Weight

First: I saw a reference to this article - while trolling Lets Run.. It occurred to me that I know what my optimum weight is. Back when I was running big miles, I found that if I went down to 142, I felt worn out. 143 was ok. 145 was ok for long periods of time.

Second: My weight seems to be a function of my mileage, not a function of how much I eat. If I run 100 miles/week, I drop down to 145. I am not running that much now because of various ongoing issues (see previous posts). My current weight is 151. I have backed off on how much I eat. I eat one bowl of cereal for breakfast instead of two. I'm eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. I typically have one helping at dinner, not 3.

151.

Third: I figure that some of my current problems are due to weighing 151. So how to ramp up miles to lose weight without picking up injuries (because I weigh too much)? I decided it's a combination of gradual increase along with running on soft surfaces. So anyway, I see a lot of 10 mile runs on grass in my immediate future.

Harding Truck Trail - 6 miles of snow

I ran Harding Truck Trail on Saturday after a week of a lot of rain. Rain usually wreaks some havoc on forest roads but HTT was in pretty good shape considering. I noticed water completely bypassing one of the new drains put in since the fire. There were some debris flows especially between 4.5 and 5 miles. There was also one slide just before the 8 mile mark. But the most remarkable thing was that the road was covered completely with snow starting a little after the 6 mile mark. The elevation doesn't get much higher after the 6 mile mark but I think the road is a little more sheltered after 7 miles so the snow was deeper in that area. I think it was about 6 inches deep at the most. My foot would break the crust and compress the snow down so that my shoe was below the surface of the snow - but no post-holing. I don't see many animals on my HTT runs but with the snow, I saw a lot of tracks. It looked like maybe skunks and squirrels, rabbits and I think some coyotes. Have you noticed the peculiar way that coyotes leave their droppings prominently displayed? Before, I've seen where they pick out a rock in the middle of a dirt road and poop on that. I saw a few places where they pooped a little on the snow, I guess showing off to the other animals. Maybe coyotes mark their territory with poop instead of pee.

I got tired a little from breaking through the snow with my steps and walked in a few spots. After turning around and heading back down, I went through the series of my hip, then hip flexors, then knees (lower quads) hurting. And as with recent runs, I feel stronger a few days later. I scooped some snow in my water bottles just because. Unfortunately, that got my right hand in particular pretty numb. I finally got it warmed up again at about the 6 mile (to go) mark.

So another joyous day in the mountains.

POSE Method, heel strikes, and evil shoe companies

This is a post of some comments I placed on the ultra list.

Since about March of 2009, I have not been able to run in shoes with the usual 1/2" elevation of the heel without really bothering my knees. I had run in cross country flats prior to this and a little bit barefoot but as of March, getting rid of my heels has become mandatory. Cross country flats work well on dirt tracks and trails but they are not flexible enough to run long distances on paved surfaces. I've used Mizuno Revolver "flats" in a road 50k. There is some heel build-up to them but not as much as the usual trainer. I've tried cutting off the heel of my trainers (as described by Anton Krupicka) but it is hard to get it right for road work and the shoe is still somewhat inflexible. Sidewalks are just too abrasive for me to run more than about 8 miles barefoot. Recently, I've had the best luck for road running with moccasins (from Tandy Leather Company - nfi) or water socks without the insoles (Body Glove, again nfi). The good thing about these choices is that they are cheap - $35 for the moccasin kit, $20 for the water socks. These are taking some getting used to. I ran 18 today in the moccasins and the skin on the ball of my foot is sore, particularly where I have some corns. FWIW, I do not like the five fingers. The first pair I had required me to wear socks and started falling apart. The second pair gave me a blister on the first run.

An earlier poster stated something to the effect that you can be a forefoot striker with heels. Certainly that is true but there is more tension in the ankle and knee and less shock absorption with higher heels. The same is true with running in flats - lack of flexibility in the sole means that flexing of the ankle needs to absorb shock that could have been absorbed by the foot. This seems to become an issue on paved surfaces but not dirt, at least for me.

I have a couple of pairs of racing shoes (the Mizunos and some Nike Zoom XC) which I'll reserve for racing but for practice runs, I'm going with the water socks and the moccasins and barefoot in the grass for recovery runs. I'm also trying to work on the strength of my knees.

Use It or Lose It

WARNING! NEGATIVE COMMENTS FOLLOW!

