6 miles super easy jogging. 955ft of ascent.
Last week was a relaxed recovery week. I'm not in a hurry. I turned away 3 potential new athletes, which was a difficult decision. I'm close to my personal cap on athletes. I've learned that there's a direct relationship between the amount of money I make and my happiness. When I focus on making more money I suffer as a person and my children don't care what car I drive or what we own... they want my time and this is more important to me than anything. Also, when I push that client cap everything gets blurry and athlete's blend in to others and they also suffer. My system of coaching isn't like others and I tend to over do the details of the schedules. My goal is always to leave the athlete with a week that doesn't require any questions.
My legs feel awesome and my motivation is extremely high but very tempered. I was given some advice from a blogosphere friend (someone I've never met but knows me too well... funny how that works) to keep my running more personal. I think it's sound advice. I tend to be a very good trainer. I can train beyond what my racing results show. The difference is in my attitude between the two. When I train I'm relaxed and there is no pressure. When I race, I fabricate pressure to perform. Possibly in part because of my kick ass training. So I am going to keep the upcoming races, which I may or may not do, close to my chest. I may or may not post the results. My training has shifted in a new direction also. No more GPS and rarely a HR monitor. I'm realizing that I just love to run. Running is putting one foot in front of the other quickly. That's what it is. That's what I'm going to do.
Here's my own response to being asked about barefoot running...
The minimalist thing is OK as long as it's done extremely conservative to start. I would tell anyone to start off with a neutral cushioned shoe and wear them out. Then buy a neutral minimal cushioned shoe and wear them out. Then a racing flat. All of this should take many, many months. Our feet might be designed to run bare, but most of us have adapted (and grown and formed our bones) 100% to shoes. You can' t suddenly undo decades of adaptation with out negative repercussions. I can definitely see the benefit of minimalist shoes, but see no benefit to barefoot. We have over a foot of snow on our roads and trails. And then in the Summer it's gravel and sharp rocks... shoes are no different than gloves in my opinion. Just my opinion.
Vibram 5 Finger things? Maybe if they were free, but spending $80? I would say 'minimalist' would be to buy a pair of racing flats from the thrift store for $2.99 then wear them until the sole falls off. I can't afford to run barefoot!
14 comments:
Tim, I've followed your blog for awhile and across the board appreciate and value your insights. I am trying to find some of your archived posts from back when you were battling plantar faciitis. Are they still out there? Thanks, Ted Fuller
Sure... but there's 1000 posts before this one and they're in there somewhere. What do you want to know? Finding it in my brain might be easier. My e-mail is jogdaddy at gmail dot com...
amen brudda! stay focused on the important things in life, be true to yourself and don't get caught up in the bull...I admire you so much for that.
I feel very fortunate to have had you as a coach in the past and strongly believe that your philosophy on coaching and capping the number of athletes has contributed to your coaching success and your athletes successes as well. Drawing that line and passing up extra dough is a difficult decision, I do it alot with my work and struggle with it.
Keep up the training and coaching and don't change a thing. I hope one day I can get back on board...granted you've got space of course.
Your point about the cost of barefootrunning maybe more insightful than it first appears. Says "fad." And amen to your prescription.
Thanks for chiming-in on all the hype.
Lucho, I have a question: I'd like to run barefoot but worry about what will happen to the bottoms of my knee high compression socks. Any advice?
Also, it must be great to live in a town where the thrift store has $3 racing flats.
Thanks BJ and Wende!
Matt- And to clarify a little more. I think motion control shoes hurt more people than they help. Both ends are extreme. Heavy motion control isn't right and I don't think barefoot is either. Too many people are going to go out and ramp in to barefoot running and get destroyed. Barefoot strides on a football field are awesome for strengthening the feet, but I would treat them like a drill. I wouldn't go out do plyometrics for 10 miles. Well... maybe I would try that.
Racing flats to me seem the best midway point. That and just using common sense and listening to your body. And also not paying more than $49.99 for a pair of $3.00 shoes. I see that Salomon has a pair of $160 shoes!? Scam...
Fatdad- There is an i-phone app that will let you track the wear on the compression socks. It will graph the thread count and actual VS virtual wear. You can then plot the most ideal amount of mileage for each pair of socks on a sweeeeeet graph. I think that same phone app tells you when you're thirsty too. LOL.
Boulder is funny. You can buy $100 shoes worn once for $2.99. I bought a Camelbak last year that still had the tag on it for $3.99.
I'm going to start calling you Yoda.
Quote: "I tend to be a very good trainer. I can train beyond what my racing results show."
Interesting -I tend to race beyond what my training shows- mainly because I don't get to train very much! I wonder where the crossroads between the two occurs?
Hi, Love your run pictures. Please post more. I'm stuck in the UK in London and don't have a mountain for.... well miles.
Not sure Trev. Not sure at all! It's quite possible (and likely) that I train way too much and am too tired to race well.
Just saw your post about minimalist running. I agree that it will take a long time to 'undo' years of running with shoes. As I've told others it is my opinion that runners can use minimalist running more as a 'tool' rather than complete progression from shoes to not.
I remember reading a post from Barefoot Ted that said he has broken BOTH pinkie toes while running hard down trails while wearing Vibrams. Ouch.
Yep. I think minimalist shoes split the extremes. To me barefoot running is 'stunt' and motion control shoes hurt people. A minimalist shoe with a supportive insole is better.
Thanks!
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