Expensive Socks Cheap Running "Shoes"

I decided to try the $6 Walmart Sand and Surf shoes today for a longer outing. The miles in them ended split up because I took Elliott out for 3.5 miles in the Baby Jogger in the late morning, brought Valerie to work at the cart, and returned to do 6.7 miles in the early afternoon on open space trails. I had bought a three pack of Pearl Izumi socks earlier in the week and found them to be too thin to wear with my Asics so I thought I'd try them with the Sand and Surf shoes. The "slippers" and socks worked fairly well together. (the irony is that each pair of socks costs the same as the "shoe" I ran in) I experienced a little slippage when there was a perpendicular slant to the trail or significant ascent or descent. The plus is that the slippage was given up between the socks and the insole of the slipper instead of my skin separating from the flesh of the sole of my foot as with the FiveFingers on inclines and cambers.

I finished off the day with a late afternoon run in Asics of 3.6 miles with Elliott in the running stroller again for a total of 13.8. I could have easily gone another five or six but it is difficult to justify running for three or four hours in a day when there are other priorities.

At least there's no Humidity

Often in the summer my runs get pushed to the hottest part of the day because of other pressing priorities. I know; it's hard to imagine. Today's hottest part of the day was 99 degrees. It was 93 yesterday; at this extreme, six degrees make a lot of difference so today I mixed up a half liter Gatorade to bring along. I filled the bottle full of ice and added water and Gatorade mix to fill up the remaining space; in less than two miles there was no longer any ice to clank against the plastic bottle. At three miles I decided to drink it; at least it was still refreshing. At five miles I dipped my head in an irrigation canal which coincided with the approach of much-appreciated cloud cover. From there it was all downhill, really. Arriving at the house, the iphone indicated 6.9 miles for the run which put me 2/10ths over my first ever over 60 miles in a seven day period.

Do you have Claustrophobia? ...maybe

Last Sunday, on Father's Day, I was scheduled for an MRI on my shoulder. The doctor was fairly certain I had a torn rotator cuff. I didn't think so; I felt there was some other cause of impingement. They had already ruled out a bone spur with an Xray. The doctors asked if I had injured it in some way. I told them that the pain began after the initial muscle pain of this year's seasonal flu shot subsided; I was left with not being able to lift my shoulder past a certain point similar to how it would be if you were to insert a stick of wood between a door and it's jamb. They poo-pooed the flu shot connection.

I arrived at the hospital, signed in, and was sent to the waiting room. I told them I would leave if they didn't change the channel to something other than Fox "News". I was able to stay.

I filled out a questionnaire related to medical history and MRIs. One of the questions asked if I had ever worked with metal tooling and another asked if I had ever had anything removed from my eye. Turns out the questions were intended to be related, but since I had worked with metal (30 years ago) and had a splinter of wood removed from an eye 35 years ago they felt an Xray was in order. They convinced me, rather easily, that I didn't want the magnet to draw a buried piece of metal through my eye to the surface. My eyes were fine so we proceeded.

I answered all the other questions with "no" except for the one that asked if I had claustrophobia. For that one, I made my own box with "maybe" and put an X in it. I'm OK with small spaces until I can't move or free myself and I didn't know whether that would be the case or not. Once I saw the unit, something akin to a big fat doughnut, I figured I would be able to handle it. It didn't look that confining; after all, I was certain that persons with larger girths than mine had to fit in there. Although the taper of the doughnut hole gives the illusion from the outside that there is more space than there is I soon discovered that I would be able to wriggle myself out if I wanted to.

