Category Archives: Minimalist (Barefoot) Running

Marathon Training Week 2- The Will To Prepare

Will to Prepare

Week 2 called for 25 miles, with the longest run 9 miles.

Last week I discovered on my long, hot, run, that I hadn’t prepared for that run. Mentally or physically

I believe in using visualizations, to help achieve results.

I used hypnobirthing with my second child, to have a successful VBAC, even though I was told, if I didn’t have the baby in 30 minutes, I’d have to have another C-section.  Well, I “had failed to progress” for hours, but once I used hypnobirthing, methods, in 20 minutes, I was ready to have him.

When I was faced with a 12 hour surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes in my neck, when I had cancer, I listened to a hypnotherapy health recording that taught how to relax and visualize a successful, easy, and peaceful surgery.  Much of it talked about the body and mind healing.  I listened to this every day, a month before my surgery.  When my surgeon said he started operating, he discovered much of the cancer on the right side of my neck, which had shown on a few ultrasounds, was gone.

Since he didn’t have to operate on that side, my surgery was 8 hours, and my surgeon said he couldn’t remember a surgery in almost 20-years, that had gone as well as mine, and also where there was no cancerous lymph nodes, even though the labs and ultrasounds before showed there were.

When I entered my first and only competitive/elite division race, I listened to a hypnotherapy sports performance mediation for about a month before.  I placed 2nd in my age group. It was the only time I’ve ever placed in a race, and the only time I’ve ever listened to a hypnotherapy mediation with the goal of optimum performance.

I believe the mind is so powerful, and can really achieve anything. But just like with going out and physically running, you have to mentally prepare too.

I had a very mentally trying week for week 2.  Monday after work, my car wouldn’t start. I have never had that happen before.  I was actually on my way to run. I called my dad, who came and helped me jump the battery.  I also had my 7-year post cancer check up- I hadn’t had one in 2 years, an it was weighing on my mind, if everything would be OK.  It was, thankfully!  🙂

Like anyone else, I have my share of challenges that arise every week, that take a mental toll.  I have two kids, I’m a single mom, a full-time, and sometimes stressful job, I’m responsible for a lot of details, with numerous clients’ finances. I have personal things that arise too, that divide my attention.  I try to be a good mom, friend, and sister, daughter, co-parent, and sometimes it’s just a lot going on.  Sometimes the last thing I feel like doing, is expending more energy mentally and physically to run.

I decided to just try to take a few moments this week, before I set out to run, to just put all these other things behind me, and focus on the run for that day, and how I was going to do it.

Before my long run of 9 miles, later in the week, I  took some time and visualized what I was going to do, and how I was going to do it. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, as it was hot outside, and I was tired- mentally and physically.

I even took a water bottle with me, as I was heading out in sunny, upper 80 degree weather.  I HATE running with anything- it gets bothersome for me, and I feel like I spend more time focusing on what I’m doing with the object, than running. The runners who run holding their phones, have my admiration- I would have dropped about 50 phones by now, if I ran holding it.

The first 3 miles were really hard.  It was one thing after another.   My calves would not loosen up. In my mental preparation, I had forgotten to stretch them.  I knew I was just going for the distance, not speed, so I relaxed and just found a comfortable pacing to see if my calves would loosen.  When my calves felt better, the water bottle was really annoying me.  I tried putting in my waistband of my skort, but that annoyed me more. I finally spotted a good spot to stash it on the trail. I knew I could run about 5 miles on this trail, and then pick it up on the way back.

As soon as I stashed my water bottle, I felt so much lighter, but then something broke in my sunglasses, and they kept sliding down my face. The sun was blazing and I was running into the sun- I didn’t want to take them off. It was almost funny, because if I hadn’t stashed my water bottle, I would have had one had on that and one hand on my glasses. Not exactly ideal running form.

I just couldn’t find a consistent rhythm until mile 4.  The trail took me by the bank of a creek, and it was so hot- I was wishing I had kept my water bottle, but knew I was just a mile away from it.  I dunked my visor in the creek and put it on, and the cool water was great.  Then I crammed my sunglasses into my hair (I have really thick hair) and then put the visor around them, and they were finally secure.

Now, I was finally off and running, almost 5 miles into it.  I found my water bottle, drank a bit while running, and then I was able to secure it to my waistband without it flopping all around as it was lighter, and then the part happened that makes me love running.

My body just took over. It knew what to do.  I had no tight muscles, nothing in my hands, no annoyances.  I don’t even remember thinking about anything- I just ran and it felt easy.  My mind felt like it shouldn’t be this easy, but I mentally made myself not think that.  I hadn’t seen another person yet on the trail- it was just me and I felt like I was free to just run.

