Chad's Runs

New shoes.  I went a completely different direction.  I've mostly warn support shoes with some neutral cushion shoes mixed in.  I went with a little less this time.  I've been working on my form for that last year or so and as far as I can tell I've improved it a lot.  So with better form I thought I would try something a little less.  So I went to the shoe store and tried several different cushy minimalist shoes.  I'm not a cave man so no non-cushy shoes.  Anyway, after trying out the Altras on the treadmill the thought that came to mind is that these shoes didn't get in the way of running form.  So they're supposed to work your calves pretty good the first few times you wear them because of the zero drop.  They seemed to be doing just that until I realized that I was actually striking on the forefoot instead of midfoot.  Is it weird that I had to lengthen my stride slightly to strike on my midfoot?  Well it worked.  My legs were immediately more relaxed while continuing good posture and increasing speed.  It was noticeably easier to run.  So my first run in these shoes was AWESOME.  I beat my best 7 mile time by 14 seconds per mile.  That's almost a full 2 minutes.  Average pace 7:55.  It wasn't all the shoes.  I was feeling pretty good and only ran 10 on Saturday, but all the same, 7:55.  My legs feel good now but the last time I ran this hard I was a mess on the next day's run.  We'll see.

Recovery run from yesterday's mad dash - avg 9:06.  Went a lot better than the run two weeks ago that followed that mad dash.  It was a lot colder than yesterday.  I should have worn gloves.  The wet asphalt froze and got slick on the way back.  I had to tread lightly.

I couldn't fit in a run yesterday so I had to do it today.  I'm still on 4 runs a week, I'll add another in a few weeks.  I took it nice and easy, avg 9:25, so I'll be able to run 13-14 miles tomorrow with the gang.  My son rode his bike with me.  We got some "dad/son bonding time"  but to be truthful his mom just wanted him out of the house to burn off some steam.

Fun run.  I haven't run this far in well over a year.  Smooth dragged me along for the last for.  Thank you Smooth!  I was getting a bit tired toward the end and was ready to be done.  We actually got back to the cars with a quarter mile or so left but my watch had died almost at that very moment.  I didn't know how far to go and back to get 14 so I said good enough.  Pretty good excuse, eh?  Anyway, it felt good but I was ready to be done.  Smooth went on to get 18 and her friends Wendy and Karen along with Maynard ran the first 10.

It was cold today and with all the smog, the sun actually looked like a full moon.  It was a little creepy.  The smog doesn't bother me as it does some but it does make me cough a little at the end of a hard run.  What I don't like is that it makes it always cold.  The sun can't find its way in to warm things up.

The 34 miles this week is the also the most I've run in well over a year.  I feel really good.  The inside of my ankles are a little soar.  I'm used to some support on the inside of my shoes and the Altras and the high mileage Elixers don't provide that.  The muscles and tendons there on the inside of my feet have to work to provide the support that my shoes have in the past.  It's not a big deal but I don't want it to be.