Year-End Summary-2012

A few year-end running reflections on New Year's Eve.

My aim in running is to simply run.  People ask me why I run and I simply shrug and tell them "I just enjoy running."  And the older I get, it gets even more simple.  And clear.

And fun.

It's satisfying, then, for me (a numbers type of guy) to see the numbers from this year's running backing up my gut feel that 2012 was a good hear.

On the aggregate, 2012 is the first calendar year I've ever run more than 1,500 miles.  Training and racing totaled 1,563.  Sweet.

Racing went well, too.   The year had 17 races including 2 ultras, 7 marathons (5 road, 2 trail) and a pair of half marathons.  No bonks and 5 of the marathons were in near-perfect conditions, allowing even more number crunching.

Other developments in the year of minor public interest yet notable in my mind include:

• Trail running.  I'm enjoying training and racing on trails, more and more.  A long run in the woods on dirt is really getting to be more and more fun. 
• Camping. I've never been much of a camper until this year.  What a fun way to go to a race, sleep in a tent the night before, wake up with the birds and go run?  
• Shoe shift.  After years in the Brooks Beast, I shifted to the lighter Brooks Adrenalines in May.  It has worked well.     
• Audio Books.  I've discovered I enjoy listening to books on my mp3 player during long training runs. 

And all of that is really minor.  

I just enjoy running.  And that's enough.

Happy 2013!  

Persevere.  

.

Shoe Re-calibration

Much overthinking follows in this post...be warned!!

As a practitioner of kaizen, both personally and professionally, I usually make small changes and evaluate.  Lots of small changes, regularly.  The big move??  Not so much.

Yet, sometimes kaikaku is more appropriate than kaizen.  Kaikaku means making a major change, well considered, a step which fundamentally alters a process.  And knowing the difference between the two is the key.

All this applies to running shoes, our most fundamental piece of equipment.  I've had two kaikaku moments surrounding shoes in the last 8 years. I may have had my third last Saturday.

When I started this era of running in May 2004, I had no clue about current running shoe technology, having not run regularly since 1990 or so.  After some false starts, I first visited a real shoe store in Indy in November, 2004, discovered Brooks and got into a pair of Adrenalines.  See the story here.

Those shoes worked wonderfully for me until the late fall of 2006.  After running the Portland Marathon that October, I locked up with regular ITB pain in both legs.  In February, 2007, I made another visit to a different running store and discovered the big, honkin' Brooks Beast.  See this story here.  The behemoth of running shoes, it gave me the super control I needed and cured the ITB issue.  I've gone through 14 pairs of Beasts since, with no injuries.  It worked.

Recently, however, I wondered, are the assumptions I made six years ago still valid?  The biggest change in that time is the weight I lost in 2010.  I was at 205+ lbs when I got the Beasts.  I've been at 175-178 since August 2010 and I can tell the difference.  Amazing how well running can go when you leave two bowling balls at home.  The Beast is designed for big guys.  Am I still "big"??  

With this on my mind, I made another trip to a specialty running store last Saturday, a local shop which opened this spring just a few blocks from my house.  I lugged in three old pairs of shoes, two pairs of Beasts and my one remaining pair of Adrenalines.  Once more, the owner of the store spent a lot of time with me, not in a hurry, looking at my shoes, looking at me running barefoot on a treadmill, talking first and trying on shoes later.  I deeply appreciated the attention and care.

We observed two important things.  First, my pronation (inward foot roll) is now hardly observable.  Running barefoot showed a nearly neutral landing on my left foot and only a touch of roll on my right foot, despite my high arches.  Secondly, my foot measures to a size 10 shoe.

The first fact indicated that the Beast may indeed be too much shoe for me now.  The second fact indicated I probably had the wrong combination of shoe size and sock. I've been wearing size 12 Beasts and two pairs of socks--a thin liner sock and a very heavy outer sock.  As the owner pointed out, the "cushy" sock contributed to  more foot movement, somewhat like running on a sandy surface.

So, we dismantled these things and, after a lot of iterations, I returned to Brooks Adrenalines once again, this time version 12.  And, importantly, size 10 1/2.  A full size and a half smaller.  Wow...what difference will the mere size change make??

Inside the shoe, I am trying a very thin sock, the Balega UltraLight, size L.  I found the thin sock inside the smaller shoe worked.  It's also kind of a funky sock, in that it has a left and a right sock in each pair.  Further, the sock is made in South Africa, the place where I began running in 1978 and did my first two marathons in 1979 and 1980.  Gijima, bonkosi, gijima!  (Zulu for "run, people, run!")

