74 minute painful 5-mile run using long & quick paces style

Monday March 23 I did not run due to: things to do, fatigue, weather. Again after six days running every day a day without a run, as in the Biblical sabbath.

Tuesday March 24:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I attempted to deal with the pain in the arches of the foot problem experienced during the previous two runs, by departing from the advice I gave myself after the March 22 run, and instead increasing the padding under both heels by 8 m-wrap layers. The idea behind this was that the pain in the arches of the feet had been caused by excess difference between the vertical level of the heel and the vertical level of the ball of the foot, due to the increased padding under the ball of the foot (in both feet).

Prior to the run I put on the shoes with the added padding, and felt some pain behind the toenail of the big toe, caused by pressure rubbing against the shoe. My novel solution: I took an oval shaped bar of sandalwood soap, and wedge it into the shoe inside the shoe, to expand the shoe in the area where the irritation to the toe occurred. I left the bar of soap inside the shoe for at least an hour. Then I removed the bar of soap and put the shoe on. The result was complete lack of irritation in the affected area. I expected a good result because: sandalwood is fab subtance with a fab smell; the sandalwood soap rubbing off on the shoe provides some lubrication; the piece of soap was shaped almost perfectly for wedging into the big-toe area of the shoe.

Footwear advice I gave to myself after the previous 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 (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/72-minute-5-mile-long-paced-run.html ).

Tuesday March 24:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked), using for the first five miles, style C, featuring an emphasis on BOTH long-length-paces AND ALSO a high number of steps per minute , taking breaks to record split-times.

Time after 5th mile: 73:54 (91:24 - 17:30 subtracted for break-times = 73:54).

Pauses were due to: recuperation from pain, removing excess layer clothing, tying shoes, recording split-times; the unusually high amount of break-time was due to pain experienced in the first and second miles;

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

'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'

This is the original chant, the first chant that I stuck with for any length of time; it emphasizes BOTH long-paces and quick paces.

Aside from pain-caused-impairment, the time was unimpressive, which leads me to wonder if a weakness in this chant used for styles C/F, might be that it contains no line asserting that I, the runner, am moving at a high speed. By way of contrast, the chants used for styles A/D (short, quick steps), & B/E (long steps), have evolved to both contain lines asserting speed:

'Great is our speed as we streamline the sky, Many are our steps per unit of time" for A/D (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/75-minute-5-mile-quick-paced-using.html ); "'Long/Maxed are our strides as we streamline the sky, Far is our distance per unit of time" for B/E (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/72-minute-5-mile-long-paced-run.html ).

Mile split times recorded (split-times of previous style-C run March 17 in parentheses):

I walked slowly for about 150 yards before starting the run.

1st, run: 15:34 (14:57) pain in left calf
2nd, walked: 13:30 (13:40) pain (worse than 1st mile) in left calf and especially in right outside-of-lower-front-leg muscle
3rd, run: 15:30 (15:20)
4th, walked: 13:54 (13:50)
5th, run: 15:24 (15:15)

Footwear in Left shoe:

NEW 8 m-wrap layers pad under heel +
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

Footwear in Right shoe:

NEW 8 m-wrap layers pad under heel +
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 40 degrees with wind at avg 1 mph during the run (5th mile completed at 9:05 PM):
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=24&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 gray lightweight sweatshirt, long-sleeved collar-less sportshirt made of t-shirt-type material, t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt, visibility-vest, sweatpants, shorts, and wool winter hat were too warm.

After the first half-mile I removed the wool winter hat. I continued to feel too warm. After one mile had been run, I removed the sweatshirt.

I ran/walked miles 3 to 6 wearing only the long-sleeved shirt made of t-shirt-type cloth, a t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt, and the visibility vest on my upper body, shorts and sweatpants on my lower body; and felt about right in the 40 degree night.

Advice to myself for the next run:

To allow for flexibility in padding, build 4 m-wrap layer pads for: both heels, both balls of feet, and left big toe. Adjust padding so that the heels are not so high that the result is pain in the lower legs; adjust padding so that the m-wrap layer-thickness of padding on top of the molding lightweight insole under the balls of the feet, do not exceed the m-wrap layer-thickness of padding under the heels on top of the same insole, by more than 12 m-wrap layers (because: when the difference between m-wrap-layer-thickness under ball of the foot & m-wrap-layer-thickness under the heel is 16 m-wrap layers, there is pain in the arch of the foot; when the difference is 8 m-wrap-layers there is not pain in the arch of the foot). Or make no change wait to see if there is a natural adjustment, and 'tough it out'..

Interesting thing is that an 8 m-wrap-layer-thick pad when compressed with the fingers is only about 1 millimeter thick.

Apparently the padding has been pushed to the max, to the point where an additional 1 millimeter of padding under the ball of the foot produces pain in the arch of the foot, to the point where an additional 1 millimeter of padding under the heel produces pain the muscles of the lower leg.

Go ahead and scoff at the laborious pedantry of blog entries such as this--just remember how easy it is to end up a tortured loser, completely lost with regards to differences of a millimeter here and a millimeter there that can mean, so to speak, the difference between heaven and hell--if careful records are not kept.

Today's experience in footwear showed that I was correct in estimating that reducing the difference in elevation between the ball of the foot and the heel by increasing the elevation of the heel by just 1 millimeter, would eliminate the pain in the arch of the foot. Problem was that the added padding under the heel caused pains in the muscles of the lower legs, especially in the right leg.

