I was reading the Sunday paper and lo and behold there is an article on barefoot running. If you get a chance, look in the July 4th edition of the Greenville News on page 4D. The article has input from both the believers and non-believers. In the article they mention two really good websites to visit. One is from Harvard University (www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu) and the other is from a person named Ken Bob (www.therunningbarefoot.com). Both are good websites. The Harvard one has a lot of good videos about heel striking as compared to mid-foot and forefoot striking. According to the study, most people that run with shoes on tend to heel strike and many that run barefoot tend to mid-foot and fore foot strike. According to the studies the barefoot impact has less force than the shod foot impact. Of course this does vary with the person and the shoes.
At this point in my bare footing career I can't tell whether I prefer barefoot or shod. Due to my rash of recent heart troubles, my running frequency has dropped. I did have a decent running week at the Outer Banks.
During my family Outer Banks visit we stayed on Roanoke Island in a little resort village named Pirates Cove. They have condos and houses for rent. We rented a little cottage on the canal. It was a great week of relaxing. On Sunday I did a quick 3 miler with my Nikes near the cottage we stayed in. The weather was very humid so I was sweating profusely at the end.
Tuesday I drove down to Nags Heads Woods and did a 4 mile trail run with the Vibrams. This turned out to be more of a complete aerobic work out involving all muscle groups because of the deer fly harassment. I forgot to bring bug spray and was literally attacked for the duration of the run. I call these little buggers deer flies, some people call them yellow flies. Whatever they are, they have a very painful bite! They tend to fly around your head and enjoy actually bumping into your head. Of course when they bump into your head you tend to smack yourself while trying to hit them. I am sure I looked a little crazy running through the trail dodging and weaving and hitting myself in the head. Because of the frenzied running I missed my turn and actually ended up on a dirt road for about 2 miles, I doubled back and completed my run. As far as the Vibrams went, I had a good run. The trail was very sandy in some areas and was difficult to run through. My pace was a little quicker than I had anticipated because of the attacking deer flies.
Thursday I went for a "dock" run. The Pirates Cove village is cool because they have canals all throughout the village. On each side of the canal there is a continuous dock. I actually did a 4 mile run mostly on the docks. The views are beautiful and the run was fun. The joke about taking a long run on a short dock doesn't work there.
I had planned to do a beach run one day but I just ran out of time. I have not run on the beach in years. We returned home from our vacation on July 3rd.
On the 4th I went out for a long run to see if I could still do it. I have not gone over 4 miles for about 3 months! I decided to try it. I made it about 7 miles before I pooped out. My pace was 9 minute miles and I ran that with my Nikes.
To get back into the barefoot grove I have been taking easy 1 mile runs with my daughter. She has taken an interest in running and I really enjoy jogging around our neighborhood with her. She is doing great and progressing well. I have been wearing my Vibrams during these runs.
Well I better stop writing now. I have some more interesting heart stuff to talk about but I need to learn more from my doctor about it. I will be wearing a heart monitor for a while starting next week. More on that later.
Have a great day and God bless you.
Gary
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Heart blog continued.
I left the last blog off waiting on my results from the chemical stress test. The doctor called me Friday June 11th, two days after the test, to tell me the results. He said that the stress test showed that I had some sort of blockage in the front and back of my heart. Well, that freaked me out. The doctor scheduled a heart catheter for the following Wednesday, June 16th, to further evaluate my heart. During a heart catheter they make a small incision near your groin and insert a probe inside of your artery. They snake the probe up into your heart and then release a dye to see how well the blood is flowing through your heart arteries. If they find a blockage the doctor may do a balloon angioplasty to open up the blockage and then insert a stent to keep the artery open. In the mean time the doctor immediately put my on Plavix and aspirin. So, of course, all sorts of questions are running through my mind. Did I have a heart attack? Can I die at any time from this blockage? Will I need the stents?
Well, I went to the internet and started researching stents. They have drug infused stents and bare metal stents. The bare metal stents tend to block back up, sometimes very quickly. There are three main ways that they can block up. (1) The trauma at the site may cause blot clotting. (2) Plaque buildup at the site of the stent. (3) Your artery wall may grow around the stent too much and reduce the blood flow through it. The drug infused stents can still block up from blood clotting and plaque buildup but they do reduce the growth of the artery walls around the stent, at least for a while. Because of the first two reasons you must take blood thinning medication, aspirin, and cholesterol lowing drugs for the rest of your life.
