Caught on Film Again!

It seems one of the marshalls at todays 10K race has posted a video on YouTube. I can be seen (briefly) at about 5:00-5:03.

Acceleration = Change in Velocity/Time

Stephen Hawking was once told by his publisher that each equation he included in his book "A Brief History of Time" would halve his sales.

I wonder if the same holds true for blog posts?

This post, titled with a sketchily remembered equation from my GCSE physics, is an amalgamation of my recent running achievements and other developments.

New FiveFingers

After retiring my normal running shoes, all I had remaining were my FiveFingers KSO's and Adidas Kanadia TR4 trail shoes.
The KSO's are good, they got me on the road to minimalist running, but they do have a flaw. They have terrible grip in wet conditions. I've come close to snapping an ankle on occasion! As for the Kanadia's, I don't won to wear them out on the roads. What I needed was a middle way, a hybrid between my KSO's and Kanadia's. Turns out that Vibram have such a thing:

Behold the TrekSport!

The FiveFingers TrekSport is almost identical to the KSO but has tread on the sole to improve grip. The rubber is 1mm thicker than on the KSO so there is a slight reduction in sensation from the ground. In practice, this has not been a major issue. I have run on road, trail and cross country in these and I love them! No nearly broken ankle so far either!

parkrun

Since achieving my first sub-25:00 parkrun the other week, I've continued to make steady progress.
At Braunstone on 4/8/12, I ran a 24:14! That was delightful but paled into insignificance compared to this week's run at Conkers:

Yes, you read that correctly!

23:47!!! God only knows how I managed that! The folks at Conkers parkrun have captured me on film once again, check out my sprint finish:

I'm briefly visible at 8:32-8:34 wearing my blue sleeveless t-shirt.

After recovering from that, I found that Adidas, sponsors of both parkrun and Team GB, were giving every parkrunner a free Team GB replica wristband to celebrate the Olympics.

Not bad for a freebie!

All in all then, not a bad couple of weeks at parkrun! Unfortunately, work gets in the way next week. Although a break to recover and consolidate my gains is probably no bad thing!

Hermitage 10K 2012

Finally, the other day on a whim, I decided to enter a local 10K race. I chose the Hermitage 10K near Coalville.

It was my third 10K race this year and the first I've run in Vibram FiveFingers.

Thanks to all the running I've been doing lately, I managed to achieve my goal of a sub-1 hour race! That's another item I can cross off The List! Unfortunately, due to a glitch, official times won't be posted until at least tomorrow. However, I clocked it with my Garmin at 53:14.2, which (if accurate) betters my previous performance by 14 minutes!

Approaching the finish (Photo credit www.runner-photos.co.uk)

As is customary, I was the recipient of yet another t-shirt, a relatively plain white technical shirt. Should come in useful for training runs.

Next big race is the Great North Run.

Sub-25:00 5K ≠ Impossible [UPDATED]

A momentous day!

I have finally, after 8 months & 23 days of parkrunning, crossed the 25:00 barrier!

Not quite a true reflection of my performance!

At the end, I forced myself to sprint up the hill to the finish line, at which point I promptly fell into a heap on the cool grass. A number of seconds passed as my heart rate fell. I sat up, looked at my Garmin and was horrified. I'd forgotten to stop the timer!!! When I pushed the start/stop button, it read 24:58.66.

How long had I been laying on the grass? At most, I reckoned thirty seconds. I had no choice but to await the official results. The only certainty was that I had succeeded in running a sub-25:00 5K!

Then it came:

Lies!!!

Not possible. I started my timer exactly when the race started, I was late stopping it by several seconds. I beat 25:00! This was only the second time the volunteer at the finish line has been in charge of timing. My best explanation for the discrepancy is that the timer was started several seconds before the race start was actually announced.

I'm claiming today as having achieved my goal of a sub-25:00 5K because I know that is what I did today.

I will erase all doubt at my next parkrun!

UPDATE 29/7/12:


Vindication! The glitch was noticed and rectified. New official time = 24:28!!

Grabbed off the parkrun website

With Regret... You're Fired!

I decided to take up running in October 2010. I got a couch to 5k plan, I bought some gear including a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10 shoes.

My faithful Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10's

On my first run-walk session, I made the classic mistake of sprinting instead of running, hence running myself into the ground. That experience led to all my gear being consigned to the bottom of my wardrobe for 12 months.

