | Fri | 20130222 | 20:13 | 37:40   | 6.65  | 98.28  | 5:40 |
| 16 | Tue | 20130219 | 19:00 | 29:41   | 5.21  | 91.63  | 5:42 |
| 15 | Sun | 20130217 | 10:26 | 46:59   | 8.22  | 86.42  | 5:43 |
| 14 | Fri | 20130215 | 21:23 | 38:24   | 6.6   | 78.2   | 5:49 |
| 13 | Tue | 20130212 | 19:12 | 31:35   | 5.37  | 71.6   | 5:53 |
| 12 | Sat | 20130209 | 11:20 | 37:32   | 6.66  | 66.23  | 5:38 |
| 11 | Thu | 20130207 | 20:11 | 27:25   | 5.28  | 59.57  | 5:28 |
| 10 | Mon | 20130204 | 15:57 | 37:03   | 6.59  | 54.29  | 5:37 |
| 09 | Fri | 20130201 | 20:20 | 28:49   | 5.01  | 47.7   | 5:45 |
| 08 | Mon | 20130128 | 9:22  | 39:12   | 6.6   | 42.69  | 5:57 |
| 07 | Fri | 20130125 | 16:59 | 37:23   | 6.44  | 36.09  | 5:48 |
| 06 | Sat | 20130119 | 17:05 | 28:46   | 5.01  | 29.65  | 5:44 |
| 05 | Thu | 20130117 | 21:29 | 29:18   | 4.99  | 24.64  | 5:52 |
| 04 | Sun | 20130113 | 11:38 | 40:05   | 6.6   | 19.65  | 6:05 |
| 03 | Wed | 20130109 | 20:30 | 26:04   | 4.53  | 13.05  | 5:45 |
| 02 | Sun | 20130106 | 9:16  | 25:55   | 4.5   | 8.52   | 5:45 |
| 01 | Thu | 20130103 | 17:38 | 24:10   | 4.02  | 4.02   | 6:01 |
+----+-----+----------+-------+---------+-------+--------+------+

-= Independence =-
Today, I was given a copy of Runners World magazine. Reading the first pages, I saw a complete section (Style-Guide) on minimalist shoes. The first thing that crossed my mind was the "First they ignore you" Ghandi quote. But never mind that...

Going over the pages confirmed a feeling that I have had for a while now. Running in general - and running in minimalist shoes in specific - is largely about independence. A runner is independent from expensive and complicated gear - such as a bicycle or weightlifting stuff. A runner does not have to travel to get to and from his work-out area: he is ready to go as soon as he has crossed the threshold of his front door. A runner does not depend on others to go and do what he is good at. A runner does not depend on a particular surface or lay-of-the-land: anything goes (though in all fairness, streetlights do help while doing evening-runs). As a runner, I get to experience the independence of running anywhere, no matter where I am in the world. There is always a good bit of road to be explored.

Being a minimalist runner is even better than being a runner in regular shoes - though my opinion might be slightly colored by preference. In addition to the inherent independence of running, not being limited by a specific brand of shoes or type of sole helps in feeling free. The mere fact that I do not need to go hunting for the new model of the type I bought the previous year - and hoping that the soles, the padding and the support haven't changed too dramatically - makes life a lot easier. This feeling pops into my mind each time I need to run anywhere in everyday life (you know, for public transport, to practice chasing people out of a burning building, to make sure that the young Padawan does not ride his bicycle into a pond). No matter the shoes I wear, I am always ready to run.

Ready for two 10K runs and addicted to running from Zombies

-= Has 't been so long? =-
Running through the winter has been hard. I did stick with it - and found a way to get back on track after my Crash-and-Burn Did-Not-Finish ending of my previous race. Still, the long cold winter with abnormally high wind-speeds did not make my running-life easy, especially having to run at night in the cold and in the dark. At the moment, I am back to doing pain-free 10+K runs and am planning to stick to that distance for a while. I *really* enjoy doing longer distances, but my previous injury has left me somewhat nervous - being forced to do nothing for three months is not something I would like to repeat.

