Braille running!

That's right I had a Braille run.  On trail.

Why am I calling it a Braille run?  Because I had to run in the dark, with no lights.

It. Was. AWESOME!

The cool thing about it is just by a busy highway (HWY 68).  Which made the run more difficult cause of the headlights burning into your eyeballs.  So, no night vision.  My night vision isn't that great anyway, I mean I can drive and stuff but at times I have trouble focusing.  Unless I have my glasses.  I prefer my glasses to contacts at night anyway.  Especially my Warby Parker Owens.



Usually they sell for $95, but I had to pay a bit more cause I'm frickin blind.  I think it's another $30.  They're good, solid frames with kick ass hinges!  I'll wear them during the day when it's a bit cloudy.

Ok, 'nuff gushin' on my glasses.

But since I didn't have my glasses, I ran with my contacts still in.  No biggie.  I figured this was my personal test to see if the rumors were true.  Supposedly, one gets to the point where one can run by feel alone.  I hoped I was advanced enough in my experience as a minimalist runner to actually make this somewhat true.  I can say that at least on a relatively flat trail, the rumors are true.

I'm not a fast runner by any means, but I ran the same time for that trail that I usually run.  And I found that I was so focused on how and what I was stepping on that I didn't feel tired until I had finished the run.

Pretty cool.

I'd like to go again, but I've gotta head over to my moms restaurant and help her out.  I may just run home after . . .

p.s.
too lazy to check.  run smiley :)

Another No-Run-Wednesday

I thought I needed a rest because I've still got that annoying twinge on the back of my leg.  Besides the daughters mom was cooking up a shrimp pasta in return for me helping her out on some project.  Pretty good trade off I thought.  And it was very tasty!

I'm still not sure about tonight.  The daughter has a game to cheer for, but I might not be able to make it in time anyway.  So I may just go for my run during the dark.

I'll post either way.

GD

p.s.
didn't check. too lazy. run smiley :)

A different, dark, run . . .

I wanted to get a very light run in yesterday, but I knew I wouldn't be able to make it in time to my usual trail run before it got dark.

So I decided to run at work again . . . just not the crappy trail up on ridge that I ran the last time.  We have a bunch of huge growing houses that go about 100 yards length wise.  There are four of these I ran around and also some others down below another part of this section of the farm.  So all-in-all, a bit over a mile in total length after mapping it out Dailymile.

I did two, slow laps.  I found it boring, but it was lit and I saw a LOT of deer near the oaks.  Pretty cool I guess. I felt my form was off and I never really got comfortable.  I think it was just because it was on pavement for most of it and it was new to me as well.

I'm going to end up ordering the Knuckle Lights.  I feel the usual trail near Toro Park is safe enough to run during the dark, but I would mind having SOME illumination.  But they're on back order and they are supposed to be in stock soon.

Can't wait!

GD

p.s.
not checking care of: laziness.  run smiley :)

Us Chubs and shoes . . .

I have a theory about why there are more fat people in our society now than before.

You have you obvious role of easy crappy food available for cheap.  The crappy food being LOTS of carbs in fast food, bread, potatoes, all different types of chips, cookies and . . . well, you get the idea.  I completely admit to all those sins myself. 

Along with the bad food, there is the lack of movement.  That's where MY theory is based on.

I sort of touched on it before when discussing shoes and fat people before.  I did more thinking about it this weekend and I'm really beginning to believe the Nikes of the world are partially to blame as well.  Man, the Nikes of the world are being blamed for everything wrong with our world now.  First it was running related injuries, now I'm blaming them for the state of obesity in our society.

When I previously posted about this, I mentioned that us fluffy folk should be using hard soled, flat shoes.  You know, a better foundation for movement and standing.  Cushy trainers will begin flattening out and the ankles begin to roll.  NOT GOOD!  With flat, hard soled shoes there's no rollin'.  Your posture is already improved, cause you gotta stand straight (though I still find myself hunched at times, though not as bad).

With your posture improved and your feet not going anywhere, you're standing longer.  You're moving longer.  With more movement, your energy level increases.  With higher energy levels, you move even more . . .

You get where this is going?