Then in October 2011, I joined the beginner's sessions hosted by my local running club, saw the error of my ways and became a runner. My Brooks have taken me from run-walking to running, through ten parkruns and a 10K.

Here enters the influence of a book. Specifically 'Born to Run' by Chris McDougall. I dabbled in trail running and minimalist running in Vibram FiveFingers (VFF's). I entered a trail race and bought some Adidas Kanadia TR4 trail shoes. Recently, I've been doing more trail running than road running while gradually increasing my mileage in my VFF's.

There is a fundamental difference between my Kanadia's, VFF's and Adrenaline's. The Adrenaline's are 'stability' shoes with padding designed to eliminate unstable motion as the foot lands. Neither the Kanadia's nor the VFF's have this. So, as I've grown used to the trail and 'barefoot' shoes, my gait has subtly changed.

I first noticed this on a jaunt around the town bypass a couple of weeks ago. Toward the last 1/3 of the loop, my legs started to hurt and I felt myself fighting the shoes. The Adrenaline's were trying to force my feet to land in a way that had become unnatural for me. Instinctively, my legs tried to override this effect causing an ache in my ankles, shins and knees.

As an experiment, this morning I did the same run in my VFF's. No pain was experienced at all (although, as this was my longest ever run in VFF's, I felt the onset of blisters at the base of my big toes). Also, I was over a minute faster.

A screenshot of my bypass run data. The far left is in VFF's, the rest were in Adrenaline's.

So, today with regret, I've made the difficult decision to retire my trusty old Adrenaline's. It has become clear that they no longer suit the running style I've grown into. Minimalist footwear is the way forward for me.

I'm grateful to the Adrenaline's for getting me through my first hundred miles and establishing 'The Running Bug' in me for many years to come.

My Second 'Barefoot' parkrun

Proof I was there in my VFF's!

Following the other week's cancellation, I've finally done a 'barefoot' Braunstone parkrun, my 'home' parkrun.

At Braunstone, the route is mostly on a tarmac path, except for part of the midway hill which is a dirt track. As such, it was a little less forgiving to the feet than the soft, muddy, dirt trail at Conkers.

Despite this, I managed to run quite comfortably keeping the late Caballo Blanco's mantra of "Easy, Light, Smooth, Fast" in mind.

Another PB! 25:04.84 according to my Garmin!!

I was elated at the end to look to my GPS watch to see a time of 25:04.84! That's 2:09 faster than my previous best at Braunstone and 27s faster than my effort at Conkers the other week!

I was even more elated when my official time was posted, exactly matching my own estimate!

A screenshot showing my official time.

There is no doubt in my mind now that I'm significantly faster in my VFF's. Now, only a mere 4 seconds off crossing another goal off The List!

Me approaching the finish line. (Something very odd happened to my hair along the way!)

Caught on Film

It appears my antics, and those of my fellow parkrunners, have been posted to YouTube for all eternity!

Outward Bound

I appear about 25 seconds in. I'm towards the left of the frame wearing a red t-shirt, holding a blue water bottle.

Return Leg

I'm right at the start of this one.

My First 'Barefoot' parkrun.

As promised, today I ran my first parkrun in Vibram FifeFingers (VFF's) 'barefoot' shoes.

Unfortunately, due to flooding after Friday's monsoon conditions, my usual parkrun at Braunstone Park was cancelled.

Instead of backing out of the challenge, I decided to visit one of the other parkrun venues within a 50 mile radius of my home. I chose Conkers parkrun because they insisted on their Facebook page that they would run. This is the first time I've visited another parkrun venue and I must say Conkers was very well-run and welcoming indeed.

So, how did I get on?

Before the race, a couple of runners commented on my VFF's. They were genuinely curious. Certainly a conversation starter which was good for me being billy-no-mates at a new venue!

The conditions were, in a word, muddy!

The state of my feet after the race. Fortunately, VFF's are washable!!

Despite having to leap over/run though/slalom around puddles, I felt good. When I turned the first corner, I was somewhat apprehensive about the hill I was faced with as I hadn't tackled significant inclines in VFF's before. I needn't have worried, the hill was surprisingly easy.

I've decided that my theory about wasting energy compressing padding in normal shoes must be right as the whole course felt significantly easier.

I didn't go out today chasing a PB. My aim was to be careful as the course was unfamiliar to me and this would be the furthest I'd ran in one go wearing VFF's.

So, the outcome?...

Fastest ever parkrun!

