72 minute 5-mile long-paced run

Sunday March 22:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I left everything the same as during the run the previous evening March 21. This is the advice I gave myself after the March 21 run (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/75-minute-5-mile-quick-paced-using.html )

Results foot-comfort wise:

(feet subjected to exaggerated length of stride style of running, style B/E)

Left foot: good during run miles. Pain in arch of foot & rear muscle of left lower leg, during second half of second mile which was walked. Pain again but less pain in fourth mile which was walked. During 6th mile which was walked, top of right toe felt sore.

Right foot: good during run miles. Pain in arch of foot & front muscle of right lower leg during second half of 2nd mile which was walked. Pain again but less severe in fourth mile which was walked.

The pain in mile 2 which is a walked mile was not as bad as yesterday but significant. The pain in mile 4 the second walked mile was similar to the pain level in mile 4 yesterday.

The idea behind not changing the footwear despite the pain is that the feet will get used to the padding increase under the ball of the foot with the passage of time. Today was better than yesterday in that there was no pain during the miles that were run.

I congratulate myself for (like yesterday), putting up a good effort in the pain filled 2nd mile which was walked. I walked the mile in only 13:22 despite the pain, which set in after the first third of the mile was walked.

Sunday March 22:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked), using for the first 5 miles, style B, featuring emphasis on: speed & long length of stride, combined with a de-emphasis with regards to achieving a high rate of paces per minute & not stopping specifically to record split-times.

Time after 5th mile: 72:16 (85:54 - 13:38 subtracted for delays = 72:16).

Break-time reasons: in allowance for pain, tying shoelaces, discarding excess layers clothes.

Chants used:

'Long are our strides as we streamline the sky
Far is our distance per unit of time
Lord of Roads of Magnificence am I
Lord of Roads of Painlessness am I;

'Maxed are our strides as we streamline the sky
Far is our distance per unit of time
Lord of Roads of Magnificence am I
Lord of Roads of Painlessness am I'

Again, I walked half a mile around the block before starting the run.

Mile split times recorded March 22:

1st, run: 15:15
2nd, walked: 13:22 IN PAIN
3rd, run: 15:05
4th, walked: 13:40 pain
5th, run: 14:54

The footwear during the run was:

Left shoe:
SAME AS YESTERDAY

lightweight removable sole that came with shoe +
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
16 layers m-wrap pad under big toe +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
16 layers m-wrap under ball of foot +
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 +
8 layers m-wrap pad under middle & index toes +
40 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: tape, not glue.
'Pretaping' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: medium tight on top shoelace, loose on other shoelaces

Right shoe:
SAME AS YESTERDAY

Lightweight removable sole that came with shoe +
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
16 layers m-wrap under ball of foot +
8 layers m-wrap pad under big toe +
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: tight on top shoelaces, loose on others

The temp was on average 38 degrees with wind at avg 0 mph during the run (5th mile completed at 7:43 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=22&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ).

Run as the sun set, sunlight heat not a significant factor.

The lightweight gray sweatshirt, long-sleeved collar-less sportshirt made of t-shirt type material, t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt, visibility-vest, gloves, sweatpants, shorts, wool-type hat, & headband were after the beginning, too warm.

After the 1st mile, I removed the wool hat & gloves. Midway through the 2nd mile I removed the sweatshirt. Most of the run I wore only a long-sleeved shirt made of t-shirt type material, a t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt, visibility vest, headband, shorts, & sweatpants, which were about right for the 38 degree night-time run.

Regarding the 6th mile walked at a leisurely pace with the temp at 38 degrees: I would have been too cold if I had not put the sweatshirt & wool-type hat back on.

Advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: maybe reduce padding under big toe by 4 m-wrap layers; maybe reduce padding under ball of foot by 4 m-wrap layers.

Right foot: maybe reduce padding under big toe by 4 m-wrap layers; maybe reduce padding under ball of foot by 4 m-wrap layers.

(Principle of podiatry: increaseD vertical top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top directional pressure in a shoe, results in increased sidweays pressure and increased heel-to-toe directional pressure).

In accordance with the rotation entered into the blog-record March 15 (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/76-minute-5-mile-long-length-paced-run.html ), run using style "C Double-emphasis on long-length-paces AND paces-per-minute, pauses to note split-times".

