This past week has been good. Took Monday and Tuesday off due to being out of town. Could have run in Worcester, of course, but it was hot and sometimes I'll use any excuse to be lazy.
Usually I run in cotton; sweat shorts and t-shirts, sweatshorts are part poly, I'm sure. I've tried the microfiber polyester moisture wicking shirts but haven't been too impressed. They don't seem to keep me any cooler or drier. Today I tried a shirt I got on sale a few years ago at EMS. From NRS, it was intendeed to be used in water sports, I think, and I wore it on a rafting trip in Maine last summer. It was a bit cool then; cloudy and misty rain with temps in the upper 60s. The shirt was maybe too cool for that day, unless I was in the water. The shirt feels cool when I put it on even when not wet; very breezy feeling. So today was the first time I tried it for a run in warm weather (72 and overcast with scattered sprinkles), (I tried it under a long sleeve sweatshirt one winter but it was too chilly). A bit contradictory feelings--a relatively heavy fabric of tight fitting nylon/spandex, cool around the core but tight around the neck and elbow length sleeves. I didn't overheat like I thought I might, so overall I think I was cooler with the shirt. It seemed to hold a lot of moisture/sweat. There may have been a relatively high dew point this morning as having more wetness in the shirt didn't make it cooler.
Previous years, I haven't liked to run in temps over 60. This year I'm more tolerant for some reason. Maybe wearing no shoes cools me off a little more or maybe I'm more determined to run so I adapt to BF as soon as my body allows. Or maybe running slower, not maxing out the heart rate, makes the higher temps tolerable. I had slept decently overnight, but felt kind of drained by 11:00 AM, so had a brief lie down.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Barefoot, barefoot, barefoot
I'm up to 7 or 8 miles a week now and have done a few runs of about 3 miles. This is still the slower running I've been doing--about 10 min/mile, and walking some on the uphill sections. There has been some minor discomfort in my left mid-foot again; not during a run, just during the following day if I step too hard on my forefoot. It goes away immediately.
On yesterday's run there was a 1/2 to 3/4 mile section that was being repaved. It had all been dug up and there was what looked like coarse sand mixed with ground up asphalt packed down firmly. That was nice to run on where cars hadn't roughed it up too much.
I've been going about barefoot a lot, sometimes driving to work or other places and putting shoes/sandals on when I get there. I never intended to live the fully barefoot lifestyle but regular footwear is getting really annoying. The only shoes I've been wearing are the Keens without the insole and the NAOTs. The Keens can be a little hot--fortunately there is air conditioning at work or they would be intolerable. The NAOTs are okay but make my little toes curl under a little. Yesterday we went to a cookout--I went BF of course. Out 40 or so other people only one other was BF. I think I was getting some stares at first but nobody said anything. I'm going to say they were jealous and wishing the hadn't committed to shoes. I was amazed/stupefied that there were even some guys who came in jeans and boots, and even one with a long sleeve T-shirt. Temperature was in the 80s.
Also, I've been painting the house BF. It was a little rough up on the roof (very hot) but mostly I could stay in the shade--different level roofs so there was about 12-18 inches of shade to stand in. The tall aluminum ladder was comfortable enough--the tread on the rungs is mostly flat with grooves. The short ladder has closely spaced ridges, not flat ridges, and I had to wear my huaraches on it.
On yesterday's run there was a 1/2 to 3/4 mile section that was being repaved. It had all been dug up and there was what looked like coarse sand mixed with ground up asphalt packed down firmly. That was nice to run on where cars hadn't roughed it up too much.
I've been going about barefoot a lot, sometimes driving to work or other places and putting shoes/sandals on when I get there. I never intended to live the fully barefoot lifestyle but regular footwear is getting really annoying. The only shoes I've been wearing are the Keens without the insole and the NAOTs. The Keens can be a little hot--fortunately there is air conditioning at work or they would be intolerable. The NAOTs are okay but make my little toes curl under a little. Yesterday we went to a cookout--I went BF of course. Out 40 or so other people only one other was BF. I think I was getting some stares at first but nobody said anything. I'm going to say they were jealous and wishing the hadn't committed to shoes. I was amazed/stupefied that there were even some guys who came in jeans and boots, and even one with a long sleeve T-shirt. Temperature was in the 80s.
