I've needed to get on here & post some updates so here goes...
After the last post, I did some running throughout the summer but not a lot. Some runs were completely barefoot while other runs were with my harauches. Starting in late August to early September I picked up the pace a little in order to get ready for my fitness test in October. I passed my fit test but my time for the run was longer than I would like. :-(
After the fit test I felt more motivated to run more often & more consistently.
I like using technology where it can help so went in search of iPhone apps that might help me. I downloaded 2 apps that have been helpful: 10K Runner & iMapMyFitness.
10K Runner is a 14 week, couch to 10K trainer plan & tracker as well as a digital assistant & coach. It takes you slowly through a running training plan that starts out mostly walking with a little running & works up to straight 60 minutes of running with no walking & hopefully a 10K. I like the way I can get the program started & it tells me when to walk & when to run-pretty easy to follow.
The other app, iMapMyFitness, tracks via GPS the route of my runs on the map as well as time, distance, speed, & pace. With some accessories it would also track heart rate & cadence. All the info from each run is then uploaded to their web page: mapmyfitness.com for weekly or monthly tracking & for archiving.
Something else I did was buy a pair of Vibram FiveFingers toe shoes. I'll try to get a picture of them posted soon. When I first started looking into barefoot running, I found that some recommend the Vibram's while others did not. They are fairly expensive shoes (about $100/pr or around the same price as a lot of other good quality running shoes) so I didn't want to just go out & buy a pair unless I was pretty sure I was going to wear them a lot & like them. That's one reason I started out with the inexpensive running sandals (harauches) & plain ol' bare feet-to see if I really liked it & it looked like I was going to do a lot of barefoot or minimalist running. As it turned out I like the minimalist running & I think it's been good for my aging body as well-I really haven't had much of anything as far as injuries go since I started min-running. So, with fall & more inclement weather coming on, I went to SecondSole in Boardman & bought the Bikila LS model Vibrams & I love'm. They are the most comfortable running shoe I think I've ever run in. They make me want to go out & run more! So, since early October all my runs have been in my Vibrams.
October was a very rainy month so I haven't run as much as I'd like last month. In fact I should be nearly done with week 4 of the 10K runner but I'm only in the middle of week 3. But I'm still working on it.
Today after work it was such a beautiful fall day & I got a great run in. It was about 50F & sunny. I went to the bike trail & started in on the planned run. For today it was supposed to be a 5m warm-up walk then alternating walking & running anywhere from 1.5-2.5 minutes followed by a cool down walk of 5m for a total of 26m. Not too bad. I did the 5m walking, ran the 1.5m & walked the next 1.5m. When I got going on the 2.5m run, I didn't want to stop & walk so I just kept running for about 25 minutes. I ended up doing a total of 38m with about 26-27 of it running & the rest walking. I covered 3.25 miles. I didn't feel too bad afterwards even though that was further & quicker than I'd gone in awhile.
Looking forward to my next run, although I don't plan to push it as hard & do plan to go back to the 10k running plan.
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