I bought a pair of the Nike Free 5.0. I like the minimalist ideas. After buying the shoes I did more research.

The Running Barefoot guys swear my knee problems I have written about here and here will go away as soon as I make the jump. The barefoot running idea is very intriguing.

I have decided to go barefoot for much of my non-running activities including much of our vacation at Sun River. That has been great. The feet toughen up and body's response to the environment gets a lot better. However, both the Nike Free's and barefoot running need to be started slowly. I jumped in with both and my body could feel it. I have had to back way down. The issue for me is I am trying for the Portland Marathon and one cannot change something this drastic in the middle of 35-40 mile weeks.

So, although I am curious and I have taken a few small steps toward some barefoot running. It will have to wait until after October :)

David

June 29th, 2008

The morning of the race Calleigh, 4 1/2, and Ella, 3, "ran" the non-competitive Kids dash 1/2 mile. The girls often want to "run" or "stretch" with us but this morning they were having none of it. Both were breaking down and I wound up carrying Ella until the last 100 meters were she got excited. Calleigh did better with Michelle. Still they looked very cute with their oversized Tee-shirts and bib numbers carefully pinned on front.

Four family members ran the Pacific Crest 5K as per the challenge. Here are the Results.

Lucas ran a 32:24. Michelle blew us all away with a 38:43. Beau and Margot speed walked to a 47:15.

Pictures: Use the following bib numbers:

• Michelle: 7180
• Lucas: 7181
• Margot: 7182
• Beau: 7189

I was running back and forth from the last 1/4 mile mark and the finish. In the process I completely missed Michelle's triumphant return vastly exceeding her own prediction of 45 minutes. I feel terrible. She did great!

June 28th, 2008

I survived the Pacfic Crest Half Marathon. Here are the Results. I finished in 1:36:21. I ran at around 7:15 pace until around mile 10 where I hit the wall ... hard :). I faded to about 8:12 for the last mile. Picture: Use bib number 4716.

Warning: Complaining Follows
Why I hit the wall:

• I did not fuel and hydrate well for the conditions
• It was 75+ degrees and rising by the 10 mile mark
• Sunriver has 4200 feet of elevation
• The course is fairly hilly.
• When I and 500+ others were told it was time to walk to the start line we were surprised to find 500+ more people already there and the race organizer was counting down 10,9,8...
  I had to weave my way through 450 people to get to others running the same pace.
• Or it could be I was overly ambitious

This was the first competitive half marathon I have ever done. The only other attempt was when I was 17 and I thought I could just show up on race day and run it. Suffice it to say I walked half of that race.

Here is the challenge: run (or walk) your first (second, or twentieth) 5K this June during our family vacation.

Here is a beginners training guide leading straight up to the
Pacific Crest weekend of races in Sun River. Not coming to Sun River. No problem! There are local 5K's run every weekend of the summer no matter where you live.

This schedule is based on the Runners World
First 5K plan. There's an intermediate plan too if this is too easy.

Good luck!
David

I have detailed some of my knee problems and the quest for the right shoes before. The first pair of "Stability" shoes I got in June of 2007 from a running store after a treadmill test "proved" I was an over pronator hurt my knee more than the over training I had been doing that was the original cause.

Then I found an old pair of my wife's Adidas Supernova Clams and found I could run without pain. I went back to said running store in August 2007 and I suggested maybe I was not an over pronator. They quickly informed me that the Supernova's were "Stability" shoes too. Trying to be conservative in hopes of some day running a marathon I went ahead and got a properly fitting pair of the Supernovas. Later that year in November 2007 I hurt my knee bad and now in February of 2008 I have done it again. It seams whenever I get up to around 25-30 miles a week I get hurt. I then have to take 1-3 weeks off to recover and then I feel like I am starting over again.

I am an avid reader of Runners World and although I had seen it before I took the Runner's World Wet Test seriously. Turns out I have high arches. I mean really high. There was barely a strip between the balls of my feet and the heel. So, if anything I am supinator.

It is a Christmas Miracle! My knee held up for an easy three miler on Christmas day. Why is this a miracle? Well I will tell you my sob story.

It's my wife's fault . . . really. She brought home a copy of Runners World back in May. I read the thing cover to cover and I got inspired to run a marathon. Never mind that I had only restarted running the previous couple of weeks. Never mind that every year for the last five years I have tried to start running and been forced to stop a couple of weeks in due to (what I now know was) over training.

So, off I went. The first mistake I made was the same one I had made all of the previous years. I started running a weekly 5k with the local running club, CCRC. My body was not prepared for this at all and I ran into the same over training issues including but not limited to knee and foot pain. What I now believe is IT band syndrome.

So, I was off to get new shoes. I went to our local running store (unnamed to protect the innocent). They watched my running on a treadmill and said I am a slight over pronator. So I got a pair of Muzuno's that are "Stability" shoes.

I ran in these for about a month. This was the most painful month of my life. Some how I survived a 10K at the Pacific Crest Sports Weekend.

Vancouver All American Triathlon

I trained for and swam, biked and ran in the Vancouver All American Triathlon.
Results

I held my own with the swimming, coming in around mid pack. I only have a mountain bike so the cycling section was like watching other cyclists in sped up motion. I did not train as well on the bike as I would like. And I have had a number of injuries to overcome this summer on the run. I ran 23:04 5K which is not impressive but was the fastest I have run one this injury plagued summer. I was 51/93 on the swim 65/93 on the bike and 22/93 on the run.

It took about one hour and twenty five minutes and was one of the more exhausting things I have ever done. In my head, once I got to the bike I could take in the fluids and food. But the start of the bike was uphill and I did not get my first drink in until a couple of miles later.

It was a good learning experience. I think I will do more triathlons once I get a marathon under my belt.

David