http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/
Happy 4th weekend!!
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Frankly, I hate swimming and am not interested in regularly dunking this expensive head of hair in any sort of pool/lake/sea water. Vanity thy name is Kimba.
[/quote]
hahah this made me laugh. i forget how driven by vanity you are due to your level of badassness. you are proof that hard work and determination trumps all. rock it mama!!
I’ve been using the Frees (3.0 - the lowest profile one they do, currently) for a couple of years now. I’m on my third pair. But due to the new foot problem it looks as though running will go on the back burner for a bit. I may actually have to swim. Ugh. I have the UK’s largest outdoor pool right up the road - it’s 100 yards long and fresh water (no icky chlorine, at least I don’t think so), and it looks lovely. But, ugh, cold. No heating, and I’m not sure I can deal with that. However, it is included in my gym pass as the same company runs it as runs my gym. Also, a friend of mine caught impetigo there twice. So, also, ugh. I might try, though, over the summer holidays.
Now that my probation period at school is done, I’m going to treat myself to some Vibrams as well. I’ve found a running shop in central London that has them and they’re not fussy about you trying them on without socks. I am going for the Bikila, which is slightly more cushioned and designed more for running (but will do in the gym as well). Of course, that’s dependant upon them fitting my odd feet. If they don’t, Plan B is a Merrel trainer that has a single toe compartment but a Vibram sole. I am quite excited about shoe shopping, for once!
Joe, that is so interesting that there are lots of Vibrams at your gym. You’ve restored my faith in the hipness of Alabama. 
Bear, what an informative website! Having always run in Nike Frees, I never developed heel striking habits. Now I consciously forefoot strike after my ARTist informed me the heel striking screws up my IT band. Still, running in the Vibrams is way different than the Frees and I’m going to explore that extremely slowly.
deja, I’m pretty upfront about the vanity thing. That keeps me going when the PRs aren’t coming super often.
Cal, YAY for shoe shopping! I found the Bikilas to be almost as well-fitting for me as the Komodos. I hope that it fits your foot too. If for some reason you can’t get what you want in the UK, I’d be happy to buy for you here and mail it over. If I couldn’t run or bike, then for sure I’d give swimming a good clean shot. I actually was on the swim team in high school, but I totally sucked at speed. I only did it to bolster up my resume for college admissions and to hang out with my friends.
This weekend is hubby’s birthday weekend and as part of the celebration, he gets to pick out his favorite activities. Yesterday we took the tandem bike on a 2.5 hour ride with a stop for a massive pastrami sandwich. Unfortunately for me, neither a long bike ride or the pastrami did very much for yesterday evening’s training.
Military Press (3’s day)
45# 1 x 3
51# 1 x 3
57.5# 1 x 4 <–decent money set, I was happy with this
BBB 40# 5 x 10
supersetted with
Good Mornings
light oly bar 1 x 10
55# 2 x 10
Cable hip ad/abductions
7.5# + one plate: 1 x 12
Neutral grip pullups
2/2/1 <–a weak effort which I’m blaming on water retention from the salty pastrami. blegh that an extra pound of water can hurt me so bad on bodyweight exercises.
supersetted with
Inverted Bodyweight rows
5th pin on the smith machine 3 x 10
Today’s training (so far) is my longest run in a very long time: 4 min. strides/1 min walk x 8. 3.65 miles in 39:13. My knee is thus far OK, although I think I’ll repeat this workout before adding another 5 min. repeat. If/when I get to 45 minutes of run/walk, my ARTist said I could try running straight through for 20 minutes. I am surely looking forward to this!
I took a long ride today and should have learned from you - stop at mid-point and EAT!
I hit the wall with a vengeance and my legs are fried now.
I’ll admit that I was going for the Ninja look with the all black and then HELLO SHOES.
i laughed a lot at this. i suppose there is something to be said for black re: ninja-like effect. i really do like the colors on yours, though. mine have also faded into a bit of a weird brown. need to wash them a lot.
most people who ask me about them seem interested in hunting a pair down themselves, so i don’t suppose people find them too ridiculous. i wouldn’t say they are popular in my gym, but they are reasonably common in the heavy weights room at least (mostly for deadlift, i think).
glad to hear you taking your time in getting used to them. i overdid it a bit to start with (even though i thought i was being careful) and suffered a lot more than i needed to because of it.
really glad to hear how much the rack pulls have helped you. i’m thinking i might work some of these. snatch and clean grip (to work the first pull) but think they might help me keep my hips down and get stronger legs. also great to hear that you are getting back into your running.
It is probably a good idea to do the run again before uping either the time or the intensity given the issues you’ve had before.
George, you dog you. BRING FOOD! Long rides need eats…a bag of almonds, a bar, some sport beans. Plus, riding to eat is very fun.
alexus, so far I’ve worn the VFFs the most for kayaking of all things. So, I’ve washed them after almost every wearing and the colors still look vivid.
Joe, due to stupidity on my part (see below) I will definitely not be progressing quickly on the running.
Sunday’s training is in my notebook, I am on my couch and I ain’t moving. Another day for that one.
Today’s activity was riding the bicycle for 1 hour to the river, kayaking for 2 hours and then riding home. A perfect combination of fun upper and lower body exercise.
So, here is my dumbass move of the day. I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning after hubby’s big birthday party last night. I had balanced a big wooden cutting board rather precariously in the drying rack and almost moved it but didn’t. One wrong move later, and the cutting board came crashing down. Although I jumped, I didn’t quite jump far or fast enough. The edge of the cutting board caught the side of my left big toe, leaving me an angry-looking bruise on the side of said toe.
Dumbass.