-= Upcoming races =-

There are many ways to remain motivated to run. Despite the difficulty I experience when I need to get out to run, I find energy in the fact that I can run, that running gives me energy and about 42 additional reasons. One of the ways to keep motivated is by having a bunch of co-workers challenge you to go for a run and to keep pace with them. That same bunch of co-workers will be running a 10K near the end of next month. Though I am not yet certain whether I will join them, it does sound tempting to go for a see-what-your-shape-is 10K.

An other run - one that I have already registered for - is a "literary" 10K. I am not too certain what the literary aspect of the run will be, but the route promises to be good - be it hilly for a large part. The two theories I have at the moment are that: 1) Shakespeare will be read to cheer on the runners - as opposed to music being played. Or 2) Instead of a medal, the runners that cross the finish-line get handed out copies of Fielding's Tom Jones. Either way, I will keep you posted as to both runs. Should there be any results or pics to be shared, I will do so in a later post.

-= I Just Realized =-
In a week or three, I will have been a runner for seven years. Starting out with one of the many couch-to-5k programs, I never expected that I would stick to it. Though I keep my running habits as steady as possible, I could not help but being interested in this up-and-coming "natural running" trend. After having read whatever the Internet had to offer on the topic, and having consulted a foot-doctor, I bought my first pair of Vibram Five Fingers three years ago two weeks from today. This means that the same time next year will mark a tipping-point. At that time, I will have run equally long in regular running-shoes and in minimalist shoes.

-= Game On! =-
The Missus and the young Padawan are the gamers of the family. They play all sorts of fun stuff on their tablets and laptops. Fine with me, I love seeing their enthusiasm while tapping tiny blue men wearing white hats and getting them to plant strawberries and pumpkins. My gaming-habit changed in January, when I bought the app called Zombies, Run! The first time I read and saw about this app, I did a short blogpost to express my enthusiasm of the concept - an immersive AR game that requires you to physically run in order to survive.

I bought the app in January, completed it and I have just returned from my first mission of Zombies, Run! season 2. When I started mission 1, I was rather skeptical, but I was soon infected - oh, sorry, no need to get nervous... right? - with the genius of the game! On 16 April, version 2 of the app became available and it was on my phone 30 minutes after the news reached me. My first experience with season 2 was a reminder of the way the game grabs the player. I spent the first half of my run wondering why this not-so-friendly lady was calling me Runner 93 - I'm not Runner 93! I'm Runner 5 lady! - and where the hell trusty Sam is and why is he not guiding me through this run as he should.

I totally look forward to the 59 missions to come, most of which, I will be running in my Runner 5 running-shirt.

Fivefingers and Zombies Run!

How time flies. Though I have been running these last couple of months, there are all sorts of excellent excuses for not posting updates on my blog. Stuff such as work, study, social obligations, London trips with the Missus and much, MUCH procrastination, are the cause of my absence on this blog. Much has happened since November 2012. Some is related to running, some has to do with barefoot shoes and some has to do with - and I promise to limit myself to two sentences on the subject - tech (nerd-stuff).

-= Tech =-

Almost a year ago, the British charity Raspberry Pi, started sale of their $25.00 computer that became in instant hit among tech-folk (myself included), who willingly and calmly waited 6 months to receive the credit-card-sized PC and use them for all kinds of geeky projects. I now have the - to my wife incomprehensible - great pleasure of running two in my home-infrastructure and I cannot promise that I will not find a use for a third one somewhere in the future - after all, it is for a good cause.

-= Vibram Five Fingers =-
Just after my painful ending of the last run I did last year, my friend brought back a pair of Bikila's and a pair of KSO Treks from a trip he was on. The Bikila's are excellent running shoes that were to replace my Speeds (that were rapidly disintegrating after many runs). They are excellent and they run better than the shoes they replace.

I wanted a pair of KSO Treks because they looked So Comfortable in the pictures I saw. It turned out that they are every bit as comfortable as I thought, so I decided to bring them to a London trip at the end of last year and to wear them throughout the training I went there to do. Though my preference for the toe-shoes are still a mystery to the Missus, I did not embarrass her as much as I feared by wearing them to our favorite breakfast place in the mornings (Pret) and the restaurants we went to in the evenings. In fact, not one single person I met (including co-students) seemed to notice my footwear. This helped me to overcome my initial self-consciousness about my shoes.