I'm noting this from personal experience . . . kinda.  I was never a big fan of trainers, as I've mentioned before.  But I did use them and my experience with them was so-so.  What I found was that I could only where them for so long before they felt suffocating.  I'd use them for "training" and then rip them right off my feet as soon as possible.  I liked my hard soled combat boots.  I liked my hard soled dress shoes.  I kinda liked my Chucks because they weren't as cushy as real trainers.  I liked my trainers cause they looked cool, but hated to wear them for extended periods of time.

I'd wear them to work every once in a while because I would go for runs during the lunch hour and I'd take them off when I'd get to the office and walk in socks (lax lab environment).  If I had to go somewhere on the farm, I'd put on my work boots (hard soled).

I walked around a lot, but not at home.  I'd potato.  I didn't know any better.  I didn't know someone could just go out and do things barefoot.  I'd grown up with the idea that you need trainers to do any kind of exercise.

Now I know better.  I still need to start training barefoot.  For now I've got my Vibrams and Merrells.


Let me know what you think.  If anyone even reads this thing . . .

GD

p.s.

too lazy to check.  run smiley :)

I did it to SHUT HIM UP!

So one of my bosses has been bugging the shit outta me to run the trail behind our lab . . .

The property that the farm is situated on used to belong to a chicken farm which in turn used to be part of Royal Oaks Park.  We still have park benches and an overgrown restroom in an unused part of the farm next to a firetrail that's cleared out every year.  I work on a mushroom farm so the growers need to keep the compost stench as well contained as possible.  So where we are located is in a valley bowl.  Pretty niftey actually.  Only one access road into the farm.

They make GREAT walking trails!  They get your heart going and everything.

But it sucks to run through.  WAY too many elevation changes!  And steep too.  It took me twenty friggin minutes to run a mile and a half!  Fcuk that!  I'm going back to MY trails.

GD

p.s.
too lazy and pissed off to check.  run smiley :)

It's gonna get dark soon

And what am I gonna do?

I work out in the middle of nowhere.  It takes me 10 minutes to get to civilization and another 10 minutes to get to Salinas.  Then another 15 minutes to get to Toro Park because it's on the othe side of Town and it's nowhere near Highway 101.  If I'm lucky and traffic ain't too bad, I can get there in half an hour.  But most of the time it's closer to 40 minutes.

So, by the time I get there, it's almost 6pm.  During the summer, it's still afternoon.  Now it's WAY after noon and the sun is nearing the hills.  By next week, it'll be behind the hills and full on dark!  With the mountain lion spottings in the area, I will not be running those trails in the dark.

So what am I gonna do?

I have a couple of options available to me.  Neither are palatable to me.  But if I want to keep improving, me voy a tener que morder un huevo (semi-literal translation: I'm gonna have to bite a testicle.  Non-literal: I'm gonna have to bite the bullet)

One option that I have is to run in circles.  At a track. Blech!  On the plus side, it'd be safer.  No cars to dodge or cats to kick off.  It's at a community college, so people come and go.  It's a fairly popular track so there are people around, even after dark.

The bad, obviously, is running in circles . . .

The second option, which is more likely for me to actually do, is running around the neighborhood.  The positives, hmm: Not running in circles.  Just one big loop.  It's easily mappable on various running/exercise sites (my main one is Dailymile and I recently joined Fitocracy).  I get to wear neon-orange reflective vests and blinkie lights, so I'll look like a big flashing Jack'O'Lantern!  I'll maybe have to run from dogs and raccoons.

Seriously though, I am kinda looking forward to some night running.  I know the neighborhoods to run through.  Nobody will really mess with me, because seriously who's going to mess with a giant pumpkin that can run faster than you?  Not that I have a REAL bad temper, but don't fuck with me too much.  I'll let a lot of things go before I resort to tactical measures.

No. Not really.  My fuse is exceedingly long.  People try to get me riled up and I usually roll with it.  It's rare the occasion when popping your top can remedy an issue.

But that's me . . .

I'm gonna attempt a run at work in a bit.  It's a trail I used to love to walk but was a bit too much for running.  I hear 4 laps get's you about 30 minutes.  I'll see how it goes.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check.  run smiley :)

Bad start to the week!

I'll get to the post topic in a bit.  First I wanna talk about a couple of characters I saw at Great America this past weekend.

When we first entered, there a couple of zombie tourists taking pictures with people entering the park are just generally freaking them out.  But . . .