Before being slid into the tube I was given earplugs to reduce the "jackhammering" sound and a panic button was put into my hand. Suddenly I was asking myself if I would panic, and started to panic a bit about that. That didn't seem fair. I was told it would be about 35 minutes and the technician slid me into the machine head first up to my thighs which left my hands at the outer edge. After about five minutes of lying in silence trying to decide whether I would deal with the confinement better with my eyes open or closed the technician's voice announced through a speaker that the machine had been warming up and was about to start. I called out asking whether that was included in the 35 minutes or not. No answer. Great, so she actually couldn't hear me. I'd try again, with a different question,"How much can I move?" No answer. Oh no, my nose itched; could I reach up and rub it? I could certainly crinkle it; that certainly couldn't mess up the imaging for my shoulder, but it really didn't make the itch go away either.

Then the noise began. It wasn't like a jackhammer, but rather what a loud repeating high voltage pterodactyl zapper might sound like. Did I have the genes of my grandmother who was tortured by a faucet dripping? Definitely. I was ready to give up secrets to the enemy. Thirty-five minutes? Had it even been a minute? All my innate time-keeping instincts were experiencing interference. OK, so I didn't have claustrophobia, but the question of amplified water dripping wasn't asked. Could I find my "happy place"? Should I squeeze the panic button. I decided to imagine being on a run, although that might be considered torture for some, a thirty-five minute run would be short. But, how would I know how far into it I was? I don't even like music when I run though and this was incessant. Suddenly, the noised stopped. That certainly wasn't 35 minutes; maybe it was the under promise - over deliver concept, tell them 35 minutes when it's only 10. No. Now it was time for the jackhammer.

To me it sounded more like a diesel on fast idle. Now I had something I could relate to; lying trapped under a low-rider semi. Could I ride this out? I still felt as if I were trying to endure a torture. The evilness of many tortures is that they allow uncertainty and fear to interplay with the subject's own mind. The worst of it here was I knew I was secure from everything, except my own mind. Then I noticed something; some time had passed and I felt almost meditative and numb as if I were about to doze off for an afternoon nap. The idling diesel was like a mantra. I was totally relaxed, as if floating in a sensory deprivation tank although I don't really know what that is like. I went with the flow; I was enjoying it. the diesel sound started a stopped three or four times and I was able to stay in the pleasure state. The voice came through the speaker again, announcing I was done.

The results came in the mail today: ...some tendinosis within the distal supraspinatus and suscapularis tendons with a little interstitial longitudinal tearing...the inferior joint capsule demonstrates significant thickening and edema throughout the capsule...the deltoid muscle is unremarkable (ouch, did they really have to throw in an insult!).

So, speaking with the doctor it sounds like, it sound like there is nothing to repair surgically, but things are somewhat of an inflamed mess in there. I have an appointment for Monday; I think a steroid injection might alleviate a lot of this; I think physical therapy is just going to irritate it more.

Going up a Level

I feel as though I have made a breakthrough in my running. There have only been two days so far in June that I haven't run and there have been several days when I have run twice. The exciting part is that the plantar faciitis seems to have abated. I don't know if this is from more minimalist running, more running in general, or as my sister says, PF seems to go away after a year all by itself.

If I run 8 miles today (very likely) I will have my first-ever seven day period of 60 miles. I ran over 10 miles each of the last two days with lots of hills and temperatures over 90 and it was easy. Right now I feel as though I could run 10 miles or more everyday. Today is supposed to reach 95 degrees; if the temperature goes higher than that I need to run near water to dip my head in occasionally.

I do feel some twinges in my knees occasionally, like when I push in the clutch while driving or when I put down the kickstand to the motorcycle. At least this is a warning sign I can monitor; if it gets worse I can rest it or ice it or medicate it or all over the above.

Joe Colton's Off Road Adventure Run

For someone who runs a lot, I don't participate in many races. Here in Colorado they cost too much. I like this race because of the longer distances measured in miles. There is a 5, 10, and 15 miles version. The race starts in Rollinsville, Colorado and goes west through an ever-rising valley toward the Continental Divide. The scenery is picturesque Colorado but I have to admit that my eyes mostly fell on the compacted dirt road.

