Was today a setback?

Today, I did a couple of things differently. First of all, I dusted off the old heart rate monitor and used it on my run this morning. More on that later. Secondly, I treated myself to a new pair of shoes yesterday afternoon and ran in them for the first time.

As an aside, I kind of cringe every time I say 'I ran' because what I am doing right now, to many, would not be considered 'running'. However, at the risk of sounding pretentious, I must say that I'm really not at all concerned with the vocabulary of other athletes (e.g. 'jogging', 'waddling', 'walking'). Of course, one might say that I must be concerned since I make mention of it here. :) I will admit that there are two sides to this coin for me. On the one side, I'm embarrassed to be out there pretending that I'm a runner...buying $120 shoes...wearing a heart rate monitor...reading Dr. Daniels' running book...joining a running club...and then 'running' 16 minute miles...able to only endure 2 miles for a long run...weighing 320 lbs...being passed by all runners and most walkers. I mean who am I kidding? Then on the other side, I know that I just had surgery. But besides that, I know that everybody has to start somewhere. I remember the progress I made last year and how hard I worked. I know that it's not about how everybody else feels about my running. It's how I live my life, how I can honor God, and how I can live for my family, and grow old with them. All those people passing me and looking so fit and trim and healthy only inspire me to be a better man for my wife, Jan, and a more active and involved father for Dalton, Stephanie, and Benjamin. I'm thankful that for the most part, when I go out and hit that track, I flip that coin, it usually lands on side 2, the good side.

Ok, enough of that. This whole hurricane thing has me feeling contemplative but I'm over it now. On the fun stuff. As I mentioned, I treated myself to a new pair of shoes yesterday. I really didn't have the coin this week to do that but I decided to sell my Biology book back to the UHD bookstore. I appears the professor isn't going to be using it much. Besides, I have a friend who has a previous edition of the same book so if I need it to supplement my notes, I'll just borrow it. So, I've always run in an Asics Nimubs. I've run in Nimbus V and VI. The current model is Nimubus VII so that's what I got. I asked the guy at Luke's Locker if there were any changes to the new model and he said no. After getting the shoe on my foot and subsequently home and out of the box, I must say that there are some major changes. First of all, the mesh that covers the toe box does not have a liner at all. It's just that outer 'mesh' material and you can see your sock through the top of the shoe. It makes for a bit cooler foot. I'll have to see how it does in rain. Secondly, and more importantly, the heel has a lot more cushion. I mean you can easily compress the heel with your finger maybe .5 to .75 inches. This is a major change for me, especially with my ankle tending (pre-surgery) to roll to the outside. I do think, though, that with my ankle repaired, it will tend less to roll out. Performance? Like all the Nimbus models, they're like running/walking on air. I love the cushioning and my foot felt good landing and at toe-off. I did go down a half size since I'm not wearing orthotics anymore after my surgery. Of course with the added cushioning and flexibility, there is less support all around for my ankle and I really felt it during today's run. I think because of the smaller size and the increased cushioing/flexibility of the VII, my ankle had to work a little harder and I hurt more than it has been. I listened good though and I don't think at all that it was a bad stress/pain.

I also dusted off the old heart rate monitor today. It slowed me down considerably as I want all my training runs to be below 75% maxHR. I kept my HR low by slowing my pace well below what I had 'worked up to' through last week. My avg. pace for this past Sunday's run was 15:33. This morning's avg pace at a good, low, aerobic HR was 16:46 with the last mile being at 17:24 pace. Now some may be tempted to call this a setback. Why oh why, Vic, are you 'going backwards' and running slower? You've been really improving your times. Why go slower? Well, I just really believe from what I've read and what I have experienced in my training last year that the beginner MUST train the aerobic sytem almost exclusively the first 6 months to 1 year. This base of aerobic conditioning is the foundation of all other training. And for the distances I'm interested in participating in (5K, 10K, half, marathon), you almost have to run those at a mostly aerobic level, especially a marathon. So, for me, it's all about improving that aerobic system, increasing those mitochondrial counts, increasing capillary saturation around the muscle fibers, increasing red cell counts. Maybe I'll talk more about this in another post.

So, here are the stats of this morning's run:

Memorial Park
Temp: 84*
Distance: 1.5 miles
Time: 25:09
splits - 16:26/8:42(last .5 miles) Avg pace - 16:46
effort - <75% maxHR

Also, I'm starting today counting my calories. Since I've started running again, I haven't lost much weight at all. I think I'm taking in too many calories so I'm going to get a grip on that problem right away.

God bless...vic