-= Running=-
Over the previous couple of months, I have been able to resist the urge to remain on the couch on cold, wet and windy evenings. Only when I felt that going on a run would seriously injure my recovery - or when work made running impossible - did I not go out. With a modest 66 K year2date I am - remembering that I could barely walk in September 2012 - totally not unhappy with how things are going. My build-up is slow, but the pain seems to have gone.

-----------+----------+--------
Date       | Distance | Pace  
(yyyymmdd) | (K)      | (Min/K)
-----------+----------+--------
20130209   | 6.66     | 5:39
20130207   | 5.28     | 5:28
20130204   | 6.59     | 5:37
20130201   | 5.01     | 5:45
20130128   | 6.6      | 5:57
20130125   | 6.44     | 5:48
20130119   | 5.01     | 5:44
20130117   | 4.99     | 5:52
20130113   | 6.6      | 6:05
20130109   | 4.53     | 5:45
20130106   | 4.5      | 5:45
20130103   | 4.02     | 6:01
-----------+----------+--------

Recently - about three weeks ago - I added a new element to my running. In October 2012 I mentioned the Zombies Run! game in a post. Though I am not into running with my smart-phone (too large and clunky), I was intrigued with the augmented reality aspect of the running game and as soon as I saw the New Year's Resolution Sale 50% off offer, I decided to give it a try.

After the first mission, I was not instantly convinced. The story, including the zombie-moans in the dark street with no-one around was fun. The run would have been better, if I there had been some music - it took my lazy bottom a while to get my "Powerrrrr" playlist imported into my phone. As soon as I started the second mission, I was into the game. The story-line unfolding while you run with several people talking to you is excellent fun. Hearing Sam calling you Runner 5 and urging you out into the danger-zone seriously raises my adrenaline level. Where I had some difficulty to out-run zombies during the first mission, the tunes of Pink, the Clash, the Fratelli's and Iron Maiden made the chases easy and fun. The game is absolutely motivational.

There are only two dangers involved in running from zombies. One - should you care about such things - is that it is very easy to make a fool of yourself, getting caught up in the game and singing out loud in the moment of victory. The other is that the virtual zombie-chase might make you oblivious of the rest of the world. A non-existent zombie might get what he wants as soon as you inattentively cross the street and get hit by a very real car.

Back in my running shoes

-= Starting up again =-

It's been a while. Not being able to run after having run these past six and a half years is painful. Not only did I physically miss the feeling of running outside and feeling each pebble in the road, I get cramps that increase in intensity with longer periods of inactivity.

After the painful half-marathon of some time ago, I have been in and out of the physiotherapist's office and had to force myself to not run. Two weeks ago, I got into my (new) Vibram FiveFingers Bikila's and went out for a very cautious 1.4K. The past week, I did three iterations of 2.5K and that felt So Good. There was no pain during or after the runs and now my main challenge is to not go for a 10K the day after tomorrow, but to gradually build up the number of K's I do.

-= Footwear =-

While my ego was recovering from my leg-injury, my good friend visited the US and brought back a pair of Bikila's and a pair of black KSO Treks. I will use the Treks to wear casually. Wearing them to work is still one step too far from my comfort-zone. I do wear them regularly on my days off.

I discovered that these two pairs brought the total number of FiveFingers I own to four. The Missus has one pair of Fresca's and the your Padawan cannot wait to get a pair on his feet (he will almost fit in a size 29). Or rather, I cannot wait to buy him a pair.






-= City Trip =-
 
Two weeks from now, The Missus and I will board a plane and go to London. We make it a habit to go there at least once each year. There is no particular reason why we keep returning to that city, other than drinking coffee in our favorite coffee-shops and eating in our favorite restaurants. We go there to be there.

Another reason for my having to be there, is to visit a conference. From Monday to Friday, I will be in a conference-room listening to all sorts of serious topics and discussions, while The Missus will be visiting places such as the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

Naturally, I will bring my Bikila's on this trip, just in case I find a possibility to go for a run. Additionally, I will bring my KSO Treks to wear casually. I am seriously curious about the furtive looks people on the Underground will give my shoes. The people I will meet during my conference will not be shocked too much by the shoes, because I found that there is a growing popularity of toe-shoes among geeks.