This reminds me that it appears that doctors these days, have a weakness: they under-emphasize the phenomenon wherein an intervention that reduces the risk of impairment or death due to a given disease X, increases the risk of impairment or death to another disease Y.

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 "D Medium-length-paced, emphasis on paces-per-minute, no pauses to note split-times".

Chant to use:

'Many are our steps per unit of time
Great is our speed as we streamline the sky
Lord of roads of magnificence am I
Lord of roads of painlessness am I'

Running tactics/strategy

Today I felt that I could feel how pain in one mile tires one out for the next mile even if the next mile is painless; I felt I could feel how pain in a previous day tires one out for a subsequent day.

In the second mile which was walked, the pain in the muscle located at the outside-of-lower-front-right-leg, was very significant. This is the muscle on the front outside of the shin that connects the ankle to the knee. Yet still the mile was ten seconds faster than the second mile, which was walked, on March 17 when I last used the style C that I used today.

Seems running at a 15 minute mile pace has become habitual for me. I wonder whether I should try an alternative: walking the second and fourth miles at a leisurely pace instead of at a competitive pace, combined with running the first third and fifth miles, at a more competitive faster pace.

Best I can recall when, a few years ago, I had the dream about going six miles alternating between a mile run and a mile walked, the idea was to combine leisurely walked miles with competitively run run miles. But what this has morphed into, is three miles run at what for me is a competitive brisk pace, combined with two miles walked at a very brisk competitive pace, plus at the end, one mile walked at a leisurely pace.

@2009 David Virgil Hobbs

76:15 for 5 miles--I break my personal record by 3 minutes

Sunday March 8:

Prior to the run footwear-wise I put into effect the recommendations I made to myself after the March 7 run. These were:

"Left foot: increase padding in heel area from 16 layers to 24 layers; loosen shoelaces...Right foot: no change in footwear, be careful re soreness on outside front area of pinkie toe.
(http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/around-block-for-five-miles-in-eight.html )".

Results foot-comfort wise:

Left foot: slight pain under middle and index toes in first mile; numbness and tingliness almost completely gone for entire 6 miles; sensory illusions of unevenness beneath forefoot greatly diminished; sensory illusion of bump under right toe second half of run; heel a little loose throughout run.

Right foot: almost perfect no complaints.

Sunday March 8:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). Time after 5th mile: 76:15, new personal record, beating old personal record of 79 minutes (rounded off to nearest minute) set February 25.

First 3 miles run/walked in 46:55 (47:15 - 20 sec break for tightening right shoe). Prior to 4th mile, 5:45 length urination-break; 4th mile, walked: 14:00; 5th mile, run: 15:20. Perhaps the 'urination-break' energized me for the 4th & 5th miles a little.

When I set my previous personal record Feb 25,
I noted that "I was forced to take an 11 minute break after the 1st mile, and an 8 minute break after the 4th mile" (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/running-and-footwear-most-recent.html ). The amount of time subtracted for breaks was 6 minutes March 8, 19 minutes Feb 25.

I estimate that I would be 15% faster on a 'quality' indoor track such as Harvard's Gordon Indoor track center due to: being able to wear lighter shoes/foot-wear; the flat as opposed to hilly terrain; the trampoline-like nature of the track; the cleaner air; the way the pebbly surface of the track catches the shoes.

The goal I have set for myself is to get down to 48 minutes for the five mile course with the 1st 3rd & 5th miles run and the 2nd & 4th miles walked.

Accounting for the 15%, my goal could be said to be 48 X 1.15 = 55.2 minutes, for run/walking the outdoors road course on the very hard sidewalk and road surfaces.

At the rate (exponential not geometric) I have been improving since Feb 25, I will be down to 55.2 minutes outdoors on the road in 3 months. That would be June 4, just in time to render my services to the world's greatest baseball and soccer teams, and to begin to impress the world's greatest basketball and tackle football teams, prior to chickening out of playing tackle football due to the risk of injury. And that's not even taking into account that Feb 25 there were 19 minutes of breaks, whereas March 8 there were only 6 minutes breaks.

At the current rate of progress (exponential),
I will be setting the world record for my age group in 10 months, during January 2010, if I have enough food to keep me running that is. (see http://www.arrs.net/SA_O10K.htm ). To do this of course I would have to change from walking the 2nd and 4th miles to running them.

Seems like jealous people are out to get me. Looks like at the exact time when everything comes together for me, with me being on top of the world in a million different categories, everything will collapse on me as the economy collapses.

I don't see how I can survive and become a great athlete unless I morph into some kind of concrete-eating bacteria that is impervious to freezing cold temperatures. Then again were I to morph into a cold-resistant concrete-eating bacteria, I suppose I would no longer have the bodily structure that allows me to become a great athlete.

Survival of the fittest I suppose: the people in the cities starve and freeze to death, to be replaced by the superior cold-resistant concrete-eating bacteriummmies.

Advice to myself for the next run:

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.

The footwear during the run was:

Left 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 & 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.

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.

The temp was 55-60 degrees during the run
(http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=8&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ). A t-shirt, visibility-vest, sweatpants, shorts, was slightly too warm, seems doing without sweatpants would be better.


@2009 David Virgil Hobbs

Around the block for five miles in eight-two minutes

Saturday March 7 Run

Reminds me of the song I heard when I was a child...'around the world in eighty days...'

