Road to Nowhere

Mark B wrote:Speedwork! (aka Dynamic Testing at Nike): 7 x 0.38 miles, or 2.66 miles total


Then, a lap on the grass around the Ronaldo soccer field complex (running past Alberto Salazar as he coached some young runner) to clear out our perceptions, then a repeat of the three-lap cycle on sidewalks and cobblestone with a different pair of shoes.

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Was it Mary Cain? You might have seen one of the early sessions between Salazar and his next prodigy.

http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/10/20/alberto-salazar-to-coach-high-schooler-mary-cain/

Mike MacLellan wrote:Remember, you're only a nutcase until you have your first follower. Then you're a prophet. Or something like that. Right?

Hm... good point, Mike! I like how you think.

This may or may not be a good time to note that my great to the fourth grandfather started his own church ... (It's true! He even has his own Wiki!)

As for the "external validation" you mentioned, I couldn't tell if they were smiling with, or smiling at, if you know what I mean.

Chris M wrote:

Mark B wrote:Speedwork! (aka Dynamic Testing at Nike): 7 x 0.38 miles, or 2.66 miles total


Then, a lap on the grass around the Ronaldo soccer field complex (running past Alberto Salazar as he coached some young runner) to clear out our perceptions, then a repeat of the three-lap cycle on sidewalks and cobblestone with a different pair of shoes.

.

Was it Mary Cain? You might have seen one of the early sessions between Salazar and his next prodigy.

http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/10/20/alberto-salazar-to-coach-high-schooler-mary-cain/

Quite possibly, yes. She looked young and tiny, and those are both good descriptions for Mary Cain.

It's funny about Nike. You see elites there regularly, but there seems to be an unwritten rule to give them their space and not gawk. While we were giving feedback on shoes, I asked one of the running analysts, "Was that Alberto out there?" He just shrugged and said, "Probably."

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One note the day after my "speedwork" session: Remember how my lungs were burning? Well, I started having coughing fits last night, and now I'm bringing up phlegm. I think it's safe to say that I *might* gave exceeded that 75% of maximum effort yesterday. Sheesh.

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One last thing to add (this post keeps growing as the day goes on!): We met up for the dynamic testing in a conference room in the Nike Fitness Center, formerly known as the Lance Armstrong Fitness Center. The place used to be packed with memorabilia, pictures and quotes. Not any more. Not a scrap of it remains.

How was your weekend, Mark? I did a test based on HADD yesterday, so a blog to come soon.

dot520 wrote:How was your weekend, Mark? I did a test based on HADD yesterday, so a blog to come soon.

Woot! on the HADD test, Dot! I can't wait to see the results. How'd it go?

It was a weird, nonrunning weekend here in the soggy Pacific Northwest. Not because it was raining most of the time (yet surprisingly balmy; we're in the influence of subtropical moisture), but because the opportunity never presented itself to run. Alec and Alita had Friday off from school, so we slept in and did a couple of errands, and we repeated the process on Saturday. I worked late Saturday night (doggone earthquake and tsunami scare) and didn't get up until very late Sunday. The rest of the day was, more or less, chaos.

Sheesh, nothing like a lack of structure to throw everything out of whack.

I think I'm still trying to adjust mentally to bailing out of my plan to do a 50-miler next spring. It was the right decision, based on how topsy-turvy my schedule has been, but I must admit that it's getting tougher to get out there without some sort of a goal. Need to work on that.

I'll be heading back to the Nike lab this morning. More testing the mystery shoes. Maybe I'll run a little more afterward depending on how I feel. I still want to be able to sneak out and run a little tomorrow as a little present to myself.

Nike Testing: 27 x 160 meter repeats (2.7 miles total)

Weather: Party cloudy, mild and muggy. 60 degrees. Gear: Prototypes, shorts, T. Fuel: Post-breakfast

Back to the Nike Sport Research Lab for the second half of the big testing sequence I started last week. That meant 27 repeats along the covered sidewalk by the lab, changing prototype shoes every time. I wore skin off my finger doing it last week -- I'm still wearing a band aid for it -- so I was more careful this time.

Like last time, I treated these repeats as form drills. It helped that part of the route was in front of highly reflective windows, so I could see how I was doing out of the corner of my eye. I still had to pay attention, though. Not just to meet the requirements of the test, but to avoid running into Nike employees walking along reading their messages oblivious to a guy running at them at a decent clip!

