Minimalist Running in Winter

This is the first winter I've really spent much time running when it was very cold.  This is partially because we're having a colder winter than we had the past few years, and partially because in previous years I was a lot less serious about getting out there as often during cold weather.  The biggest question I get from other runners regarding my minimalist shoes is "Don't your feet get cold?"  The answer might surprise you.  Nope!  In fact, generally my feet are one of the warmest parts of my body despite the thinness of the soles of my (well worn) Merrells, along with the thinness of the upper.  My hands tend to be cold when I run in cold weather, but not my feet.  I do wear wool socks to help keep in warmth in case my feet get wet, since the upper extends very close to the ground and there can be some water seeping in if the road is wet or slushy.  So far I've run in 4 degree weather where my legs felt very cold, but my feet were perfectly warm.

The basic concept behind this is that your foot muscles are in use so much more than when they're being supported by arch support and all kinds of padding that you're pumping blood through there much faster.  I don't really have anything to compare with, since I've never run in conventional shoes in wintertime, but I have been hiking in winter boots and had my feet feel extremely cold/numb.  I know my feet are much more muscular than they were before I started running, so it seems to make sense that that's why they're not cold (muscles in use generate heat, right?), but I don't have any specific information on it.  Anyway, just thought I'd share that experience, in case there's people out there wondering how that goes.

Meantime, my Merrell Dash Gloves have over 1000 miles on them and I'm hoping to try out Skoras soon, since Merrell seems to have converted their entire "Barefoot" line to something less minimalist than I'd like to see.  I'll post a review once I've used them for a while.

12 Ways a Marathon is Like Natural Childbirth

I might be kind of freaking out over my marathon that's coming up so soon, now.   The trepidation I have going on reminds me so much of preparing for labor.  When I was pregnant, planning a natural childbirth, the midwives always told me "labor is like a marathon, you gotta be in it for the long haul and you've got to prepare."  Coming up on my first marathon (omg, in just a couple weeks!!) has me thinking of all the ways that a marathon compares to childbirth.

1. You're preparing for months.  Both for labor and marathon training, you've got to start getting yourself prepared (mentally and physically!) starting months ahead of time.

2. The time leading up to the event is not necessarily comfortable.  There will be aches, there will be pains. You'll grin and bear it.

3.  You can use it as an excuse to eat like a horse!  Come on... we all do it.

4. You know it's going to hurt, but the a big question on how long it's going to hurt for and exactly how much.

5. Along the same lines, there's a big question as to how sore you'll be after.  Could be only a little, could require a wheel chair.

6. You oscillate between being excited and being terrified.  This is a huge life event and a huge accomplishment!  It's going to be so amazing and awesome when it's over... but it's no small feat to get there!

7.  Slight risk of death.  Let's face it:  People die, occasionally, while running marathons or giving birth.  It happens... the chances aren't huge, but it happens.

8. You worry about needing to poop during it.  Yep... during labor or during a marathon.  Mostly you hope to not poop your pants.

9. You need to try to figure out what you can eat and drink to keep your energy up without making you nauseous.  This is probably not something that people delivering at a hospital deal with, but I had two babies at home and we definitely needed to think about this.

10. You know you'll look awful in the pictures, but you still want to see them in all their sweat-soaked glory.

11. You hope you make it through without needing surgery.  Injuries happen.  C-sections happen.  Neither are ideal (for those planning a natural childbirth, at least).

12.  The only way out is through... just keep going.

Obviously having a baby is a bit bigger life event than running a marathon, and not everybody goes through childbirth the way I have, but I've been so amused at the parallels I've been drawing.  Hope you enjoyed them.  Please comment if you can think of more!

Running Stuff I Like

I've been pretty busy lately between marathon training and writer's block (aka, kids), so I thought I'd just drop in quickly and post about things I've been into lately in the running world.

