76 minute five mile run; new personal record using long-paced style

Friday March 13:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I put into effect recommendations I made to myself after the March 12 run. Keeping everything else the same, in the left shoe, I increased the padding under the big toe from 20 layers to 28 layers by adding an 8-layer m-wrap pad beneath the big toe; and, I started out with the left shoelaces tied very loosely.

During the run I had to stop twice to tighten the shoelaces on the left foot; for most of the run the left shoelaces were of medium tightness not very loose. Apparently as a result of replacing the toe-tube with the pad under the toe, the general looseness of the shoe was increased to the point where tying the laces very loosely, resulted in a feeling of looseness in the left shoe, especially in the heel.

The recommendations I made to myself after the Thursday March 12 run were:

"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 (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/77-minute-five-mile-run-only-10-seconds.html )".

Results foot-comfort wise:

Left foot: This was the most normal-feeling day so far: no numbness/tingliness; little pain; no feeling of unevenness under the forefoot; all of this combined with shoelaces at medium tightness not very loose tightness. During the 4th & 5th miles experienced some pain in the ball of the foot. Up till now I have been able to get rid of the numbness/tingliness & feeling of unevenness under the forefoot, only by tying the shoelaces very loosely.

Right foot: some pain in ball of foot during 4th & 5th miles.

Friday March 13 was the 4th day in a row that I did the 6 mile jog/walk. The number of miles run-walked per week is getting high. The times have consistently been under 80 minutes. I have stuck with the slower more flamboyant long-paced forefoot-pounding style of running.

I estimate the combination of these factors has now resulted in significant pain in the balls of both the left and the right feet, which has impaired performance.

Friday March 13:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). Time after 5th mile: 76:10, new personal record, 47 seconds faster than previous run (83:15 - 7:05 subtracted for delays = 76:10). Pauses were due to: tying shoelaces; tightening sweatpants; recording times after miles. I watched the 'split times' closely.

Times for each mile:

1st, run: 16:00
2nd, walked: 14:00
3rd, run: 16:00
4th, walked: 14:25
5th, run: 15:45

The footwear during the run was:

Left shoe:

foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
8 layers m-wrap pad under big toe (replacing toe tube) +
'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 at start, medium tightness most of the 6 miles.

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

On all the runs the shoes have contained the heel-to-toe light-blue colored, removable lightweight foam soles that came with the shoes when I bought them. I wear these over the padded gel & foam dark-blue & gray soles to which I attach the m-wrap pads and the gel forefoot pads.

Today for the first time, I taped a pad (the left big toe pad) to the surface of the light-blue-colored lightweight foam sole that came with the shoe.

Up till now I have not placed any pads on the surface of the light-blue-colored, lightweight, removable foam sole that came with the shoe.

A 3-dimensional impression of the entire foot has been molded into the light-blue-colored lightweight removable foam soles that came with the shoes.

By way of contrast, such has not occurred with the gel/foam dark-blue & gray colored sole that I place under the gel forefoot pads and the m-wrap pads, in part because the presence of the pads has prevented an impression of the forefoot area of the foot from forming in the gel/foam dark-blue & gray colored soles.

Footwear/podiatry wise the future for me in this project appears to be: pads taped to the lightweight light-blue-colored foam sole; acquisition of another sole identical to the lightweight light-blue-colored removable foam sole I now have; placement of the second new lightweight foam sole over the first one, so the pads are sandwiched between the two lightweight foam soles.

For now I will be satisfied to just tape the additional ball of foot padding to the surface of the removable foam soles that came with the shoes.

The temp was on average 32 degrees with wind at 8 mph during the run (5th mile completed at 7:30 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=13&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ).

A sweatshirt (hoodless gray), long-sleeved sportshirt, t-shirt,sleeveless t-shirt, visibility-vest, gloves, sweatpants, & shorts, were about right.

Advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: increase padding under ball of foot by 8 m-wrap layers

Right foot: increase padding under ball of foot by 8 m-wrap layers

Running tactics

Today I stubbornly stuck with the long-paced style of jogging that comes naturally to me and which I favor, even though it produces a speed that is about ten percent slower given no change in effort, compared to the jogging using medium length paces instead of long paces.

I feel I'd rather progress at a slower rate, using the long-paced style, as opposed to progressing at a faster rate using the medium-length-paces style.


@2009 David Virgil Hobbs

Night of Feb 19 running shoes footwear experiment & rant re tactics vs strategy, Smoot-Hawley

Thursday night of Feb 19 was the first night since Feb 5 that I would say that I was not "under the weather". I did the six mile course around the block, jogging the first third and fifth miles, walking the second fourth and sixth miles, timing myself after the fifth mile.

Night of Thursday Feb 19 the time was either 72 minutes or 82 minutes. I thought the time was 72 minutes starting at 336 AM Feb 20 to be exact, but I think that I actually started at 326 AM so the time was 82 minutes. I ended at 449 AM Feb 20, subtracted one minute for tying my shoes twice.

I had earlier decided that I could remember the start time, and that writing the start time down on a card was unnecessary. This might be wrong. When you write down the start time you can forget about the start time, which is relaxing and frees the mind to think of other things.

Digression:

Reminds me of how emphasis on rote memorization can be harmful as the mind is un-freed to do things other than memorization.

Likewise with emphasis on solving problems extremely quickly compared to the average man, the emphasis on solving problems quickly leads to the mind not being available for something other than mental sprinting.

End digression.

