Once in a while, I have a particularly eventful walk. I will document these with "Case Study" posts.
Date: Saturday, August 27, 2016
Start time: 7 AM
Weather: Low 60s, cloudy and humid, occasional misting.
I knew there was some mild flooding in my area, and I had a great contingency plan for the couple of points where I anticipated I would encounter high water. So I set out on my 14-mile route with confidence. This was to be my last week at 14 miles before moving up to 16. I was feeling great and hit two miles at 25:25, ready to take the trail through the first park on my route. I glanced over toward the park and saw...water. Lots of water. About 2 feet of water covering the entire park. A look of horror on my face (while keeping pace! I felt so proud.), I said "WOW. Plan B," and continued north up the same street. In a couple miles it would meet up with my usual route, although a few miles would be cut off since I was basically taking a shortcut farther away from the river. I figured, I'll go up to my usual route, go around the lake like I usually do, and see how things are at the other river-adjacent park.
I hit the lake shortly after the one-hour mark and started my usual counter-clockwise traverse to the other side. I headed past the bathrooms and saw...water. About 30-40 yards of deep water covering the entire trail. The LAKE had flooded. This is odd, because it's fairly isolated from the river, so it almost never floods. "Well played, Lake," I said, and turned tail and headed back to where I came from before.
I made it back past Flooded Park #1 after about an hour 40. Of course, because people are weird and gross, I saw an opened condom on the ground that had definitely NOT been there on my way out, because I would have noticed it. So sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 AM on a Saturday in my small city, somebody threw a condom on the street. This is the kind of experience you don't get on a treadmill at the local gym. I headed for downtown Main Street and went south for several miles (stopping at my workplace gym to use the restroom and refill my water). At the dog park I made a right and headed toward the local college campus that is a couple miles from my house. At this point I was totally improvising based on areas I thought would be dry enough to walk on, and give me enough distance to at least clear 14 miles. It was okay if I went a bit farther, since I'd been doing 14s for weeks, but I did not want to shortchange myself. As I stated in an earlier blog post, I do not wear a GPS watch. I wear a cheapo $35 Timex Ironman and I carry 24 oz of Powerade (now watered down), and the clothes on my back. Very low-tech.
After about 12 miles I reached campus. Seeing all the lithe youngsters in their teeny shorts was truly inspiring. I was trying to figure out how far I'd gone. In fact, I made it all the way home feeling pretty good physically just by daydreaming about how maybe I'd gone 15 miles, and what a pace it would be! I got back to the house in 3:13, with no clue what that actually meant, pace-wise. I mapped it out and was disappointed that it was only 14.6 miles. But I did learn a couple lessons about walking in a flood-pocalypse.
1) When the ground is wet and lightly covered in sand, dirt, or leaves, it is hard to keep a fast pace. Not only do slippery conditions make people's strides change slightly (trying subconsciously to keep balance and not fall), but since walkers' feet are in contact with the ground so much, they can actually slide back a little bit on each step. If you conservatively estimate that your foot slides back 1/4" each step, with 1600 steps per mile, that's 400 inches per mile farther that you have to walk. I basically walked at least 1/10th mile farther just from slipping around.
2) It's much easier to focus when things go as planned. If you are uncertain of where you need to go, you will slow down subconsciously.
3) Walking on a cloudy day is AMAZING. Highly recommended.
The good: I felt great. Hips were loose. Cardio was on point. Refueling was on point. I have 3 more months of training and I'm already near a PR marathon pace in suboptimal conditions (and at a PR marathon pace in better conditions) for long workouts. This is where a walker wants to be!
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Shoes, Weather, and Sports
The single most important piece of equipment for a walker (or runner) is their shoes. In order to avoid injury, you must have the proper support from the bottom up. If you don't support your arches in the way they require, your injuries will travel up from your feet to your shins to your knees to your hips and God only knows where they'll stop. Probably the neck. All the more reason to get great shoes.
