First real VFF run

Wednesday last week I actually tried a real run w/ my VFF. I aimed for about 3 miles, w/ a stretch along the railroad tracks because I wanted to see if I could actually handle trails w/ them.

It was a mistake. :P A minor one, thankfully.

I could run in the dirt along the railroad tracks fine. The small jagged rocks right by the tracks don't work though. Walking in them is barely tolerable and the footing is too loose to run in.

The real mistake was trying to run 3 miles off the bat. My calves were tired after about 1 mile, and threatened to cramp up towards the end whenever I stopped at a light. I think I'm not running toe-first correctly yet. I suspect I wasn't landing on my heels at all for the first 1/2 to 1 mile, which stressed out my calves. I also probably ran too fast at the beginning. The pacing and timing are different. It also took quite a bit of concentration to keep the form.

Next time, shorter distance w/ the VFF. ^_^

VFF and stairs: Feels like cheating

Did a lot of stairs this past Saturday w/ Shannon and Kaori. Of course I wore my VFF. ^_^ I swear it feels like cheating given how light they are and the ability to use your toes. My calves are like dead still though. :p

VFF 1st workout: Exhilarating!!!

So after wearing my Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) off and on this week, I finally took them out for a workout this Sunday morning. I decided to do a short jog, about 1 mile, to the De Anza College track to do some core workouts, since I didn't think I was ready for a long run yet. (I haven't run since my marathon in January. :p) The jog there was ok. Felt a little odd, and stepping on a joint between pavement hurt a little bit, but it was fine. Slight detour on gravel was fine, as was grass and mulch under trees. I realized that there are places you can't step in/on though, such as grates with wider holes. I think your ankles also get more of a workout, since the VFF allows and forces you to use your ankles more, for both stabilizing and pushing.

I always disliked stair works, but it was a lot more tolerable with the VFF. Being able to bend and use your toes more made the stairs much more tolerable, both going up and down. Lunges were also interesting being able to use my toes more, but my left toes were not too happy due to a tough and tense kendo practice on Friday. It was also easier to stay on my toes and stabilize during burpees.

But the real surprise came on the jog back. It had felt like the one thing that feels off w/ the VFF is actually running fast, or sprinting. I don't have a good sprinting form. I'm not used to running only on the balls of my feet and my toes. Rather, I lengthen my stride and power faster. But then landing on the thinner heel of the VFF kind of hurts. On the jog back I tried to jog in the toe/ball first form, which is landing on the balls of your feet and not your heels. It's supposed to be how you do barefoot running and how the Kenyans run. It was not easy, but easier in the VFF than regular shoes. It was more of a strain on my calf and ankles, but I kept going. On the last stretch of my block, I started to up the speed and start sprinting. And I could actually sprint on the balls of my feet! And I kept going faster and faster, and soon it felt like all that was touching the ground were my toes!! It was exhilarating!! So it was a great fun first training w/ the VFF and we'll see how we go from here. ^_^

Vibram 5 fingers

Kenney my coworker has been talking about the Vibram 5 fingers for a while now. He's a pretty serious runner and keeps up with the running trends. One of the trends is the benefits of running barefoot, and the Vibram 5 finger is trying to simulate barefoot running as much as possible. I always walk around barefoot at home and kendo is also always barefoot, but I was still kind of interested.

So yesterday afternoon during lunch we went down to Palo Alto to Zombie Runners to try them out. I wasn't sure if I would like them, but neither of us could take them off after having them on. And in fact both of us wore them out of the store. Kenney even threw away the shoes he was originally wearing since they were worn down quite a bit already! I think I'm going to try a little running and core work w/ them this weekend.

The picture is of our feet after coming back to the office. I'm the one w/ white pants.

My first marathon!

I finished my first marathon! I did the Disney World marathon on Sunday, 1/11/09, with Shelly and Aqeel. It was a lot of fun. Painful, but fun. :p

The run began with a bang, with fireworks. After winding through Epcot center, the run proceeded to the Magic Kingdom. We got to run out from under the castle. The run then winded through Animal Kingdom, made a short side trip to the Wide World of Sports, before going through Hollywood Studios and ending in Epcot. One of the best part was going by the costuming department in Hollywood Studios, in my opinion. 