There were two impressive (in my ever so humble opinion) that were just awesome if it was what I interpreted it to be.  There was a witch dressed in an elegantly tattered black dress.  She had a veil on so you couldn't see her face well.  There was a short, wiry monkey man standing behind her wearing a leather jacket and dark colored canvas pants and a snow cap on.  He was also wearing knee-pads with metal plates riveted on as well as heavy gloves.  His boots also had plates on the toes and heels.

They were both COMPLETELY in character!  I imagined her as the Wicked Witch of the West if she had ended up with Oz and the monkey man as here captain-guardian.  I want to believe that was the role they had concieved soooo bad because it was such an awesome concept!  The Wicked Witch of the West as Queen!

Anyway, like I said they were in character.  Whenever someone wanted to take a picture with her, she'd turn away and the monkey man would come between her and the requester.  Other times she'd allow a picture and then the monkey man's role really came into play . . .

 . . . once the picture was taken, the monkey man would follow the picture takers for a few steps until they realized he was behind them.  Then he'd monkey walk away back to the witch.  After a few seconds and the picture takers no longer were paying attention to him, that's when the monkey man would act!  He go running towards them and then drop to all fours, the metal plates finally coming into play.  He judged his momentum enough to come skidding up behind the picture takers for them to turn around and freak out at a skidding monkey man coming towards them with sparks flying from his boots, knees and palms!

I wish I had video.  It was awesome.

As far as the bad start to the week.  I'm referring to the lack of running since last Thursday.  I'm gonna have to make it up beginning tomorrow because I won't be able to tonight.  My mom needs someone to cover for her while she's at a local business meeting.  As to what it's for . . . I have no idea.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check.  run smiley :)

Non runnin' weekend to end the month

Yup. Nuthin!

So what did I do?  Well, Friday night . . . I can't remember . . . (cough)

Saturday, I spent the morning taking care of a bunch of errands I needed to take care of before the nights festivities.  I'll get to that in a bit.  I needed to fill the car, wash it, clean it out (it's a friggin mess) and head over to the my moms restaurant to finish some bookkeeping.  Once that was done, I headed home thinking I'd have time to clean out the fish tank.  NOPE.  Forgot I needed some items to finish the look on my costume for tonight and a couple more blacklight tubes for extra creepy factor.

Got home in time to shower up (a bit warm and didn't want to be all icky all night) shave.  Threw on some comfy clothes and headed out to pick up the cuz and daughter . . .

We were going to Californias Great America Haunted Halloween!

It's was the last weekend of the event and the kids wanted to go.  Unfortunately, the godson's a bit of a wuss and wouldn't have been able to handle the scares.  It was dark and costumed ghouls were creeping up on everyone and freaking everyone out.  Awesome.

We got the online deal where the tix were about $29.  If you go that route, get as many as possible.  They charge $5 on top of that for the "convenience" of e-mailing it to you.  Parking's another $12.  And make sure you eat something before going in the park!  $4 for 20oz bottle of water should give you an idea of what to expect as fars as prices.

When we got inside, it was DARK.  The lights are only there to give enough light to see where you're going.  The lines weren't too bad and some of the rides were open.  I think the Vortex, Demon, DropZone, Psycho Mouse, Tiki Tumbler (old Survivor boat) were active.  The Log Jammer was open under the haunted banner of the Arachnid something or other.  Didn't get on it.  Didn't want to get wet.  It was comfortably cool, but could'a been cold if water was added.

The "Mazes" weren't really mazes.  They're guided paths.  You start at one end, get scared in between and end at another.  And repeat the process 5 more times for the other "Mazes".  I would say only one of the mazes sucked. Toy Terror or something along those lines.  It. Was. Lame.  Even the daughter wasn't frightened.  She even thought one of the monsters was cute (teenage crush cute).  She smiled and said bye to him.  I think I frightened him when I gave him the Evil Eye.

Two of the "Mazes" were pretty well done.  The Cornstalkers Maze started out negatively when one of the "scarecrows" accused the daughter of cutting in line.  We'd already been walking for a while and when we got in line she sat down on one of the bales that happened to be near an opening in the hedge.  I have no idea where the opening opened to, but when my cuz took a picture of her, the "scarecrow" bitch demanded to know what the daughter thought she was doing.  At first we thought if we thought it was part of the role and everyone around us began nervously laughing.  Until she asked if she had cut in line, even louder.  Still thinking it was a role the cuz said she was just taking a picture of the daughter on the bale.  The bitch then said she'd "kick her ass out" if she got out of line again.

