77 minute five mile run; only 10 seconds of breaks during entire run

Thursday March 12:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I put into effect one of the recommendations I made to myself after the March 11 run. Keeping everything else the same, in the left shoe, I increased the padding in the heel area (behind and to sides of heel not under heel) from 24 to 32 layers of Mueller brand 'm-wrap', and tied the shoe-laces very loosely.

The recommendations I made to myself after the Wednesday March 11 run were:

"Left foot: increase padding in heel area from 24 to 32 m-wrap layers, continue with tube over big toe, tie shoelaces loosely. Also possible--replace toe tube over big toe with increase in padding under big toe from 20 to 28 m-wrap layers."
(http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/79-minute-five-mile-runs-couple-of.html )".

Results foot-comfort wise:

Left foot: During a minority of the total time of the run, certain discomforts were experienced: foot felt cramped; some insole pain; some calf pain. On the positive side: the heel was not loose despite the shoe-laces being tied very loosely; there was no numbness/tingliness in the foot; I did not have to stop to tighten the shoelaces; I did not feel sensory illusions of unevenness under the forefoot; there was no discomfort aside from what I've described.

Right foot: Almost perfect. Slight pain in line between toes and ball of foot and in ball of foot for about a mile out of the total six miles.

Thursday March 12:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). Time after 5th mile: 76:57, 117 seconds faster than previous run (77:07 - 10 subtracted for delay = 76:57). There was only one ten second pause over the entire six miles.

One could argue that this run was superior to the run of Sunday March 8 for which the time was my current personal record of 76:15 (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/7615-for-5-miles-i-break-my-personal.html ), because Sunday March 8, the total amount of time spent during the run on breaks during which I did not run was six minutes compared to only ten seconds for the Thursday March 12 run.

The footwear during the run was:

Left shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
CVS toe tube on big toe +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
12 layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot & line between toes & ball of foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
32 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: tape, not glue.
'Pretaping' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: very loose

Right shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
12-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot & line between toes and ball of foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
16 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
'Multipurpose' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: medium tightness

Note: on all the runs the shoes have contained the heel-to-toe lightweight soles that came with the shoes when I bought them. I wear these over the padded sole to which I attach the m-wrap and the forefoot pad.

The temp was 40 degrees with wind at 12 mph during the run (5th mile completed at 5:13 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=12&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ).

A sweatshirt, long-sleeved sportshirt, t-shirt, visibility-vest, sweatpants, & shorts, were slightly too warm. I wanted to get rid of the sweatshirt after the 2nd mile, but I realize the importance of doing the entire six miles with minimal breaks so I did not pause to get rid of the sweatshirt.

Advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: leave things the same; or, remove tube over big toe & increase padding under big toe from 20 to 28 layers; or, simply remove tube over big toe; or, create new toe-tube with sides and top cut away, held in place with m-wrap. Continue to tie shoelaces very loosely.

Right foot: no change in footwear.

Running tactics

I enjoy jogging using long steps or paces; just as people enjoy dancing this or that type of dance, I enjoy, and feel relaxed and energized by, jogging using long steps. I find jogging using long steps to be graceful, majestic, like a ship sailing on the sea. Seems long-stepped jogging teaches the body how to maximize momentum, similar to a wheel's maximization of momentum.

Long-stepped jogging teaches the body how to jog using long steps, which ultimately could prove important in terms of speed. Speed is produced through a combination of length of pace and number of paces per minute.

I do not intend to completely cease from long-stepped jogging--however, I estimate that long-stepped jogging slows my speed down by about ten percent on the miles that are jogged.

I've noticed that when I have to speed up to quickly cross a street or something like that, I shorten the paces and speed up the number of paces per minute or per second or per whatever.

When I set my personal record of 76:15, I noted that the fourth mile was walked in 14:00, and the 5th mile was run in 15:20.

If I somewhat reduce the length of the steps/paces during the miles that are jogged, I should be able to get my time for the three miles run down to 46 minutes total. This combined with 28 minutes for the two walked miles would give me a total time of 74 minutes, 2.25 minutes faster than my current personal best.