• My new compression socks.  I love these things.  My calves used to feel so, so tired at the end of long runs, but the compression socks keep my legs feeling fresh even at mile 19 (my longest run so far has been 20 miles).  I'm pretty thrilled.  And look how cool they are!  Neon green with crazy pink stars?  Yes, please.  And I got them on sale from www.procompression.com.  Check them out on facebook, seems they're consistently posting coupon codes, which I especially like because compression socks are pricey!  They have less, er, flamboyant ones, too, if you're into that kind of thing.
• NUUN in kona cola flavor.  Because I'm low carb, I don't need a ton of fuel, but I do need electrolytes, and for whatever reason at the end of a long run I'm consistently CRAVING COLA, so this is perfect.  I was worried that it'd be kind of nasty-flat-soda-ish, but it's not.  Just don't expect coca-cola because it's not really that either.  Something about the gingery cola flavor really seems to settle my stomach, too.
• The book "Train Like a Mother".  It's got funny anecdotes and interesting information and it's where my marathon training plan came from.  I'm using the Marathon "Own it" plan and I really like it because they organize it by which runs are completely required and which you can skip if you need to.  Perfect for busy moms.  
• My garmin watch.  I was so torn on buying this because I ran with my phone with the endomondo app and it seemed to fill that purpose for me, but I so strongly prefer running with my garmin.  If you're on the fence, I'd say go for it.
• Margarita flavored clif shot blocks.  As I said, I don't do a ton of fueling, but on the 20 milers I'll have a few shot blocks (like maybe 4 or 5 over the course of the 3 1/2 hr run).  I far prefer the margarita ones... they're tasty and not overly gooey-sweet like all the other stuff seems to be.  They have extra salt in them, too, which has been great for me in all this extreme heat and humidity.
• My Smiths sunglasses.  I've had them for years and they're my best friend on a sunny day.
• Running along the beach.  Because beach.  Even despite the humidity.
  
  
  
  And with that, I'm out.
  
  What's your favorite running stuff?
  

Training Notes

First, I've caught crazy and signed up for a (mini) triathlon.  I don't think it should be too bad, it's only a 250yd swim, 5 mile bike, 2 mile run.  I think I should be done in around 50 minutes.  It's funny because I had put it off for so long because I thought I hated swimming laps.  In the past, every time I swam laps I felt so BORED and just hated it.  I don't know what happened, maybe the kids have really pushed me past my limits and I'm desperate for quiet, or maybe it's just via all the running without music I've gotten used to the silence.  I'm actually enjoying the lap swims!  It's started pretty slow, I couldn't swim more than 50 yds at a time without feeling like I couldn't breathe, but now I'm able to swim 500 and then take a short break and swim 500 more.  I'm pretty pleased with my progress.

Interestingly, the cycling part of the tri training is not so appealing to me. though I had thought I'd enjoy it.  I love riding our tandem bicycle with my husband, but I am not loving riding in town, by myself.  Maybe I would like doing group rides, better.  Hopefully when my kids' evening activities end in a couple weeks, I can start participating in group rides with the local triathlon club.

Second, I've caught double crazy and signed up for a MARATHON in October.  I started marathon training this week.  I'm planning on using this "less is more" training plan from runner's world, basically, except I added a few weeks in the middle because I really want to run a full 26 miles before the race so I know what I'm up against.  I bought the book Run Less, Run Faster by Bill Pierce, Scott Murr,  and Ray Moss, to try and make sure I am completely up on exactly how much cross training to be doing, and what pace I should be running at, etc. I'm planning to do some cycling, some swimming, and some HIIT-style work outs for cross training, at this point, but we'll see how it goes.  This will be important, I think, because I've signed up for a Super Spartan race, which will be 8+ miles of obstacle course and mud in the beginning of September, and I'll need to have decent upper body strength for that.

My new pace gloves, in funky yellow!

In preparation for this stuff, I've bought a few things.  New shoes, of course, though I kept with the same shoe (Merrell Dash Gloves) I've been running in all year (though I got myself a new pair of the Pace Gloves, too).  Also, I bought a pair of compression calf sleeves since during my recent half marathon training I was getting some calf soreness.  Hopefully they'll help me side-step that during marathon training.  ALSO, I'm super excited that my husband has bought me the Garmin Forerunner 910xt watch!  WOOT!  Hoping it's as awesome as it seems like it will be... and now I won't have to worry about bringing my ginormous phone everywhere with me (previously, I've used the endomondo app), and I can use it to track my swims!

So, here we go!  

My Grand Experiment

Just before the finish line of my most recent half marathon.

     I've been basically conducting my own little experiment with running and diet since the beginning of the year.  Let's just say my dietary choices were pretty out of control over the holiday season and I gained 10 lbs in the space of about two months.  Something had to be done!  I needed to get back to basics for paleo/primal.  I started looking into options that were on the paleo spectrum but also helpful for endurance athletes.  I looked into Loren Cordain's Paleo Diet for Athletes but it seemed like more carbs than I could reasonably function on.  Every time my carb levels go up, I gain weight.  I tried doing their program during my training for my first half marathon last fall and gained fat.  It'd be nice to be able to say it was muscle, but my pants got tighter and I got more of a belly.
  