It was already warm in Boulder when we left the house at 7:40; I said to Alex that if we get out of the car at 8400 feet and it doesn't feel cool, running is going to feel hot. There was no chill in the air when we stepped out, but maybe because of a slight breeze running was tolerable although we were under a cloudless sky.

All the runners started together, but since I was in the 15 mile race I was OK with starting toward the back. Also, with chip timing I would know my true time which ended up being 11 seconds faster. Even though I started toward the back I still found myself working my way through the crowd for a while. Alex started somewhere up toward the front.

Sadly, I came across Alex at about mile 4. He was struggling because of asthma possibly triggered by the altitude, although he had used his inhaler. Also he hasn't been sleeping well because of allergies. I was going to ask him if his deltoids and biceps were weighing him down because he has been doing lots of landscaping and his upper body is quite fit. He's had to deal with this on other occasions so I knew he would be OK although it would be no run. He stuck it out for the other six miles and ended up winning his age group and a $25 prize because he was the only one in his age group. No one under 20 ran the 10 mile race and nobody under 30 did the 15 mile race.

The course takes a gradual climb from about 8450 feet above sea level to 9200 before turning around. I felt good in every sense and enjoyed the running. After about six miles it seemed our positions had pretty much been settled; occasionally someone would go by me when I stopped for refreshments but I'd eventually catch them again. By the time I reached the turn-around it felt like I was alone on the road. I could see a person about a quarter of a mile ahead occasionally when the road was straight but I couldn't seem to close the gap. With about a half mile to go I did catch two people on a hill and then pushed on, feeling rather good, to the finish.

I finished in 2:18:37 which was a 9:16 per mile pace. It would be interesting to know how that would compare to sea level. I was 4th out of men 50-54, although I could also say I was last out of men in that age group. I finished 43rd of 73 overall. It may seem like nothing to be excited about. Running a race is always about competition with oneself, not with others, although I do like to think of myself as beating all the people who didn't run. That way, I feel closer to the top and not the bottom...but of course, that's not important either.

I encourage everyone to get out and put one foot in front of the other then repeat, and then do the same the following day, but either go a little farther or a little fast or both.

700 Miles

I reached 700 miles for the year today with an uneventful run. It was 85 degrees and dry, conditions I like to run in. I did come across a five foot long snake that I have yet to investigate what species it was. Tomorrow should be a rest day or a Vibram FiveFingers day because Alex and I are planning to run the Joe Colton Adventure Run. I'll do the 15 mile run and Alex says he's up for the 10 mile version.

Anemone Trail

I helped Valerie set up our jewelry cart; she was going to work it for the afternoon. I had worn the FiveFingers so I decided to do a quick mountain trail run before heading home. The first mile was a gradual uphill of Boulder neighborhood sidewalks. From there, things get serious right away. The next leg of the run was only a mile and a tenth but had an elevation gain of 800 feet. I didn't know the trail well and assumed that if I continued on further I would begin to loop back down, but instead found myself running to other little summits. I finally asked a hiker if he knew whether the trail loop around and he said that it didn't. Oh well.

I turned around and headed back from where I came. The trails were rather rocky and sandy, but no where near as brutal as Sanitas or the trails on Bear Mountain. No jammed toes today and no shattered iphone. The ascent took about 30 minutes and the descent including going the wrong way for a while was about 45 minutes. I've been feeling tenderness at the metatarsal-phalangeal joints to the little toe on both feet; I presume this is because that is where most of my bare footfalls are and the stone-laden trails exacerbate the issue. I don't notice it while in regular running shoes.


I've started the week off easy; Sunday I didn't run at all and yesterday was easy four mile jog with Elliott in the running stroller. I'm hoping to ramp up the miles here tomorrow and Thursday. Alex said he would do the Joe Colton Off-Road Adventure with me Saturday. It starts in Rollinsville at 9000 and gradually goes up. We did the 10 mile version a couple of years ago; it's a nice run. I want to do the 15 mile version this time.