Where the heck am I

Remember back in 8th grade Geography class you had to make a map of a park? I think the trail map for Murphy-Hanrehan park was a class project. There are junctions marked in the park where both forks are labeled with the same trail number. These pictures were taken standing in the same spot! Notice the same trail number. This was not the worst example.

Notice the trail closed sign? At least half the signs I passed said the trail was closed. If its nesting birds they are concerned about I think the time has passed. I was singing the timeless classic song "Sign" while running through the forest - UGG!

OK, now that I have that off my shoulders - I got up early this morning to check out the park for next weekends race. Thanks to Kel for posting the map on her blog - at least I knew where I was supposed to be. The race will be run to the left or clockwise as best as I can tell, according to the directions the first half or so is really hilly - no crap. These are little buggers but they will take the fuel outa your tank fast (except for the elites who run everything like its flat).

The ubiquitous self portrait. The hill is representative of one of the many hills out there.

You can see you go from the bottom to the top and back again. Somewhere after the half way point the topography changes some. There are a few longer downhill sections which allow you to recuperate a bit. It was refreshing to hit a few of these sections. The closer you get to the horse trailer parking lot the more horse stuff you'll find - check your shoes before getting into your car! The down hills where the horses have been are the most treacherous as there are a lot of fist size loose rocks. Its no SHT but still stuff to watch for. The beginning of the race will be in the early morning light - or lack thereof - but the trail at beginning is wide and relatively free from obstacles, it would certainly be more challenging to run the other way in the am. Maybe it's best not to see some of the hills on the first lap?

I had a great run, not much discomfort in the glute/hammy or calf - yeha! I went about 10 miles at 10:10 pace as best as I could tell, think I could do that or a bit better for a couple loops. Got me thinking, I wonder what my pace would be like for four loops? Have to give that a little thought.

The park is beautiful, there are numerous lakes and ponds, a few prairie stretches and a bit of single track here and there. I think this will be a good race course. I was cursing myself out all the way down for forgetting my Garmin, now I'm glad I don't have it because I would be tempted to list the elevation here - don't want to spoil the surprise.

Wildlife survey:

Squirrels

Turkeys

Deer

Snake

Geese getting blown out of the sky

A couple things I have to relearn every fall/winter:

The hand I'm holding my water with gets cold

GU gets hard when cold.

Progress

Well progress is being made, I have made it over 20 miles for a week - been a while. The runs are going pretty well, I tend to get a little stiff as I approached the 10 mile mark last weekend but still much improved. This is one of the busiest times of the year for me and I cant believe I am still making progress in recovery with all the travel and physical work added to the mix.

Looking forward running "Surf the Murph" on 11/1. I would love to do the 50K but I have to pull the plug at 25, it's just nuts to sabotage the recovery at this point. Anyway I am still really excited just to participate in an event.

Chip off the Old Block

Sorry for the camera phone shot but here is a pic of my daughter after receiving her award for participating in her first CC track meet, there were 7 teams in the meet. She placed 14th and was the 3rd scoring runner for her team. They don't compute the team scores at the meet but I think their team did really well.

She has expressed an interest in running in the past but with all the other activities it always gets buried. She will be entering high school next year and is looking forward to more official CC and Track formats.

I can remember very little about training for relatively short races. Looks like I'll be running a few more 5K's in the years to come.

I did one thing right though, I introduced her to the trail before the pavement!!

Just an Update

Just thought I'd give a quick update.

Been out for some decent runs lately and was encouraged enough to consider entering "Surf the Murph" run at Murphy - Hanrehan park. I know that last sentence is pretty non committal but I don't want to slog through a race just to say I did it - sooo

I went down to the park today with Dick to check it out - never seen so many mountain bikers in one place, not to mention a ton of horses as well. The trails we were on were the hiking trails or hiking/horse trails. They are wide trails that you could drive down, none narrower than an ATV trail. We ran a couple loops which covered the northern 2/3 rds of the park. The terrain is rolling, not long hills just a lot of little ones. The type that add up over the course of a day. The horse/hiking trails were full of loose sand and rocks but the footing was still good. The woods are still very green, I'm sure it will look quite different in November.

The run was very nice, I felt good throughout. I stopped a couple times to stretch out a bit but I think I could have "worked through it" - no sense in pushing it right now.

Started thinking about next year, considering:

Chippewa
Superior 50K
Either Afton or Voyager
Superior 50 M

Feels weird to type this out as its been over a year since I ran a race.

Staying the Course

I can't believe where the summer has gone, looking back to look forward is always a good idea.

While not over joyed with my progress I have to admit it is going in the right direction. A couple weeks ago I went to Gear West to have a gait analysis performed. Wendy, the gal that does the analysis, is very good, she has the credentials and the experience to understand the intricacies of ones gait and the issues that various physiological or equipment malfunctions can create.

She zoned in on my major issues by watching me run barefoot back and forth along a "runway". I felt like a model and had lots of opportinities to work on my turns as I was back and forth on that thing proably 50 times or more. I joked with her that if she made me do any more I would log it as a run. I ended up it a small heel lift and a differnt style of shoe than I was used to wearing. She switched me from a "curved" type shoe to a "straight" one. I can't believe how the different styles change the way you run - I could really feel the difference.