If your local running store has 1) competent employees and 2) a treadmill with a camera, head on over! Gait analysis is a great start. The first determination is whether you are a pronator or a supinator. First off, most people pronate. Pronation is the natural rolling from the outside of your foot to the inside of your foot. You may be overpronating, though, which is bad. This may mean that your arches are collapsing inside your shoe and you may need more support, also called motion control. Super pronators and/or particularly heavy individuals may need a motion control shoe, which tend to be more expensive.
As a pronator myself (caused by hyperflexible feet, diagnosed by a podiatrist), I use orthotic inserts. I used to have custom ones, but they caused lots of blisters, so I switched to special ones sold by my doctor. There are commercially available orthotics in stores but if you are serious about walking and need orthotics, you should be fitted professionally. Even with orthotics you may need a certain shoe. I require the exact type of cushioning found in the stability shoe Asics GT-1000 series. Stability shoes have a certain amount of motion control, but not as much as a motion control shoe would. These are good for most runners and walkers.
Pronators are highly susceptible to injuries from the knee down. If you constantly have shin splints or plantar fasciitis, you are likely an overpronator. Good shoes can change your life. It is worth the investment in doctors or orthotics to make sure your setup is on point for you.
Supinators are more rare. Those are people who "run on the outside edge of the foot." You probably don't find a lot of supinators in the walking community (possibly racewalking), and they tend to be faster runners (you will see a lot of Olympic runners from sprint to marathon going in this fashion). Their injuries tend to be above the knee (IT band and hips, primarily). If you get above the knee injuries you are probably a supinator. Because supinators don't need a lot of arch support (in fact that is counterproductive), they can wear cushioned shoes, which are the third major type of shoe. This will encourage the foot to fall more across the arch.
Because shoes are the primary investment of a walker, you should not go cheap just for the sake of it. Find a good shoe that works for you and PAY FOR IT. Do not be one of these fools who thinks "oh, Asics sound good, I'll just get a pair of Asics at Famous Footwear." Those are NOT the same Asics they sell at the running store. If a pair of shoes is under $60 MSRP, you probably want nothing to do with it, sorry.
How to Save $$$ on Shoes Without Injury
1) Find out what your perfect shoe is.
2) Do a Google Shopping search for the previous year's model of that shoe.
3) Buy several pairs on clearance.
4) Repeat next year.
My shoes are typically about $95, but by searching for last year's model, I can generally get them for under $60 a pair. If you have a particularly bizarre shoe size, you might be able to find shoes from two model years ago, you lucky dog.
When do you replace your shoes? Excellent question. Your shoes will wear out. The foam rubber will break down and compress. The tread will wear away based on your footstrike. The shoes that once controlled your pronation will eventually start to enable your pronation because the base is worn down at an angle. You will start getting injuries. Right before you reach this point is when you should replace your shoes. If you have good biomechanics, your shoes might last about 500 miles. If you are like me, with feet created by Beelzebub himself, you may need to replace them every 300 miles. Keep an eye on the bottom of your shoes and see when things look fishy.
Many orthotics can last much longer than shoes. I replace my orthotics when the surface gets filled with divots and holes. Yes, that can happen.
Remember, gang: shoes are your only real expense as a recreational walker, besides race entries. Invest in them. They are your first line of defense against injury. You'd rather pay $100 for shoes than $1000 for physical therapy!
If your local running store has 1) competent employees and 2) a treadmill with a camera, head on over! Gait analysis is a great start. The first determination is whether you are a pronator or a supinator. First off, most people pronate. Pronation is the natural rolling from the outside of your foot to the inside of your foot. You may be overpronating, though, which is bad. This may mean that your arches are collapsing inside your shoe and you may need more support, also called motion control. Super pronators and/or particularly heavy individuals may need a motion control shoe, which tend to be more expensive.
As a pronator myself (caused by hyperflexible feet, diagnosed by a podiatrist), I use orthotic inserts. I used to have custom ones, but they caused lots of blisters, so I switched to special ones sold by my doctor. There are commercially available orthotics in stores but if you are serious about walking and need orthotics, you should be fitted professionally. Even with orthotics you may need a certain shoe. I require the exact type of cushioning found in the stability shoe Asics GT-1000 series. Stability shoes have a certain amount of motion control, but not as much as a motion control shoe would. These are good for most runners and walkers.