This experiment will extend through this summer.  I have two marathons in the next three weeks...following the maxim "nothing new on race day", I'll wear the Beasts in both.  From that, we'll see how the new system rolls out on longer runs.

I warned you this post had some extreme overthinking.  Thanks for riding along!!

Persevere.  Shoot, you already did if you are still reading!!!


.

How to Clean Really Muddy Running Shoes

My last post was long and philosophical.   This one is pictorial and practical.

The implication of running the HUFF 50K through lots of mud is really muddy shoes.  You can see me here around mile 29...check the shoes.

From Running-General

The shoes are supposed to be light grey...but are solid black.

When the race ended, I walked to my car and retrieved my cold, soggy feet from their mud-caked cocoon.  I sensed a photo series possible.

From Running-General

I stowed these beauties in separate plastic bags in the trunk of my car, letting them ferment.

The following afternoon, I laid into them.  First I removed the shoe laces.  Then, I put them in a 5 gallon bucket and hacked away with a stiff brush to get the bulk of the mud off.  Had the race happened in the summer, I would have done this with a hose in the backyard...but in the Indiana winter, it was a bucket indoors.

From Running-General

This is a time for "tough love"...scrub like crazy and get the gunk off.  No reason to be gentle at all.

Meanwhile, I rinsed and rerinsed the shoelaces and socks, then put them into a bleach solution.  This photo was after the third rinse, such was the grime.

From Running-General

At this point, I tried something new.  On the drive home from the race, Brian mentioned he had once just put his shoes right in the washing machine.  As I looked at my shoes, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I tried it as well.

I pulled out the insoles and threw in both shoes, sans shoelaces still.  I looked really hard in the owners manual to find the "Running Shoe Cycle" but didn't come across it.

From Running-General

So, I set the machine on a medium load to get plenty of water in the machine, hot water wash, warm water rinse, gentle cycle.  I put in plenty of detergent and four glugs of bleach just to de-gunk the puppies.  (I hope I haven't lost you in the technical language)

A half hour later, out they came.  Shoes were wet but clean.  The insoles held up well, it seemed.

From Running-General

I did NOT put the shoes in the dryer!  I just let them air dry for a few days.  Had I needed the shoes more quickly, I could have stuffed newspapers in them.  The shoelaces dried too.

Relacing the shoes, these babies were ready to go, looking none the worse for spending 7 hours and 50km tromping through mud and water.

From Running-General

This pair of Brooks Beasts (my 12th pair of Beasts, by the way...did I ever mention I like Brooks shoes??!!) now has 620 miles on them.  I wore them on a regular training run yesterday and they felt great. 

Hope you've had some fun with the photos!!  Don't ever give up on a pair of shoes just due to a muddy trail run!!

Persevere!!

.

New Balance--Harrisburg; Part One

ORN:(Saturday)    11.6 miles, 2:04:45, R2/W1, 10:46/mile

 

An ongoing professional and personal interest of mine for the past decade is understanding the fundamental shift in business communication as a result of the Web.  This prompted me to start a blog in 2002, read a lot on the subject and to attempt to see the impact on my company. 

 

Central to this whole matter is a concept called "permission marketing".  Traditional marketing is called "interruption marketing."  You watch a TV program, a commercial interrupts the program, you watch the commercial, and then go back to the program.  It is so "normal" we've quit noticing the interruptions.  Permission marketing, on the other hand, asks you if you are interested in a good or service and asks "permission" to connect with you.  The Internet has enabled this in a whole new way; if you've ever done a Google search and noticed ads that seem to relate to your search on the sidebar, you've seen this.  If you've ever "opted in" for email updates from a company, you've participated. Blogs are a key part of this strategy, in the thinking that if regular folks talk about a product, it has more relevance than if marketers do.  Seth Godin is a prominent writer on the subject and has helped me understand it better.

 

I explain this to describe my interest when a digital marketing representative of New Balance of Harrisburg, PA emailed me a month ago.  Her offer was fascinating; if I'd post a link on my blog to their store, she'd send me a free pair of NB shoes to evaluate.  We corresponded a bit on the offer.  I explained I was a committed Brooks shoe guy and I have a high standard of running shoe stores, due to my excellent experience at Naperville Running Company.  I'd write just what I thought about the NB shoes, good or bad.  She said that was OK, so I agreed on the deal.  I posted the link on April 7, to her specs (thus the typo...they wanted it to say "mens" not "men's" ...all to do with search engine optimization ).  And I started my observation and evaluation.

