Cross training

I was reading a recent article about crosstraining and what it can do for a person. I think because I have been having issues with a sore heel, the article attracted my attention. There are many types of cross training, but I think I am most interested in aerobic training which means bike, swim, fast hike or indoor machines such as a stair climber.

One of the things that struck me in the article was about the fear that seems to be quite prevalent about riding the roads. This has been a concern of mine also but maybe not to as great an extent as others. On my website, I have added a section on bike road courses. My intent is to find good road courses that I would feel that most people could feel comfortable riding. I am looking for minimal traffic and a wide roadway, hopefully with defined bike lanes.

This criteria does not mean that there will be no danger but should minimize the exposure to traffic and allow you to concentrate more on the training. As I pointed out in the previous blog, riding is not as natural as running and you need to pay attention to the mechanics of riding. Gears need to be adjusted, you need to pay attention to object in the road, and you need to work on form to get the most from the ride. It is not much different that mountain running on some of the more technical trails. You cannot just mellow out and get into a rhythm. There is nothing like a nice wide trail to zone out on and just feel the flow but when you are on steep mountain trails, you need to pay attention. The same is true on the bike even when the course if fairly benign. A friend of my recently crashed because he wasn't paying attention and hit a curb...hard to imagine since curbs should be fairly obvious.

One of the thing I read about cross training is that as we age, we lose some of our flexibility and ability to absorb shock. Cross training can help to keep us up aerobically but rest from the shock of every day running. I tend to prefer biking as my alternative since it does work many of the same muscles and some of the opposing ones, it does not require too much in additional gear...ie you can ride from your door step or a close location. It also provides some exhilaration expecially on the downhills around here.

If you are thinking about cross training, consider the bike courses I have mapped out. They are not easy and will challenge your riding if you do not ride regularly and will definitely challenge your aerobic system if you challenge the hills.

Running or Riding

Today was a Bike Ride day. I decided to map out another section of the area that I think would be good for someone who does not feel comfortable with traffic. In choosing these routes, I am looking for wide roads or bike lanes that help to keep cars at a distance.

It was a good ride, the sky had clouded up so the heat was not as intense as it had been earlier. The course I chose met the criteria I had set so all in all in was a good day.

When I was done, I started thinking about runs and rides. A question formed in my mind...why is it that I enjoy running more than riding? The question startled me for a moment. I had never really thought about running or riding in that way before. The more I thought about it, I came to realize that I preferred running. Having answered myself...I let my mind considered what it was about running that made me enjoy it more than biking.

I came to the conclusion that running was a matter of me and the run whereas riding added the element of the bike between me and the ride. Sounds a bit strange but I realized that when I am running, I am concentrating on the run, on me, on the sensations that arise as I am in motion. I do not feel this same oneness when riding. The bike adds a mechanical element to the equation that seems to prevent me from feeling the oneness I get from running.

I guess this is also why I have never been able to carry a radio or mp3 player while running.

It would be interesting to hear what others have to say about this. If you feel like it, add to the comments.

Sunday Delight

It was a nice Sunday morning so I decided to head up the foothills to the west of Blodgett Open Space area. I have been pushing further up the ridge with each trip and then looking to see where I have been on the map.

Starting from a small trail head on Coldwater Drive, the trail climbs and climbs and then climbs some more. I have been trying to discover the best route to the top of the ridge. Up there is a spot knows as lone pine. From the other side, there is a jeep road that ends at that point. It is also an alternate route to Blodgett Peak.

Today's journey ended when the weather started to get bad. Clouds were building rapidly and I decided it was time to head back down. Later, the lighning and thunder is the area confirmed my decision as being the prudent course of action.

But in the beginning, the weather was great, the wildflowers were in full bloom. Plenty of bluebells and paintbrush with many other varieties. The terrain was steep enough that it was mostly a fast hike on the upward trip especially after the first mile.

There were several things that I learned today.

First, I had loaded the locations of some of the geocaches in the area so I could see if I could find them. This means that I had to learn some of the navagation features of my forerunner 205 which I knew existed but I had never tried to use.