Prior to the run footwear-wise I put into effect the recommendations I made to myself after the March 6 run. These were:

"Left foot: increase ball-of-foot & toes-baseline padding from 8 layers to 12; increase toes-area-padding from 16 layers to 20. Continue using the 'pretaping' type m-wrap...Right foot: increase ball-of-foot & toes-baseline padding from 8 layers to 12; continue using 'multipurpose' type m-wrap. Eliminate padding gap under line that separates toes from ball of foot (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/running-footwear-continued-experiments.html)".

With both left and right shoes: I used completely new fresh m-wrap pads; I engineered the pad for the ball-of-foot/base-of-toes-line and the pad for the toes so that the two pads fit together seamlessly; I used tape not glue so as to avoid layers of m-wrap being hardened by glue; I first taped down a 8 layer pad for the ball-of-foot and base-of-toes and a 16 layer pad for the toes with one piece of tape; then on top of this I taped down a 4 layer pad for the ball-of-foot/base-of-toes-line and a 4 layer pad for the toes area with another piece of tape.

This double-layered approach could be advantageous when it comes to tinkering with padding levels in the future.

Following the orders I gave myself I used the 'pretaping' type m-wrap in the left foot and the 'multipurpose' m-wrap in the right foot.

The thicknesses in terms of layers of m-wrap in pads that are most natural to work with are: 2, 4, 8, 16. This is because I fold the m-wrap repeatedly to create a pad.

When I cut the pad out of the folded m-wrap, I place a piece of card representing the desired cutout pattern on the pad and draw around the edge of the card to draw the pattern on to the pad, and then cut the pad out according to the desired pattern.

When I do this, I position as much of the perimeter of the piece of card as possible to align with the edge of the folded m-wrap that is basically all one piece; this helps to keep the layers of the pad aligned with each other. Thus there is advantage in folding into thicknesses of 2, 4, 8, and 16.

Saturday March 7:

I ran the round the block course again (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). Time after 5th mile: same as Friday March 6, 82 minutes at 4:38 PM. Only 50 seconds was subtracted from the time for breaks such as tying shoelaces.

In the left foot: I felt some pain in the left index and middle toes in the first mile. After the first mile I tightened the shoelaces in the left foot, because I felt a looseness in the heel. After the shoelaces were tightened, for the rest of the run I felt some slight tingliness and numbness but not pain. After the first mile I felt the sensory illusion of unevenness under the forefoot.

In the right foot: The foot felt just about perfect the entire six miles. Whatever slight discomfort I felt in the foot, was I estimate simply what someone who has been running for less than half a year would expect doing six miles on concrete-type surfaces.

I developed a slight soreness on the outside of the pinkie toe on the right foot prior to the run. I estimate this was because I attempted to go to sleep wearing the running shoes as I thought such might stretch the shoes to the proper extent or naturally acclimatize my feet to the shoes. I wore the shoes for a few hours as I lay in bed but I could not get to sleep while wearing them. Thus I woke up late in a sleep-deprived state.

My advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: increase padding in heel area from 16 layers to 24 layers; loosen shoelaces.

Right foot: no change in footwear, be careful re soreness on outside front area of pinkie toe.

The footwear during the run was:

Left 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 & 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
Adhesives: tape, not glue.
'Pretaping' type m-wrap used.

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.

During the run, as I ran up Exchange Street, this tall heavy clean-shaven East Asian type man wearing glasses with thick dark frames saw me, and said in a loud tone of voice, 'he's handsome!'. He was walking with some people in the direction of the big local restaurant called 'the Chateau' ( http://www.chateaurestaurant.com/ ). Maybe he was white not East Asian but his skin was white.

Yesterday during the run a couple of 'Latino' teenagers were backing out of a driveway blocking my path as I ran down the sidewalk towards their car. I stopped and patiently waited for them to pull out. They insisted that they should freeze giving me the opportunity to run around behind them. Seemed they desired to express themselves as respectfully courteous. Looking into the driver's face, he seemed to gaze at me with admiration, as if he knew that I would be able to get in shape and become a star.

I hear alot about crimes committed by various types of immigrants. In contrast to such are the Hispanics or 'Latinos' living in the neighborhood now who were not here ten or fiftenn years ago. They all seem like good folks who just want to live law-abiding lives in peace with other ethnic groups.

I'm famous around here for my 'Pele'-like soccer tricks, sprinting 20 yards full speed keeping the ball off the ground but close to the body using alternating left and right feet. To a lesser extent I am infamous for my lack of endurance.

The round-the-block neighborhood is much more lively on weekdays compared to Saturdays.

Whatever the day, today as most other days there was the problem of lots of cars and the fumes they emit. I got whiffs of a few different types of car-type-fumes during the run,. This problem is better late at night and early in the morning.

The weather today was 55-60 degrees during the run (http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=7&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1 ). A long-sleeved sportshirt, a sleeveless t-shirt, the visibility vest, sweatpants and shorts were warm enough, maybe too warm; not wearing the sweatshirt was a good idea.

I estimate that a product that should be easy to find but is not is: a cool, lightweight vest built basically for the pockets it has that joggers can put things in.

Keys etc are a heavy weight for the thighs as they move while running when placed in pockets in pants. The pockets in the pants are shallow and you always feel as if what you have placed in them could slip out with disastrous results.

Strange that the visibility vest I bought at the Running Shoes store, Marathon Sports in Cambridge MA (http://www.marathonsports.com/ ), does not have any pockets for keys and stuff in it.

