April 30, 2012

January - April 2012

Running

IMG 0635

Running has been going well. Extremely well. I almost hate to admit that because it probably means I will injure myself at any moment. But hopefully not. I've been focusing a lot on my form as I try to transition to a forefoot strike pattern (rather than a heel-strike pattern). It's hard to try to correct 18 years of bad form. Really hard. But I'm making progress. I ran farther in April 2012 than I did in any other month in the last 10 years, and I haven't had a hint of knee pain. Of course, some of that has come at the expense of really sore calves on account of using different muscles that are much less well developed. I'll take sore calves for a few hours over semi-permanent knee pain 10 times out of 10.

I found a great place to run barefoot: the glorious artificial turf on the WUSTL track infield (some people might call it a football field). Of the 146 miles I ran in April, 19 of them were completely barefoot, and some of those were pretty fast (5:32). The majority of the remaining miles were in my wonderful new Luna Sandals (yes, sandals), with the rest in my Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas, Merrell Trail Gloves, and New Balance MT 110s. I guess I have something of a shoe fetish (yet I still run barefoot). I just pick the thinnest shoes I can get away with based on the route I have in mind, and take them off whenever I can.

MonthDistance# WorkoutsAvg per Workout
January78.06 Mile98.67333 Mile
February75.2586 Mile98.36206 Mile
March126.15 Mile149.01071 Mile
April146.28 Mile169.1425 Mile
Total425.749 Mile488.86976 Mile

Running 2012 4


Cycling

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Photo by Jeff Schleicher

I've been a regular at the Tuesday night crits, though I did miss a couple. I've been lucky to get two training rides a week. Considering where I started at the beginning of this year I've already come a long way, but I still have a long way to go. Looking at my race results over the past year or so it's pretty clear where my talent lies.

Single digit placings are better than double digit placings. If I want to achieve more success in cycling races I'm going to have to spend more time (which I don't have) practicing. Or maybe blood doping.

BikeDistance# RidesAvg per Ride
Bianchi34. Mile93.77778 Mile
El Fuego20.04 Mile120.04 Mile
Lynskey13.64 Mile26.82 Mile
Pocket Rocket27. Mile64.5 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird158.59 Mile531.718 Mile
Total253.27 Mile2311.0117 Mile

MonthDistance# WorkoutsAvg per Workout
January25.33 Mile212.665 Mile
February40.08 Mile313.36 Mile
March213.43 Mile2010.6715 Mile
April253.27 Mile2311.0117 Mile
Total532.11 Mile4811.0856 Mile

Cycling 2012 4


Swimming

Yes, the numbers are small. I just started late in the month. What's promising, though, is just how quickly I was able to pick this back up after months off (and if you don't count that week in September, years off).

MonthDistance# WorkoutsAvg per Workout
January000
February000
March000
April1750. Yard2875. Yard
Total1750. Yard2875. Yard

Swimming 2012 4


Walking/Hiking

MonthDistance# WorkoutsAvg per Workout
January51.53 Mile163.22063 Mile
February42.92 Mile182.38444 Mile
March41.15 Mile142.93929 Mile
April31.89 Mile122.6575 Mile
Total167.49 Mile602.7915 Mile

Walking 2012 4

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