Au... That Hurt!

A week ago, the Missus, the young padawan and I went to the venue of my half marathon. After picking up my bib and the shirt, we went to the starting line.

After getting a final High-Five from the littleone, I went on my way for my 21K run. The start was a little faster than I had planned. Still, despite my extremely poor preparation, I kept pace with the rest of the runners without a problem.

After a very comfortable start, I began to feel my old lower-left-leg injury about six or seven K into the run. After nine K things began to become heavy. My energy level was fine and I probably would have been able to stick to my sub-2-hour pace, were it not for the increasing pain in my leg. Eleven K into my run, the pain began to become too much and I knew that I would not be able complete the run. On K twelve, I knew I had to stop running because the pain had become too much and after thirteen K's I finally swallowed my pride and did stop.

I called the Missus to come and pick me up. Because my muscles were still warm, I could still use my left leg a tiny bit - though the short walk to our meeting-point was extremely painful. After a shower I sat down for a cup of green tea and I was unable to stand from that point onwards.

Getting up for work on Monday morning was impossible and each step I took was SO painful. Picking up the Padawan on my bicycle became a very dangerous and almost impossible mission. Now, a little over a week later, I am able to walk again (though some of the pain is still there). My physiotherapist told me that a week of ice, heat-packs and tape might enable me to go for a careful short run within a week or two.

It's been a week since my run and I am missing the activity. Still, I realize that the main thing is to get this injury solved before I get to start to run again.

Though the pain in my leg is real, the pain to my not-too-modest ego, was hurt the more because about fifteen people gave money to the good cause because of my run. Naturally I do realize that the money was given to the cause, I just feel that I should have finished the run to match the gifts of those generous people.

The pain to the leg will be gone soon enough. I will probably need a whole lot of running and retail therapy to repair the damage to my ego.

Pain is for Pussies

... And boy, am I a pussy. Braggingly, I announced my plans to do a half marathon for a good cause. Not long after the announcement, somewhere in June, I got a mild injury on the outside of my lower left leg. As injuries and pain are for pussies, I decided to ignore the pain and was full of confidence that the minor issue would disappear long before my upcoming half.

Heh, little did I know that pulling an ostrich does not make the injury disappear. Try as I might, I kept feeling the annoying sting in my left leg. During the past two weeks, I began to get a bit worried and used ice on my leg every night. There was some improvement last week but I decided to put an end to that by doing the second half of an 8.4k run in my higher speed. This resulted in a another week of misery.

Meanwhile, the count-down to my upcoming half is down to 6.5 days. The limited time to the run, the pain in the outside of my lower left leg, the very limited number of runs I did in the previous two weeks and the fact that I have not done a 21k run this year promises to make things ... uhm... interesting. As I promised a number of people to do the run - they were even good enough to spend money on the cause - I simply cannot throw in the towel. After the run - if my foot hasn't broken off from my leg - when I am confined to the couch until I can walk again, I will let you know about how things have gone.

-= Breakfast =-

The missus has been following a particular blog for some time (the one that inspired me to write I Run). The lady that writes the blog mentioned something about a new uber-breakfast, called overnight porridge. Doing some Googling, I found many pages on how to prepare it and ways to make it palatable.

In other places in the web, I found tips for making it even more healthy, by adding the magical ingredient of Chia seeds. To quote the Huffington Post:

Extremely high in the essential fatty acid, omega-3, chia seeds are loaded with antioxidants (more than blueberries), vitamins, minerals (including more calcium than milk), fiber (more than most bran products) and protein. Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run, the true story of the astoundingly fit and healthy Tarahumara barefoot runners in Mexico, (who take off on 50-100-mile running jaunts as if they were evening strolls) likened the nutritional value of chia to making a 'smoothie of wild salmon, spinach and human growth hormones.'

 The recipe  boils down to the following:


* Take one cup of rolled oats

* Mix this with one cup of yoghurt
* Add three table-spoons of milk
* Add seeds and dried fruits to flavour
* Mix and put in the fridge until the following morning.

Should my run end in disaster, I am looking to the innate goodness of my new-found (and very tasty) breakfast!