A so-called 'hip bag', a small bag attached to a belt is a possibility but such could result in physical problems for a jogger.

Running & footwear -- continued experiments in doing without toe-tubes

Thursday March 5:

I implemented all the recommendations--for the alternative of not using toe tubes--that I made to myself in the previous March 4 blog-post (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/03/running-and-footwear-most-recent.html). I ran the round-the-block course in the afternoon (1st 3rd 5th miles run, 2nd 4th 6th miles walked). My time after the 5th mile was 82 minutes at 4:04 PM. Seven minutes were subtracted from the time for various breaks such as tying shoelaces.

I felt some pain in left middle and index toes during the first two miles, a sort of strained joints pain. The right foot felt almost perfect throughout the six miles.

Run footwear:

Left shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
8-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
8-layers m-wrap pad under 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 +
16 layers m-wrap pad around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: tape, not glue.

Right shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
8-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
8-layers m-wrap pad under 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
Adhesives: Glue used. Tape used for the layers added to the layers used the previous run.

After the March 5 run I found that in the right foot, a gap had developed in the padding, under the line that separates the toes from the ball of the foot.

Friday March 6:

I did the round the block course again, finishing at 4:56. The time was 80 minutes after the 5th mile. 6 minutes of various necessary breaks such as tying shoe-laces, discarding a jacket that was too warm, were subtracted from the time.

Footwear during run:

Left shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
8-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
8-layers m-wrap pad under line between toes and ball of foot +
16 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
Adhesives: tape not glue.
Padding type: 'Pretaping' type (as opposed to 'multipurpose') m-wrap used for first time

For the first time I used the 'pretaping under-wrap' version of m-wrap, for the padding in the left foot. Up until this time the only version of m-wrap I used was the 'multi-purpose' version of m-wrap. Apparently the 'pretaping under-wrap' version is slightly thicker and softer. Mueller as of now far as I can tell, does not at its website list the 'pretaping under-wrap' version of m-wrap (http://www.muellersportsmed.com/Retail_Tape_and_Wrap.htm). I bought the 'pretaping'-type m-wrap at Olympia Sports in Cambridge (http://www.olympiasports.net/corp/index.jsp?page=storeLocator&locationCode=1215&zip=02451&city=Cambridge&locName=FRESH+POND+MALL).
Right shoe: Footwear/padding same as previous run
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
8-layers m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
8-layers m-wrap pad under line between toes and ball of foot on right foot +
20 layers m-wrap pad attached to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
16 layers m-wrap around sides and rear of heel
Adhesives: glue & tape. .
Padding type: 'Multipurpose' version of m-wrap used.

For the second day I used only tape in the left shoe instead of glue, and tape as well as glue in the right. I find that some layers of the m-wrap are hardened by the glue.

During the run:

In the left foot: in the first two miles, there was some pain in the middle and index toes; in miles 4 and 5 there was a feeling of unevenness under the forefoot, which went away 15 minutes after the run ended; in mile 5 there was some pain in the ball of the foot; in mile 6 some pain in the area of the joints that connect the foot to the toes.

In the right foot: in miles 5 & 6, slight pain in the ball of the foot area and in the line marking the connection of the toes to the ball of the foot.

The temp March 6 was in the high 40s (http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=6&year=2009&month=3&ID=KMAWESTO6&type=3&width=500&showsolarradiation=1&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1).
I started out wearing: light jacket, sweatshirt, long-sleeved shirt, t-shirt, sleeveless t-shirt. This was too hot. I discarded the light jacket and then the clothing was appropriate.

My advice to myself for the next run:

Left foot: increase ball-of-foot & toes-baseline padding from 8 layers to 12; increase toes-area-padding from 16 layers to 20. Continue using the 'pretaping' type m-wrap.

Right foot: increase ball-of-foot & toes-baseline padding from 8 layers to 12;continue using 'multipurpose' type m-wrap. Eliminate padding gap under line that separates toes from ball of foot.

Since March 5, the pad for the line between the toes and the foot, and the pad for the ball of the foot, have morphed into one pad.

I estimate the main factor inhibiting speed improvement now is still foot discomfort. Even when the pain is mild, there results a holding-back that impairs performance.

My time would be much faster on a track like the Gordon indoor track at Harvard University.

On the hard concrete-like roads and sidewalks, I have to wear heavily padded shoes right out of the box. The gel/foam insole and the gel forefoot pads I added are heavy. The Gordon track: has a pebbly surface the sole of the foot can latch on to; is springy like a trampoline; and, is indoors--its air-cleaners take alot of the pollution out of the air.

Running and footwear -- most recent developments -- 5 miles in 79 minutes new personal record set

Footwear during February 21 run as reported in the Feb 21 blog post (my last post re running/footwear prior to this one) was:

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

After the run Feb 21 I advised myself that the 'logical next steps' in footwear were as follows:

"Increase padding in pad made of m-wrap for left middle index and big toes from 8 layers to 12 layers; add 4-layer pad made of m-wrap to line between toes and ball of foot on right foot; add 4-layer m-wrap pad to ball-of-foot area in left and right feet."

Prior to the Feb 25 run I implemented the recommendations I made to myself after the Feb 21 run. The result in footwear for the Feb 25 run was:

Left shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
4-layer m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
CVS 'toe bandage' (toe tube) for big toe +
pad made of 12 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
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 for ball of foot and toes) +
4-layer m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
pad made of 16 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
4-layer pad made of m-wrap to line between toes and ball of foot on right foot +
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.

