January – April 2012

Running

Running has been going well. Extremely well. I almost hate to admit that because it probably means I will injure myself at any moment. But hopefully not. I’ve been focusing a lot on my form as I try to transition to a forefoot strike pattern (rather than a heel-strike pattern). It’s hard to try to correct 18 years of bad form. Really hard. But I’m making progress. I ran farther in April 2012 than I did in any other month in the last 10 years, and I haven’t had a hint of knee pain. Of course, some of that has come at the expense of really sore calves on account of using different muscles that are much less well developed. I’ll take sore calves for a few hours over semi-permanent knee pain 10 times out of 10.

I found a great place to run barefoot: the glorious artificial turf on the WUSTL track infield (some people might call it a football field). Of the 146 miles I ran in April, 19 of them were completely barefoot, and some of those were pretty fast (5:32). The majority of the remaining miles were in my wonderful new Luna Sandals (yes, sandals), with the rest in my Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas, Merrell Trail Gloves, and New Balance MT 110s. I guess I have something of a shoe fetish (yet I still run barefoot). I just pick the thinnest shoes I can get away with based on the route I have in mind, and take them off whenever I can.

Month | Distance | # Workouts | Avg per Workout
January | 78.06 Mile | 9 | 8.67333 Mile
February | 75.2586 Mile | 9 | 8.36206 Mile
March | 126.15 Mile | 14 | 9.01071 Mile
April | 146.28 Mile | 16 | 9.1425 Mile
Total | 425.749 Mile | 48 | 8.86976 Mile

Cycling

Photo by Jeff Schleicher

I’ve been a regular at the Tuesday night crits, though I did miss a couple. I’ve been lucky to get two training rides a week. Considering where I started at the beginning of this year I’ve already come a long way, but I still have a long way to go. Looking at my race results over the past year or so it’s pretty clear where my talent lies.

Cycling: 15, 4, 45, 47, 40, 17.

Triathlon/duathlon: 4, 2, 2.

Running: 2, 9, 16, 4, 2, 4, 10, 1.

Single digit placings are better than double digit placings. If I want to achieve more success in cycling races I’m going to have to spend more time (which I don’t have) practicing. Or maybe blood doping.

Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride
Bianchi | 34. Mile | 9 | 3.77778 Mile
El Fuego | 20.04 Mile | 1 | 20.04 Mile
Lynskey | 13.64 Mile | 2 | 6.82 Mile
Pocket Rocket | 27. Mile | 6 | 4.5 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird | 158.59 Mile | 5 | 31.718 Mile
Total | 253.27 Mile | 23 | 11.0117 Mile

Month | Distance | # Workouts | Avg per Workout
January | 25.33 Mile | 2 | 12.665 Mile
February | 40.08 Mile | 3 | 13.36 Mile
March | 213.43 Mile | 20 | 10.6715 Mile
April | 253.27 Mile | 23 | 11.0117 Mile
Total | 532.11 Mile | 48 | 11.0856 Mile

Swimming

Yes, the numbers are small. I just started late in the month. What’s promising, though, is just how quickly I was able to pick this back up after months off (and if you don’t count that week in September, years off).

Month | Distance | # Workouts | Avg per Workout
January | 0 | 0 | 0
February | 0 | 0 | 0
March | 0 | 0 | 0
April | 1750. Yard | 2 | 875. Yard
Total | 1750. Yard | 2 | 875. Yard

Walking/Hiking

Month | Distance | # Workouts | Avg per Workout
January | 51.53 Mile | 16 | 3.22063 Mile
February | 42.92 Mile | 18 | 2.38444 Mile
March | 41.15 Mile | 14 | 2.93929 Mile
April | 31.89 Mile | 12 | 2.6575 Mile
Total | 167.49 Mile | 60 | 2.7915 Mile