Note: I don't know how fast I was going, but I'd guess it was in the 7s and 8s for such a short distance. I experimented with form a little - though the shoes I was testing altered that a bit, as well.

I'd thought about doing more running when I got home, but I think I'll hold off and try to squeeze in a birthday run tomorrow before work. In my birthday shoes, of course.

In case my power goes out tonight due to our high winds and rain (and Sandy hasn't hit us yet), Happy Birthday!

Yes, I'd like to add to that as well and wish you a happy birthday! Birthday runs, birthday shoes and birthday food...all a favorite.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:In case my power goes out tonight due to our high winds and rain (and Sandy hasn't hit us yet), Happy Birthday!

Thanks, Michele! Here's hoping the rest of the week is calmer, eh? And that your achilles decides to behave itself.

dot520 wrote:Yes, I'd like to add to that as well and wish you a happy birthday! Birthday runs, birthday shoes and birthday food...all a favorite.

Thanks, Dot! I'm taking Alec to school early this morning (so he can retake a test), which will give me enough time to slip out before work and do a run in the rain. Whether I try to run my age in time or tenths of a mile remains to be seen. Actually, at my normal easy barefoot pace, it's nearly the same thing.

Birthday Shoes (Barefoot) Run: 4.9 miles in 49 minutes!

Weather: Rainy, but mild. 59 degrees, 98% humidity. Gear: Birthday shoes , shorts, T, windbreaker, hat. Fuel: Post breakfast.

I had a little extra time this morning so I decided to squeeze in a birthday run in my birthday shoes. It was very rainy and wet, but fairly mild. I did laps around the block, keeping my HR in the proper zone for the first several miles as I debated whether to simply do about 3 miles or try for something more silly, like 4.9 miles or 49 minutes. I had to be mindful of my feet, because the rain kept them soft and made it important to land property to avoid sloughing off skin.

I pass 3 miles and felt pretty good, so I kept going. When I hit 39 minutes, though, I realized I was going to have to pick it up a lot to hit my silly birthday goal. Hey, silly or not, it was a goal. So I floored it, barefoot, in the rain. I did the last 0.9 mile in 7:57, and hit a top speed of 6:45/mi before reaching 4.9 miles at 48:30. Score! I eased back for the last 30 seconds to round it out to 49 even. My feet are still tingling!

Not exactly perfect splits (10:06, 10:21, 10:12, 10:22, 7:57) but I have to admit that I like the idea of getting faster as you get 'older.'

Average HR for entire run: 143

(Weight: 160.0)

Funny, Mark! I ran a 10k on my 45th birthday, and I sprinted to the finish to go under 45 min! I can so relate.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Funny, Mark! I ran a 10k on my 45th birthday, and I sprinted to the finish to go under 45 min! I can so relate.

Yup. It was a completely random, meaningless number... but what the heck, right? It's as good as any.

I got one of the most funny reactions to running barefoot this morning. It was as I was picking up the pace, splish-splashing around the block barefoot, when I happened upon one of the few neighbors who hasn't seen me running with naked feet. You would have thought I was naked from the feet up!

I said "Hi" as I went by, and she started to say something, but no words came out. She sort of spluttered and laughed in a really awkward sort of way. Sort of a, "Mwuh-huh. Huh-huh-huh!" When I circled the block again, she tried to avoid eye contact, looked up... and then did it again!

I wasn't streaking, really! Well, only from the thighs down.

Ah, awkward moments with the neighbors! There will surely be talk about you now!

dot520 wrote:Ah, awkward moments with the neighbors! There will surely be talk about you now!

What surprises me his how the talk apparently didn't make it to her block by now...

Well, maybe I'll happen across her as I escort Alec trick-or-treating tonight.

The test is now posted in 'Lowering the Boom', Blog. Tell me what you think.

dot520 wrote:The test is now posted in 'Lowering the Boom', Blog. Tell me what you think.

Thanks for the alert, Dot! I just read your post and commented. I can understand why you're pursuing a Hadd approach rather than Maffetone. I've used a hybrid of both for several years now, and there's really not much difference between them other than a slightly higher HR target for Hadd when your MaxHR tends to run higher than expected. Like I said in your blog, I'm aiming down a bit this time as an experiment to see if the lower low HR range of Maffetone works better for me than the (slightly) higher low HR range of Hadd. The difference between the two approaches is a target of about 138 for Maffetone and a target of about 143 for Hadd.