So, in my googling, I found a few discussions referring to The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Jeff Volek and Steve Phinney.  Their research on low carbohydrate diets actually enhancing performance for endurance athletes (after up to a 6 week transition period) was fascinating to me, so I figured I'd try it out for a while.  I highly recommend reading it to see what they say before anyone starts criticizing it.  Recently, for instance, a low carb athlete won the Western States 100 race!  

Low and behold I started dropping pounds (like most people do on a low carb diet), despite not having yet picked up my mileage for my half marathon.  Volek and Phinney do recommend use of non-caloric sweeteners, but I just cut out sweets aside from occasional berries.  I ate nuts and lots of veggies and lots of fatty meat and dairy.  Honestly, I think I should probably cut the dairy out, too, because I think it is related to some of my problems like acne, but I just haven't gotten there yet (or maybe ever).

The first couple weeks were tough, cutting back that much, but after that it felt normal and I didn't mind not having the sweets that I used to crave, though  I did eat the occasional piece of dark chocolate.  I kept track of my diet for the first few weeks on sparkpeople.  It was really enlightening how many incidental carbs I was getting without realizing it.  A lot of people end up with "carb flu" starting any kind of low carb diet, but I didn't - presumably owing to my somewhat low carb diet in the past following paleo/primal.

I was training for the Greater Binghamton Bridge Run Half-marathon, which was beginning of May.  Once I acclimated to the diet, my running was just fine, though I did bring some "bonk-protection" (a bit of sugary something-or other) and drank coconut water on my longer runs, but even my 13 mile training run, which was over 2 hrs of running, I felt completely fine and did not have to break out the emergency sugar.

My results:

 I'm pleased with this diet and how functional I am as an athlete on it, but recently I've read more about super low carb and cortisol, so now I'm not exactly sure what to do.  I've struggled with adrenal fatigue (aka overtraining, except mine was just from stress in life, not stress from exercise) in the past and am not overly interested in hitting that again. It was fascinating that I didn't really get hungry ever, though, and found my "full" response.  I would get through half of what I normally wanted to eat and just be... done.  That never happened before with my regular old paleo/primal diet.

In terms of my running performance, I PR'd by 10 minutes (1:54:06), which was awesome, but I'll admit that I trained much better for this race than I had for my last. 

Overall, I'd recommend people try this for a couple months and see how you feel.  Maybe it'll be great!  Maybe you won't notice much of a difference.  Definitely read the book, though, because the research is FASCINATING!  It really put a twist on my thinking about the need for carb loading, etc.

Another Shoe Review: Merrell Barefoot Run Dash Glove

  

After having the Pace Glove and overall appreciating it's flexibility and minimal nature, but noting the damage the road was doing to the sole, I decided that I really wanted to try a minimalist road shoe.  I chose the Merrell Barefoot Run Dash Glove because I already knew what to expect from Merrell, at least in terms of their barefoot line.   I was not sure about it though, because I wasn't really thrilled with the look of it from the pictures on their website.  When it arrived, it was much cuter than I expected.

The Dash Glove seems a bit stiffer in the sole than the pace glove, but there's still a fair amount of ground-feel.  I can't really call it "stiff" though, because you can still roll the shoe right up in your hand.  The grooves are not as deep as the pace glove, but I haven't had any trouble with traction on the road, even in wet conditions.  I also kind of like the motif on the bottom - sorta looks like toes.  I guess they're getting all in on emphasizing the bareFOOTness of the shoe.  It seems to be holding up well to the road, so far, but I guess we'll see how it goes over time.  I've been running in them a few times a week for a couple months.

  

The main differences between the Dash Glove and the Pace Glove seem to be (aside from grooves on the bottom) that the laces come up higher on the foot and that the top has more coverage with fabric that is a bit more waterproof.  I will say that the fabric on the top seems to keep my feet fairly dry, especially compared to the pace glove where my feet get soaked with any rain or dew on grass or whatever.  I've been pretty pleased with that.  Who wants to run with wet feet?

The laces do come up much higher on the foot than in the dash glove - good inch or so further.  When I first put the shoes on, I didn't really like this fact too much.  It felt awkward and uncomfortable initially.  After about 5 minutes of running, my feet settled in and the laces adjusted enough to be much more comfortable.  I actually find I can get a better fit with these than with my Pace Gloves.  They still open up fairly wide to get your foot in.  I don't have super high arches, or anything, but they're very easy to get on, despite the higher lacing.

