Running at Pacifica

What a lovely weekend! I enjoyed the past few days by 1. sleeping an obscene amount of hours 2. eating some delicious food 3. running and enjoying the sunshine. Life does not get much better than that.

Sunday was our long run. We headed to our usual Crystal Springs meet up, but decided to switch destinations to Pacifica since it was nice there and super foggy at Crystal Springs.

It was my first time really going to Pacifica. I really enjoyed it and the weather was absolutely perfect!! We went for a 7 mile run around the area. The hills there are pretty intense, and are mostly switchbacks all the way up. During those moments I kind of just put my head down and trucked through it. I really look forward to the downhill runs though, gravity is amazing. :)

Today my boyfriend and I went to the local high school track to try out our "minimalist" shoes. I would call them barefoot shoes but that's a bit of an oxymoron. I have my Vibrams, and Chris has been toying with the idea of making huaraches.

In total, I ran a little over 3 miles (1.5 being in the vibrams). Personally, it felt pretty good aside from a small blister and some minor arch pain in my left foot. I could have ran longer but I had to kind of stop myself from pushing it too much. I had Chris take a video of my running gait to see my flaws, and apparently I'm full of them. All in good time I guess. I am still a heel striker, despite being in those shoes, but I honestly think I am improving and have been having less shin pain overall.

More updates later!

Barefoot running

So I've been doing a lot of barefoot running reading lately, it's becoming a growing trend. I think a lot of people are inspired a lot by the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, which is a big reason why I was interested (although up to this point I have read pretty much every article I could find on the subject). I decided to buy the e-book to keep me entertained on the long commute to and from work. It was worth every cent! Not only am I learning all sorts of really interesting facts, and hearing so many amazing stories, but it's kind of exciting and if it weren't such a tiny format (iphone) I might be finished faster haha. It isn't particularly about barefoot running, but it does touch on the subject and it's quite convincing.

The pictures are of the new Vibram Fivefingers KSO (Keep Stuff Out) shoes that I bought today. They are supposed to be the closest that you can get to going bare, but I don't feel quite that confident yet (and I have a fear of parasites and sharp objects). I wore them around the house all day and they're amazingly comfortable, but when I went for a short jog around the park I noticed that my weak arch on my left foot started acting up. It's definitely going to be a long road, but I think it will be for the best.

Some people think it's a gimmick (people that also would never try it), but I think it's completely logical. Think about it, people ran far before the time when shoes started to get all fancy with gels, air, springs, etc. There are plenty of people across the world that run faster, longer, and with nothing or little to nothing on their feet. Having a heel on your shoes actually encourages more impact on your legs than when you run barefoot, hence leading to all of these injuries (knee injuries, shin splints, etc). Also, if you look at the running gait difference between someone that has ran barefoot all of their lives, and someone that has been trained on regular running shoes, it is shockingly obvious that the shoes are changing our running. Most of us land hard on our heels with straight legs (me), while the barefoot runners land softly on either their mid or forefoot, with their knees bent to absorb the shock.

I myself am a heavy heel striker with a high arch. It's going to take a lot of slow practice for me to get stronger feet and calves.

In the meantime I guess I will run in my older shoes (which were proven to be better for you, as well as cheaper running shoes) for the longer runs since I'm still planning to run this marathon. If I can build my feet up in the meantime, it would be awesome to run the marathon in the Vibrams, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

If anyone is interested in the Vibrams, I can say that I have tried the Classics, the Sprints, and the KSO's. To me, I prefer the KSO's. The classics felt weird on the heel, and the sprints had that strap which I thought might cause trouble down the road. The KSO's truly felt like a glove but took some time to get on. They are definitely kind of goofy looking, but I also feel like a stealthy ninja. ;)

So that's what I have to say about that. I'll be sure to give you updates on my barefoot adventures, but if anyone else has any personal experiences with it I'd love to hear them out.

Sawyer Camp Trail

I almost don't want to say anything about this trail because it is so crowded already haha, but it is quite a gem and makes for an awesome running trail. A group of us meet there every Sunday for a long run. It consists mostly of rolling hills until you get to the 4.5 (a little more like 4.75) mile marker and then there is a steep incline that will definitely kick your ego down a notch.

The scenery is pretty beautiful, there are dirt paths along the paved pathways, and markers for each half mile as well as plenty of restroom stops (although I'd avoid them if you can). There's plenty of shade, and some spots that are unshaded, as well as several unphased deer that will stroll across the paths at their leisure. Be sure to bring your own water though because there are no fountains.

So today's run was a 6 mile run. I'm trying to follow a beginners marathon training plan, but anyone that knows me knows that I like to push the envelope and I have a hard time staying on these plans. On the plan it said to go 3 miles, but since I did 8 last week, I figure 6 is a good compromise.

A few friends were there to run along with, which always makes it easier for me. I am the type where running alone feels like an eternity, and I end up running faster than I should because I just feel like I'm underwater and always need to catch up to something. Having someone there to pace with, as well as to talk to makes time fly by.

All in all it was a good run, and some beautiful weather. Everyone arrived back to the start around the same time, which is always nice. I'd rate this run as a moderate intensity, because it started out great but the run back was a lot faster and I had to slow down and run alone for a bit. Looking forward to next weekend's run!

And so it begins...

I am a 26 year old artist in the Bay Area. I have a full time position creating art for social web-based games. My day usually goes something like this:

wake up at 5:45
work out 7:00am-8:00am
race to the train station to make the 8:30 train
arrive to my work around 9:30
work work work
go home at 6:00
arrive home at 7:15 (if I am lucky)
eat
sleep.

I have another blog that talks about my daily life, and I try to put as many art pieces up as possible (although lately it is hard to find time to do side work). It basically gives my relatives and friends a peek into my life. "Working out" is slowly starting to dominate the blog, so I figure I will just make a separate one devoted to it.

I really have only been working out for about 2 years now. Most people that have known me for the majority of my life would be shocked to see me even remotely interested in working out. I used to avoid movement at all costs, even joining 4 years of marching band (kind of torturous, but I'll admit that I enjoyed it at times), which was the "secret" loophole in skipping P.E.

It all started with Yoga, then kickboxing. Then random classes (boxing conditioning, karate) to bootcamp, to kettlebell, and running. Currently I am sticking with a delicate balance of running, bootcamp, and kettlebell.

I have been running for a bit less than a year now. It all started with our bootcamp instructor trying to get us all to do a half marathon. Since then I've done two half marathons, and one 10k and I am steadily working towards a full marathon in San Francisco on July 26th. It's not easy but I'm a pretty goal oriented kind of person so it's good for me. You will be hearing a lot about my training for the marathon. In fact, I am running for breast cancer research and I would greatly appreciate any donations. To donate online please go here.

I go in and out of my kettlebell phases but it's a lot of fun for me, and I've even sort-of-kind-of started a kettlebell club at the gym I go to. Sure, it's a tiny tiny club. I don't even know you can call it a club, but hey, I consider it to be one.

And lastly there is bootcamp. There are no words for this intense 1 hour workout. I have made a lot of friends through the class though, and the instructor is always throwing extremely brutal and memorable workouts at us. We're a pretty tight knit group, and often gorge ourselves on random buffet nights out.

So stay tuned if you are interested. I'll try to keep the whining down to a minimum. ;)