Pronators are highly susceptible to injuries from the knee down. If you constantly have shin splints or plantar fasciitis, you are likely an overpronator. Good shoes can change your life. It is worth the investment in doctors or orthotics to make sure your setup is on point for you.
Supinators are more rare. Those are people who "run on the outside edge of the foot." You probably don't find a lot of supinators in the walking community (possibly racewalking), and they tend to be faster runners (you will see a lot of Olympic runners from sprint to marathon going in this fashion). Their injuries tend to be above the knee (IT band and hips, primarily). If you get above the knee injuries you are probably a supinator. Because supinators don't need a lot of arch support (in fact that is counterproductive), they can wear cushioned shoes, which are the third major type of shoe. This will encourage the foot to fall more across the arch.
Because shoes are the primary investment of a walker, you should not go cheap just for the sake of it. Find a good shoe that works for you and PAY FOR IT. Do not be one of these fools who thinks "oh, Asics sound good, I'll just get a pair of Asics at Famous Footwear." Those are NOT the same Asics they sell at the running store. If a pair of shoes is under $60 MSRP, you probably want nothing to do with it, sorry.
How to Save $$$ on Shoes Without Injury
1) Find out what your perfect shoe is.
2) Do a Google Shopping search for the previous year's model of that shoe.
3) Buy several pairs on clearance.
4) Repeat next year.
My shoes are typically about $95, but by searching for last year's model, I can generally get them for under $60 a pair. If you have a particularly bizarre shoe size, you might be able to find shoes from two model years ago, you lucky dog.
When do you replace your shoes? Excellent question. Your shoes will wear out. The foam rubber will break down and compress. The tread will wear away based on your footstrike. The shoes that once controlled your pronation will eventually start to enable your pronation because the base is worn down at an angle. You will start getting injuries. Right before you reach this point is when you should replace your shoes. If you have good biomechanics, your shoes might last about 500 miles. If you are like me, with feet created by Beelzebub himself, you may need to replace them every 300 miles. Keep an eye on the bottom of your shoes and see when things look fishy.
Many orthotics can last much longer than shoes. I replace my orthotics when the surface gets filled with divots and holes. Yes, that can happen.
Remember, gang: shoes are your only real expense as a recreational walker, besides race entries. Invest in them. They are your first line of defense against injury. You'd rather pay $100 for shoes than $1000 for physical therapy!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Marathon Training - A New Level Of Confidence And Power
(Yes, I am a Pantera fan!)
I haven't updated the blog in a while. Slogging in the heat has not been inspiring. But with my next marathon less than 4 months away, I thought I'd post about, specifically, marathon training.
Are You Ready... (Korn reference) ...For a Marathon?
You may be ready for a marathon if:
-you've been walking regularly for at least a year
-you are comfortable walking at least 10 miles
-you've done at least one half marathon
-you are injury-free and have a good plan to stay that way
-you want a REAL challenge
The marathon is not just double the half marathon. It is at least 5 times the effort and pain. Doubling the miles exponentially increases the recovery time and the mental and physical stamina required. Your refueling strategy must be ON POINT. That said, the personal rewards and satisfaction from finishing a marathon are far beyond that of a half. In reasonably good shape, you could probably get through 26.2 miles, as long as you don't mind limping a lot. You get out of the marathon what you put into the training.
Base-Building For a Marathon
One must have a proper base of training for a marathon, meaning you must start off in shape. If you aren't in shape to begin these proceedings, you will just wear your body down more and more. A proper marathon base is similar to peak half marathon training, which is why many people train for a marathon right after finishing a half. Generally speaking, you will want to be walking 3-4 times a week, including one long workout of 10 miles. Your shorter workouts should be no shorter than 4 miles. If you aren't there yet, get there, then return to this blog post. Shortcutting your marathon base build is the quickest way to InjuryTown.