 

The first problem was which shoes to request.  I know virtually nothing about NB shoes...the last pair of NB running shoes I wore was in South Africa in1980 for my first ever marathon.  My calves ached for 3 weeks after that race and I assume NBs are a lot better now.  So, I asked the rep to put me in contact with someone at their store who could recommend the best NB running shoe for me.  I gave her the data on my current Brooks Beast size, my age, height, mileage, overproation issues.  You tell me, I asked, which of your shoes would be best?

 

That was two weeks ago.

 

She tried to get someone from the shoe side of the store to respond.  No one did.  She asked me to email their sales folks with the same question.  I did.  No response.  Finally, she sent me the link to some NB USA shoe analysis pages for overpronators.  Figuring I was pretty much on my own, I set out to find the best shoe myself yesterday, with no real knowledge base.  It was a bit circuitous.  NB has lots of shoe models.  Lots of places sell NB shoes.  Reviews existed but not on all models.  I found a couple of pairs that seemed to mimic the Brooks Beast well.  But the Harrisburg store didn't have those models.  Round and round I went late Saturday afternoon, spending over an hour trying to settle on the right model, by myself.  My wife told me we had about 3 minutes until supper, and I decided I had spent enough time already.  

 

I ordered a pair of size 12 New Balance 1123 shoes and then sat down to delicious beef enchiladas. 

 

Their web site worked perfectly.  The coupon code the rep gave me worked perfectly.  I have a free pair of shoes coming my way this week, with a UPS tracking number arriving today.

 

Those you who know me will accurately predict "this all got me thinking".  Just what is important for a company selling running shoes?  Is it the shoe?  Or is it the contact, the advice, the service? 

 

Seth Godin makes the point, repeatedly, that the Web has made "commodities" out of almost anything we want to buy now.  I can do a Google Shopping search and find 20+ sources for the identical shoe.  If I am only shopping on the web, why would I choose one store over the other if not based on price?  To make yourself remarkable, to rise above mere "commodity", you have to do something the Web can't do...which is listen, respond and make a solution truly delightful for the end user.  

 

I entered into this agreement to see if this store could do this.  So far, no dice.  I have a pair of shoes coming my way I think ought to be OK, but I really don't know.  

 

Contrast this with a question I posed in this blog post last November...check out the very first comment.  The owner of Naperville Running Company somehow read my post, popped in, answered my question about shoes and offered to help me find a pair of discontinued Brooks Beasts.  He did, I ordered, I paid, I promote their store here.  I actually wore the pair he found in my long run yesterday.

 

Godin also points out with the ubiquity of the Web anyone can comment on customer service.  Very little happens in private.  

 

Like this post. 

 

Thanks for listening.  I'll keep you posted as the story continues.

 

Persevere.   

Product Review: SofSole Anti-Friction and Cushion Socks

ORN:  8.6 miles, 1:23:44, R5/W1, 9:45/mile, no pain

 

Last week, investment guru Warren Buffett published his view of the current economy.  While pessimistic overall, he suggested it is still wise to buy "quality stocks and quality socks." 

 

Now I don't know if the good folks at SofSole have enlisted the Oracle of Omaha to evaluate their running socks.  Further, I doubt the fact that I, too, am a native of the wide-open state of Nebraska influenced their decision to ask me to evaluate their products.  Nevertheless, they sent me a box full of goodies to evaluate and blog about. And this entry will look at their quality socks.

 

I need to tell you at the outset, I'm really finicky about socks. And I don't think SofSole realized this when they plucked me out of the blogosphere for evaluation.   I was trying to remember just when this started and I think it was in seventh grade football, in the mid 60's.  Good sports shoes had yet to be invented; we just wore the "Johnny Unitas" black leather high-top shoes.  And my feet always hurt.  I blamed it on the socks.  As I went through high school, I developed a fussiness about socks...finally settling on one or two brands that seemed to make my feet hurt less badly.  It was really bad in my favorite sport of baseball, where socks are a Big Deal and have been for a long time.