Wednesday Feb 25 I did the round-the-block course, 6 miles, run 1st, 3rd, & 5th miles, walk 2nd, 4th, & 6th miles, take time after 5th mile. I finished up at 12:56 PM. The conditions were good, no snow/ice on the ground. My time over the first 5 miles was a new personal record of 79 minutes.

Note: I was forced to take an 11 minute break after the 1st mile, and an 8 minute break after the 4th mile--but during the run, I did not feel that these breaks gave me extra energy for the run.

Feb 25 the footwear produced a run that was almost perfect comfort-wise, the best run so far comfort-wise; meaning, nothing significant to complain about in terms of pain in the feet.

The next run was Wednesday March 4. Again I did the round-the-block course, 6 miles, run 1st, 3rd, & 5th miles, walk 2nd, 4th, & 6th miles, take time after 5th mile. I finished up at 6:08 PM. Significant segments of the run involved having to run on snow/ice. The air pollution during the run was worse than the Feb 25 run as the run was during rush hour. The time over the first 5 miles was 81 minutes.

Note: I subtracted 4 minutes from an actual time of 85 minutes, due to delays involving: tying shoe-laces (traditional for me to subtract time for this); having to come to a complete halt in segments where the sidewalk was so covered in snow that I could not run on the sidewalk, and simultaneously it was not possible to run on the road (traditional for me to subtract time for such). Traditionally, as was the case with regards to the the March 4 time, I do not subtract any time from the final time due to the slowing down that occurs from having to run over snow and ice that can be run on.

For the March 4 run, I did not wear any toe-tubes on any toes. The result in terms of footwear for the March 4 run was:

Left shoe:
foam/gel heel-to-toe insole +
'toe bed' (forefoot gel pad for ball of foot and toes) +
4-layer m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
pad made of 12 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
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 for ball of foot and toes) +
4-layer m-wrap pad under ball-of-foot area +
pad made of 16 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to toe area of gel forefoot pad beneath big, index and middle toes +
4-layer pad made of m-wrap to line between toes and ball of foot on right foot +
pad made of 16 layers Mueller m-wrap around sides and rear of heel

As it turned out, during the March 4 run I felt some pain in: the joint between the ball of the foot and the toes in both feet (pain worse in left foot than in right foot); the ball of the foot in both feet; the foremost digits of the middle, index and big toes in both feet.

Of podiatric note here is the fact that removing the tube around the big toe of the left foot led to or coincided with some pain in: the joint between the ball of the foot and the toes; the ball of the foot; and, the foremost digits of the middle index and big toes.

Similarly, removing the tubes around the index and middle toes in the right foot led to or coincided with some pain in: the joint between the ball of the foot and the toes; the ball of the foot; and, the foremost digits of the middle index and big toes.

Thus we note the phenomenon that removing padding from one area of the foot led to pain in other areas of the same foot.

I hypothesize this could be due to: me unconsciously or semi-consciously, 'gingerly' reducing the level of stress placed on the areas of the foot from which padding was removed, resulting in increased stress placed on other areas of the foot; and/or, the removed padding had beneficial side-effects in terms of positioning of other areas of the foot different from the previously padded area of the foot.

At this point, I come to a fork in the road podiatry-wise. I can press on to see if a satisfactory solution can be come up with that does away with the toe-tubes, or, I can return to the approach that involves toe-tubes, going back to the Feb 25 setup.

I now estimate the without-toe-tubes approach should next involve:

For left foot: adding pad made of 8 layers Mueller M-wrap to line between ball of foot and toes; increasing the Mueller M-wrap padding level for the left ball of foot area from 4 layers to 8 layers; increasing the Mueller M-wrap padding level beneath the foremost digits of the middle, index and big toes from 12 layers to 20 layers.

For right foot: increasing Mueller M-wrap padding level for line between ball of foot and toes from 4 layers to 8 layers; increasing the Mueller M-wrap padding level for the right ball of foot area from 4 layers to 8 layers; increasing the Mueller M-wrap padding level beneath the foremost digits of the middle, index and big toes from 16 layers to 20 layers.

Doing away with the toe-tubes is attractive because: one no longer has to bother with putting on the toe-tubes prior to a run; and, toe-tubes involve padding on the sides and tops of the toes that is not needed but that takes up space in the foot producing constriction and heat.

I now estimate that the approach to running featured in this blog-post, which is tinkering, 'plodding', meticulous, patient, hard-working, and thoughtful with regards to footwear, combined with a refusal to tolerate any deviation from my own natural style of running being forced upon me due to the pain that arises when a human runs on an unnatural surface such as concrete, has produced excellent results in terms of speed improvement.

I estimate the meticulous foot-wear work combined with a refusal to tolerate being forced into deviation from the natural due to pain caused by inadequate padding, are what allowed me to break the impasse or plateau of 90 minutes for this course, where I was stuck for several runs over the course of a few weeks.


@2009 David Virgil Hobbs

Feb 21 morning running shoes footwear experiment

The run I planned for the night of Friday February 20, did not get started until 450 AM Saturday Feb 21. Again 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.

Morning of Sat Feb 21 the time was 82 minutes same as previous run. Previous run I had a day's rest, this run I did not.

I wrote the start time down on an index card with a pen, this was relaxing, not having to worry about remembering the start time.