In the watch I could see a little triangle where I was located at the point indicated the direction I was moving. There was a light circle about at a set distance. As I got near a geocache, I could tell about how far and in what direction the cache was located. It is kind of funny to look at the GPS track of trying to figure out how to use this to find the location of the cache. Since it was the first time for me, I was literally all over the map....

Of course once you have located the approximate area of the cache, it does not guarantee you will find the cache. There are generally hidden in some manner and the trick is to figure out how. I will not go into any detail as that I think is part of the fun of geocacheing. If this sounds interesting, go to http://www.geocaching.com and join the fun.

I met a mountain bike rider in the area of the geocache who also is an experienced geocacher so it became a team effort to find the cache. He, for some reason did not have this cache loaded in his unit so by using mine, we found the cache. Thanks "OLDATBPRO"...

From this point on, there was no clear indication of where the trail to the top went so I started just bushwacking. Some people have indicated that there is not a regular trail after this point.
I almost made the top but it was getting pretty steep and rugged with lots of fallen trees and scrub. And with the weather starting to get bad, I decided to head back down.

This is where the second part of my learning took place. As I was bushwacking up, I knew that it was be impossible to find my way back down by the same route so I remembered that the GPS unit has a "breadcrumb" feature. When I was ready to head back down, I just kept my little triangle in the area of the "route" line that was my track coming up and lo and behold, I returned to the cache site with no problem. From there I could just follow the trail back down.

Learning to use the navigation features of the watch has inspired me to follow other lesser know paths having the confidence that I will be able to backtrack and not get lost. I use to go up the Hitezer trail out of Cascade into the resevoir area but could never seem to find the way back and would end up on the Pikes Peak Tollroad and have to hitchhike back to my car. I think this will solve that problem.

On my next trip up, I plan to angle a little north from the area of the , it look like there may be a better route to the top in that direction I was so close today...and would really like to crest the next time I do up.

One small step...one giant injury for running

In the past couple of days, I have encountered links to an article that is trying to make the case that high quality running shoes are the source of many of the injuries suffered by atheletes.

As with all things found on the web, I try to approach these things with an open but skeptical mind. Even if the conclusions were faulty (not saying that they are) there is some lessons to be learned from this article.

To read the whole article, go to this article at the daily mail website. It brings up some interesting points.

There seems to be some presenting of examples and opinion where there seems to be a link between injury and running shoes. In my experience, running shoes can be a source of injury but maybe not for the reasons stated. Choosing the correct running shoe for you foot is a hit and miss proposition. And as soon as you find the right one, the shoe manufactures manage to discontinue or change it. I was very lucky in that the Asics GT series performed very well and for about 10 or so years, I used that shoe. Last year, the shoe did not work the same. Looking at comments from other runners, the consensus was the shoe behaved differently. I ended up with plantar faciatis. The latest model seems to go back to earlier performance characteristics.

So in evaluating the claim that the shoes cause injury does not follow from the anecdotal evidence given. Even the statistics do not have the rigor of proper testing. I would be the first to admit that this sort of testing might be quite hard to design and execute. I would also not throw away the studies completely but become more aware of the effect of my shoes on my injury. Remember we are an experiment of one.

With all that having been said, I think there is something to be learned from this article.

I have to agree that spending time barefoot could offer benefits to the runner. The explanations about how the foot molds and grabs when running barefoot reminds me a bit of ball exercise. The premise is that the extra effort to maintain balance exercises small muscles that do not get worked properly. I can see if we always encase our foot in a rigid shoe, it might prevent proper exercise of small muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the foot and ankle. This is speculation on my part but for me, it seems worth adding some activity barefooted. I does not at this point say I am throwing away my running shoes. It might be that I have not suffered the injuries as noted in the article because I am very aware of my feet and try to adjust when I sense something is not right.

In my early running years, I did experiment with running barefoot and as near as I can recall, I did not have any issues. In those days, shoes were not as sophisticated and more like than not, I probably had an old pair of converse sneakers as my "running shoes". I generally ran on grass at the high school but did try to spend some time on the cinder track to toughen my feet.

