Barefoot running and weekly update

            As my one poll would indicate, I am interested on people’s perception regarding minimalist running. Growing up, I always thought that more cushion would protect your body and help fend off injury. Recently, barefoot running and the famous Vibram 5 Fingers have become very popular. The question is, how beneficial is barefoot running? The simple answer is, it’s great. It strengthens your arches, promotes forefoot striking, and really just overall helps your running mechanics. On the other hand, the lack of arch support can lead to shin/calf problems since muscles such as the soleus attach run from your calf muscle and attach at your arch. For me, I love the feeling of running in minimalist shoes, but there is a risk/reward issue where I’m not sure if the gains out weigh the injury risk. I am still somewhat undecided on my opinion on barefoot running, but for the time being, I’ll probably stick with arch support. For those interested, check out the link below, featured on Flotrack. If the link wouldn’t work, search Thirsty Thursdays and there should be a talk with Jack Daniels. It’s really a great piece that spurs thought. I really enjoy listening to Jack Daniels because he really does consider most possibilities and he encourages runners to think about what they’re doing vs pushing the latest fads.

  

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/234673-Saucony-Thirsty-Thursdays-with-Jack-Daniels/video/335086-4-Barefoot-Running-Thirsty-Thursday

As for my training, this week was a little rough. My body is struggling to adapt to the heat and dehydration has been an issue which I believe has lead to some unwanted muscle spasming. I think I probably need to cut out some of my morning coffee since I seem to be drinking a ridiculous amount these days and really focus on taking in fluids. My workouts are not eye-popping, but I think they’ll continue to help me build toward my marathon goals. I still have approximately 4 months of training, so I’m trying to keep myself reserved. I am certainly in the base building stage and my workouts designed to break up the week and have a little fun without pushing my body to the edge. Additionally, I’m officially in my last week as a Michigan resident. While I’m extraordinarily excited to move closer to home and live in another great area for running, Minneapolis, I really will miss the people in Michigan. Deciding to pursue graduate school at MSU really was one of the best decisions that I’ve made in my life. I’ll definitely look forward to my future visits back to Michigan.

Workouts

Sun May 29^th – 20 easy.

Mon – 11 easy

Tues – 9 mile cut down. Goal: 6:30-5:10. Actual: 6:14, 6:14, 6:01, 5:57, 5:48, 5:36, 5:30, 5:24, 5:17. I didn’t do a very good job at controlling the pace early. The last 3 miles didn’t feel very good. My bum muscles were spasming which I think was due to dehydration. My body is struggling to get adjusted to running in the heat.

Wed – 10 easy with Strides at the end

Thurs – Goal: 3 x 2 mile at MGP (5:11), 2 mile warm up transition straight in, 1 mile brisk recovery. Actual 2 warm up (12:34), 2 miles 10:24 (5:15, 5:09), 1 mile 6:04, 2 mile 10:22 (5:10, 5:12), stopped workout due to booty muscles spasming. I could have run the 3^rd set, but I really didn’t feel great about my form and the point of the workout was really to work on stride efficiency vs pushing my body to its limit. Even after the 2^nd interval, I felt 100% recovered after a mile, but I really didn’t like how my muscles were responding on the 2^nd interval. I ended up just running a brisk pace in and doing strides at the end instead. Didn’t run the workout precisely how I wanted, but accomplished something without suffering setbacks.

Fri – 10 miles easy

Sat – 10 miles easy, strides

85 mile week. I’m planning on hitting 85 and maybe upwards of 90 for the up and coming week. However, given that I struggled a little bit this week, I’ll likely hold the miles down to 85.