Getting Stronger

Posted in barefoot, fivefingers, health, injuries, nutrition, trail by Nate

Lakeshore Park
10 Miles in 1:42
Vibram FiveFinger KSO

My first 10 mile loop of Lakeshore this season. The run itself was amazing. One week into a vegan diet and my energy levels feel much, much higher. Was running most hills, fast-walking the breaks and sprinting at some points. No fatigue until mile nine, when it became so dark I couldn’t see and kept tripping over roots and branches. Despite the thrill, I found myself a little discouraged and (embarrassingly) kind of scared. Lakeshore has a tendency to confuse, and I’ve been lost there more than once in broad daylight. Can’t imagine being stuck there after dark, lost with no torch.

Around late dusk I was in Loki’s Loop – a heavily wooded section of the trail. My feet hitting the ground must’ve been waking the bats from their sleep, because they seemed to “eek” and flutter out of the trees along with me as I made my way back to the trail head. This was kind of surreal, and one of those strange moments that makes trail running so much more meaningful than sidewalks and streets.

Dusk came pretty fast, and the last two miles of the trail were run mostly in the dark, since I didn’t anticipate needing a headlamp. The last half mile was run in almost complete dark, and my strategy was to more or less aim for the blurry, white line which seemed to be the path.

Got to the trail head and it was dark out, but all in it was a great, tiny adventure to cap off the weekend.

My running pace must have been pretty solid, since I was running 8 and walking 2. To average out to a 10 minute pace I must have been going pretty strong on the running sections. I’ll wait to see how I feel tomorrow before calling it a success. If I’m good, I’ll consider this a promising training run for the Woodstock Hippie Half Marathon next month.

Gear
The Forerunner 405 continues to absolutely shit the bed when it comes to trails. This is a 10 mile loop, and the GPS is coming up short of 9 miles? On streets, it’s fine. On trails, an expensive let-down. Additionally, the buttons and bezel often fail to work/respond to touch when they’re wet with sweat. But hey, at least it looks cool, and can double as a real watch.

On the other hand, the FiveFinger KSOs continue to impress. Over a year old and hundreds of miles logged, with little sign of wear and tear. The small tear in the cloth that recently developed can be fixed with a needle, thread and some goop in a matter of minutes. My feet are getting stronger, and I felt absolutely great all the way through the loop. I’m looking forward to the KSO Treks, but am on the fence about them due to their Kangaroo Leather upper. Aside from the ethical considerations, I wonder if they’ll feel as light and if they’ll be able to handle puddles and moisture as well as the KSOs or other “topless” models. I guess we’ll see. Maybe I can ask Barefoot Ted when I see him in a few weeks.

Clif Bars and Accelerade seem to be a working combination, but I’m going to start moving to real food, and will likely swap out the sports drink with Green Magma in the near future.