If I start adding some barefoot adventures to my training, I will be sure to post here what I find out.

One last gasp for Winter

At least I hope it was the last gasp. Seems even that little flower did not know what Colorado weather can have instore... 12+ inches of snow and even more in the high country. I guess winter is not going to leave without a fight. This was probably a good time to practice active rest.

Even though I feel that you can run through just about any weather conditions, there are times when a little prudence goes a long way. This recent snow storm was not too bad in this area so it was possible you could run. I don't think though that the streets would be where you would find me for this one. The snow being very wet and the streets were mostly slush so unless you have a full gortex or other water sheding suit, you would probably come back from the run a bit bedraggled. Such a suit is a very nice thing to have and if you are into trails on a big time basis, I would even say a necessity.

The mountain trails can be dangerous even in the height of the summer. Fast moving thunder storms and low temperatures are the receipe for hyperthermia. When ever I am going up into the higher trails where civilization is more that a mile or so away, I alway take my full gortex suite. In addition, I have what I call my backup in the form of a 55 gallon plastic trashbag.

If the weather gets really bad, the gortex is great but in the worse conditions where I might have to hunker down for a while the added layer of the grarbage bag provides the barrier to wind and rain even gortex can sometimes not handle. The nice thing about the garbage bag is that it is light and compact. Since it is alway in my waist pack and I never go without the pack, even when I don't think I will be far enough out to need my gortex, it is there for an emergency. I have even given it away at times to people on the mountain who did not plan ahead and were in danger due to the weather.

I am bringing this up now because as the weather starts to warm, the urge to head up the mountain will grow. The mountain is not forgiving and if you don't respect it, it will win. Always consider the worse might happen and plan accordingly.

Another reason to bring this up now, is that gortex or the now similar fabrics will go on sale for the end of winter. Good time to buy. I saved over a $100 the last time I bought one because it was spring.

Check out the website at farrunner.com. I have been busy adding some new features and trying to improve the presentation of the material. With the advent of spring, I plan to take new pictures and gather more GPS data to put on the site. I have been reworking the format in hopes that it presents the information in a more usable manner.

bob

Me and a cast of thousands

The other day, it was one of those warm sunny days that call for action when they first appear in the spring time.

My running partner called and made a case for heading over to the incline after work for a bit of a climb and run. Well it seems like him and 10,000 of our closest friends, neighbors, and others decided on the same thing. I actually found this somewhat amusing and interesting.

The incline is not the sort of place you would expect to be a popular gathering spot. It is steep, dangerous, unmaintained and 2 degrees short of a cliff and of course, private property...but what appears to be, is the most popular place to go on a nice spring day in Colorado Springs.

I had to marvel at the people that were there. Everyone from training atheletes to family groups all making their way up the incline at their own pace. I kind of had a vision of the "if they build it, they will come" senario. Since I shouldn't have been there, having a serious cold/flu, I was taking it easy so I could observe what was happening.

Men, women, boys, girls, short, tall, skinny, overweight, solo, couples, friends, and some families
all taking on the challenge of one of the more difficult climbs in the area. I had to wonder at what it was that brought them here. Some I can understand as training for some race but others, it was not so obvious as to what their motivations were. The thing that really stood out was the chatter and support everyone gave to each other and the sense of enjoyment and accomplishment they seem to show for their efforts.

Even now, it is difficult to find parking and when the incline is officially open to the public, the situation can only become worse. I know parking is one of the main factors holding up the opening of the incline. I hope a good solution can be found.

I think that maybe I should post a few blogs about the incline that talks to the best way to enjoy it and some safety considerations. Sounds like a good idea for future posts...

It's Official

Well despite the calendar, spring has not been knocking on our door with any regularity. Sunday during a small trip up into the high country, nature announced that spring is here. The discovery of these small mountain flowers has always meant that the worst is over and better weather is ahead. Unlike the woolly caterpillar, these flowers seem to pop through the last of the winter snows. After the blizzard like conditions a few days before, I hope they are right.

So put away the tights and gloves and be ready for warmer runs, longer days and the upcoming races season!