It's been a bit of an adjustment. I keep remembering going faster in previous runs, but then I look back and see that the reason I was going faster was that I was running at a higher intensity. It wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison.

And, as I keep telling myself, when I was running at 143 previously, I managed to rather spectacularly burn out. Now, that *might* have been due to coming back too soon after a hard marathon... but I'm operating on the assumption that I'd laid the groundwork for that blow-up by pushing just a little too hard. I could be wrong (and I'd welcome other opinions on this), but I'd happy to err on the side of caution. For now, at least.

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Halloween update: I went out with Alec (who dressed as a werewolf) last night and happened upon the guffawing neighbor. I teased her about her response and she was a good sport about it, and she was very curious about why I'd run barefoot. The whole "because it's fun" wasn't enough - but she seemed satisfied when I said that it's one way to work on improving your form to reduce injury, etc. I don't think I converted her, but at least she won't call the cops on me.

We interrupt this blog for some shameless bragging.

Alec took up the clarinet this year (not even two months ago), and his former band geek parents have been consistently pleased with how well he's picking it up. He's got a good tone, good breath support and he's doing a good job learning fingering and how to read music. He even inspired me to get my old trumpet out of the garage and play along with him a few times out of his book (once I got my valves unstuck). Fun!

Tonight was his first band concert, ever. And to hear all the kids playing together was eye-opening. I wasn't having one of those "Music Man" moments, honest. The director picked music that was well within their capabilities, so they were able to play it well. Yet at the same time, it was not so simplistic an arrangement as to be boring to listen to.

It should be a great confidence builder for them, and well it should. These kids (mine included) are good.

That said, here's Alec keeping warmed up before the concert:



To his credit, he did not die of embarrassment when his dad walked up and started shooting photos of him and the rest of his group.

Looks like his teacher is at least showing them proper technique - cheeks aren't even blown out a tiny bit!

Pretty funny story about your birthday run. Maybe for mine I'll do 2.6mi in my birthday... suit?

EDIT: I swear I typed "suit?" on the original post. Maybe 365runners was censoring me.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Looks like his teacher is at least showing them proper technique - cheeks aren't even blown out a tiny bit!

Pretty funny story about your birthday run. Maybe for mine I'll do 2.6mi in my birthday... suit?

EDIT: I swear I typed "suit?" on the original post. Maybe 365runners was censoring me.

Censor YOU?!? Hell, the World Wide Web Consortium probably has a special bot set up just to track your posts! You're obviously one of those dangerously erratic, distance-running, profanity-spewing wackos. You just never know what's that brain of yours is going to disgorge.

Enjoy streaking. Just make sure to watch out for poison oak if you do it on a trail somewhere.

Good observation on the photo! You must have some bandie in you. They do work pretty hard to make sure they don't go all chipmunk-cheeked when playing. It's tougher when they get a little fatigued, but their chops will get even better with time.

Y'all may have noticed a lack of entries in this running blog lately. Blame that on a lack of, well, running. Things kept coming up when I would normally run, so I had to keep pushing the runs back. It was driving me C-R-A-Z-Y!!

Finally, today, after I was about ready to bite somebody - anybody's - head off for no reason, I got out and did a few miles. Whew!

The run:

Barefoot Run: 4.45 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, surprisingly warm. 67 degrees! Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T. Fuel: Post lunch.

Kind of an odd, mixed-up run. I started out on a loop route outside of the neighborhood while Alec practiced his music, then met up with him and, after a delay, did another mile of laps around the block, both of us barefoot, finishing with a sprint that had me going sub-5 for 170 feet. Alec did a pretty good job keeping up, with is kind of impressive!

Then, Alita came out after finishing her treadmill run, and we all walked around the block another time to cool down.

In my solo section, I had a rough time keeping my HR down. I was going through new areas -- including taking a barely-there trail on a shortcut through a future park on my way back to meet up with Alec. Lots of roots and random twigs on that path. It was nice when it opened up into a grass field.



HR wasn't an issue with Alec (except for the sprint, of course), or on the cool down, so the overall HR was only 131.

Here's hoping I can get a run in tomorrow, too!