2009 was a lousy year for me as far as running was concerned. I unexpectedly ran a pretty good road 50 mile at Ruth Anderson on November 1, 2008 - 7:42 for a course which we were told was a mile long. After that, I got a coach for 3 months who I thought wasn't having me work very hard. But the problems started before that. I used to work where it was convenient to run hills before work. It wasn't unusual for me to run hilly workouts 4 of the 5 weekdays. The other thing was that work location had showers and lockers which I used all of the time, sometimes getting in 4 quick miles (sub 7:00 pace) at lunch. Then my company moved their location to brand new buildings in which they declined to build any locker room, health club, etc. So the result was that I ran a lot less vertical and couldn't stop off for a run before work. This coincided with an interest of mine to run a road 100k. This prompted a mistaken belief in me that I could run lots of road workouts. The results suck. I ran 2 50k's in 2009 and that's it. I have been struggling with sore knees for the year.

POSITIVE SPIN FOLLOWS-

OK - I am resolved to

• Run more vertical. This includes what has been 2000' of gain on stadiums on Tuesdays.
• Work on strength in general. I've picked up some good exercises and drills from a Shannon Rowbury video on Flotrack.
• Put in double workouts. Riding a stationary bike qualifies as a workout.
• Stay off pavement. Current plan is to limit it to no more than one 18-22 mile run per week or possibly a 30 to 35 mile run every other week. Run on grass and later dirt tracks.
• Ignore my weekly miles and even ignore weeks. Concentrate instead on getting in good workouts with recovery - first vertical and other strength related, then start working in intervals and tempo. Include work on the bike.
• Base workouts on previous workouts. Try to improve on only one aspect of a workout from one to the next. So add work without going faster or keep the volume the same at a faster pace. List limitations encountered with a particular workout and figure out how to improve on those limitations. Setbacks/injuries also will feed into lessons learned. So for instance, I did a high intensity hill workout the other day and strained my hamstring on the third time up. So next time I plan to a) only go up twice and b) use The Stick to loosen up my hamstrings.
• Don't over-do the high intensity work. Watching elites on Flotrack, I'm impressed by how little they do during these workouts, anywhere from a little over 2 miles to less than a mile. And stay relaxed.

Pura Vida - Costa Rica

I'm taking a vacation in Costa Rica this week. My oldest daughter surfs and had visited the Mal Pais area in Costa Rica before so this time the rest of the family tagged along. Due to some misadventures, we spent over 3 days in transit on the way here so I didn't get much running done in the airports. Once we got to Santa Teresa (stayed at Casa Zen), I got out the shoes and ran up the road to Cobano which we traveled on the way into town. There was a light rain at the time so I was able to run at least 20k (which included a nice climb) without a water bottle in the afternoon. On the way back down, I stopped at a gas station which had a spigot and got a drink. The next day we went to Montezuma to ride the zip lines and I didn't get in a run although we hiked a hill that was pretty steep. However the day after that, I tried this road in town which looked pretty steep. Looks were not deceiving and it was a lot longer climb than I had hoped! I doubled that in the morning and had shorts that were completely soaked with sweat. I ran it again that night and again the next morning (today). We are now in Tamarindo and the hostel manager referred me to some routes just across the street from the hostel (Chocolate Hostel) so I just got in from a tour of those. I have seen some howler monkeys during my runs. They've just given off little barks when I see them. But at night and in the morning, they can be really loud. They sound something like a semi-truck skidding if you hear them at a distance. Anyway, Costa Rica has plenty of hill work available.

Harding Truck Trail

Harding Truck Trail is a jeep trail (5S08) which starts in Modjeska Canyon and climbs 3300' (so I'm told) over about 9.5 miles to the Main Divide Truck Trail which runs along the main ridge of the Santa Ana mountains. This is one of my favorite runs in Orange County. However, it has been closed since the 2007 fires. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, it reopened. I ran it 2 weeks back. The fire burned up to about the 6.5 mile point. The place it looks the most different is around Laurel Springs at 5 miles. There were a lot of trees (willows?) overhanging the trail in this area and of course those are all blackened skeletons now. In addition, some rocks which used to be hidden by the trees really stick out now. Nevertheless, I was happy to be out on the trail again. I caught myself dancing and smiling after I got back home just thinking about the run.