Through all of my research I came to the conclusion that stents are not reliable. The only other options are to have a bypass around the blockages or use drugs to keep your blood thin and try to reduce the buildup in your arteries. Neither of those options seemed like a good idea. So for the 5 days I had to wait for my heart catheter I was really stressed. Those days were filled with a lot of praying to God! The doctors are very set on using these stents and just seem to pop them in at will. I really began to dread the idea of getting stents put in. I figured that would be it for my running.
I finally had the heart catheter and much to my relief the doctor could not find any blockages! I do not know what happened during the chemical stress test to show blockages but the heart catheter did not show any blockages. I was very, very happy about that. I thanked God profusely.
The doctor still made me have an echocardiogram on June 25th. The echo is mainly to evaluate the action of your heart valves. I hope the results of that go ok. It seems like every other test shows some abnormality. I won’t find out the results of the echo until next week. In the mean time I have decided to start jogging again.
On June 26th my family and I have gone on our vacation to the Outer Banks. We are staying on Roanoke Island. I will be doing a couple of runs while on vacation. I am very much relieved that I can relax on this vacation with these potential heart problems behind me.
Have a great day.
Well, I went to the internet and started researching stents. They have drug infused stents and bare metal stents. The bare metal stents tend to block back up, sometimes very quickly. There are three main ways that they can block up. (1) The trauma at the site may cause blot clotting. (2) Plaque buildup at the site of the stent. (3) Your artery wall may grow around the stent too much and reduce the blood flow through it. The drug infused stents can still block up from blood clotting and plaque buildup but they do reduce the growth of the artery walls around the stent, at least for a while. Because of the first two reasons you must take blood thinning medication, aspirin, and cholesterol lowing drugs for the rest of your life.
Through all of my research I came to the conclusion that stents are not reliable. The only other options are to have a bypass around the blockages or use drugs to keep your blood thin and try to reduce the buildup in your arteries. Neither of those options seemed like a good idea. So for the 5 days I had to wait for my heart catheter I was really stressed. Those days were filled with a lot of praying to God! The doctors are very set on using these stents and just seem to pop them in at will. I really began to dread the idea of getting stents put in. I figured that would be it for my running.
I finally had the heart catheter and much to my relief the doctor could not find any blockages! I do not know what happened during the chemical stress test to show blockages but the heart catheter did not show any blockages. I was very, very happy about that. I thanked God profusely.
The doctor still made me have an echocardiogram on June 25th. The echo is mainly to evaluate the action of your heart valves. I hope the results of that go ok. It seems like every other test shows some abnormality. I won’t find out the results of the echo until next week. In the mean time I have decided to start jogging again.
On June 26th my family and I have gone on our vacation to the Outer Banks. We are staying on Roanoke Island. I will be doing a couple of runs while on vacation. I am very much relieved that I can relax on this vacation with these potential heart problems behind me.
Have a great day.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Out of action for a while
Well, I missed the Paris Mountain 15K trail run. Let me explain the situation.
I am about 90% recovered from the calf strain I got last March. I have built myself back up to 4 miles with the Vibrams. About every mile or 2 I needed to stop and stretch out my calves because they fell close to getting another strain. They just feel sort of tight. I have continued with the stretching and the exercising of my calves. I was fully willing (not necessarily ready) to run the 15 K trail run. My plan was to start out with the Vibrams and bring my Nikes in a back pack and change into them if I felt any trouble with my feet. I felt as though I could make it at least 4-5 miles before having any soreness.
However, on Mother’s day I decided to take a nap late in the afternoon. As I lay down I noticed my heart felt like it was beating very hard. I just figured it was something I ate and put up with it. I actually had some tightness of the chest and pain in my chest. But I did not feel bad enough to go to the doctor. I had just had a physical a week before and all seemed good. My EKG was good and my blood pressure was 102/68. My cholesterol was up a little but the doctor felt that I could work on that to lower it. So off and on all week I felt like something was going on with my heart. I had to go out of town for work a couple of days. One of those days I decided to test my heart out with a jog. I put on the Vibrams and jogged 4 miles at a park close by the hotel. I felt ok but it seemed like my heart rate was higher than normal for a slow pace. I got back in town late Thursday and could not get a doctor appointment before the weekend. So I went into the MD360 close by my house. She took an EKG and noticed a “non-specific” abnormality, whatever that is! So they made an appointment for me at a cardiologist. The MD 360 doctor said I was not having a heart attack.