I can move the toe fine, so I think its OK except for the bruises. No run for me tomorrow as I Traumeel it and hope for the bruising to quickly fade.
Did I mention that I am a dumbass? grrr.
There is a lady in my office that sometimes wears her Vibrams on casual day. Initially, I was like…lame. But she has great triceps, shoulders and back and a killer behind (Hey, that sounds kinda familiar) so I came to my senses and now quite like them.
sounds like you had a nice weekend despite the clumsiness. I’m constantly doing stuff like that…
Well it could have been worse! Giving it time to heal is a smart move.
My first boyfriend went to a toga party (this was during the 80s) and had put a kitchen knife in his belt as an accessory (again, 80s…that would get you jailed these days!). Half way through the party the knife dropped out of his belt and stuck in the top of his foot.
And yes, he had to go to casualty in his toga and explain to the doctor what had happened. I think that’s even more dumbass than your chopping board accident!
cutting board > knife.
I know, i’ve done both.
Git, I see that in the cost/benefit analysis, you see that the benefits of monkey feet outweigh the initial WTF value of those shoes. Smart man.
Betty, I’m terrified that one fine day I’ll drop a dumbbell or plate on my foot in the weight room. I am a HUGE klutz with terrible depth perception and that is not a good thing.
Cal, I remember toga parties! None of mine resulted in a trip to the hospital and the resulting embarrassing explanation. My doctor friends tell endless stories about the screwy things that end up weird places in the bodies of their ER patients.
CBear, I am SO THANKFUL that it wasn’t worse. The bruise is on the side of my toe indicating more of a glancing blow than a straight on guillotine effect. Its a bit tender to walk on, so I’m taking it a bit easy until its better.
My Sunday training, for what its worth:
Squat rehab
Bar 1 x 5
Bar plus band around knees 1 x 5
55# plus band around knees 1 x 5
Squats to 4 risers/step (just barely parallel)
65# 1 x 5
85# 1 x 5
95# 1 x 1
100# 1 x 1
105# 1 x 1
110# 1 x 1 <–some knee wiggle
My goal here was simply to squat my bodyweight without knee cave. I almost made it, some knee wiggle on the last one.
Overhead squat
28# bar 3 x 5
Instead of amusing you with a video of my regular crappy squats, here is a video of my crappy OH squats.
I still lose my arch at the bottom. Next time perhaps I’ll not go as low.
Bench Press (5s week)
Bar 1 x 5
65# 1 x 5
74# 1 x 5
84# 1 x 5 <–butt way off bench for last 2 reps
I felt lucky to eke out 5 reps on the money set. Just wasn’t feeling too strong.
Dips
Belt + 10 lbs. 3 x 10
supersetted with
Cable hip ad/abductions
7.5# + 1 plate 2 x 10
Its becoming clear to me that I have limited energy to expend on athletic pursuits. The more bicycling/running/kayaking I do, the less strength I have in the gym. Summer is hard, winter is easier because there are less outside activities to detract from my lifting.
At this moment, I am pooped despite having a rest day today. I love my outdoor activities. I love lifting. Clearly not everything can be a priority all at the same time. Sonofabitch.
How can you look so long?
and be so tiny?
you are super lean.
nice session and I agree its hard to fit in all the stuff you like athletically
and feel good about the quality of work in each pursuit.
OH squats are allot harder then they look
methinks you posted a video to motivate one of the projects in my queue. it worked.
2nd’ing what the puppet said about you looking long. i’d never guess that you were such a tiny freak if i didnt know better. and part of me still wants to give u a sammich to help with the tiny.
as for the energy to do everything- your body will adapt. not as quickly as you want it to, and maybe take a lil longer than it would have 20 years ago, but it will.
at this point its really just a matter of learning the diff between an injury and a hurt toe.
Hi Kimba
Back looked so strong, sorry wasn’t looking at the form. blush
I thought your OH Squat looked pretty good.
The squats looked OK to me but as you say, there’s a little butt wink at the bottom. Nothing too bad though.
I am somewhat embarrassed that you can squat as much as me, and you weigh 50lbs less. crai
kmc, I love the illusions wrought by the camera. My problem with overhead squats are legion, however the balance of the bar overhead is SO difficult for me. On the set after the one in the video, the bar gets all skewed and wonky as I lose my balancing ability as I tire. Still, this lift amuses me to no end!
CBear, as you know I’m unafraid of the cold, hard truth. And I’d take a sammich from you anytime.
Charlie, thanks for the kind words.
Joe, I honestly feel like such a stork when I squat. Legs and arms everywhere.
Cal, squats are my nemesis. Nothing about them feels right, despite the fact that I’ve got no injuries hampering me. You, on the other hand, are just a bit more busted.
A good night’s sleep has me feeling a bit more energized. I’m contemplating whether I need to switch up my programming somewhat for the remainder of the summer. I need to have a real think-session as to what has been working and what hasn’t.
Volume for bench has helped me steadily improve, so clearly I should keep that.
I’d love to train chinups/pullups more. That should be easily accomplished.
I really love sumo deadlifting and I’d hate to abandon my slow steady progression with the rack pulls. That’s been a dedicated project of mine since January, and I’d be proud to say that 2011 was the Year of the Rack Pull for me.
I’m bored of the Kroc rows. What might be a good substitute for this? There is no t-bar row machine at my gym, so chest supported rows with dbs and a bench are what first come to mind.
And, I keep thinking about pushups. In fact, I dreamed about doing pushups last night.
You could try Sheiko, that would be a bit of a change.
Really though I’m just trying to get someone to do it with me after my next meet.
Regarding the pushups and pullups, maybe a variant of the 60 day challenge?
You could do chest supported DB row as well.