 

Fast forward to this, my last five years of renewed interest in running.  As I figured out the right shoes to wear, I also struggled to get the socks right.  Being 6'1" and just under 200 lbs, I beat the daylights out of everything on my feet. Coupled with the fact my feet are a size 11 3/4 and thus always between a "perfect fit", I settled into wearing a size 12 shoe with a thick pair of socks. That worked OK while I was doing low mileage and races at a Half Marathon or shorter. 

 

But, when I started training for marathons in 2006, I found blisters became a bigger deal.  So, I added to this podiatric mix a very thin pair of liner socks.  That combo seemed to work and I've stuck with it. 

 

So when SofSole sent me two styles of their performance sock; the Anti-Friction and the Cushon, I realized I needed to try them as liner socks...otherwise, my big shoes just wouldn't fit.  

 

I've really come to like the Anti-Friction sock.  It has an unusual ribbed pattern on the sole which, at first blush, seems counterintuitive.  But it really does seem to work.  I particularly like the very thin nature of the top part of the sock; there is only material where it is needed.  I've found them very effective.

 

It's a little less good with the Cushion sock.   My foot is just the wrong size to make this sock work well.  As a liner sock, it added too much bulk and made my shoes too tight.  By themselves, there wasn't enough bulk.  Yet, they look well made.  "Quality socks" as Mr. Buffett might say.

 

I'm guessing a really good sock for me would be their Lite sock; it would likely be a perfect liner sock for me. 

 

In both models I tried, the various parts of the sock are fitted together perfectly.  They just fit well on the foot.  You can tell they are "designed" not just stamped out.

 

So, if you are looking for socks, it's worth checking these three models to see what works for you. 

 

Persevere.  And do it in quality socks. 

New running resource; thinking about shoes

ORN: 5.2 miles, R3/W1

During December, I had a nice set of email exchanges with Marius Bakken, a member of the Norwegian Olympic team in 2000 and 2004 at 5,000m. He’s finishing medical school now and has started up two websites. We had a wonderful exchange and I think he adds to our knowledge, both as an elite runner and as a physician.

His first site is about our omnipresent challenge of selecting running shoes, while a second site is about marathon training plans. You may find it useful; I sure have.

All of which has caused me to wonder just why it is so hard to find a good shoe that works over the long haul. This has come back to my mind as I fight my current ITB issue. In my five mile run this afternoon, the ITB started rumbling at me again right at the five mile mark. Are my long-term trusted Brooks Beasts no longer adequate? Will I get to run a pain-free 10 miler anytime soon??

In my discussions of this matter with Marius, I wondered if there is a simpler way of diagnosing pronation. I’ve learned, with the help of the great folks from Naperville Running Company (a tip of the running cap to my pal Waddler for connecting me to them) that the wear pattern on the shoes I’m wearing now tell the best story of how well my shoes are or aren’t working. A wear pattern tailing to a take-off point at or inside the big toe is a sure sign of overpromation. Conversely, a wear pattern that moves to outside of the middle toe shows underpronation. Further, I’ve come to believe that a good shoe will compensate for my natural biomechanics and present a “normalized” approach to the pavement below. If that works, the wear pattern should be neutral. Somehow, finding the best running shoe should be experimental not theoretical.

Yet I’ve never read this or seen this clearly stated anywhere. In fact, it was only after years of running I ever could figure out just what “pronate” meant. I suggested Marius consider this in his new site…perhaps he will. In the meantime, living over three hours away from a competent running store, I feel a little stuck in shoe selection. Further, any experimenting with shoes is expensive. For a lumpy, large, overpronater like me, decent shoes run in the $120-140 range.

Do I look at the Mizuno Wave Renegade 4? The Asics Evolution 4? Or the seemingly invisible Loco Mojo?? Or persevere with the current pain with my trusted Brooks Beasts?

I overthink these things when I run. My wife is so grateful that I have a blog to blather on over such things, thus sparing her hours of boredom. Thanks for any thoughts and advice you might have.

And, shoot, how lucky can I be that overpronation is one of my big concerns?? I have nothing to be concerned about. At all. And I am grateful.

Persevere. Through issues big and small.

What to do with the shoe

ORN, Saturday: 20.7 miles, R2/W1 (mostly), 3:57:44, 11:30/mile

The long run three weeks ahead of a marathon is intended, among other things, as a final shake down for race day. Yesterday’s long run (intended to be 28 miles) fit that description but not all as I anticipated.