Chant to use:

'Long are our strides as we streamline the sky,
Many are our steps per unit of time
Lord of roads of magnificence am I
Lord of roads of painlessness am I'

Running tactics/strategy

The second mile was walked in only 13:22 despite significant pain in the arches of the feet for two-thirds of the mile.

March 19 when I set the new personal record of 71:35 using the similar style E (E is long-paces, with pauses to record split-times, B used today March 22 is also long-paced, but without pauses to record split-times), the time for the 2nd mile which is walked was 13:15 only 7 seconds slower.

I estimate I am improving in terms of pain-tolerance and/or improving in terms of walking speed. Overall there were more minutes of break-time March 19, compared to today March 22.

I estimate that pain inhibits performance because: performance level is consciously reduced to avoid pain; areas of the body not effected by pain are worked harder to relieve pressure on areas of the body effected by pain, resulting in exhaustion and inefficiency.

75 minute 5-mile quick-paced run using changed footwear

Saturday March 21:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I put into effect optional recommendations I made to myself after the March 20 run.

In the left foot: I increased the padding under the ball of the foot by 8 m-wrap layers; increased the padding under the big toe by 8 m-wrap layers; increased the padding under the middle and index toes by 8 m-wrap layers; removed the 16 m-wrap layer pad behind the heel at base of heel.

In the right foot: I increased the padding under the ball of the foot by 8 m-wrap layers; increased the padding under the big toe by 8 m-wrap layers.

I wanted to be ready for the pounding my feet were going to take in the run; I knew that since I was going to be using style A, featuring short choppy paces, a new kind of pounding that would cause pain would be inflicted on my feet.

Before the run, at first in the left foot I combined the padding increases with keeping the 16 m-wrap layer pad at the base of the heel behind the heel, inside the shoe. Then I walked the half-mile warmup that has recently become customary. After walking the warmup, I felt as if the toes were very cramped and tight in the left shoe, I felt pain in the middle, index and big toes of the left foot just from walking around the block at a leisurely pace.

At this point I removed the 16 m-wrap layer pad at the rear bottom area of the left heel, which immediately resulted in the left foot feeling much better.

Principles of podiatry: increasing the left-to-right/right-to-left directional pressure in the shoe results in increased heel-to-toe directional tightness; increasing the heel-to-toe directional pressure results in increased left-to-right/right-to-left directional tightness.

The recommendations I made to myself after the March 20 run were:

"Left foot: possibly increase padding to rear of lower heel by 8 m-wrap layers again, making sure the padding is vertically low enough to have heel-tightening effect; possibly increase padding under middle and index toes by 8 m-wrap layers; possibly increase padding under big toe by 8 m-wrap layers; possibly increase padding under ball of foot by 8 m-wrap layers...Right foot: possibly add 8 m-wrap layer pad behind heel at base of heel; possibly add 8 m-wrap layer pad under big toe.
change.(http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/75-minute-5-mile-run-using-long-quick.html )".

Results foot-comfort wise:

(feet subjected to new unusual pounding of style A run/walking)

Left foot: best ever, almost perfect first 4 miles in terms of numbness/tingliness and pain in areas of foot that strike the ground. Pain in arch of foot in 2nd and to lesser extent in 3rd mile. Slight numbness/tingliness in 5th mile. Pain in muscles of lower leg in 3rd mile.

Right foot: Some pain in ball of foot and big toe a minority of the time. Pain in arch of foot in 2nd mile. Pain in muscles of lower leg in 3rd mile.

The pain the arches of both feet in the 2nd mile was relatively severe. Towards the end of the 2nd mile I switched from the usual heel-first walking style to heel&ball-of-foot hitting ground simultaneously, due to the pain. The time in this mile was 14:50, 45 seconds slower than the time in the 4th mile which was also walked.

I congratulate myself on putting up a good effort in the pain filled 2nd mile which was walked. The fact that for a majority of the mile I felt an above-average level of pain in the arches of both feet, resulted in only a 5% reduction in speed.

Saturday March 21:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked), using for the first 5 miles, style A, featuring emphasis on: speed & a high number of paces per minute; and, de-emphasis of length of stride.