The next week I decided to go to my family doctor. He ran another EKG and said it also showed the non-specific abnormality. That is when the doctor told me to skip the Paris Mountain 15K! Since I was still having tightness in the chest and some pain I decided he was right. I did not run in the race.
I went to the cardiologist and he took another EKG. He said the EKG was okay and it did show some slight difference then normal but he said runners sometimes get that. He actually called it runner’s heart. He told me that I should take a chemical stress test and an echocardiogram. I took the chemical stress test on June 8th. It was very interesting. I thought I would be running on the treadmill. However for this test they put some Thallium in your blood so they can put you on some sort of machine to see your blood flow through your heart. Instead of running on the treadmill they shoot you up with some sort of substance to expand your blood vessels. It made me feel very strange and my pulse shot up from 58 to 99 in about 30 seconds. My blood pressure dropped from 114 to 102 at the same time. They had me wired up to the EKG and said my heart responded correctly. I will not hear the full results for a few more days.
I have not exercised for about 2 straight weeks now. I am getting stir crazy. Most of my heart pains and chest tightness are now gone. I still feel like my heart beats hard when I go up stairs at work. Maybe it always did that and now I notice it more. Once you think something is wrong with your heart you start zoning in on every little thing.
So that is the story. The cardiologist did not tell me not to jog so I went for a 3 mile slow jog last Sunday. I also played racquetball today. I feel almost normal so I figured it must not be a heart attack. Someone mentioned that you can get a mild infection in your heart or even a virus can affect your heart. Maybe that is what happened. When I get the results of my stress test back I will update my blog. I expect it will be normal though.
Have a great day!
Gary
I am about 90% recovered from the calf strain I got last March. I have built myself back up to 4 miles with the Vibrams. About every mile or 2 I needed to stop and stretch out my calves because they fell close to getting another strain. They just feel sort of tight. I have continued with the stretching and the exercising of my calves. I was fully willing (not necessarily ready) to run the 15 K trail run. My plan was to start out with the Vibrams and bring my Nikes in a back pack and change into them if I felt any trouble with my feet. I felt as though I could make it at least 4-5 miles before having any soreness.
However, on Mother’s day I decided to take a nap late in the afternoon. As I lay down I noticed my heart felt like it was beating very hard. I just figured it was something I ate and put up with it. I actually had some tightness of the chest and pain in my chest. But I did not feel bad enough to go to the doctor. I had just had a physical a week before and all seemed good. My EKG was good and my blood pressure was 102/68. My cholesterol was up a little but the doctor felt that I could work on that to lower it. So off and on all week I felt like something was going on with my heart. I had to go out of town for work a couple of days. One of those days I decided to test my heart out with a jog. I put on the Vibrams and jogged 4 miles at a park close by the hotel. I felt ok but it seemed like my heart rate was higher than normal for a slow pace. I got back in town late Thursday and could not get a doctor appointment before the weekend. So I went into the MD360 close by my house. She took an EKG and noticed a “non-specific” abnormality, whatever that is! So they made an appointment for me at a cardiologist. The MD 360 doctor said I was not having a heart attack.
The next week I decided to go to my family doctor. He ran another EKG and said it also showed the non-specific abnormality. That is when the doctor told me to skip the Paris Mountain 15K! Since I was still having tightness in the chest and some pain I decided he was right. I did not run in the race.
I went to the cardiologist and he took another EKG. He said the EKG was okay and it did show some slight difference then normal but he said runners sometimes get that. He actually called it runner’s heart. He told me that I should take a chemical stress test and an echocardiogram. I took the chemical stress test on June 8th. It was very interesting. I thought I would be running on the treadmill. However for this test they put some Thallium in your blood so they can put you on some sort of machine to see your blood flow through your heart. Instead of running on the treadmill they shoot you up with some sort of substance to expand your blood vessels. It made me feel very strange and my pulse shot up from 58 to 99 in about 30 seconds. My blood pressure dropped from 114 to 102 at the same time. They had me wired up to the EKG and said my heart responded correctly. I will not hear the full results for a few more days.