I concluded back when I first ran/walked the round-the-block course of 5 miles in 89 minutes, that I was 1 minute faster on this course than I was on the Main and Moody St 5 mile course. 82 minutes over the five miles on the round-the-block course is real progress.

I remember the days when I would give up after running half of one block on the round-the-block course, due to foot pain and calf pain (around the block twice on the round-the-block course is a mile). Indoor soccer shoes without pads just did'nt cut it for long distance running on concrete, and my calves and the sole area of my feet were weaker back then.

But I did'nt give up and when I got to the speed where foot pain began to develop I persevered and patiently worked out a combination of carefully chosen shoes and footwear add-ons that have produced a situation that is better and better on a daily basis foot-comfort-wise.

What has been happening on the runs has proven that I was correct when I concluded that the reason I had reached a plateau at 90 minutes, not getting any faster than 90 minutes day after day, was that I was experiencing excessive pain in my feet running in the Adidas Powerline cross-trainers.

I was like a slick quarterback the way I figured out the problem and solved it.

Since the time I patiently began working on choosing shoes and then adding padding to the chosen shoes, my personal record time on the round-the-block 5-mile has dropped from 89 minutes to 82 minutes, which I consider equal to 83 minutes on the Main & Moody 5-mile, where my personal best was 90 minutes.

In the two weeks since my first day using these shoes Feb 8, I have dropped my personal best from 89 minutes on the round-the-block course to 82 minutes, an improvement of 8.5%; the 90 minute plateau at which I stagnated has been broken, and a new plateau of 80 minutes has been reached.

Whereas during the plateau phase my rate of progress was such that I could expect to get down to 48 minutes on the run/walk five mile in four years, after all the patient careful work re footwear, looks like I'll be down to 48 minutes in just two months.

Weather during Feb 21 run link:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?day=21&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 for ball of foot and toes) +
CVS 'toe bandage' (toe tube) for big toe +
pad made of 8 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to area beneath big, index and middle toes, glued to toe area of gel forefoot pad +
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 for ball of foot and toes) +
pad made of 16 layers Mueller M-wrap glued to area beneath big, index and middle toes glued to 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.

Note: Previous blog-post, I accidentally mis-reported that there were 8 layers of Mueller m-wrap in the pad glued to the forefoot gel pad toe area for the right foot. Actually there were 16 layers of Mueller m-wrap in this pad. Wrapping the tape around the hand eight times produces 16 layers, not eight.

Notable in the run today, is the fact that the pad made of m-wrap attached to the forefoot gel pad, was deliberately for experimental purposes, 8 m-wrap layers thick in the left shoe, and 16 m-wrap layers thick in the right shoe.

The foot-wear padding setup used today produced basically good results in terms of comfort except that in the second half of the fifth mile, which was run, discomforts were felt: slight pain in the middle and index toes of the left foot, slight pain in the line that marks the intersection between the toes and the ball of the foot in the right foot, and slight pain in the balls of the left and right feet.

I attribute this pain to the increase in speed that has suddenly come about for me, from 89 minutes to 82 minutes in I guess just 13 days. At the faster speed, certain areas of the foot take more of a pounding.

Generally I was pleased that today for the entire time except the second half of the fifth mile, I could run in exactly the style that comes naturally to me, without having to inhibit this style due to pain produced by the foot hitting the hard unnatural concrete surface.

How great it is to be able to run in one's natural uninhibited style on any surface including unnatural concrete--it's an underestimated pleasure and benefit.

People underestimate the value of such pleasures/benefits, because they have become indoctrinated into the idea that pleasures are expensive, as if the great pleasures and healthy things in life are all bought with alot of money.

For the pleasure of being able to run on any surface in one's own natural style, uninhibited by pain/discomfort, all you need is about $130 for running shoes plus about $30 for pads etc to put into the running shoes = total $160, plus patience with tinkering with pads. That's not alot of money but the pleasure/benefit is still there.

Logical next steps:

Increase padding in pad made of m-wrap for left middle index and big toes from 8 layers to 12 layers; add 4-layer pad made of m-wrap to line between toes and ball of foot on right foot; add 4-layer m-wrap pad to ball-of-foot area in left and right feet.

If this increased padding is implemented, there will result probably excess constriction of the foot and excess heat for the foot. As of now my long term goal is to combine such increases in padding with getting rid of some or all of the toe-tubes (or replacing the toe-tubes with thinner home-made toe-tubes). Currently I am wearing a toe-tube on my left big toe and on on my right index and middle toes. Maybe the upper part of a toe-tube could be removed leaving just the lower half of the toe-tube, held in place with m-wrap.

Today the glue used again was the 'non-toxic CVS School Glue Gel'; weak as it may be it served its purpose again at least for one run.

90 minutes after the conclusion of the run morning of Sat Feb 21, I was still wearing the shoes I ran in and there was no discomfort except excessive heat in both the left and right feet.

Running Tactics

Tactics Sat Feb 21 were the same as the previous day: counteract the natural tendency to go too slow in the first two miles; exploit the natural tendency to be loose and energetic in the fourth and fifth miles.


@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

Running Shoes + 1 layer gel heel-to-toe insole + 1 layer 'toe bed' + 'toe tubes' = lighter-weight solution for no pain?

Thursday during the day I did not get a chance to scout around town over the phone, finding out which stores had a big selection of foot padding type stuff.