As with much of the women's line (but not the men's, so I'm not sure why this is the case) they have the elastic bits along the back.  I'm really growing to appreciate that, though.  I'd still like to know why they do that for the women's and not the men's.  

The inside is sewn with no seams so it's very comfortable to wear sockless, though the reason I prefer a toeless shoe over vibrams is that it's easier to just get cheap (toe socks are expensive!), thin socks and keep from having to wash my shoes all the time.  It's also, of course, warmer for winter or cooler weather running.

Basically, these are very similar to the pace glove in many ways.  I encourage you to check out my pace glove review to catch a more full description of what I like about them.

I'm trying to think of downsides and I'm not coming up with any other than not having a ton of color selections that I love.  I did buy a half size up but it hasn't seemed to shrink like the dash gloves did.  I haven't had to wash them as often (helps that I'm not running in mud), though, so the same deal may apply. 

Overall, I love this shoe and it's my go-to for running.

Merrell Barefoot Run Pace Glove Review

I've been running in minimalist shoes since I started the couch-to-5k last February (so almost a year and a half), and though I've run a fair bit in my Vibram Five Fingers Sprints, most of my running has been done in my Merrell Barefoot Run Pace Gloves.  I'm actually on my second pair because the rubber vibram sole of the first pair was worn down.  I expect this is because I was mostly running on asphalt and the shoe is designed to be a trail shoe.  Though I love it for trails, I just tend to run more on asphalt.  Obviously I like them, or I wouldn't have bought a second pair, I thought I'd put out my review for other people who might be considering them.  I actually haven't been running in them as much lately because recently I bought Merrell's Barefoot Run Dash Glove, which is actually made as a road shoe.  I plan to review them once I've put a few more miles on them.

Overall, these are very comfortable.  I like wearing them with thin socks, because then I don't have to wash them so frequently, but it's not necessary.  The inside is pretty much smooth and comfortable, but then, I haven't been in a long run with them without socks, so take that with a grain of salt.

I do recommend buying a half size up.  I find they seem to shrink/form to my foot.  It's nice in terms of getting a foot-hugging experience, but my first pair I had to trade out for a bigger pair because  they were starting to become too tight.  I should say, though, that it may be because I started out running in them when I started barefoot running and my feet have overall grown a bit from gaining muscle.  My second pair started out feeling HUGE and seem to have become much more form fitting, though.

Pros:

• compared to VFFs, you're looking at a much more conventional looking shoe - you can wear whatever cheapo socks you already have and don't have to spend money getting uber expensive thin toe socks
• very comfy
• good grip in mud
• easier to fit than VFFs, and you can find it locally (my local Dick's Sporting Goods carries it), thus you can try it on and make sure it's the one you want.  I do live in kind of a small area, though, so it's not so easy to find Vibrams around here.
• If you have weird shaped toes (that wouldn't fit in a VFF toe shoe well) you can still wear them.
• Easy to wash and because I can wear them with socks they don't get as stinky as my VFFs 
• There's not much fabric or padding to them so they dry really fast... great if you're doing, say, a mud run.

Cons:

• I'm wearing out the sole running on asphalt.  I guess this is normal, but it happened sooner than I expected.
• the laces don't come up as far as other shoes might so if you have very small heels/ankles or you are running in thick/deep mud you  may have some sliding-out problems
• Weird elastic on the rear of the collar - seems like almost all of their women's barefoot shoes have them.  I was skeptical of this at first, but it turns out it's not a big deal at all - the elastic is fairly stiff so it really just moves with you a little better.  I'm not sure I feel this is a con anymore, but I thought I should address it.  Maybe I should have labeled this section "quirks"
• the toe is coming slightly unglued, but it's not bad, so far.  
• Another quirk is that when you first put them on, you kind of feel like your toes are hanging out over nothing.  Almost like they're hanging over a ledge or something.  It's a very weird feeling and I was a little worried about how that would be while running when I first tried them on, but it was not noticeable at all once running.  Over time the little bit of padding they do have wears down (or possibly I just got used to the feeling) and I'm not sure this ledge is even there anymore.
• These shoes have a lot more to them than vibrams.  If you're new to barefoot/minimalist running, definitely try it completely SHOELESS a few times to make sure you have a reasonable stride before running in these shoes.  It's a little bit shocking, the difference between completely bare and these shoes.  Still very minimalist, zero drop, you can curl them right up in a spiral, but NOT barefoot.