I have not exercised for about 2 straight weeks now. I am getting stir crazy. Most of my heart pains and chest tightness are now gone. I still feel like my heart beats hard when I go up stairs at work. Maybe it always did that and now I notice it more. Once you think something is wrong with your heart you start zoning in on every little thing.
So that is the story. The cardiologist did not tell me not to jog so I went for a 3 mile slow jog last Sunday. I also played racquetball today. I feel almost normal so I figured it must not be a heart attack. Someone mentioned that you can get a mild infection in your heart or even a virus can affect your heart. Maybe that is what happened. When I get the results of my stress test back I will update my blog. I expect it will be normal though.
Have a great day!
Gary
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Very busy weekend
The calf is feeling much better. My friends and I did the Saint Frances Mud Run on Saturday. That was a blast! If you have not done that before you need to give it a try. We did it in 46 minutes which is respectable for first timers. I have to admit I was beat up and worn out by the end of the run but I felt great. I like having the obstacles to break up the run. It was really fun and challenging. If you get a chance go on You Tube and type in Saint Frances Mud Run and there is a good video of some guys running it last year. The video gives you an idea of what you are in for. I am glad I have some trail running experience as most of the running was in the woods. Don’t wear any clothes that you want to keep. I trashed everything that I wore.
I was a little tired out on Sunday but I went ahead and ran 5 miles in the morning. I ran with the Nikes and at a nice slow pace. My calf gave a few “twinges” but it did not hurt. Later in the day I played some racquetball with a friend. I also did some bouncing on the trampoline for about an hour with my daughter. Needless to say I was very tired by the end of the day.
I managed to go out Tuesday for a run in the Vibrams. The run felt great and invigorating. Maybe the sun shining and the breeze blowing helped out. I ran about 2 miles then stretched the calves some and ran 2 more. I felt really good and no pain. I still had energy near the end of the run and pushed it a little hard. I ran the last mile in under 8 minute miles, maybe around 7:30 with no problems. The fact that it was downhill most of the way helped too! Later in the day I could feel the calf tightening up from overuse. I stretched it some and it feels ok again. I better tone it down on Thursday. Plus I want to try some of the High Intensity Training next time out. I don’t want to re-injure my calf but I hate not being able to train for 1-1/2 months! I need to get back into the groove.
I have noticed that my foot turnover rate is consistently higher with the Vibrams. I believe I naturally take shorter strides to reduce the impact on my feet but I also speed up my cadence. I tend to run about 75 cadence with my Nikes and 81 with my Vibrams. I also tend to run a little faster in the Vibrams. I ran about 2/3 of the time in the grass. I have to really concentrate while running in the grass to miss all the land mines the friendly dog walkers leave behind.
Have a great day.
Gary
I was a little tired out on Sunday but I went ahead and ran 5 miles in the morning. I ran with the Nikes and at a nice slow pace. My calf gave a few “twinges” but it did not hurt. Later in the day I played some racquetball with a friend. I also did some bouncing on the trampoline for about an hour with my daughter. Needless to say I was very tired by the end of the day.
I managed to go out Tuesday for a run in the Vibrams. The run felt great and invigorating. Maybe the sun shining and the breeze blowing helped out. I ran about 2 miles then stretched the calves some and ran 2 more. I felt really good and no pain. I still had energy near the end of the run and pushed it a little hard. I ran the last mile in under 8 minute miles, maybe around 7:30 with no problems. The fact that it was downhill most of the way helped too! Later in the day I could feel the calf tightening up from overuse. I stretched it some and it feels ok again. I better tone it down on Thursday. Plus I want to try some of the High Intensity Training next time out. I don’t want to re-injure my calf but I hate not being able to train for 1-1/2 months! I need to get back into the groove.
I have noticed that my foot turnover rate is consistently higher with the Vibrams. I believe I naturally take shorter strides to reduce the impact on my feet but I also speed up my cadence. I tend to run about 75 cadence with my Nikes and 81 with my Vibrams. I also tend to run a little faster in the Vibrams. I ran about 2/3 of the time in the grass. I have to really concentrate while running in the grass to miss all the land mines the friendly dog walkers leave behind.
Have a great day.
Gary
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Is my calf okay yet?!
The 15K trail run is under 1 month away. At this point I have not even hit the trails in the Vibrams. This calf strain has hurt my training routine! I am now reevaluating my plans to run the 15K in the Vibrams. I may bring my running shoes with me and change into them if I feel any problems.