That's when the crowd started heckling the "scarecrow" bitch as she walked away.  After that, things went much better.  The scarecrows were dressed in such a way that they could blend in with the corn.  Awesome!  They were popping out of everywhere and making people scream out.  For some reason, I was left alone.  I guess I was scarey enough.

The Werewolf one was pretty cool, too.  Those guys had chainsaws and LOVED to use them to really put a scare into you.

The live shows.  Hmm.  The magician/freak show was really good.  The drummers, excellent.  The hypnotist, eh.  The zombie one . . . OMG, don't get me started.  That was the longest hour of my LIFE, and it was a twenty minutes show!  It was supposed to be a musical.  The dancers were decent.  Even the daughter who is highly critical of dancers was impressed.  The singers were decent, except for the effeminate guy.  I remember when the shows put on by GA were well made.  Even if the performers were, umm, physically unappealing, they're was effort in making the performer look awesome for the role.

NONE of the performers made an effort to look like zombies!  There was tattered clothes and some make-up. That's it!  The guy needed to know what kind of songs to sing.  He had a couple of good performances, but he was under the impression he could sing whatever he wanted.  NO!  Stick to what you're good at, buddy!  The girls singers were ok.  One of them was excellent, I think her name was Brianna.  She was memorable.  She was supposed to be human I think.  Zombie queen wasn't too bad, but she also needed to know what style to sing.  The blond newly-zombied, was ok.  She stuck to what she was ok at, but a bit to nasally.

I've gotta go, but there are some characters I've REALLY got to commend in the next post.

GD

p.s.
too lazy, gotta go.  run smiley :)

Does being fat help barefoot transition? part 2

So I was thinking about this some more last night and I don't think I was clear enough with my answer as far as fat people possibly having a relatively easier time transitioning to barefoot style.

You've all seen them, especially on TV when there's some new study saying that Americans are fat.  They won't show the faces so they pan down and show the fat people walking or standing from the chest down.  The bulbous belly, the trunk-like legs, the squished trainers . . .

Squished Trainers with the feet either bent inwards but mainly outwards . . . that cannot be good.  Before getting into this whole minimalist shoe thing, I always wore Altama combat boots.  The old-school ones with the hard leather insole and tough, hard rubber outsole.  I'd use trainers only for running and I was never really comfortable.  The closest I got to comfortable "tennis shoes" were Chucks (Classic Converse All Stars).

I prefer hard soled shoes (dress shoes) or be barefoot.  Always have.  Cushy shoes for me as an overweight person would only be comfortable for a couple of hours and then they'd feel suffocating.  I'd have this urgent need to rip them off my feet!  My boots I could walk around in all day.  I guess that's why a lot of fat people have a need to not move often.  If you feet aren't comfortable, you don't want to use them.

At my fattest (280 lbs) a few years ago, I was a couch potato.  I was the stereotypical lazy American eating junk food and not doing anything physical. I worked in a farm test lab and we'd have two days a week where I was physically active for short periods.  They were hell for me.  I recently went back to help out my old crew because they were short a man.  I have no idea how the hell I found the work so hard.  I hardly broke a sweat and it was FUN.

WORK ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!  I actually missed it after that.

Going back to the whole shoe thing . . .

As a fat person, I wanted a SOLID foundation.  If I had to move or stand, I wanted hard soled shoes.  They were stable and didn't move around on me, they didn't give.  Chucks were a close second. I'm pretty sure other round people will agree.

I love my VFF's and MTG's!  If I have to go out somewhere I'm slapping on one of those shoes.  If I'm at home, I'm barefoot.  I haven't run barefoot really except for a couple of laps around a track.  That was fun, but I had some hotspots.  I may get into it more this winter around the neighborhood.

My point is, fatties may not consciously know it but they want something solid under them.  Everyone does.  Skinnier people are fine with their trainers because they don't squish out much.  But try putting 250 lbs plus in your shoes!  See how well they do then.

I'm still strengthening my feet and legs, but I feel like I'm getting closer to nirvana here.  One of these days I'm going to go out for a run and it won't be until after I've gone home that I'll realize how easy and fun the run was.

