June 3rd - Good Reason to Return From a Long Lay Off

Well, Memorial Day stretched into "Memorial Week".  Great weekend capped by a win on the golf course on Monday.  Question, how would minimalist golf shoes impact the game???  Tuesday through Friday my workouts were superseded by attending to work going on at the house, kids ball games after work and work travel.  Anybody else think this time of year is the busiest?  Christmas has nothing on May-June!  Anyway, as luck would have it, I was scheduled for a TV interview on Friday afternoon to discuss my transition.  Ended up fitting in my .5 mile run during the interview ... sweet!  You can check it out at: http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/193032/7/Barefoot-running-may-help-keep-runners-on-their-feet.

Very cool experience and I felt great running.  Noticed that my form deteriorates quickly, proof that I really need to build up strength in muscles, tendons etc. that I have previously not developed.  Inspired.

May 25th - First Time Outside

Today I had to try going outside.  My gym has a walking trail at one end of the parking lot that is about 1/3rd of a mile.  As I headed into the parking lot I was excited.  This excitement  dampened when my first few steps were extremely painful.  All the pain was in my Achilles.  At the end of the parking lot there is a slight incline and I felt as week as ever, very discouraging, and I almost turned around.  However I proceeded to the trail, and as I progressed my legs felt better and better, even when I left the trail and returned to the pavement.  The trail was made up of gravel, rocks and grass, and I never felt uncomfortable in the shoes.  As I made it to the end of the parking lot, I felt good enough to keep going, but stayed disciplined and stopped.  With Memorial Day weekend coming up, and a houseful of guests expected, I anticipate that my feet and legs will get plenty of rest...

May 23 - Day 3

Some decent weather in Northeast Ohio today, so hard to stay inside.  Almost got talked into diverging from my gradual transition to the new style.  Stayed strong, and ended up going to the gym and officially doing my first run in the 5 Fingers.  I know that they are good for me based on how hard it is to put them on.  It's like my toes are bound together.  My non-professional opinion is that this is not good, and therefore the fact that the 5 Fingers force my toes to be independent is a good thing.  I did .34 miles today on the treadmill.  Achilles felt a little better but I still seemed off to me, like my stride wasn't natural.  That said, I could have gone further.  Jumped to the elliptical and bike again, and then decided to try the shoes on the indoor track.  The track was much better than the treadmill, my Achilles felt much better and my stride felt much more natural.  I did three laps and forced myself to stop.  Looking forward to Wednesday.

May 20th -

My 5 Fingers had not been delivered yet, so to the gym I went.  I snuck onto one of the treadmills totally barefoot to do my .25 miles.  Today I bumped it up to a 10 min mile pace.  It made a difference.  At the slower pace I'm not sure I'm running correctly.  I think once I start running on the street it will be easier to establish the correct form.  My achiilles was really sore again today whiile running, but felt fine after the run.  The soreness also makes it difficult for me to run with a normal stride.  There was a little bit of irritation on my right 2nd toe today.  Put my shoes on and jumped from the treadmill to the elliptical to the bike. 

Returned home this evening to a box on my front porch.  The 5 Fingers are here!!  Have been wearing them ever since.  Almost ran to a neighbor's house at 11:30pm for one last "pop" last night, but did not waiver from my training regimine.  I did drive over to show them off though.

Chas' Running Transition - May 18th, 2011

I have ordered a pair of Vibram 5 Fingers http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.htm but they are not here yet.  I'm going "all in" with regard to minimalism, and like the idea that the 5 Fingers most closely mimic actual barefoot running, and allow for my toes to become increasingly dexterous.  I do not love the look, but am willing to sacrifice style at this point.  (as an aside, I’m not very stylish anyway, so really there is no loss here) Today's solution is to brave the gym and the treadmill.  I was a little apprehensive of the idea of running barefoot in front of others.  First I looked for a treadmill on the second floor away from the crowds but no luck.  Checked out the indoor track, but it was too crowded.  So finally I sucked it up and grabbed a treadmill.  Took my shoes and socks off and started walking.  I gradually sped up to 13 min/mile pace.  My Achilles really ached, but my feet and calves were fine.  I went .25 miles in 3.5 minutes and shut it down.  My plan is to limit myself to .25 miles per run for the first couple of weeks.  I was worried that my Achilles would be really sore following the run, given how painful it was while running, but it was fine.  I dutifully took my second dose of ibuprofen a couple hours later.  As of this evening, I'm no more sore than I was pre-run.  I will plan on a second attempt on Friday. 

P.S. - ran with the kids at soccer tonight.  Achilles actually felt better there than it did on the treadmill.  We'll see how it feels in the morning. 

