Yes, I ran – no it wasn’t fast, well…not too fast and I did run twice ;-).

Run #1

The first run was a pretty careful run, I wanted to see how the foot felt and decided to do it on the treadmill. I know I tend to run a little too fast on them, but if something goes bad, I can stop, step off and walk to the locker room – instead of walking back from where ever I am.

So what did I do?

I modified the plan from Kinetic Revolution’s 6-week running Building Better Runners to work more on my form and to slow my ass down on how far I run.

5:00 minute warm-up @3.0 mph
3 x 30 sec run @6.0 mph, 30 sec walk 3.9 mph

I couldn’t just do this 30/30 intervals, it was just too much to keep an eye on (I couldn’t relax and just run), I kept going over the 30 second repeat

4 x 1:00 min run @ 6.0 mph and 1:00 min walk @ 3.9 mph

Everything felt good, so I kicked up the speed
2 x 1:00 min run @ 6.6 mph and 1:00 min 3.9 mph walk

Then I ran 1:00 min  @ 7.2 mph and walk 1:00 min @ 3.9 mph until I got to 1.75 miles

Last .25 @ 7.2 mph

Then I walked the until I reached 30:00 minutes.

Summary:

• Distance: 2.0
• Time: 24:14
• Shoes: Skechers GoMeb 2 – I screwed up here, I planned to run with no socks in these shoes (to get my feet used to it) and I forget and wore my C9’s – oh well next time.

It felt good, to run and it felt even better to run with no pain in my foot.

I was worried about how it would feel, but it did fine and I didn’t really think about the hamstring either. However, I had gone through a long stretching/body weight routine (almost 45 minutes) before getting on the treadmill, so I was warmed-up.

The best thing was that I had plenty left and felt as though I could have gone a LOT further and/or faster, but I shut it down. I am really working to do it mostly correct this time, well at least as much as I ever will ;-).

After the treadmill work, I did a heavier weight upper body workout. I did shock myself when I was able to do the Seated Machine Press at 170 pounds for 6 reps, haven’t done that much in years.

Run #2

Yeah the second run, I was going to do Bennie’s long walk and as we got to the end of the driveway, he grabbed the leash and basically told me that “I want to run!”

Before you all, get on my case about it, my foot felt fine and I really had wanted to run more at the gym, so I figured “why not”. I promised myself if anything hurt or felt off that I would stop and just walk and that I wouldn’t do anymore than a mile.

Off we went, Bennie hasn’t run since I hurt my foot and he was definitely ready and was trying to turn it into a hard speed work session, while I was doing my best anchor impression.

• 1.04 mi Distance
• 8:32 Time
• 8:12/mi Pace
• Shoes: Pearl Izumi Peak II 7-19-14 (1.0 mi)

Actually it was a little quicker pace than I had planned on (especially just before I got to the 1.0 mile point), but I just went with it and felt pretty good.

Pearl Izumi Peak II’s

It was also my first run in the Pearl Izumi Peak II’s that I got on Saturday (see the story here). What did I think of them?

No problems running in them at all, but it was a pretty short run. The heel/midfoot area seem a little wide, but while I was running I didn’t notice any issues. They had good grip and when I had to go off into the rocks on the side of the road it wasn’t an issue, my feet felt well protected.

I do like the softer and more flexible feel that they have compared to the EM line of shoes.

I guess if I had to put it simply, I like the feel of the Peak II’s, but like the fit of the EM line shoes better. If that makes any sense.

I’m going to have to run a bunch more in them to really get to know them better, but I am looking forward to it now. They are not the N1 Trails, but when I finished running there wasn’t any crap inside of the shoes, so it was a good first run.

Yes, I wanted to keep going, but right when we got past the 1.0 mile point, a car was coming around a blind curve and I had to pull Bennie off into the ledges, so it was a good place to stop.

Overall, I felt very good, no pain in the foot and I know that I could have done more, but was smart and didn’t. Instead when we got home I did a couple of cycles of icing and had a nice lunch.

Then this afternoon, I went and cut down two trees, cut, split, chipped, stacked and cleaned up. While chopping the wood, I got stung by something on the neck and got that wonderful tingling sensation for about 20 minutes, so I had to sit down for a while, until that feeling passed and then I finished things up.

I did learn that the right foot does not like my steel toed boots and it was a little sore/tired by the end of the day. Yes, I iced things down after and I will not have to wear them again right off.

It will be interesting to see how it feels in the morning. I probably did a little too much when you add in the lumber work, but the yard work needed to be done and I know that I definitely needed the run.

Yes, I am smiling.