Trail Run: 7.16 miles with a LOT of climbing

Weather: In a cloud. Humid, drizzly and cool. 56 degrees. Gear: Peregrines, shorts, T, jacket (shed), hat. Fuel: Post breakfast; fueled at 30 min (granola bar), 60 minutes (gu). Two Endurolytes before, two more at 60 minutes. Carried nuun in Camelbak.

I wanted to do something a little different today, so instead of running near my house or driving to Forest Park in Portland, I headed up the Columbia River Gorge to run part of the route of the Beacon Rock 25k that I did a couple of summers ago. It was gorgeous at my house, so I was looking forward to great views. No such luck! I ended up in the middle of a cloud for most of the run. Oh well, the leaves were still pretty.



The route goes up Hardy Ridge - a steep hill mountain on the Washington side of the gorge - crosses over the ridge and then heads back to the start point. I power hiked the first 3.3 miles - still exceeding my MAF heart rate, btw - and then began to run on the downhill side of the loop. My splits show the difference: 16:16; 19:09: 24:37 (yeah, it was THAT steep); 17:09; 11:14; 10:23; and the last .84 miles at a 9:34 pace.

I hit the 3.3 mile spot in 63 minutes. I was back to the car 42 minutes later!

The trail was tougher than I remembered. Very technical, with lots of loose rocks and brush just wanting to push you off the side of a cliff. I had the chance to push on to the top of the ridge (another 600 vertical feet) but my legs were fatiguing and I was getting nervous, so I followed the 25k route instead. I'm glad I did.

The Peregrines handled the trail and the rocks - and even the gravel roads - very well. Far better than the Free 3.0s I wore the last time. Yii. What was I thinking?! And no, barefoot was not an option. I'm crazy, but I ain't stupid. Could you imagine going barefoot on this?



Or this?



Yeah. I didn't think so.

Average HR for the entire adventure: 143

Here's the map and elevation chart. Not sure about the elevation change listed, but it was a lot.


Fun, huh?

I was a little disappointed yesterday that I didn't have time to tag the summit of Hardy Ridge (2,957 feet) but my legs are telling me today that it was probably for the best: My glutes and quads are telling me that they got a good workout.

It's Election Day, so make sure to vote!

Ooo! DOMS!

I am feeling my quads today. I think it was more the downhills than the climbing, though. Ye-ouch!

Okay, so this had to be the coolest (and funniest) trip to Nike HQ ever.

I had two appointments today. One to get my feet scanned to help the Dynamic Testing Team get a better feel for the oddities of their testers' feet. Later, I had a session i the Nike Sports Research Lab.

First up was the scanning. We went down into the basement of the Mia Hamm Building where they do the real nuts and bolts work of engineering shoes. I was there with a couple of other testers, and the first thing we did was put on sets of special socks for the scanners:



Fashionable, no?

I bided my time while the other two runners were scanned and the data from the scans were turned into 3D images on a big computer screen. As I was there, I realize I was sitting next to a last for an inhumanly large foot (size 20). Wow.

When it was my turn and I got on the scanner, I immediately got the attention of the techs.

As in, "Hey Joe, come look at this! I don't think I've ever seen feet like this!"

I am not making this up. The other guy came over, marveled, and listened intently as I described some of the weirdness. He then excused himself to go look through his files to see if he could find any sort of footbed shape - any type at all - that would fit my feet.

I looked over at the analyst who brought me down. "Well, you need outliers, right?" She smiled and said, absolutely.

The scan came in, and my feet look as odd digitized as they do in photos.



(That weird bump on the medial side of the big toe of my left foot is just the sock.)

One guy said the only time he's seen feet shaped like mine was in some young basketball player with size 18 feet. Yii.

"So, what do you run in again?" they asked, genuinely curious. "What has worked for you?"

They started talking my feet among themselves. What type of Free - maybe an earlier version, when they used a more curved last? Maybe a Japanese racing flat? The Lunarracer? The new Flyknit Racer? Hm...

The other two testers were giving me awfully funny looks...

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After that session, I went to the lab and spent some time doing strides festooned with more reflectors than ever before. I felt like a Christmas tree! I sent a lot of time posing for motion cameras and such monitored by three analysts. We actually ran out of time, so I hope I can finish the test at some point. I liked the prototypes I had on!

Freaky Feet! How cool is that...

Sounds like a lot of fun with the high tech stuff there. How'd you get that gig again?