Mile 7, it was almost time to turn around, as at that part, I was 2 miles from home.  But I knew- there was a hill- a big hill- if I wanted to push it, that hill was about .10 of a mile away. I didn’t have to do the hill though.  I was feeling so good, and I was actually getting energized- not tired.  I’ve visualized running up many hills before, and do, they are the best training.  So I went for it.  I saw at the steepest part it was 11% grade, but it didn’t feel that hard on this run.

The final 2 miles went as the previous 4 had.  It was all just clicking. I finished the run, with mile 8 being my fastest mile.

I don’t pay attention to the overall time until I’m done.  I was surprise to see I ran the 9 miles in 1:33.  I knew I was much slower in the first half, and time wasn’t the goal, but I was really happy to have that time, for a longer, hot, run with all the little issues I had, and even throwing in a decent hill at the end.

I am definitely using mental preparation from here on out.  Preparing mentally is a huge part of all of this. It always has, and I believe it will make the difference for me for the rest of my training and on race day.

49 miles ran, 16 weeks to go…

Marathon Training Week 1- The Will To Succeed

Mind

Last week, was week 1 of my 18 week marathon training program.  I selected an intermediate plan, because I felt the 18 weeks of training would allow me to build up my mileage at a consistent pace, with keeping my injury risks low.

Week 1 called for a total of 24 miles and the longest run was 8 miles.

It was a dose of reality for me.  I have gotten used to not running on a schedule. For the last few years, I’ve not trained for anything specific. I ran when I wanted to.  Whatever mileage I felt like doing.  I averaged anywhere from 5 to 15 miles a week- give or take.  Planning out an intermediate schedule, a few months ago, was quite different on paper, and seeing the mileage thinking, “I can do that,” to actually running it with exactly 18 weeks for training.

I dawned on me I have very little wiggle room.  I can skip a short run here or there, if I’m extra tired, or sick, but the only way to really be able to run a marathon, is to get out there and run, on the days my plan calls for a run, and to run the distances.  If I want to meet my goal, it doesn’t matter if it’s hot outside, or raining, or colder, or early, or later, or if there is a party I want to go to, or friends to see- I have to run the miles.

I had several doubts this week, and questioned if I really want to do this. Can I really do this? Am I committed to it? What am I willing to do, sacrifice, give up, in the next 18 weeks, to meet this goal?  I had all these questions and not a lot of answers.  But I decided to do my best to stick to the training plan for week 1.

I ran the 8 mile run on Saturday. It was about 93 degrees outside when I started my run.  I actually like running somewhat in the heat. It’s a great endurance builder. I headed out to a lake, which I thought had some shade.  Three miles in to the run (2 miles to get there, 1 mile of running around the lake), I discovered there was no shade, and it was HOT.  I was running the slowest I’ve ran in a long time, with 5 miles still to go. I brought no water with me either.  I do that too- I’m good up to 10 miles with no water in normal conditions. I didn’t really think this run through too well.  I was able to stick my feet in the lake, with my Vibram minimalist shoes on, to cool off my feet, and that seemed to cool my body a little too.

But mile 4, 5, and 7, were probably three of the hardest miles I’ve EVER ran.  The water in my shoes were now rubbing on my toes, and I could feel blisters forming on my toe, and bottom of my foot.  The next 3 miles felt like 300.  I thought, “I don’t need to do this. I can walk home, and be done.  I’ll make up the mileage later.” 

I seriously considered doing this, all during mile 4. I was hot, miserable, and not enjoying a minute of running.  I was very close to stopping.  But something wouldn’t let me. I knew if I stopped now, it would be too easy to stop next time it was hard. While I don’t think I have to suffer to run, I do think I build mental strength when I have to push myself, and that is more than half the battle.

The quote for this blog post came in my mind, several times.  The full quote is,

“The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy… It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.”

My body was screaming at me to stop.  But somehow, I found a way to let my mind take over.  I stopped thinking about the heat, the pain, the blisters, the sweat pouring off of me, the sun, the crazy looks I was getting from people sitting in the shade, and I focused.

I started thinking that I really do want to run a marathon, and not only run it, I want to excel in it.  I have a specific goal for it too.  That wasn’t going to happen if I quit today.  The difference in achieving my goal or not, will be my training and what I do in the next 18 weeks.  That didn’t include me stopping my run because it was hard.

Then I had the thought that if I could finish the next 3 miles, I knew without a doubt, the first 8 miles of the marathon would not be this hard.  I would have achieved a major mental edge.