The good news was I did a final, satisfactory test of Salt Stick tablets. I popped one at the top of each hour. They sat just fine on my stomach and I had no cramping, wooziness or tingles in my feet as I do when I start to lose electrolyte balance. They will be quite simple to haul along on race day. I also reaffirmed my geeky practice of labeling Gu packs, mistake-proofing the time to eat each one.



I also had two cool “unexpected” fun parts to the run. The first was an active screech owl prowling one of the woods I run through. Wow, what a sight and sound. The second was seeing fast runners. The NCAA Regional Cross Country championships were going on at 11am Saturday at the Purdue Cross Country course, right next to the trail I run on. The timing was such that women’s teams from Indiana, Miami (OH), Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin were warming up on the trail just as I came through. What a contrast…these young, tiny, graceful, fluid college runners next to the big, lumbering 55 year-old slow guy. Ah, but we were all running and that was cool.

But the big news of the run is about shoes.

Nearly two years ago, I came to grips with my floppy, overpronating feet and shifted my shoe to the huge, clunky and very effective Brooks Beast. After moving to that shoe in February, 2007, I’ve had virtually no problems with my knees. I’ve gone through five pairs and just recently received my sixth pair.

And thus the problem.

Pair #6 was the “new model” of the Beast. Same general look but when I first put them on, I knew they were different. The sole was different, the posts were different and in my early short runs in the new shoes I just didn’t feel the same stiffness. The first five pairs worked wonderfully (and hard) to keep my 195 pound frame from inwardly rolling my feet on every step. They kept my IT band lined up and happy.

Saturday’s long run was the first lengthy outing in pair #6. The first ten miles went fine but as I headed out on the (intended) loop around Purdue, I noticed a twinge in my right knee. Will it go away, as it often does after a few run/walk cycles? It didn’t. It gradually got worse. At mile 17, I realized it wasn’t going to get better. So I shortened the course, heading back home. Around mile 19, I throttled the cycle from 2/1 to 1/1 and held that all the way home. But the left knee now hurt and continued to hurt all day. As I write this on Sunday, they feel better, but I won’t know for sure until I head out on Tuesday to run again.

In the short term, I’m OK on shoes through the Memphis Marathon on Dec 6. This due to a nice bit of advice from David Haywood as we sat in a hotel lobby the night before the Rocket City Marathon a year ago. David described for me his method of alternating shoes, always having a higher mileage shoe and a newer pair on hand at all times. I started doing that early this year and, as a result, I have my pair #5 of “good” Beasts which will serve me well through most of December. Luckily, on Sunday afternoon, I did a quick tour of the local sporting goods stores and found ONE PAIR of the old model at one store in my size. And on discount, as they wanted to move them out. So, I’m set through March 2009 or so.

But what to do beyond that?? I’m thinking I need to find out what other really good stability shoes are out there and then get somewhere to give them a good test run. I’m just a long way from a good running store, so “shopping” is a hassle. I recall from my trip to the Naperville Running Company in 2007 there was a pair of Asics that were very close to the Beast. I’ll have to check that out.

And I welcome advice from any of you.

In the overall scheme of things, this is a minor blip. If I was talking to a guy who just lost his job in the recession or was looking down the barrel at foreclosure or had a major health problem, I’d feel pretty sheepish carrying on about the subtleties of shoe design. So take this bit of chatting for what it is…just some thinking out loud to folks who can understand the criticality of shoes for injury prevention. The fact that I can go out and run 20 miles, even in bad shoes, is a huge gift. And it is those simple gifts that sustain us.

Persevere. With or without stability shoes.

Race Report: Sam Costa Half Marathon

ORN: 13.1 miles, Run, 1:58:27, 9:03/mile

Race Summary

A perfect day for running led to as satisfying a race as I have had in two years. A negative split, running at, but not over, the edge in a race that just “flowed” made for a terrific event.

Race Details

The race was part of a marvelous day. Gretchen went with me on this trip and we spent the entire day in Indianapolis. Out the door at 7, having marvelous conversation watching the sun slowly appear above the flat eastern horizon, we got to the start in plenty of time. The race attracted about 500 runners in both a half and an (unusual) quarter-marathon, so bib pick-up was a very simple issue. No timing chips, no goodie bag, just a simple long run.

I’d been watching the weather in Indy and the forecast was acurate. The day was sunny and cool, with temperatures in the mid 30s by the start of the race and it barely made 40 by the time we finished. After registration, I settled on which set of shirts I’d wear, Gretchen chuckling at my angst over such issues; I had already decided though to wear shorts (being part of a distinct minority with bare legs).

