This winter we’ve had some really cold mornings, less than 10 Degrees Fahrenheit. I discovered my Garneau bicycle gloves make great running gloves. They are exceptionally warm.
It happened again.
I was chatting with a guy at a party, and he bemoaned the fact that he can’t run anymore, due to a couple of compressed disks in his back. He said the only way he was able to run as long as he did, in to his old age, was because he used heel inserts made of a substance invented by NASA. It was a resilient rubber designed for the O rings of rocket engines after the Challenger failure.
I contend that his compressed disks are an injury directly caused by the unnatural gait of a heel strike. You can’t do a heel strike in bare feet or leather sandals. The heel strike sends a shock wave up your leg, causing shinsplints, knee problems, and back issues. It is not a mechanically sustainable method of running.
But I guess we will see. This guy was 10 or 15 years my elder, and I know we all eventually get injured, wear out, and perish. At 55 years old I still feel able bodied and capable. I will continue to avoid the heel strike, and see if that allows me to run in to my golden years.
This morning my phone said it was 16 degrees. Running in to the headwind it felt like 16 degrees with a headwind. When I turned to run with the wind, I was much more comfortable. I don’t buy in to the idea of wind chill that says any particular temperature actually feels like a different temperature. The temperature is the temperature – with or without wind.
If you are going to be out there pounding the roads for 45 minutes, it’s important for you to find something to do. Otherwise, you will just be tortured by daemons and haunted by the thoughts of all your past mistakes and failures. The common ways to occupy your mind are:
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| Earbuds |
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| Photo of Lancaster Junction Trail, Lancaster PA, USA |
My favorite is to take pictures. I always have a phone or a waterproof camera, and wile away the miles looking for interesting things to take photos of. Then when I get home I post them to all those good places like Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Blogger.
I have a sweet little Fujifilm XP70 Camera. More on that in another post.
Ten or twelve years ago I developed severe running pain in my lower calfs. During my runs, a slow burn would develop, and I would sometimes need to walk because the pain was too much. It felt like some deep down layers of ligaments were torn or damaged. Those rubbery sinewy parts that don’t heal.
I unhappily concluded that all those fatties at coffee hour who say “the body just cant take all that pounding,” were right. My 30 years of running was coming to an end. I resolved not to waste money on a new pair of running shoes unless this pain would go away.
I tried to change my gait. I rested. I massaged, I tried to strengthen my calfs. I stretched. Nothing worked. I was done. My body was finally worn out.
Then, for some reason, I set out one morning with a different pair of shoes. Not a new pair, just a different pair. And joy of joys, the pain went away! I discovered if I wore my other pair of shoes, the pain returned.
Well, that’s a simple fix. But there is a little more to it.
As the miles add up for you over the years, swap out your shoes frequently. And I mean frequently. Right now, I own two pairs of Nikes (different models), a pair of Brooks, Fila and Saucony. Each pair gives a totally different ride. I seldom wear the same pair for consecutive runs. My hypothesis is that this changes the stress points on your legs and back. If you wear the same shoes always, then the same parts of your body are stressed, and will lead to repetitive motion injuries.
Your shoes aren’t only for your feet – they affect your mechanics all the way up your ankles, lower legs, knees, thighs, hips and back. And it is true what the fatties at coffee hour say about all that pounding. So you need to change out your shoes to vary the pounding.
You are much better off buying two different pairs of off brand shoes from the department store for $60 each, rather than one highly engineered pair from the running store for $120.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Here are my all time favorite running videos, tonight. The first two are long, like movies.
Badwater. Two hours of shaky cam but a good running film despite irritating characters. Worth the two hours.
The Spirit of the Marathon. Find this on Netfix or somewhere. Very motivational.
1972 5000KM Pre finishes 4th in the Olympics but it was an awesome run
2008 big 10 800. Inspirational and fast.
2008 Olympic trials for steeplechase. Just a good race. A front runner, chasers, etc. The Steeplechase is a train wreck race.
Sidney 10k -this video is just the finish
Watch the last 5 minutes of this crazy race.
Cram and Ovett 1983 best 1500 ever
This is a pleasant little run with some nice scenery and a challenging hill at the beginning. It’s also possible to extend or reduce the mileage in many ways. The one I show is about 4.7 miles.
Park at the Hempfield Rec Center. Head left out of the parking lot and then right on to Corporate Blvd.
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| Vista from the top. |
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The old train track trail in the early spring.
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Between the junk yard and the Fire House.
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| Cross Ivy Drive here and run between the hedgerow and the fields. |
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| The home stretch |
My youngest son and I did the Bucks County Half Marathon this morning. He is 25 and I am 54, and we each finished 9th in our age groups! I highly recommend this race. Lots of water stops. Great food after the race. Nice IT by Mid Atlantic Timing.
The start was crowded for the first mile, with a narrow path and hedgerows of brambles right up against the sides, so you were sort of stuck in the position you started. Once the pack started to thin, there was plenty of space, and tons to see in the state park. It was a small road or trail paved with asphalt most of the way.
Starting at mile 5, there was a vertical ascent of 300 feet in about 2.5 miles. Then we looped around and did the exact same climb again, this time starting at mile 10. Whew!
On the map below, I circled the climb on the elevation section of this map just so you can see when the beast will bite you if you decide to do this half.
At night I run with a headlight up front and a flashing red light in the back.