I started on the return in mile 6, and took a wrong turn, and ended up having to run up an 11% grade hill for 2 blocks in the sun, in mile 7.  It was excruciating and so hard, but I thought this will make me strong.   I’m going to do the hard work now, and come November a marathon will seem easy.

After getting up that hill, the rest of the run, I ran much easier until my Garmin beeped at mile 8.  I have never been so happy to have finished a run.  It was exhausting mentally and physically, but I had done it! I didn’t quit, and I made my 24 miles for week 1!

As I was turning off my Garmin, I saw my time: 1.25 hours.  I thought that had to be wrong. It felt like I had been running for 3 hours.  I checked it later, and it was right.

It made me really excited because that is the slowest I’ve run in a long time, but I realized if I ran that today, in a marathon, I’d be just over 4 hours for 24 miles. Since this was such a challenging run, I felt pretty confident I could run 24 miles at a much faster pace, so I’m in really good shape and feel great about where I am after one week.

Thinking about that run, it made me see how much I do want to succeed at this.  Every hot, sweltering step I ran on Saturday, was bringing me a step closer to my goal.

My training plan calls for 560 miles in the 18 weeks.  I can’t know for sure, but I think I ran the hardest 8 miles out of the 560 on Saturday.  I achieved so much more this past week than logging miles. I found out for myself how much I want this.  What I’m willing to do.  How far I’m willing to go.  I found the answers to my questions in those 8 tough miles.  The answers are, I have 536 training miles left to run, and one way or another, my mind and the will to succeed, will find a way to run all 536 of them.

17 weeks to go…

The Only Way You Can Know…

“The only way you can know is give it all you have
And I hope that you don’t suffer but take the pain
Hope when the moment comes, you’ll say, I, I did it all”~ One Republic

This song came on my shuffle the other night when I was running.  It’s currently one of my favorite songs for running.  I can be having the worst, slowest run, and if this song comes up, it instantly perks me up.  Sometimes I’ll hit repeat on it a few times, it motivates me that much.

Many times when I run, everything gets so clear.  The other night, I had an amazing view of Long’s Peak, as the sun was setting, the sun shining through the clouds, and it all became very clear to me that for me, running is how I live.  It’s how I heal myself. It’s how everything makes sense to me.  It’s been my guide, and my solace for 7 years now.

“I owned every second that this world could give
I saw so many places, the things that I did
With every broken bone, I swear I lived”~ One Republic

When the above lyrics were playing, I substituted “with every broken bone, I swear I lived,” with “with every mile I’ve run, I swear I lived.” All the thousands of miles I’ve run since 2009, after I had cancer, they have all led me to a healthier mind, body, and spirit. Every mile I’ve run has allowed me to live my life to the fullest physically that I can do.  I’ve amazed myself over the years with running- reaching physical goals, at times I could only dream about. From not being able to get out of bed without help, to placing second in an elite division for my age group, just a year later. To running personal bests for distances, running further, to getting out there and running even on days, I didn’t want to.  To not quitting.  To living.  Running has allowed me to achieve those goals and so much more.

When your body gets a disease like cancer, it can feel in ways your body “failed” you.  It’s hard to not feel defective at times.  I have carried this with me for years. I don’t talk, or write about it very often.  I still don’t know what caused my cancer, but I don’t focus on that. Running has been the anti-venom to counter those thoughts for me.  Running has shown me time and time again, how healthy my entire body and spirit is.  I don’t have all the answers, but I know I couldn’t have the level of personal success I’ve had with running if my mind and body were not in sync and healthy.

I thought about after the very first 5K I ran, just 2 months after having been so sick, I couldn’t get out of bed or take care of my children.  It really was a feeling I can’t put into words, and I decided then I was going to run a marathon “some day.”  That was my goal and still is. I’ve never let that go, or rather that desire has never let go of me.  In a way, I felt and still do, when I run one, it will be full circle.  I feel like my running and my health isn’t complete until I run a marathon.  It will be my giving it all I have- Mind, body, and spirit.

I’ve been toying with running a marathon finally this year. I’ve been slowly but surely building up my mileage on long runs.  But I hadn’t committed yet.  It’s the last major running goal, I’ve wanted to do, which is still unanswered.  Like the post I wrote, Are You Committed or Interested? When you are committed you accept no excuses, just results.  In my mind, I’ve been accepting excuses on why I couldn’t do a marathon yet.  There are always reasons not to.

But running the other night, just reflecting on how far I’ve come, these lyrics playing, and me realizing in that moment, this is what I do. It’s who I am.  I’m a runner.  I’m a survivor, I’ve endured and healed every injury I’ve ever had, and come back stronger.  I have given it my all so many times, and it’s always been an amazing experience and reminds me “I lived.”

