The morning pickup was a good plan as City Sports is one of those stores where you more or less have to be waited on, and in the am the staff haven't yet been grated down to bare masses of nerve endings by the constant abrasive scrubby sponge that is consumer America. Anyway, the Frees have an interesting slipper-like feel, more like racing flats than regular sneakers (though the midsole is more substantial). When I put them on at home, running socks seemed to be an unnecessary imposition; I shucked them and tried again in bare feet.
As I stepped out the door it was alternating between a steady deliberate rain and a lighter mist. It had been absolutely pounding earlier in the morning and I wondered if anyone from the club had been out in the middle of it (the hardy fools). Got sync with the gps satellite constellation and went.
First half mile read 6:50 pace. Thanks Garmin! I dialed back, but somehow for the entire first 1/2 of the run I couldn't get my average pace much over 7:04. Here's a new problem then: in these light shoes I can't comfortably heel strike, and without heel striking I'm unsure how to run above a certain pace. It just feels awkward. Nonetheless I don't expect to be doing training 20 milers at 7 minute pace, so this is something I'm going to have to learn!
Another unexpected discovery: I'm really looking forward to ascents now. Not because I relish the work so much, but because an ascent means an absence of uncertainty about form. When a hill comes, I know exactly what my job is and it's just a matter of doing it. The rest of the time I'm still searching for that sweet spot that lies somewhere between heelstriking and prancing along on my toes.
I finished the back half of the run in 7:16 pace, and felt fairly good when I finished. Still, it was too fast. I won't be able to do that when I'm running 15 or 18 miles.
Sweet blog! I applaud the persistence it takes to blog, not to mention execute a marathon.
ReplyDeleteI heard a guy on the radio talking about barefoot running -- may have been the guy who wrote the book you mentioned. He made a pretty good case for our primitive ancestors joyously running herbivores to exhaustion.
I have loved the Frees. Granted, it was an easy adjustment for me b/c I already strike on my midfoot/balls of feet. If you heel strike than it's even BETTER that you got them, although I assume you already know that. Good luck getting used to them! Hopefully they will strengthen your feet and get you to strike midfoot. I train in them about 75% of the time now and I use them for all of my longer runs. I do use my Saucony Pro-grid Ride for the other 25%, just b/c I've always alternated shoes to prevent injury. Not sure it's necessary now, but old habits die hard.
ReplyDeleteSeriously yes. I can see the logic behind the alternation thing, since any given pair of shoes is going to put different stresses on your feet. I'm switching between the Frees and VFFs right now, and might consider something a little heavier in the rotation for trail runs.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeletePlease do not worry about trying to toestrike on a downhill. It is not sensible unless you want to be travelling at a very high rate of speed. I recommend that you drastically shorten your stride, think short choppy steps, and land comfortably on your foot. If you are barefoot or in minimally padded shoes the pain will not allow you to heelstrike really hard.
Joel
If you can do it effortlessly, why not train with 20 milers at 7min pace?
ReplyDelete