The night of Thursday Feb 19 time of 82 minutes for the five miles around the block would be a new personal record, 4 minutes faster than the new 86 minutes personal record set Feb 17. The fast time was again evidence of the power of taking a day off (the previous day there was no running).

The Adistar Control 5 shoes again worn today, were adequate for the cold and snow. The temp was 21 degrees, thin layer of soft snow on the ground, certain areas for several yards featured unavoidable slippery ice. The Adistar Control 5 shoes breathe more than the Adidas Powerline crosstrainers, the foot gets colder in the Control 5s.

Weather during Feb 19 run link:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=20&year=2009&month=2&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1

Footwear today:

Left shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad ball of foot and toes) +
CVS 'toe bandage' (toe tube) for big toe +
tube made of 2 layers Mueller M-wrap for index toe + tube made of 2 layers Mueller M-wrap for middle toe +
pad made of 16 layers Mueller m-wrap around sides and rear of heel.

Right shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad ball of foot and toes) +
pad made of 8 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to area beneath big, index and middle toes in toe area of gel forefoot pad +
CVS 'toe bandage' (toe tube) for index toe +
CVS 'toe bandage' (toe tube) for middle toe +
pad made of 16 layers Mueller m-wrap around sides and rear of heel.

As has always been the case thus far, the removeable insole that comes pre-installed in the shoes were also worn.

The glue used was 'CVS 'non-toxic' 'School Glue gel' ( http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/shop_product_detail.jsp?filterBy=&skuId=886499&productId=886499&navAction=jump&navCount=3 ), just $1 for a 5 oz bottle. This glue was able to hold layers of m-wrap together but the pad made of m-wrap affixed to the gel forefoot pad with the glue, was just very slightly stuck to the gel forefoot pad at the end of the run (though it had not moved out of place). This despite the fact that I used a 25 pound weight to press the m-wrap pad I was trying to glue to the gel pad. Seems the glue can get absorbed into the Muller brand m-wrap as a result of which it is not able to glue the m-wrap to the gel. When this glue hardens it becomes literally hard, it does not turn into a soft padding type gel like best I can recall certain other glues I know of (whose names I cannot now recall).

The foot-wear padding setup used today produced basically good results in terms of comfort except: the left heel was loose; at times there was a sense of unevenness beneath the left toe; at time slight numbness and tingliness were felt in the left foot.

Logical next steps:

1

Use 4 layers of mueller m-wrap as pad under big, index, and middle toes of left foot, glued to left gel forefoot 'toe bed' instead of m-wrap made from 2 layers of Mueller M-wrap on left middle and index toes. This will produce experimental contrast between 4 layers under the toes on the left foot and 8 layers under the toes on the right.

2

Call or visit the 'green' 'organic' 'natural' stores and try to find some glue that is non-toxic, becomes soft and gel-pad-like when it dries instead of hard, and has more sticking power than the CVS 'School Glue Gel'.

Having become aware of how foot pads can be used to detox the body, and how substances can toxify the body entering the body through the skin, I was interested in using a non-toxic glue.

Heck the blue CVS 'non-toxic School Glue Gel' looks and sounds so nice you could drink it up, it gives you fantasies that when it dries it is like the expensive blue gel pads, and it only costs a dollar, but it lacks sticking power, even when you press the glued substances together 'until dry' like the instructions say. That's alot to ask--to 'press together until dry'. I am not a carpenter equipped with all the tools of a carpentry shop.

During the Thursday night Feb 19 run, The left and the right shoes seemed almost equal during the run in terms of comfort. However 45 minutes after the run concluded, pressure heat and itchiness around the left big toe and left index toe began to be felt. This was not the case with the right foot.

Running Tactics

I've noticed that in the first and second miles I tend to go too slowly (I don't use a warmup, the first mile IS my warmup), and that by nature I go fast in the fourth and fifth miles. Thus I reminded myself not to slack off in the first and second miles; and I reminded myself to take advantage of the fact that by nature I am energetic in the fourth and fifth miles.

I heard some political candidate (McCain) boast that he knew the difference between tactics and strategy whereas his opponent did not know the difference. I scoff at this. Fact is, you could know the difference between tactics and strategy, and still be completely inadequate as a military officer.

Words have flexible meanings, exactly what a word means changes over time, this is a fact of life you can ask any linguist.

Tactics refer to for example the tactics of a particular battle, whereas strategy technically speaking refers to a strategy used for more than one battle but who cares?

A sign of incompetence is failing to realize the similarity between tactics and strategy, and how one blends into the other in terms of linguistics.

A strategy could be composed of a set of tactics applied to several different situations. Therefore to see a radical difference between strategy and tactics when in fact no such radical difference exists, could be a symptom of incompetence and/or a cause of incompetence.

Along this line, it is IMHO as of now nutty (a la Senator McCain) to talk about how in the depression of the 1930s a government action carried out was a 'mistake' and so therefore should not be carried out now, when the situation now is completely different from the situation in the 1930s 80 years ago.

Aside from the fact that the alleged mistake was not actually a mistake.

I re-iterate that the idea that we can now succeed by now doing what should have been done but was not done way back in the 1930s,is foolish, because this is 80 years after the 1930s.

Comparing the 1930s to 2009 is like comparing 1950 to 1870. Think of how different the world was in 1950 compared to 1870. Think of a civil war battlefield with its muskets, cannon and horses compared to a 1950s type battlefield with nuclear weapons, tanks, machine guns, and jet planes.


@2009 David Virgil Hobbs