I had to travel last week so my running was off. I tried to use the tread mills at the hotels with poor results. I ran the first night for about 1 mile and felt like my right calf was pulling (not the one that was hurt). I decided to take it easy and quit for that night. Two days later I tried it again. Maybe it is just me or the speed was off on the tread mill but a 10 minute mile felt like a 9 minute mile, 9 felt like 8, and 8 felt like 7. I started off at 10 minutes per mile, sped up to 9, after about 1 mile I sped up to 8. The last mile I tried a seven minute mile and it really beat me down. I suppose I have not run much in the last month but do you lose that much ability so quickly! I finished 3 miles with no calf pain. The next night I did another 3 miles again with no calf pain. My calf feels tight and tingly sometimes but no pain. I have been stretching and exercising both calves. Running on tread mills takes some getting used to. I ran all times in my Nikes.
I ran on Sunday on the road in my Nikes and made it 4 miles with no calf problems. I went relatively slowly and I am just trying to build up my mileage again. I need to get back to 8-10 miles on my longer runs.
I have added a new exercise to my routine. I bought a trampoline for my daughter and we get out there about every other day or so. Bouncing on that thing is a blast and seems to be a good work out. Due to the fact that I am 46 and probably break easier now than I did when I was in my teens I don’t get too wild. I have been trying some flips but with some apprehension. I hope bouncing like that doesn’t hurt my calf again. Meanwhile my daughter is doing flips and front hand springs.
I went for a run Tuesday (April 27th) with the Vibrams. I ran mostly in the grass with some excursions on the street. I felt great until about 2-3/4 miles then all of a sudden I felt like my left calf was going to tear again. I was maintaining an 8:30 minute mile so I was not going too fast, although I was heading up a slight hill. All of sudden it felt like a cramp was getting ready to kick in. I immediately stopped and walked back. There is no pain whatsoever right now. I am just not sure what is going on. I will give it another try on Thursday. I can’t hurt it now because I have the mud run coming up on Saturday. I don’t want to let my team down.
Have a great day!
Gary
I had to travel last week so my running was off. I tried to use the tread mills at the hotels with poor results. I ran the first night for about 1 mile and felt like my right calf was pulling (not the one that was hurt). I decided to take it easy and quit for that night. Two days later I tried it again. Maybe it is just me or the speed was off on the tread mill but a 10 minute mile felt like a 9 minute mile, 9 felt like 8, and 8 felt like 7. I started off at 10 minutes per mile, sped up to 9, after about 1 mile I sped up to 8. The last mile I tried a seven minute mile and it really beat me down. I suppose I have not run much in the last month but do you lose that much ability so quickly! I finished 3 miles with no calf pain. The next night I did another 3 miles again with no calf pain. My calf feels tight and tingly sometimes but no pain. I have been stretching and exercising both calves. Running on tread mills takes some getting used to. I ran all times in my Nikes.
I ran on Sunday on the road in my Nikes and made it 4 miles with no calf problems. I went relatively slowly and I am just trying to build up my mileage again. I need to get back to 8-10 miles on my longer runs.
I have added a new exercise to my routine. I bought a trampoline for my daughter and we get out there about every other day or so. Bouncing on that thing is a blast and seems to be a good work out. Due to the fact that I am 46 and probably break easier now than I did when I was in my teens I don’t get too wild. I have been trying some flips but with some apprehension. I hope bouncing like that doesn’t hurt my calf again. Meanwhile my daughter is doing flips and front hand springs.
I went for a run Tuesday (April 27th) with the Vibrams. I ran mostly in the grass with some excursions on the street. I felt great until about 2-3/4 miles then all of a sudden I felt like my left calf was going to tear again. I was maintaining an 8:30 minute mile so I was not going too fast, although I was heading up a slight hill. All of sudden it felt like a cramp was getting ready to kick in. I immediately stopped and walked back. There is no pain whatsoever right now. I am just not sure what is going on. I will give it another try on Thursday. I can’t hurt it now because I have the mud run coming up on Saturday. I don’t want to let my team down.
Have a great day!
Gary
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tabata and week 4 of calf strain!