I'm working towards that day!

GD

p.s.
too lazy, run smiley :)

Does being fat help barefoot transition?

I bring up the question because it's something that I was thinking about . . .

As I've posted before, when I first started running I was in motion control shoes and I was experiencing horrible shin splints.  The only reason I kept running was because I had already signed up for a training program at my local YMCA for the Salinas Valley Half Marathon.  I enjoyed the program and we got plenty of advice on training, injury prevention and treatment.  I liked it enough that I signed up again earlier this year to get more out of it.

But by the time the training program started, I already had several months running a couple times a week in minimalist shoes (Merrell Trail Gloves and New Balance Minimus Trail) and still building my comfort level of no heel shoes.

Now as to the question:  Does being a fat person help to transition into barefoot form easier than being skinny or not as fat?

I would argue with a vehement YES!

First of all, the fat person needs to have the willingness to do something in the first place.  In my case I had two choices:
    Suffer a life of meds, depression, increasing weight 'cause of depression.


    Fat Bastard: "I eat because I'm unhappy. I'm unhappy because I eat. It's a vicious cycle."
   
And slowly spiral into my own stinkin' grave unless I dive because of some coronary!
        OR
    Get off my fat ass and DO somethin'!

 I can't remember what he did, but I hope I don't get that funky looking waddle on my chin!

Once willpower has been assessed and the feeling is positive, what next?

I chose running.  I'll tell you, it was a bitch-and-a-half!  The motion control shoes weren't helping me aquire this Love-Of-Running I'd heard so much about.  I got lucky and heard about Born To Run by Christopher McDougall on I think the Runners World forums or something.

That just spiked my curiosity and picked up the book.  Wow.  What a revelation.

The thing is, not a one of these people who had begun minimal or barefoot running were in my shoes . . . fat.  Most of the runners were runners already with injuries or curious about this movement.  Others had no choice like Michael Sandler who would not take no as an answer!  I'm not saying my condition was anything like Mr. Sandlers'.  Mine was preventable from the beginning and I chose to let myself go.  My struggle now is to start at the bottom of the hill and bust my ass back up it.

So when I began running, I started out ok.  Then it got painful.  I went through so many different styles and fit of motion control shoes because the shoe people at the sports shoe store didn't know any different.  They were truly helpful, except for me.  I stuck with the last shoes I got from them because they did help some, but I was still working hard to prevent the worst of the pain with exercises and stretches.  Even taping!

With Born To Run, I started looking into barefoot form.  I got some chintzy flattish, still cushioned shoes and began running again.  It was several months after my abysmal half-marathon and I hadn't done any running since then.  So I started out slow using the training calendar I had used for the Y.  A couple of months later, the Merrell TG's were released and I attempted a run in them.  By that point I was running about two miles twice a week.  So I went out for my two mile run thinking I was ready for it.

I got a quarter mile into the run before turning back.

My calves were a bit sore the next day, but not as bad as I'd read other people saying they could be.  They felt like I had a good hard work out.  Being the lazy bastard that I am, I suspect by cutting my run short because I started feeling my calves saved me from the excruciating pain a lot of more experienced runners feel when doing TMTS (too much too soon).  Of course being fat helped in that department.

Being fat forced me to take it slow.  There's a psychological and an obvious physical barrier preventing me from pushing WAY TOO FAR.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still pushing.  Just not as much as a conventional runner would.  I'm still slowly increasing distance and speed.  Taking Caballo Blanco's tips of first working on smooth, then easy to get fast, I'm still working on smooth.

I can get a sub 9 mile on a track.  But you're only getting a mile.  If I'm feeling good.  I can probably do better than that now and get a lot closer to 8.  I'm doing much better now than I did before the SVHM.  I can probably get pretty close to a two hour finish.  My feet don't get as exhausted now than they did before.  But it's taken me a YEAR to get this far.  And I still have a lot of improvement to work on.

I'd like to get to two hundred pounds by January and I truly believe I'm going to do it.  It's only another 30 pounds away.  I dropped 20 in about 5 weeks.  I have about two months to make it work.  I know the holidays won't make it easy, but I have a lot of opportunities to run while waiting for the daughter to get out of whatever event she's at.  I want to be able to run 5 miles three times a week.  And I'm gonna enjoy every mile of it!

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. especially this longish post.  run smiley :)