Also, I've been painting the house BF. It was a little rough up on the roof (very hot) but mostly I could stay in the shade--different level roofs so there was about 12-18 inches of shade to stand in. The tall aluminum ladder was comfortable enough--the tread on the rungs is mostly flat with grooves. The short ladder has closely spaced ridges, not flat ridges, and I had to wear my huaraches on it.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
What's stopping me?
Did 2 1/2 miles yesterday morning on a route I hadn't done shoeless before, at about 10 min/mile. Managed to keep my heart rate below 150 for the first 1/3 of it and that was all uphill or just a moderate incline. There was a section of freshly graded dirt road that seemed to go on forever but was maybe 3/4 mile. Freshly graded = no smooths tracks from car tires, so that was slow going. Then the dirt section went downhill too. Feet are okay today though, maybe some slight bruises.
I've noticed this past week my feet pads feel bruised more than usual and the only thing different is I've been wearing NAOTs to work. I only feel the bruises at the end of the day after taking off the NAOTs. I'm going to try not wearing them, but still keep up the running of course, to see if that goes away. The NAOTs have a thin leather covered, contoured cork footbed on a very stiff, foamy-looking sole. In the past I have found them comfortable but now I've also noticed my little toes get curled under a bit.
I really need to get busy and make my own perfect closed toe sandals to wear at work-- a flat and thin sole, a roomy toebox. I have the materials, so what's stopping me? Just trying to decide on a design, I guess. I should just make them and not expect perfection the first time.
I've noticed this past week my feet pads feel bruised more than usual and the only thing different is I've been wearing NAOTs to work. I only feel the bruises at the end of the day after taking off the NAOTs. I'm going to try not wearing them, but still keep up the running of course, to see if that goes away. The NAOTs have a thin leather covered, contoured cork footbed on a very stiff, foamy-looking sole. In the past I have found them comfortable but now I've also noticed my little toes get curled under a bit.
I really need to get busy and make my own perfect closed toe sandals to wear at work-- a flat and thin sole, a roomy toebox. I have the materials, so what's stopping me? Just trying to decide on a design, I guess. I should just make them and not expect perfection the first time.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Monitor Blizzard
So last fall I got a heart rate monitor to use on the elliptical over the winter while my foot healed. I haven't used it so much when running but I started using it all last week while trying to keep my HR down below 150, as mentioned in my last post. It hasn't been much of a problem but there have been occasional "burps" with device in that it sometimes reads about 180 - 210. I figured the strap was slipping down too low or my chest hair was getting long or something. Today it was more than occasional. After five minutes, it pretty much just stayed up high.
Well, I finally decided to get to the bottom of this when it struck me. The numbers I was getting were about the same as the cadence that BFRs aim for. Could it actually be? So I pushed the strap firmly onto my chest and sure enough the rate dropped to what it should be. I did this a few times just to be sure and tightened the strap some too. Still read cadence. I wasn't bouncing much at all but I guess it was enough to interfere with the monitor.
I may use it again to see if swinging my arms affects the rate but I probably won't use it much for running anymore anyway; I'd probably have to keep the strap super tight. I also have a pretty good idea now what my heart rate is compared to how I feel while running. I was breathing only through my nose and my HR got up as high as 170 going uphill, where I maybe had to gasp once or twice, and got back to 158 on level ground or slight downhill. Steeper downhill I've noticed it goes up, from the faster pace I suppose.
Well, I finally decided to get to the bottom of this when it struck me. The numbers I was getting were about the same as the cadence that BFRs aim for. Could it actually be? So I pushed the strap firmly onto my chest and sure enough the rate dropped to what it should be. I did this a few times just to be sure and tightened the strap some too. Still read cadence. I wasn't bouncing much at all but I guess it was enough to interfere with the monitor.
I may use it again to see if swinging my arms affects the rate but I probably won't use it much for running anymore anyway; I'd probably have to keep the strap super tight. I also have a pretty good idea now what my heart rate is compared to how I feel while running. I was breathing only through my nose and my HR got up as high as 170 going uphill, where I maybe had to gasp once or twice, and got back to 158 on level ground or slight downhill. Steeper downhill I've noticed it goes up, from the faster pace I suppose.
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