Steph signed up for a 20 min challenge with the running room on Wed July 10th and got me to sign up as well. It's free to register and you get a free hat. It's something to do and thought it'd be fun. Steph and Carolyn were also discussing doing a duathlon relay on Sat July 13th and a regular duathlon on the 14th in Morden. The relay is a 5k run, 30k bike and 10k run while the duathlon is a 3k run, 10k bike and 3k run. The relay didn't seem worth the price compared to the duathlon and would mean an extra night's stay, so I decided against it. Steph booked a room in Winkler as Morden had no vacancies. My plan as of right now is to do the duathlon since it's same day registration. My mountain bike will need a tune up before then.
The 5k was just a leisurely run in my neighborhood. I took it easy that day because I was taking advantage of a free 7 day pass that I apparently signed up for at the Subway Fit Expo for the MB Marathon. I probably over did it on arms and chest, as I was in considerable pain on Friday. That evening I was also sparing for soccer. We ended in a 2-2 draw, but I scored my first ever header in soccer (I technically scored one in ball hockey earlier in the spring). Both were pretty sweet.
As mentioned above, Friday I was hella sore from working out for the first time in forever. I relaxed most of the day, but helped my folks lay their hardwood flooring. I did that until the early evening and came home and slept from 8-10pm as I felt drained. I woke up feeling a bit more refreshed and since I had no plans, I decided to test out my new Vibrams Spyridon LS.
I picked these up in Fargo with the intention of using them in my mud runs. I figured they'd be good in the mud and I wouldn't wreck my running shoes. I know they look silly, but many people swear by them. They do feel funny as I'm not used to having my toes separated. After researching them after the purchase, I found a couple sites that rank them as a top 10 shoes for mud runs and another as a top 3 shoe. One site said they are machine washable, which makes them ideal for Mud Hero and Dirty Donkey. I was also told that being a minimalist shoe, you have to be careful when training with them, because they change the way you run and you don't want to injure yourself. Anyhow, I decided to be cautious and go for a 3k walk. At first they seemed fairly normal just walking, so after a few minutes, I picked it up to a light job. This is where I noticed a huge difference from my Nike Air Pegasus. Since there's no cushioning, you can feel the impact through your body with every step. Also, you can feel every pebble that you step on, especially where I ran over 2 removed cement blocks on the side walk which were replaced with gravel. Not even halfway through my run, it felt like some bones on the top side of my left foot were grinding. Not a pleasant feeling. So I took a couple minutes to just walk. The feeling subsided and I went back into the light job. That grinding feeling did not return the rest of the run. There shoes definitely will take some getting used to and I don't see myself running long distances in these. I prefer the cushioning of my Pegasus'. 5-6k mud runs on grass or through mud and water is about as far as I'll run in these. I'm also thinking of wearing them for Color Me Rad, since that'll be a 5k fun run. Again, they'll be easy to wash and I won't stain my running shoes with color. Perhaps in the future I may change my mind after a few runs, but for now, they'll have a specific purpose.
On a side note, my cousin Tony suggested I do lots of squats in preparation for the mud runs. Running through mud is very difficult and requests lots of leg strength. I found a squat challenge online from Fit-tabulous. Steph and I decided to complete this challenge. We're currently on day 9 or 100 squats. Should anyone feel like doing this challenge, let me know how you make out. I'd love to hear about others completely this as well.
Saturday after a day at the beach (Bird's Hill Park), I decided to squeeze in another short run before that evenings festivities. I ran in my area and was listening to music as I normally do. Steph texted me asking if I wanted a ride to Roni's for a bon fire. I thought this would be a nice time to fall into my minute walk, read the text and respond. A few seconds later, a random guy ran up beside me clapping his hands encouraging me not to stop, keep going, come on, let's go. I responded that I got a text, but immediately put my phone back into my pocket and said, ok, I'll run with you. He was going at a pace that was faster than I normally run. So we chatted a bit. I told him that I completed 2 half marathons recently. He told me his name was Jonathon and lives in the area. The previous day he had run 30k to downtown and back. Not sure how far he was going today, but it sounded like he took a different route going away from downtown and was going to the direction of his home. Whether he was going further or not, I did not know. So I asked him if he has run a race before. He said not, but plans on running a full marathon next year. There was more idle talk about running and how good it is for you. It was nice running into and then running with someone this enthusiastic about running. He took me a little further past my intended route and I kept up with him for a little bit. But because of his pace, I bid him good bye and turned down another street to loop back home. I do hope to bump into him in one of my future runs.
That pretty much sums up my runs since the Manitoba Marathon. This month I have the 20 Min Challenge, the Morden Try-a-du, Color Me Rad and Mud Hero. Other possibilities for races include the Fort White Twighlight run (10k) at the end of August and the Winnipeg 10 & 10 (10k) in early September.
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