Goal of a sub-30 minute 5K (Read 10495 times)

I was doing forefoot striking with shoes, but the last two runs I've tried without and have found that it suits me even better! I do almost all my running on a TM, so there's not this worry of rocks/glass/uneven pavement, etc. I've spent almost all my life in shoes, so just using all those little stabilizer muscles in the feet right now is quite a change! Yesterday I had my follow-up with the podiatrist for the Morton's Neuroma. He did the cortisone shot... and all I can say about it right now is that my foot aches where he gave me the shot - about as bad as a mild to moderate sprained ankle! It's been 21 hours... I forgot to ask how long it would be before things started feeling better. /sigh. I tried running heel-toe this morning 'cause that's what he wanted me to try, but it was steadily getting worse with the nerve stuff AND the foot pain, so I slipped off my shoes and went back to barefoot. At least that way I only had the foot pain from the shot!
Remember Ed4, "the crazy barefoot guy?" He's the one that had said that people's neuromas have been cured by running barefoot. At the time, I didn't believe him. But when nothing else seemed to be working, I was willing to give it a try. Funny how that works, eh? Now I just gotta keep from injuring myself during the transition... And keep on streaking. Dropped back from 1.5 miles/run to 1 mile per run again. For now. Until I feel like it's not a strain to run barefoot. I REALLY don't want another injury. Melissa - what're you up to in your training this week? Ross - hope your cold's better! Being sick is the pits...

Ross - hope your cold's better! Being sick is the pits...

Ross...how ya feelin'? Good luck at Indy. I wanted to do the Pig that weekend, but the travel didn't work out.

I'm finally starting to feel better. Although these meds are making me a bit loopy. Not to mention hungry. Can I call it carbo loading two weeks in advance? I registered for a 5k the other day. So now I'm set for my first PR of the year.

LOL! Kevin, you certainly fall into the "speedwork only" category right now! One race a week and that your only running? Well, as long as you're still enjoying it! When you start running is when you're most likely to see dramatic improvements in speed... assuming you can keep from hurting yourself! I bet if you were to throw in two other runs per week, easy, of say 2 miles, that you'd see your times drop even more. But hey - if you're happy with the progress you're making, why mess with perfection? Ross - it's been a year since your 5K PR. Think you're ready? I'll be crossing my fingers for ya! Melissa - Aussie's are great running dogs! Just take it easy on your puppy - they need some time to build up thier bones/joints just like humans do. And depending on the dog, they may not know HOW to take it easy on a run. Yet. She'll need some training, but just having that happy face waiting by the door ready for her run can be quite the motivator. My foot feels significantly better, but not 100%. The pads the podiatrist gave me continue to hurt my feet as I use them. Hurt, but not injure. I think. I'm concerned about developing PF with them rubbing and stretching the bottom of my feet in strange, unnatural ways. I'm still running barefoot on the treadmill. I've managed to give myself a few small blisters. (I'm one of those shoes-all-my-life people.) Other than that things are going well with running. My daily run of 1.55 miles (23 minutes) is feeling more comfortable emotionally - it's no longer feeling like it's a bit long or difficult to complete. So as soon as my feet stop complaining about their new responsibilities I'll be looking to slowly start bumping that up. I will *NOT* be able to compete in the May triathlon I'd hoped for. Turns out I've gotta work... and there's really no getting out of it. So... I actually don't have any races planned for the rest of the year. Feels kind of liberating right now, knowing that I can just concentrate on improving my training and fitness without having to try to conform my schedule to meet some artificial deadline. Streaking has been enough of a motivator to me to keep me going out the door. This week I went for a trail run on impulse. I put on some very thin-soled, support-less shoes, told myself to pretend I was barefoot, and ran. I've been on the TM almost exclusively the last three months, so the little rolls & dips of a flat trail run were kicking my tail. However it felt good. Really good. And somewhere along the way back, I felt the need to run fast. Still forefoot striking, still me, but a fast me. I *needed* to run that speed. Don't know why, but I couldn't hold back. So I didn't. I was flying, and it felt good. I'm thinking that the stamina and speed I had there are a result of my disciplined training these last two months. It makes me hopeful that when I do finally get around to registering for a race that I'll find I'm much faster than I used to be...

I'm starting to get back into a rhythm since getting over this cold. Yesterday's run sucked but I blame it on the 40º temp with rain. The positive thing about taking last week off was that my one foot feels a bit better. I was having some nagging soreness that didn't want to go away. I should be ready for my 5k even if I have no idea what my time will be. Last year's PR was my first race ever so I should have no problem beating that time.

My first 5K (03-21-09) was 30:03 and this morning I ran a race in 29:10. Nothing special as far as training. Just increasing weekly mileage, though the weight I've lost this year hasn't hurt my times!

You ever notice how the advice you'd give someone changes over time? A year or so ago, I remember there being a big discussion/argument here on RA about whether people should heel-strike or forefoot-strike. People seem to think of that with very definite opinions! I was of the camp that it doesn't really matter which you should do but that trying to change your technique, "forcing" it as I saw it, would leave you probably injured. Well, I have to say now that I was wrong. I have changed my technique, and so far I'm not injured. Since my not-so-super-secret goal is to get fast enough to win age-group awards, I know I need to run more miles than I've been able to in the past. And in the past, I've had injury after injury. Which wouldn't let me train more. Now, with my pain as my guide and teacher, I've changed HOW I'm running. If barefoot running and forefoot striking allow me to train without getting injured, then that's definitely how I want to train. Injuries have been, I believe, one of the largest reasons I'm not faster. Not the only one by far, but surely the largest one. I've been blessed with a lot of talents. Speed, however, is not really one of them. As a youth, I was told that I'd be able to do anything I wanted, professionally. I mentally amended that to myself, telling myself I could do anything I wanted EXCEPT be a professional athlete. Why? Why did I say that? Because I don't see myself as having much talent. Now, as an adult, I have to face the fact that hard work and skill can go a long way to make up for lack of talent. Yep. I know this because I've seen it with martial arts. Talented youth who slack off start off well but don't really progress. Youth with only moderate talent but who apply themselves end up with ... mad ninja skills. Why shouldn't the same be true with running? I want to be faster. I really really want to be faster than I am. I am watching YouTube videos on running form and technique. I'm even watching stuff about POSE, which I previously shunned for its commercialism. I am reading about training. I am running every day. I am running barefoot with a forefoot strike. I am being as disciplined as I know how, not increasing when there is pain, not trying to push the mileage but trying to build a solid base. I am being patient. And I want this. I really want this. And I think it's paying off. When I'm off the treadmill, my undisciplined speed is faster than it used to be. Time for another trail run tomorrow.

I'm sitting here looking at these times and thinking that these can't be my numbers from the race. They're way too fast to be my times. I definitely broke the 30 minute barrier. My official time was 24:28.53 (24:14.75 by my Garmin). A good 8 minute PR. I started out too fast and slowed down each mile but I think I left everything on the course. I ended up 5th in my AG but I think most of the real talent was running the 10k for this race.