In mid-December, I wrote up Analyzing the Rocket City Marathon, the result of which was a new goal for races: “Run the Best Race Conditions Allow.” Today was my first application of that goal. What would these race conditions allow? The weather was near perfect; only a 15mph East wind marred the sunny, cool temperatures supporting a great race. I was fresh, uninjured. The pack was small, allowing a good rhythm. The course was quite flat and I knew it, this being the third time I’ve run it in four years. So, putting this all together, I decided it was quite reasonable my “best race” today would be a sub 2 hour run. I haven’t been under 2 since June, 2006 and was anxious to see if I could do it again. So, I made three decisions.

First, I chose to run rather than use the Run/Walk. Second, I opted to not wear my heavy Brooks Beast motion-control shoes and wore instead a pair of Brooks Adrenalines with only 60 miles on them. Even though they don’t control pronation like the Beast, I figured one race would not trigger a permanent problem. Third, I used the Virtual Trainer tool on my Garmin to keep me on pace and mentally prepared to hold back through the first 5+ miles in order to hold the pace steady at the end.

Goodness, after all that navel-gazing, it was great to finally start the race. (You were wondering if I was ever going to get to the actual race description…)

The course is a giant figure 8. The top loop is “Once Around the Gravel Pit,” a large excavation operation suppling much of Indianapolis. I took off easy and the first five miles clicked by in 9:10, 9:02, 9:19, 9:08 and 9:10. I felt very smooth and enjoyed the run. Even though the Brooks Adrenalines are a training shoe, they felt like racing flats compared to the clunky Beast. I felt light-footed.

Around mile 6, I fell in with a couple of ladies running near my pace but ever-so-slightly faster. I still felt good and pushed pace slightly; as a result, miles 6-9 came through at 9:04, 8:55, 9:16 and 8:50. The 15 mph wind was at our backs for miles 6-8 and it was a help. I still felt good and was feeling more and more confident a sub-2 was a possibility.

The second loop is “Parade of Beautiful Homes” as we then wound through the upscale, gracious, brick-faced homes of the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel. (Indiana note: We pronounce the town “CAR-mel,” as in corn, not like the trendy city just north of San Francisco of “car-MEL.” This is Indiana, of course). During this section, the miles really started clicking off, as I fell into a groove and just held the pace. Miles 10-12 popped in at 9:05, 8:53 and 9:04.

When I passed the 12 mile marker, I tried to push the pace up just a bit. I picked out a few runners ahead of me and gradually gained on them. With 0.4 to go, we turned up a hill, the east wind now directly in our face. I pushed it anyway, passed several folks, came around a corner to see the finish line and was thrilled to still see a “1” on the official race clock. Gretchen, my nephew and his two kids were there cheering and I motored across the line. The last 1.1 mile went at 9:28, an 8:37 pace, my watch said 1:58:27. The sub 2 was in the bank.

Subsequent analysis was encouraging. The overall pace was 9:03. While it is hard to be specific about negative splits without a measured midway point in a half marathon, I did figure this. The first 6 miles took me 54:51, or 9:09/mile. The next six miles took me 54:07, or 9:02/mile. The last 1.1 was at an 8:37 pace, so I’ll call it a negative split. I’ve never run a negative split before; I now know the appeal…what a rush. Not a single person passed me in the last 5 miles. My slowest mile was 9:19 and that included a quick trip to the porta-potty in mile 3. My quickest mile was #13 at 8:44.

Subjectively, I hit the elusive “sweet spot” of running in this race. I truly don’t think I could have run this race much faster. The entire effort was out there on the course; no regrets at all. I held the pace as hard as I felt I could for the entire distance. It felt under control…I was pushing it but not over the top. Scrapping the run/walk on race day worked just fine. The shoe change worked and I think had a role. While I felt my feet hurting a bit around mile 11, there seemed to be no damage afterwards. I have no idea when or if I’ll next find such a perfect combination of weather, course and preparation…so I’m glad I took advantage of it today.

I got a hot shower at my nephew’s house, four blocks from the finish line; it was also a treat to see his two sons, John and TJ, above. Gretchen and I then had a 2 hour lunch with old friends, did some shopping and had a marvelous day together in the city; she’s a gem.