This all led me to the thought, “What am I waiting for?” The only way I will know, is to give it all I have and to own it.  The only time any of us have is now.  There will never be a better time to finally go for my dream.

It makes me so appreciative and happy to write that I’m going to find out, the only way I can know….by giving it all I have.  It’s been 7 years training to get to this point, but I’ve committed and registered for a marathon on November 13, 2016-  the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon!  One thing I really liked about this particular marathon is it starts at 4:30 PM- I’m an evening runner, so this is perfect for me.

I always train harder than I anticipate the race to be. I am going to be careful and build up mileage slowly but surely- I have six months, but come November, I’ll have my moment- finally- to own every second I can.  In the meantime I’m going to enjoy the training, and appreciate what my body can do.  Who knows when and if I will ever be able to do this again, so I’m going to make it count.  I’m doing it all!  🙂

Running Free Blog is Back!

I’m back! 🙂  I wasn’t really gone-just insanely busy at work, as it goes as an accountant in the first quarter of a year.

Even though I didn’t have time to write and blog the past few months, I was still running.  To date, I have almost 150 miles logged in my barefoot running shoes. I run some days without them, if it’s too cold, or snowy.

Running this way has exceeded my expectations, as it’s been over 6 months, and I’ve had no injuries.

My reoccurring hip pain from before, still flares up from time to time, for a day or two, but nothing like where I could barely walk for days, or unable to run for weeks. I had a massage a few weeks ago and the therapist worked on that area and I could feel the tension melting.  It has stayed very lose since. The massage therapist recommended yoga or pilates to keep it loose and strengthen the muscles.  That is next up on my list to try to make time for.

The other constant reoccurring injury I could never avoid running the traditional way, no matter what stretches I did, shoes I bought, surfaces I ran on, were shin splints.  I probably had a new bout with them once every two months- sometimes minor, sometimes severe, where I’d be forced to stop running while they healed.  Sometimes I’d even get weird ones along my ankles- where it felt like a shin splint, but the pain was in the ankle.  Nothing worked to stop these, except to stop running.

Since I started running the barefoot method, I’ve not had one even hint of shin pain, splint, or ankle or any other type of pain.  I’ve run on all surfaces too.  Trail, cement, road, snow, grass, and I never have any pain no matter what surface I run on.

I can run longer distances too, where before, I’d feel it the next day.  Now it feels after these distances, I hadn’t even been running the day before.  Not to say I don’t have an occasional ache or pain, but nothing that is in constant pain, debilitating, or causing me to stop running.  The biggest factor in preventing me from running these past few months has been my job- not injuries, which is something I thought I’d never say!  I would have never have believed it.

With the longer daylight now (I love it when daylight savings starts) more and warmer days here in Colorado, and my job slowing down, I’m excited I’ll have more time to run and blog.

Another benefit I’m seeing from running this way, is I’m running faster.  I use my Garmin and look at it afterwards. Many times during the run, I feel like I’m running slow and easy, but when I download the time and compare- I’m actually running faster.

I have seen my calf muscles define and be built up, over the months from this running method. I had a pair of “skinny jeans” with narrow leg openings, and before they slid right on. Now my muscles are too big for them, which is another benefit.  One, because I never had defined leg muscles, and two, for the real reason, running this way builds your calf muscles to take much of the impact on running, instead of your shins. The calves are much stronger muscles than your shins. So it’s why I think, I’ve not had any shin pain at all.

Traditional running with traditional shoes, usually forces your foot to land on a mid or heel strike. You may not even realize you are running this way. As a result your shins have to take the brunt of impact, instead of your calves.  But when you land on your forefoot, the stress is taken by your calves and your foot, as it was designed to do. The shins were never desired to be able to withstand the constant pressure on them for running. Your forefoot is, with help from the calves.

I’ve learned a lot in the past 6 months and keep learning too. I love it.  It’s like I’m able to combine the love of running and improve my running, instead of holding back, and being worried about overdoing it and getting hurt, or being hurt, and having to stop while I heal and lose the momentum.

I am still aiming for a marathon. I am confident I’ll be able to do it this year, but don’t want to say when yet.  But that is still my goal.

I’ve been thinking about running a 5K race too, just for fun. I’m within 3 minutes right now, of my fastest ever 5K time from several years ago. I’m not running anymore for fast speeds, but I love the 5K distance and have been thinking it would be fun to see how I’d run in a 5K with the barefoot method.

I have lots of blog posts I’ve been thinking about over the months, so there will definitely be new content coming more regularly about running, motivation, and achieving your goals. I’ll be updating the Facebook page more too, so stay tuned!