Thursday evening I visited the local CVS and Walgreens stores looking for foot padding type stuff that would provide an improvement over the two layers of heel to toe gel padding solution used Wednesday night, which was a heavy solution. Seemed as if both stores carried more items of this type of stuff than they used to previously.

Possible buys I found at Walgreens:


Ball of foot:

Gel padding $2.60 on sale
Covers ball of foot area only. Hard to believe that it would not slip out of place during use. One suspects that the reason the prices for this thing have been repeatedly slashed, is that it slips out of place.

Fore-foot

'Toe Beds', gel padding for ball of foot and toes area, 1 pair, $5.50

Toes

Gel corn-protectors pair for $6.50

Gel toe protector 1 for $6.50

Toe bandages, 3 4" tubes $4.50

Heel-to-toe insoles

Dr. Scholls gel, $15

Aero 3 gel, $12.50

Walgreens gel, $10

Lightweight foam padding, $3


Possible buys I found at CVS:

Ball of foot

LifeFitness gel pad, pair, $8

Toes

Gel corn-protectors pair for $6.00

Gel toe protector 1 for $6.00

Foam toe bandages three approx 3" bandages (diameters 1 small tube, 1 medium tube, 1 large tube), $5
Seems like great deal given you get a narrow tube, a mid width tube, and a wide width tube and you can then cut these tubes up and fit them over your toes.

Heel-to-toe insoles

CVS Lightweight foam, $2.5-4

Lifefitness Gel insoles, $11-13

CVS gel insole, $11

Dr. Scholl's gel, $ 15

Aero $14

SoleX, on sale, $23

Time was running out and I had to make a decision fast before Walgreens closed, so that I would be able to mount a worthy experiment in foot padding during the night's run. What would be the wise decision in terms of what to buy tonight?

I decided in the end to make just one relatively inexpensive purchase: the 'Profoot' brand 'toe beds' sold at Walgreens ( http://profootcare.com/p-toe-beds.html ). These 'toe beds' pad the ball of the foot and the toe areas, which are my problem areas pain-wise.

The instructions on the package were to remove the protective wrapper and glue the gel 'toe bed' to the shoe. I did not want to glue it to the shoes as I fantasize about the possibility of returning the shoes to the store to obtain something better instead. I glued the toe beds to these heel-to-foot, gray and blue gel insoles; I did not want to glue them to the blue and orange gel insoles that I use in my indoor soccer shoes, because I am not sure I need such ball-of-foot and toes gel padding in the indoor soccer shoes.

I felt as if it was a stroke of genius on my part that for for the Thursday night Feb 12 run, in the shoes I put the detachable insole that came with the Adidas Adistar Control 5' shoes ON TOP of the blue and gray gel insole to which I had glued the 'Profoot' brand 'toe beds'. This produced a smooth surface and decreased the possibility of the gel 'toe beds' being forced out of place due to the running.

Night of Thursday February 12 I jog-walked the outdoors 5 mile Main and Moody course in 98 minutes; I was able to jog in my natural style featuring heel and ball of foot striking the ground almost simultaneously, without pain for the three miles run during the five mile course--except that during the third mile there was some pain in the left big toe and in the index and middle toes of the right foot. For most of the five miles the feet in the balls of the foot area felt numb and tingly. The run was done in what I call an 'under-the-weather' physical state, Thursday was the third day in a row on which I had run this five mile course.

Although during the run it felt like an annoying prominent ridge of padding was under the big toe of each foot, and it felt as if the padding and/or the socks had gotten irritatingly crinkled up under the ball of the left foot--apparently such perceptions were merely sensory illusions.

When I got home and sat down I was suprised to find that it no longer felt as if there was an elevated prominent ridge of padding under the left and right big toes; and I no longer felt as if the padding and/or sock under the ball of the left foot had gotten irritatingly crumpled up (I noticed this sensory illusion phenom on a previous run).

After the run I found that the 'Profoot' brand 'toe beds' that I had glued to the gray foam side of the gray and blue gel insoles, had maintained their affixed position on the gray and blue insoles, they had not been moved out of place.

I conclude that a possible solution to the pain problem would be to combine the padding used Thursday night Feb 12, with toe tubes or toe caps over the left big toe and the middle and index right toes. This would be lighter than the first solution that eliminated pain, the two layers of heel-to-toe gel.

Thursday I could not help but notice, that Adidas seems to be foolish, in that in the 'Adistar Control 5' they combined very thick 1 and 3/4 inch thick padding in the heel area, with only 0.5" thick padding in the toe area, creating a HIGH-HEELED shoe featuring inadequate padding in the ball of the foot area; this despite the fact that even a novice upon beginning to investigate the foot-padding mysteries, immediately notices that ball-of-foot padding is especially made for, targetted at, and needed by, women who wear HIGH HEELED shoes, due to the pressure placed on the balls of the feet by the high heels. All this despite the obvious fact that in the state of nature, the heel and the ball of the foot are level in altitude.

Hey Adidas genius MBAs and engineering Phds, here's an idea that you somehow apparently missed: create a shoe that is the Adistar Control 5, except with half an inch of padding added to the toes area and a half an inch of padding removed from the heel area, creating a shoe with 1.25" thick padding in the heel area and 1" thick padding in the toes area. Name it the 'Adidas Wehumblyreturntocommonsense 1 running shoe'.