Does it get much better? No, it doesn’t. Thanks for savoring a wonderful day with me.

Persevere. No matter what the day holds.

The Long Run is a Good Teacher

ORN: 13.3 mi, 2:14:53 with 6 1-mile repeats @ 8:56

Now, that was a good workout!

I’m mid-way now through a year-long experiment in training methods. I’m doing a deep dive into Jeff Galloway's approach to running and training. Galloway is famous for promoting the run/walk method and taking care to avoid overuse injury. Coming off of an awful ITB injury last winter, I’m intrigued enough to give this method one year’s serious evaluation.

An oft-stated knock on Galloway is that it is slow. As I’ve gotten into it, I’m questioning that assumption. Having knocked off 2 PRs this summer over 5K, it hasn’t slowed me in short distances. I got a strong taste today of the rigor of program over the long haul.

The schedule today called for 13 miles with 6 mile repeats at the pace I want to run in my marathon during my run segments. That translates, for me, to a 9:11 pace while running. I worked on the pace today and was a bit quick, with miles at 8:59, 9:04, 9:00, 9:00, 8:44 and 8:51. And I learned a lot.

I learned I have plenty of work to do to get a feel for the correct pace.

I learned my feet hurt. My feet are a size 11 3 / 4 and, as such, I just can’t quite get the perfect fit for a long run. I tried a thin pair of liner socks today in my size 12 clodhoppers but they added too much material. So, I popped into our local sporting goods store and found an even thinner pair to try next week.

I learned my endurance base is not set yet. The run was a good workout in that as I finished the assigned distance, I was truly finished. The legs had enough. Not painful but clearly done for the day.

I learned my mind will play games on me. It is interesting how one’s mind can convince one that “just a few more miles” is no biggie. It is only in the training, however, that the miles can really happen.

I learned a bit about my left knee. Three weeks ago, while umpiring a baseball game, I made a hard run from home to third base to cover a play. Putting on the brakes as I arrived at third, I slightly hyper-extended the knee. I’m still feeling it, particularly at the start of a run. It’s just plain stiff and I must look like an old man shuffling down the street at the start. After about 2 miles, the knee loosens and does not complain further. I’m hoping this clears up, though.

I learned it is well worth getting up at 5:30am on a Saturday. I beat the worst of the heat and had my full day ahead of me after 2+ hours of running.

A good run, a good set of lessons.

Persevere.

Customer Service, from the ground up

ORN: Thursday: 3 miles, 3/1, no pain.

Youngest son Matt and I spent a frigid Friday touring Wheaton College in suburban Chicago. A really neat school, it will be interesting to see how his thinking develops as he makes his college decision.

With my part of the tour over by mid-afternoon Friday and Matt spending the night in a dorm with two guys he knows from home, I had some time on my hands. In a post last week, I asked WADDLING about running stores near Wheaton. She pointed me to the Naperville Running Company. And, wow, what a cool place.

I called ahead and asked if someone was there who could talk to me intelligently about overpronation and motion-control shoes. He laughed and just told me to come on down; “We’re all runners here!” I changed into running shorts and sweats, made the 20 minute drive and walked in, two old pairs of shoes under my arm. John sat with me and we talked running for quite a while before we ever looked at shoes. He went over my old shoes with a vengeance, picking out detail on tread wear like a CSI agent. The shoes told a tale of overpronation more nuanced than I would ever have thought. From there we went through several pairs of shoes and sizes. Other customers came and went; I only asked John to not rush me and he was happy to let me be mellow.

I got well acquainted with their treadmill as I tried out one pair then another. John suggested I compare shoes at the same time, one on the right, one on the left. It was very instructive. He watched carefully, at floor level, to get a read on my pronation tendencies. As we worked, he observed a tendency for my right foot to overpronate more than my left. Could that explain my right ITB being injured while my left one is fine?

In all, I spent an hour in their store and walked out with a pair of Brooks Beast shoes. They felt terrific, clearly moved my foot roll away from my big toe and out to my middle toe.

Isn’t it amazing to get great customer service? Michelle reported this week on her similarly positive experience buying new shoes. As a business person, it is fascinating to me to see how such customer service can change a commodity purchase (shoes) into a memorable experience (my shoes will work and promote health). For the stores’ sakes, though, how do they replicate this? How do they promote it? This is the type of stuff I think about while I run.

How will it work on the road? We’ll see. But, wow, what a great way to buy a shoe.

Persevere.