Moving to Minimalist - Chas Madden Running History

My first recollection of a running related injury was 9 years ago in 2002.  I had completed my first half marathon in Indianapolis on a Saturday.  (If you haven't participated in the Indy half marathon http://www.500festival.com/marathon, I highly recommend it.  35,000+ participants, great crowds and a flat course make it an attractive first race.)  The following day I decided to play in my regularly scheduled soccer game.  To keep my shin guards in place I used straps around my ankle and Achilles tendon.  Following the game I experienced my first bout of Achilles tendonitis, seemingly caused by the tight straps around an already sensitive Achilles.  In retrospect, driving the 5 hours from Indianapolis back to Akron, only to jump from our truck straight to the soccer field was not very smart!

Fast forward 4 years to August of 2006.  I am now 33 years old, 15 pounds heavier, no longer jogging regularly; we have 2 kids instead of one etc. etc.   Needing to find an activity that I could do on a consistent basis, I decided to pick up running again.  Not a fan of treadmills or running indoors, I had 2 simple goals.  Run 3-4 times a week without worrying about speed or distance, and run outside.  I thought if I could survive the heat and humidity in August as well as the snow and cold of January that we experience in Northeast Ohio for one year, then I could continue this activity indefinitely.

In those early days I didn't even wear a watch, which helped to keep me relaxed.  During the week I ran at lunch, and returned to my desk showered, but still sweating.  Things were going pretty well.  In late September of 2006 I traveled to Atlanta to visit family.  Six weeks into my new regimen I had lost 10-15 pounds, was running 3-4 miles, 3-4 times a week and once in a while would bump my mileage up to 5 or 6 miles.  Also in Atlanta at the time was my Uncle Bob, who had run the Indy Half Marathon in 2002 with me.  Unlike me, he had maintained and improved his running regimen over the previous 4 years.  At the time Uncle Bob was practicing the "Galloway Run-Walk-Run” technique.  The principle is to build in scheduled walks to your runs, especially on your longer runs.  Long story short, I convinced myself that by adhering to this technique I might be able to join my uncle on a longer than usual 10 mile run from our hotel to my brother's house. 

They call it "HOTLanta" for a reason.  I actually felt really good for the first 7 miles, then, probably due to lack of proper hydration, my calves started to cramp up.  While Uncle Bob rubbed it in by running a couple extra miles down the Silver Comet Trail http://www.silvercometga.com, I stayed behind, stretched and drank water.  By the time he had circled back to me I was able to hobble the final 2 miles to the house. 

This experience was the start of what would be chronic calf and Achilles tendon issues over the next 5 years.  At least a couple times a year I would get tendonitis in one or both of my Achilles tendons.  Typically this was preceded by or accompanied by extremely tight calves.  Up until this spring I would ice, stretch, use ibuprofen and basically run through the pain until they felt better.  Flare ups were usually correlated to a change in seasons, or preparation for an event, when I would be increasing my mileage or pace or both. 

On April 17^th, 2011 as I was preparing for my fourth Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon (half marathon) http://www.clevelandmarathon.com I took advantage of a Sunday morning without rain (there were very few the spring of 2011) to try to get a 7-8 miles in.  As is my custom, I procrastinated a little bit and got a late start.  Then 2 miles in, I needed to make a quick stop at our local gym...  By the time I got back on the road I realized that I was behind schedule and was running a route I wasn't familiar with.  My wife Heather needed me home at a certain time and I wasn't going to make it in time!  So after about 3 miles I really started to push it, and continued at maximum effort until I got home.  As luck would have it, my mother in law was running later than I was, so my 10 minutes of tardiness went mostly un-noticed.  However as I was running that day I could tell that I was going to have a flare up, and sure enough that evening and the following days I was sidled with worse than usual soreness in my left Achilles.  Over the next couple of weeks I decreased my mileage and pace and rested more than usual.  I also mixed in more biking and cross training to give it a break. 

No luck. 

Discouraged, I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be running with Heather in the Cleveland half.  I also resigned myself to the reality that I needed to take a step backwards prior to moving forward again.  Over the past five years I had run at least once every week without missing a week.  In addition to various Turkey Trots, relays and fun runs, I had run 4 half marathons and each finishing time was better than the last.  The last thing I wanted to do was stop running, but it had become less enjoyable and now it was impeding other aspects of my life.  I also wanted to continue progressing, which at age 38 probably means longer distances as opposed to faster times, but I think I have the capacity for both.  I would love to do a full marathon at least once.  I would love to do certain half marathons or full marathons such as the Pike's Peak Ascent and Marathon http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/, that are especially challenging.  Most of all I would like to have the confidence that running will not cause an injury that limits other aspects of my life.

I was one of many who read, and immensely enjoyed, Born To Run, and Chris McDougall's preceding article in Runner's World.  I buy into the concept of minimalist running from a purely common sense perspective.  After consulting a physician, I decided that trying to move to a minimalist style was worth a shot, and the following blog will document my transition.