I really wish I had brought a camera with me on the run. All along the run characters like Goofy, Donald, and Mickey, showed up at various intervals. People lines up to take pictures with them. There were also people dressed up in costume running. There were many Disney employees lining the route cheering us on at the beginning, who were replaced by spectators as the day wore on.

I didn't have a finish time in mind, but I was trying to maintain a 11 or 12 minute pace. When it looked like I could break 5 hours around mile 18, I made that my goal. I finished with a time of 4:38:15, a 10:46 pace. I pushed really hard for the last three miles and flew through the last mile. I guess that meant I was holding back and could have ran faster earlier. :p There were many water, food, and aid stations available. I ate everything and didn't hit the wall at all. My hamstrings did tighten up between miles 18 and 22, and I had to use Biofreeze and stop to stretch. Aqeel hit the wall at mile 18 unfortunately and couldn't accomplish his 4 hour goal. Shelly did pretty well despite not having had the chance to train and doesn't know how to feel about that. ^_^ 

Lastly, there is apparently something called the Goofy Challenge here, which is to run the half-marathon on Saturday and then the marathon on Sunday. Crazy... This event is also really popular and fills up fast. Apparently the sign up for next year begins on Monday! O_o

Perception of distance

At Illinois, part of my run was on University from Lincoln to Mattis and back, about 6 miles. I have a similar run now here in CA w/ the same distance going down Stelling until it changes into Prospect and hits De Anza Blvd before coming back. 

For some reason the run here in CA seems much longer. I wonder if it has anything to do w/ me having done the run when I was younger, which colors my perception. But I still run it at my desired pace and it seems less imposing now that I've done it a couple of times, so I guess it's pretty much all mental. I think the density of the neighborhood, the knowledge of stores and stuff passed also make a difference.

Running

I always have such a hard time getting out of the door, and the first mile never feels good, but it always feels good at the end. Damn you...

First run

Went for a short jog this morning for my first run. I only did around 2 miles. :-p I've been feeling inactive so I went out yesterday, bought a pair of running shoes, and decided to hit the pavement.

I'm going to have to work out when to do my runs around work and kendo... Kendo is Tuesday and Thursday nights, so right now I'm thinking a run on Wednesday morning, and then a long run on the weekend.

Indianapolis Mini-Marathon

I went to the 2008 Indianapolis Mini-Marathon with Aqeel this past Saturday (5/3/08). It was a half-marathon, with part of the course on the Indianapolis race track. Don't ask me why they call it a mini-marathon.

I was hoping to get under 2 hours, since I apparently had a chip time of 2:01 at Chicago 2 years ago. I thought I had a 2:10. I was feeling good around 6-8 miles, but I got really tired around mile 10, and I really ran out of gas for the last mile. Still, I finished around 2:06 for the gun time and I had a chip time of 1:54:35 for a pace of 8:45, so I accomplished my goal at least. Apparently I finished 712 for my age, 4409 in my gender, and 5679 overall. My bib number was 40735. (Searching for results by my name failed while bib number worked. :-p)

Now I can slack off until I got to start training for the Disney marathon next January. ^_^

Indianapolis Mini-marathon: May 3rd

Well, it's official. Aqeel and I got transfer bibs fro the Indianapolis Mini-marathon (a half marathon) on May 3rd. Cost us $22 each plus $21 for each transfer fee, which was actually lower than the initial price of $50 per bib, I think. We got it the day before the deadline for the transfer. :-D

Now I need to keep up my training and not slack off. :-p

Disney World marathon

Well, it's official. I've paid the money and now I'm roped into doing the Disney World marathon next January. I'm also planning on doing the Indianapolis mini-marathon in May so I've started training, which means getting up at 6AM to go running at the gym.

Ugh... I blame Shelley, peer pressure, and my innate stupidity...