Then last weekend, I ran it again with my buddy Gus. I don't often run with someone else so I was a little surprised to find myself pushing hard enough where I was breathing about twice as hard as the week before, taking a breath every 3 or 4 steps instead of every 6 steps. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up the pace for the duration but it turned out just fine. The first mile might be the steepest, then there is a quarter mile downhill followed by 5 1/2 miles of pretty steady uphill. There is a gentle downhill starting at about 7 miles, past 8 miles and then a less steep climb up to the MDTT. So at the top, Gus ate a gel and I ate two and then we started back down. I was worried about the downhill because of my recent sore knees but then running with a buddy kicked in again and as a result we were moving pretty well on the downhill. On that 1/4 mile (now uphill) just before the 1 mile point, we decided to see what we had left. Gus accelerated faster than me and pulled ahead. We both died a little at about the same spot but kept pushing until we got to the top of the climb. Then it was just one mile until the end.

I took the next two days off because I had a funny feeling in a bad spot - right around where the soleus and achilles connect but two days later, my legs felt great. In fact my joke is that it used to be that my knees were sore - now that has improved so that all of my legs feel sore.

Stadiums - Urban Vertical

I live in north-west Orange County in Southern California. I remember seeing "NWOC" graffiti along the river one time and thinking that at least they knew their geography. This area is basically a flood plain and very flat. So to run any vertical, I have to travel quite a ways. To the west, Signal Hill in Long Beach is 9 miles from my house and not suitable for the long uphills that I like. The Puente Hills north of me and Whittier in particular have excellent hills with lots of trails (Habitat Authority) and I have been running there weekly. It's a 30 minute drive from my house. But I tried running there after work last week and it gets dark just a little after I get there (and I start thinking and worrying too much). Peters Canyon is close to where I work (although still a 30 minute drive) and has one pretty steep hill but like Signal Hill, it isn't long enough for my tastes. Other than these locations, I might as well go to the mountains which are 60 to 75 minutes from the house.

So what to do on a weekday, especially during the winter? I like stadiums. It has that high school/college workout vibe and I don't mind doing what seems like mindless repetitions to others. Access however is an issue. The high schools around here like to lock up their stadiums, probably due to liability concerns or sumthin. The universities around here do not have the problem of access. I've run on the UCLA and Cal State Fullerton stadiums. CSUF is about 30 minutes from my house. Parking is an issue but that is a good prospect. However, I am a member of the Runner's High club which meets 5 miles from my house at Millikan High in Long Beach. Millikan has a stadium with about 26 rows. Without measuring, I figure that you climb approximately 25 ft per climb and with 8 aisles, 200 ft per stadium. 20 stadiums therefore yield 4000' of climb over a distance around 6 miles. So I think this is going to be my Tuesday night workout.

Addendum:
I have two additional points.

• The obvious difference between stadiums and mountain running is the length and intensity of effort. Stadiums are MUCH shorter, allowing a greater intensity of effort. In addition, stadiums have steps, requiring a a certain level of effort on each step.
  
• The level of effort depends on the stadium. A few weeks back, I was at UCLA watching my daughter compete in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. We were next to Drake Stadium so I went over in my street shorts with my wallet, keys, etc. in my pocket and ran one set. A good workout but no problem. Today, I went to Cal State Fullerton's soccer/football stadium and ran a set. I knew I was in trouble after the first time up. Each row at CSUF (east side) is about 15 inches higher than the previous. This is several times higher than the amount I step up when running hill repeats.
  

There are 10 aisles at CSUF. The way I ran it there were 32 rows next to 8 of the aisles and 30 rows next to the two end aisles. This works out to being in the neighborhood of 395 feet elevation gain per set. So 10 sets would work out to the same vertical as 8 reps at my favorite hill in Whittier. If only that were possible. CSUF stadiums are very anaerobic and get my heartrate close to the maximum, whatever that is. One set was my limit today.

Addendum to the addendum:

Millikan High School:

The stadium has 28 rows of seats. Each row is 1 foot higher than the one below. The bottom row is 1.5 feet above the floor. So 28.5 feet of climb each time up. The stadium has 6 aisles. I decided to run up the seats on either side of each aisle so 12 times up per what I call a "stadium". Two of the middle climbs end one seat short because of the announcers box so the total climb for one "stadium" is 340 feet. I managed to get in 6 of these on Tuesday night so 2040 feet of climb. That at least is in the same neighborhood of my hill repeats - currently 3000 feet of climb in 2 hours. The stadiums are at a higher intensity since each step has to climb 1 foot. The intensity was such that I walked everything except going up. I didn't labor on the ups however. So this workout seems just right unlike CSUF (above).

So my hope with this workout (which I'll try to do weekly, at least for a while) is that it will strengthen my legs and improve my sore knees. The actual result of this workout was that my legs were sore in more than just the knees. My upper gastrocnemius in particular was pretty sore and the connective tissue around my hips and knees was worked.