Training For a Marathon - It's All About The Long Workout
Marathon training is simple: build your long workout. The more time you have before your race, the more time you can take building it up. Generally, though, you will want to do each distance two to four times before moving up. Count the number of weeks that you have back from race day, and plan accordingly.
Marathon training should start with long walks of 12 miles (remember, you have a proper base!). If you do these on the weekends, you should think about doing 3 weeks or so of 12 milers before moving up to 14. Then do 3 weeks at 14 before moving up to 16. Etc, until you get to 20 miles. After 2-3 20 milers, you will taper for a couple of weeks. Some people choose to taper longer, like 4-5 weeks. I do not advise this for walkers, because hip rotation and flexibility is so easily lost. Your injury potential is not as great as runners, so you can do a shorter taper. I do only one weekend between my last 20 and race day, and that weekend I still do, like, 14 miles or something.
If you are an "advanced marathoner," by which I mean you are going for a PR and not just a finish, you will want to add a mid-week 10-miler to your training. The mid-week 10-miler is CRITICAL for a personal record, in my opinion. As you get in better shape, you will see how fast these 10-milers can actually get. It is extremely fun and inspiring. Also continue to do your 2-3 shorter walks of 4-6 miles per week. Your peak marathon weekly mileage might hover around 40-50, and that's really all you need to be very well-trained. Good luck and godspeed!
I haven't updated the blog in a while. Slogging in the heat has not been inspiring. But with my next marathon less than 4 months away, I thought I'd post about, specifically, marathon training.
Are You Ready... (Korn reference) ...For a Marathon?
You may be ready for a marathon if:
-you've been walking regularly for at least a year
-you are comfortable walking at least 10 miles
-you've done at least one half marathon
-you are injury-free and have a good plan to stay that way
-you want a REAL challenge
The marathon is not just double the half marathon. It is at least 5 times the effort and pain. Doubling the miles exponentially increases the recovery time and the mental and physical stamina required. Your refueling strategy must be ON POINT. That said, the personal rewards and satisfaction from finishing a marathon are far beyond that of a half. In reasonably good shape, you could probably get through 26.2 miles, as long as you don't mind limping a lot. You get out of the marathon what you put into the training.
Base-Building For a Marathon
One must have a proper base of training for a marathon, meaning you must start off in shape. If you aren't in shape to begin these proceedings, you will just wear your body down more and more. A proper marathon base is similar to peak half marathon training, which is why many people train for a marathon right after finishing a half. Generally speaking, you will want to be walking 3-4 times a week, including one long workout of 10 miles. Your shorter workouts should be no shorter than 4 miles. If you aren't there yet, get there, then return to this blog post. Shortcutting your marathon base build is the quickest way to InjuryTown.
Training For a Marathon - It's All About The Long Workout
Marathon training is simple: build your long workout. The more time you have before your race, the more time you can take building it up. Generally, though, you will want to do each distance two to four times before moving up. Count the number of weeks that you have back from race day, and plan accordingly.
Marathon training should start with long walks of 12 miles (remember, you have a proper base!). If you do these on the weekends, you should think about doing 3 weeks or so of 12 milers before moving up to 14. Then do 3 weeks at 14 before moving up to 16. Etc, until you get to 20 miles. After 2-3 20 milers, you will taper for a couple of weeks. Some people choose to taper longer, like 4-5 weeks. I do not advise this for walkers, because hip rotation and flexibility is so easily lost. Your injury potential is not as great as runners, so you can do a shorter taper. I do only one weekend between my last 20 and race day, and that weekend I still do, like, 14 miles or something.
If you are an "advanced marathoner," by which I mean you are going for a PR and not just a finish, you will want to add a mid-week 10-miler to your training. The mid-week 10-miler is CRITICAL for a personal record, in my opinion. As you get in better shape, you will see how fast these 10-milers can actually get. It is extremely fun and inspiring. Also continue to do your 2-3 shorter walks of 4-6 miles per week. Your peak marathon weekly mileage might hover around 40-50, and that's really all you need to be very well-trained. Good luck and godspeed!
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