Stroke of genius: what shoes that are not so-called 'running shoes', have this kind of distribution of padding, 1.25" in the heel area and 1.0" in the toe area?...those could be the best so-called 'running shoes' for me.

Could be I should not allow feelings of irritation to arise within me with regards to such matters, but I feel irritated that it should take me so much time energy and money to solve the problem of footwear that allows me to run a few miles in my natural style of running on a sidewalk, without feeling pain. Seems like the shoe producing corporations and other corporations are churning out too much low quality in terms of goods, services, customer-service, and user-manuals.

Related Links:

http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/02/running-shoes-2-layers-of-padding-no.html

http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/02/running-shoes-and-gel-cushioning.html

Running shoes + 2 layers of padding = no pain (imperfect solution number 1 & possible better solutions)

For background to this post see my earlier post, "Running shoes and gel cushioning insoles have padding in the wrong places" at http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com/2009/02/running-shoes-and-gel-cushioning.html .

Wednesday night Feb 12, I again ran the five mile course on Moody and Main, the first third and fifth miles jogged, the second and fourth miles walked. The time this time was 94 minutes (again under-the-weather disadvantaged, as has been case since Feb 5). I ran in the 'Adidas Adistar Control-5' running shoes, with two layers of gel heel-to-toe padding in each shoe. I found this resulted in elimination of pain that was experienced in the balls and toes of the feet with zero or one layer of gel padding added to the "Adistar Control 5' shoes. The pain was Wednesday night replaced with a tingly numbness.

Wednesday night I felt grateful that I was able to run every yard of the three miles run in my natural style--heel and ball of the foot hitting the ground almost simultaneously, without pain; this resulted in a jogged-miles-jogged- fast, walked-miles-walked-slowly type of night.

However the time wednesday night was not very impressive; this imperfect solution elevates the feet in the shoes to a level--3/8 of an inch additional elevation due to the two layers of gel sole padding--where they should not be, excessively high in the shoe; and it adds significant weight to the shoe. But as some famous American general whose name I forgot said, an imperfect solution is better than no solution.

Researching the subject on the internet, I came across foot-care products that I had never seen before, products that I did not know even existed, that could replace and improve upon the two layers of heel to toe gel padding:

Toes Padding

Footsmart Gel Toe Crest, $9 each
http://www.footsmart.com/P-Footsmart-Gel-Toe-Crest-ea-40110.aspx
My Adistar Control 5 shoes already contain a built-in, pronounced, toe-crest of this type.

Footsmart Gel Toe Cap, $10 for two, $5 each
http://www.footsmart.com/P-Gel-Toe-Cap-Set-of-2-98122.aspx
Capping each toe would cost $5X10=$50 with this product!

Footsmart Gel Toe Tubes, $9 for two 4.5" tubes (each cuts up into more than one toe tube/cap)
http://www.footsmart.com/Product.aspx?ProductId=2323&cm_re=xsell-_-product-_-1
This way I could cap two toes and tube eight toes for only $10, much cheaper than the Gel Toe Caps.

Ball of Foot Padding

Silipos ball of foot cushions, $16/pair
http://www.footsmart.com/P-Silipos-Ball-of-Foot-Cushions-40021.aspx

Ultra Gel Forefoot Wrap $20/pair
http://www.footsmart.com/P-FootSmart-Ultra-Gel-Forefoot-Wrap-Pr-40298.aspx
This pads the ball of the foot not the toes

FootSmart Gel Forefoot Pads, Pair $9
http://www.footsmart.com/P-Peda-Bella-Gel-Forefoot-Pads-40013.aspx
Seems this pads ball of foot only

Forefoot Padding

Forefoot Pad with Metatarsal Dome, Pair $20
http://www.footsmart.com/Product.aspx?ProductId=65&cm_re=xsell-_-product-_-2
This pads from the middle of the ball of the foot to the tips of the toes.

Silicone Forefoot Insoles, Pair $12
http://www.footsmart.com/Product.aspx?ProductId=262&cm_re=xsell-_-product-_-1
These pad the area from the ball of the foot to the tips of the toes. They pad the entire ball of the foot not just the middle of the ball of the foot. The blurb at the footsmart site is extraordinarily enthusiastic about this product. This product seems like the best deal in foot comfort for me now.

A remaining task for me now is a task I have found so far, to be surprisingly difficult: to find what local retail outlets sell this kind of stuff. I have never bought this stuff before, to me it seems reasonable that the first time you buy something you buy it at a retail outlet. Buying from a retail outlet: I don't have to wait a few days to take delivery and go through confusion and worry, for example, re will the delivered stuff be stolen from the hallway; I establish someone I can ask questions of, who could be indebted to me for being a customer; and, it is easier to return stuff that does'nt work out.

At a time like this when we are staring into an abyss of a terrifying future featuring an attempt to survive without money in a non-agricultural, cold-temperature, high-population-density environment, people probably think, how could someone be getting into detail re jogging-shoe-add-ons at a time like this?'

I get into this matter in detail because my perspective is: that improved aerobic fitness results in improved performance in 'important' tasks related to survival in difficult environments; jogging on a treadmill strengthens different muscles compared to running on ground and is boring; jogging on a track is impossible during snowstorms and results in interesting encounters with a relatively narrow segment of the population; since I could be a star in soccer and sports similar to soccer if my aerobic/anaerobic fitness improved running is the reasonable path to aerobic fitness for me; improvement in aerobic fitness for me is impaired as a result of pain in the feet.