The runs I've had so far have been promising, mind you I'm not looking for a miracle cure here but I have not had major tightness in a run yet. I have been keeping up with the runs in the KSO's and they are going good too - not sure how to increase mileage but I'm not going to push it, I'm glad for the times I can use them.

My back is doing pretty good, I've kept up the exercise regime and feel it's helping quite a bit. I also have been driving less which helps. I did remove about 1/2 acre of buckthorn from my back yard this weekend - chain saw, bobcat, brush cutter .... other than feeling a little achy I'm feeling good. I have really adopted some good posture, after having to think about my every move for a year it's nice to have it finally become instinctive. I am considering another cortisone injection in my back, it would be my fifth, its a slightly different location a hopefully it will give me the final bit I need in recovery.

I had a lot of fun reading everyone's race report from the Superior Trail races. My friend Dick B. placed 15th in the marathon after dislocating his knee in May and not being able to really train like he would have liked. He is a total animal once the gun is fired.

I know I would have had a good time at Lutsen and really would have liked to volunteered but my schedule would not allow it. Reading the reports makes me want to get back to the races even more. The "out of towners" reports also made me glad to be a Minnesotan and a part of a great bunch of people.

Considering one of the late races this year, just to get a t-shirt with 2008 on it. I'll keep ya posted.

Accept the Null Hypothesis

In making a scientific comparison one generally assumes the difference between outcomes is zero. If the difference turns out to be statistically "significant" one would then reject the null hypothesis. Since there is so much room for interpretation in statistics you have a hard time finding a statistician who will say something is significant or non significant. Instead they will either accept or reject the null hypothesis. In my scientific experiment of one (lacking any d.f.) I am accepting the null hypothesis.

All this means is my efforts were fruitless, thus far.

Using my full arsenal, Skil saw, table saw, belt sander, coping saw and dremel tool I removed a half inch of heel out of a perfectly good pair of shoes. I also used a caliper and level to assure I made the changes to both evenly. Amazingly I still have 10 fingers.

I was so looking forward to having a shoe which would allow some longer runs near my home. I live in the flat burbs and have a nice network of asphalt bike baths at my disposal. I have difficulty running more than about 4 miles in the Vibram KSO's and was looking for another option. It is somewhat difficult to get out to dirt trails without it chewing up a lot of time. The performance of the shoe without the radical heel/forefoot buildup was seemingly identical to the unaltered shoe. I experienced thightness in my calf/hamsting and hip within a couple miles. While the discomfort never settled in my glute it was "significant" enough that I think the trial is over.

I think I need to try to make time for more frequent but shorter runs to build up my mileage in the KSO's.

Guess thats what we'll try now.

Best of luck to all those running the SHT next weekend. I considered helping out but can't make it happen. I look forward hearing all about.

Aint no Cure for the Summertime Blues

Well Im a-gonna raise a fuss, Im gonna raise a holler.
About workin all summer just to try an earn a dollar.

I’m sure I would get into too much mischief if I didn’t have to work but I sure would like to give it a try some day. Besides work the last month we’ve hosted a family reunion, including my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary, been to the cabin three times and to Duluth once. Guess my family is continuing to spend the economic stimulus dollars - we didn’t get.

Here’s what’s new on the running/recovery front:

Mileage:
Hopefully I can build from about 12 miles per week to 30 mpw which I can carefully maintain during the winter as a base for ’09. I have not run through any significant glute/back pain to get to the 12mpw and will not increase mileage if pain increases. I have to remind myself of this once in a while. Afton, RTA and Interstate Park are excluded from the previous statement.

Footwear:
I’ve put a little more than 30 miles on the Vibram KSO’s and they are working out wonderfully. I have built up to 5 miles and then my calves and feet are fatigued. I have little to no discomfort in my glute while running in them, what I have experienced is short lived. I would like to find a pair of shoes without the radical heel/toe height differential so I can get a break from them once in a while and possibly get in some longer runs. I am trying to modify a pair of Asics but haven’t quite finished yet. I measured the height difference at a little over a half inch – no wonder they make you heel strike. I have had a pain in my foot for 18 months, everyone attributed it to the sciatica. I figured I’d go see a podiatrist. X-ray looked fine and revealed I have a bunch of extra bones in my foot, guess I got a few more than the allotted 206 I already knew about. They are called accessory ossicles, interesting, but not an issue as far as my foot pain goes. He determined I have a tendon issue somewhere on my third metatarsal, or between the third and fourth. Anyway he gave me a cortisone injection and sent me on my way. Side note – I have also had a VERY tight calf muscle, all of this is on the same side. The next morning, and every day since, the foot pain has been reduced and the affected calf is indistinguishable from the other. I also noticed that I have not had to stop to stretch my hamstring since the injection. Could it be that simple?

Rehab:
Continuing the majority of the exercises listed previously but exchanging a few for some more advanced methods. I believe the inversion table has helped considerably to the healing process. I don’t know why the establishment is so dead set against spinal decompression when so many people apparently benefit from it. I know it has its issues but it shouldn’t be shunned. Upper hamstring tendonitis. Wasn’t sure if I had it but as everything else is subsiding it sure seems like this is/was a player in the game. I have added those exercises back into the mix.

Races:
Got to admit it is tough to read about everyone getting ready for and competing in the various races. On one hand it is fun to keep in touch with the scene but on the other is hard to see so much time go by without being able to participate. I will start to look at the late fall and spring schedules to see what may pique my interest. Maybe I'll do a little more volunteering as well.