Another major factor slowing me down, is that I tend to be 'lazy', slower than what is average for me, during the first 3 miles. This in part because, I go outside and just start running right away without loosening up.

I do not intend to begin to devote time to stretching exercises before the start of the run--I I want to treat time like a precious commodity. As far as I am concerned the first couple of miles in and of themselves, ARE the stretch/warmup.

My approach to the lazy-first-three-miles problem will simply be to remind myself to be perky during the first three miles.


@2009 David Virgil Hobbs

79 minute five mile runs a couple of times

Monday March 9, the area was hit with cold and snow, so I skipped the run, and instead spent time finishing up the testing of the three different microphones I have for recording on the PC. But that is another topic you can read about at: http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/pc-microphones-judgement-day-for-my.html .

Tuesday March 10:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I put into effect one of the recommendations I made to myself after the March 8 run. I wore my CVS toe tube on the big toe of the left foot. Footwear-wise, everything else remained the same as the previous run of March 8. The shoelaces in the left foot were again tied very loosely.

The recommendations I made to myself after the Sunday March 8 run were:

"Left foot: increase padding in heel area from 24 to 32 m-wrap layers, or wear tube over big toe...Right foot: no change in footwear (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/7615-for-5-miles-i-break-my-personal.html )".

Results foot-comfort wise:

Left foot: equal to or a little better than previous run. Heel tighter (due to use of toe tube on big toe), but still a little loose. Slight pain in middle and index toes during 1st & 6th miles. Foot slightly cramped in 5th mile. All parts of foot that did not feel discomfort, felt very comfortable. No feeling of bump under big toe. No numbness or tingliness in foot.

Right foot: Almost perfect. Slight heel pain in 1st mile.

Tuesday March 10:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). Time after 5th mile: 79:30, 3:15 minutes:seconds slower than previous run. Only 10 seconds were subtracted for delays during the run to get the time of 79:30.

The footwear during the run was:

Left shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
CVS toe tube on big toe +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
12 layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot & line between toes & ball of foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
24 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: tape, not glue.
'Pretaping' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: very loose

Right shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
12-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot & line between toes and ball of foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
16 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
'Multipurpose' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: medium tightness

The temp was an average 39 degrees during the run (5th mile completed at 6:55 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=10&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ).

A sweatshirt, long-sleeved sportshirt, t-shirt, visibility-vest, sweatpants, shorts, were slightly too warm.

Wednesday March 11:

Footwear-wise everything was the same as the previous run on March 10, except the shoelaces in the left foot were tied more tightly, at about average tightness as opposed to very loose tightness.

Results foot-comfort wise:

Left foot: some arch pain, some big toe pain, very slight numbness/tingliness a minority of the time, slight feeling of bump under big toe.

Right foot: No complaints.

Wednesday March 11:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). Time after 5th mile: 78:54, 36 seconds faster than previous run. 165 seconds were subtracted due to various delays, result the 78:54 time.

The footwear during the run was:

Left shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
CVS toe tube on big toe +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
12 layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot & line between toes & ball of foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
24 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: tape, not glue.
'Pretaping' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: medium tightness instead of very loose tightness used previous run.

Right shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
12-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot & line between toes and ball of foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
16 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
'Multipurpose' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: medium tightness.

The temp was an average 52 degrees during the run (5th mile completed at 5:23 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=11&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ). A sweatshirt, long-sleeved sportshirt, t-shirt, visibility-vest, sweatpants, shorts, were worn for the first two miles of the run. This proved to be unbearably warm; the sweatshirt was discarded after the 2nd mile--this accounted for most of the 165 seconds subtracted from the time for delays.

My guess as to why there appears to be a pattern of lagging back for a few days after setting a new personal record: setting a new personal record is tiring and result in a few days of recuperation.

Advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: increase padding in heel area from 24 to 32 m-wrap layers, continue with tube over big toe, tie shoelaces loosely. Also possible--replace toe tube over big toe with increase in padding under big toe from 20 to 28 m-wrap layers. Has to do with how much I will feel like tinkering and tailoring.

Right foot: no change in footwear.