Time after 5th mile: 74:48 (90:42 - 15:54 subtracted for delays = 74:48). The time would have been 74:03 if the pain filled 2nd mile had been fast as the painless 4th mile.

Previous run using the A/D type style, March 18:
time after 5th mile: 75:10 (84:40 - 9:30 subtracted for delays = 75:10)

Pauses: extra-long breaks of approx 5 minutes were taken after the 2nd & 3rd miles due to pain in the arches of the feet; also, removing layer of clothing, tying shoes, recording split-times.

For the first 5 miles, I used the following chant (chanted in my mind not with my mouth/tongue):

'Great is our speed as we streamline the sky
Many are our steps per unit of time
Lord of Roads of Magnificence am I
Lord of Roads of Painlessness am I'

Mile split times recorded March 21 (March 18 splits using similar method D in parentheses):

1st, run: 15:15 (15:05)
2nd, walked: 14:50 (14:15) IN PAIN
3rd, run: 15:26 (15:47) some pain
4th, walked: 14:05 (14:23)
5th, run: 15:12 (15:40)

The footwear during the run was:

Left shoe:

lightweight removable sole that came with shoe +
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
NEW 8->16 layers m-wrap pad under big toe +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
NEW 8->16 layers m-wrap under ball of foot +
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 +
NEW REMOVED 16 m-wrap layer pad behind heel at base of heel+
NEW 8 layers m-wrap pad under middle & index toes +
40 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: tape, not glue.
'Pretaping' type m-wrap used.
SHOELACES: medium tight on top shoelace, loose on other shoelaces

Right shoe:

Lightweight removable sole that came with shoe +
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
NEW 8-16 layers m-wrap under ball of foot +
NEW 8 layers m-wrap pad under big toe +
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: tight on top shoelaces, loose on others

The temp was on average 36 degrees with wind at avg 1 mph during the run (5th mile completed at 8:57 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=21&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ).

'Twas a night-time run.

The lightweight gray sweatshirt, long-sleeved collar-less sportshirt made of t-shirt type material, t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt, visibility-vest, gloves, sweatpants, shorts, and headband were too warm.

After the 2nd mile, I removed the sweatshirt & gloves. Most of the run I wore only a long-sleeved shirt made of t-shirt type material, a t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt, visibility vest, shorts, & sweatpants, which were about right for the 36 degree night-time run.

However regarding the 6th mile walked at a leisurely pace with the temp at 35 degrees: I would have been too cold if I had not put the sweatshirt back on; things would have been just right if I had put a warm sweater-material type winter hat on my head. The leisurely 18-19 minute per mile walk, produces a cooler body than the faster walks and jogs.

As I finished up the 6th mile around 9:20 PM, I saw some smiling young white adults & kids taking leave of the folks at the house next door after visiting them; it looked like the photos of attractive white folks getting together that they used to use for cigarette ads. I never knew the folks next door led such photogenic lives.

The social cheerfulness, the children and women, reminded me of Indians in India. Indians from India in the US seem gloomily busy with work or shopping all the time.

Advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: Leave things the same.

Right foot: Leave things the same.

I estimate that: the pain in the arches of the feet was due to changes in the elevation of the forefeet relative to the heels, caused by the increased padding under the balls of the feet and the big toes; this change of elevation can be gotten used to as the shoe stretches, the padding compresses, and the feet get used to the new conditions; the change in elevation caused a change in the angle of the foot left foot relative to the top shoelace which reduced the numbness/tingliness problem.

In accordance with the rotation entered into the blog-record March 15 (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/76-minute-5-mile-long-length-paced-run.html ), run using style "B Long-length-paced, emphasis on long paces, no pauses to note split-times".

Chant to use:

'Long are our strides as we streamline the sky,
Far is our distance per unit of time
Lord of roads of magnificence am I
Lord of roads of painlessness am I'

This chant emphasizes speed combined with long strides, and de-emphasizes number of paces per minute.

Running tactics/strategy

During the walking of the second mile, it seemed as if the speed was reduced much more than 5%, as a result of the pain in the arches of both feet. But actually as it turned out, the speed was down just 5%.

Lesson of story: One can tend to err by exaggerating the extent to which pain is impairing performance, and using such exaggerations as excuses to not make an effort, slouch through, or give up.


@2009 David Virgil Hobbs