 Overall, I obviously like them a lot.  I definitely would buy them again, but I think I'm going to use them mostly for trails from now on.  If you run mostly on asphalt, this shoe may not be for you.

Vibram Five Fingers "Sprint" Review

I know there must be thousands of reviews of VFFs out there, by now, but I just thought I'd throw my input out there.  I've been running in my sprints (off and on, they're not my favorite at this point, but they were my first minimal footwear) for about 15 months.  Here's my take on it:

I will preface this by saying I've only tried two kinds of minimal shoes (at this point) for running - my VFF sprints and my Merrell Barefoot Pace Gloves.  Aside from that I've run completely without shoes, so that gives you an idea of my experience.  Generally I run 3-4 miles per run, although I've just signed up for a half-marathon, so I'm excited to see how my barefooting holds up!  I've worn my VFFs trail running, street running, and also for hiking/general walking, not to mention just casually.

Most people's first question is "what do they feel like??"  Well, they feel basically like wearing gloves on your feet.  They're not difficult to get on if you have any ability to move your toes, though there's a slight learning curve - the first couple times were a little weird and I needed to use my fingers to guide my smaller toes in, but now I'm pretty used to it and they slip on easily.  The fabric is thin, about the thickness of the material in a woman's bathing suit, though not quite as stretchy.  Before I ordered them, I thought the pictures always looked a bit puffy, as if they're made out of maybe neoprene or something, so I was a little shocked to find this out when I received them.

I'll concede that probably some of the problems on here may, or even certainly do relate to the style (the "sprints" vs. other styles of VFF)

PRO:

• These shoes are very thin and flexible.  You can literally roll them right up.  Really easy to pack to take with you on vacation or whatever.
• When wearing them you can feel little bumps and rocks in the road, though not enough for it to be uncomfortable.  Still, a lot of ground feel, thus, very similar to barefoot - more similar to barefoot than my Merrell barefoot pace gloves.
• It's easy to spread my toes.
• They LOOK really cool and get asked about a lot.  This can be a con if you like to hide, but I kind of like the opportunity to enlighten people.  Sometimes their faces look horrified and they say "WHAT IS ON YOUR FEET?" though and I reply with sort of a meek "uh... shoes?" but that usually leads into a discussion of how they feel and why I would wear such a thing and whatnot.  

CON:

• Though the toes fit my toes well, occasionally they twist when I'm running and feel sort of funny (not a huge issue, but I do squirm my feet around while running once this happens and lose focus)
• I'm not a huge fan of the velcro.  It sticks to things sometimes (like if it's in a bag with other stuff), and occasionally it cuts in/chafes my skin if I haven't worn them in a while.  I'm considering trying one of the types of VFF that is a bit more like a sneaker.
• The heel slides down, but when I pull it up, the sides cut into my ankles and are uncomfortable.  I think it's possible that I should downsize, but here's a picture of what I mean: 

down

up

             See how the blue velcro is touching the top of the sole in the first picture (and not in the     second)?  That is a bit annoying while running.  I noticed that the newer style they've made        some changes to this part of the shoe, so it's possible that that is no longer an issue.  I do know         that in other VFF styles, the heel cup is more like a sneaker, which would fix this issue entirely, I expect.

•    The infamous VFF stench.  Funny because the first couple months of using them I didn't really get much of the stench... but oh boy, yes, now I get it.  And ew.  It's possible that they've managed to fix this in the past year, too... 
• This is minor since these have so much ground feel, but running in them is still different from running barefoot.  If you only ever run in minimal shoes, you should give completely barefoot a try if for no other reason than to see the difference.  I mean, these are *really* minimal and I can feel rocks and stuff through them, and it's still somewhat different than running completely barefoot.
• My last complaint is that these don't have enough grip on the bottom.  They only have thin little razor slices in them.  I'll admit that this is completely due to the style.  Other ones have more grip... and honestly more grip, I assume, would result in less ground-feel, but these are not shoes I would recommend for a lot of trail running.  They slide in mud... not exactly what you would want for a trail run.  If you're set on VFFs for trail running (which I was), definitely check out some of the other styles with more grippy bottoms.  Totally would be worth it, and again, I'm seriously contemplating getting those.

Anyway, so that's it!  Would I buy sprints again?  Hmm... I think they'd be great water shoes or for water sports, definitely.  For me, however, I would prefer something with less velcro and with a better heel cup/collar.