I clocked my time at 25:32. My official time was 25:31, 36th out of a field of 86. By far my fastest ever parkrun, 1:42 faster than my previous best! 

I felt strong at the end, so much so that I reckon had I been less conservative at the start (owing to an unfamiliar course) and hadn't had to weave around puddles, I'd have been several seconds faster. That sub-25:00 time is looking much more achievable!

My feet felt fine afterwards, no aches or pains at all. I have decided that all my future parkruns will be in VFF's. Also, I'll try out some of the other parkrun venues to add variety as my experience today was very positive.

My 2nd (and 3rd) Miles in Vibram FiveFingers

In future I may avoid using VFF's in freezing temperatures!!

Tonight was my second run in my Vibram FiveFingers KSO's. This time I pushed on extra kilometre. Here are my thoughts:

1. The ankles are getting stronger.
Last week, I felt my ankles were being strained stabilising my feet without the support of my normal running shoes. Tonight, they seemed to know what to do and only now, a couple of hours later, do my ankle muscles feel worked. It's the pleasant discomfort of a muscle worked-out as opposed to the agony of injury. (My shins are a little sore but that is mainly left over from a hill session with my running club on Tuesday).

2. I'm liking the extra awareness of the running surface.
To work in an extra kilometre, I detoured down a new road with some construction rubble strewn over it and a muddy patch of earth. You can instantly detect the change in terrain and the feet seem to reposition themselves of their own free will. I wonder if the same would be true for those times you catch your foot unexpectedly on a patch of mud or slush?

3. I continue to get faster.

Behold, RunKeeper's analysis of my run. My fastest average pace ever 

apparently.

Compared to last week, RunKeeper says I'm 7 seconds/km faster. I can't say with certainty the VFF's are making the difference because I've not done an easy run in my normal shoes yet to compare. However, based on my thought last week about the possibility of energy being wasted in compressing cushioning, I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Alternatively it could just be me getting fitter. We'll see.

4. You definitely know how your foot is landing.
Linked to more awareness of the road surface, is greater awareness of your foot position relative to the ground. In the VFF's I know I'm landing on my forefoot and pronating far less than I do in shoes. In my normal shoes I have no idea what my foot is doing.

5. VFF's may be a poor choice in cold weather.
It was zero Celsius outside tonight. When I got home, I couldn't feel my toes. Enough said.

Next week I'll try 4km (hopefully in warmer weather!). If that goes OK it'll be time to try a parkrun in the VFF's.

My First Mile in Vibram FiveFingers

Me in my Vibrams after running just over 2km

This evening, I ran just over a mile (2.24km to be precise) in my Vibram FiveFingers (VFF's). Here are my impressions.

1. I became immediately lighter on my feet.
This was not surprising given I knew there would be zero cushioning between me and the ground. What did surprise me though was I had less of a tendency to bounce up and down.

2. My average pace increased.
I was surprised by this. It definitely seemed to me like I was moving faster even though I was deliberately trying to go easy. Runkeeper confirmed that this particular run was the one with my fastest ever average pace of 5:35/km.  My guess is that energy that is normally wasted compressing normal shoe cushioning and bouncing around was more efficiently channelled into moving me forwards.

3. I was more aware of the road surface.
Despite the several millimetres of rubber between my foot and the ground, I was much more aware of the road surface than I imagined I would be. When I ran over a twig, I certainly knew about it! Even though I've run that stretch of road dozens of times, I was shocked to discover a dip in the road I'd never noticed before. It was only slight but felt like a chasm. Perhaps it had been absorbed by the cushioning in my ordinary shoes?

4. My ankles seemed to be working harder to stabilise my feet.
I was expecting to feel some new strains but the ankle was not where I thought they'd be. Vibrams provide no ankle support whatsoever. Therefore, the surrounding muscles were forced to hold my feet in the proper position. I was expecting strain on the heel, toes or the foot muscles. My Brooks GTS Adrenalines must provide more ankle support than I realised! I'll have to allow my ankles to strengthen before logging serious mileage in the Vibrams.

5. (Update 27/1/12) My core was more engaged.
I only realised this morning that my core was probably more engaged than usual during last nights run owing to a mild abdominal tightness when I woke up! Not sure if this is related to the Vibrams or if it's just a gradual improvement in my running form with greater experience. Thought I'd mention it though.

Those were my first thoughts. Next week I'll see if I can add another kilometre to the distance and see how I get on.