I am still not 100% yet. The pain is almost gone. I can play racquetball and bounce on the trampoline with my daughter with no pain. However, once I start jogging (not running) I feel some “twitches” in my calf and occasional pain. My jogging route includes some long downhill stretches and it feels great to jog on those. However, the uphill stretches put much more strain on my calf so I tend to walk on the uphill.
I went out Sunday to attempt a 3 mile jog in my Nikes. As mentioned above I jogged on the downhill and level stretches and walked on the uphill stretches. I did make it 3 miles with a slight amount of pain. I just don’t want to aggravate my calf again so I am being extra cautious.
I went out Tuesday to attempt a 4 mile jog in my Vibrams. The first two miles felt great. After mile one I stopped and stretched my calves. I then continued on. The first two miles of the run are mostly down hill. On the way back I could feel my calf pulling. By mile 2.75 I was started to feel pain. I stopped jogging and walked back the remainder. It felt like my calf was on the edge of tearing again.
I have continued doing seated and standing calf raises as well as stretches. I just hope this problem goes away soon! I am going to do another test jog again Thursday.
Tabata:
On another item, I am thinking of adding the Tabata training to my normal routine. I have been reading about it and it is very interesting and sounds fun. I cut and pasted this from the following site: www.trailrunnermag.com in the section named “The Fabulous 4 (Minutes)”.
“Tabata training is downright simple. As previously mentioned, you perform eight 20-second interval sets, with 10 seconds of rest in between each set.
What's an interval? It a short burst of intense activity, in our case, a sprint. Warm up for five to 10 minutes at an easy pace. Then, hold on tight, because the next four minutes will be brutal.
Take off in a full-blown sprint, like someone is chasing you, for 20 seconds. Then rest for 10 seconds, then sprint again for 20 seconds. Do eight sets. Perform the routine over relatively flat terrain, or even a treadmill, because the key is speed.”
There is more to the article. Go to the website and read up on it. I like the idea. I have heard from many sources that adding some intense training into your running regimen helps to improve your performance dramatically. Has anyone out there tried the Tabata? I believe they also have a similar idea named HIIT (high intensity interval training). You can apply the method to running, rowing, weight lifting, swimming, etc. You don’t just have to do running. So getting some high intensity cross training may help.
Please comments with ideas on the Tabata or HIIT training. I would like to hear what others are doing.
Have a great day,
Gary
I went out Sunday to attempt a 3 mile jog in my Nikes. As mentioned above I jogged on the downhill and level stretches and walked on the uphill stretches. I did make it 3 miles with a slight amount of pain. I just don’t want to aggravate my calf again so I am being extra cautious.
I went out Tuesday to attempt a 4 mile jog in my Vibrams. The first two miles felt great. After mile one I stopped and stretched my calves. I then continued on. The first two miles of the run are mostly down hill. On the way back I could feel my calf pulling. By mile 2.75 I was started to feel pain. I stopped jogging and walked back the remainder. It felt like my calf was on the edge of tearing again.
I have continued doing seated and standing calf raises as well as stretches. I just hope this problem goes away soon! I am going to do another test jog again Thursday.
Tabata:
On another item, I am thinking of adding the Tabata training to my normal routine. I have been reading about it and it is very interesting and sounds fun. I cut and pasted this from the following site: www.trailrunnermag.com in the section named “The Fabulous 4 (Minutes)”.
“Tabata training is downright simple. As previously mentioned, you perform eight 20-second interval sets, with 10 seconds of rest in between each set.
What's an interval? It a short burst of intense activity, in our case, a sprint. Warm up for five to 10 minutes at an easy pace. Then, hold on tight, because the next four minutes will be brutal.
Take off in a full-blown sprint, like someone is chasing you, for 20 seconds. Then rest for 10 seconds, then sprint again for 20 seconds. Do eight sets. Perform the routine over relatively flat terrain, or even a treadmill, because the key is speed.”
There is more to the article. Go to the website and read up on it. I like the idea. I have heard from many sources that adding some intense training into your running regimen helps to improve your performance dramatically. Has anyone out there tried the Tabata? I believe they also have a similar idea named HIIT (high intensity interval training). You can apply the method to running, rowing, weight lifting, swimming, etc. You don’t just have to do running. So getting some high intensity cross training may help.
Please comments with ideas on the Tabata or HIIT training. I would like to hear what others are doing.
Have a great day,
Gary
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Week 2 and I am still out of action.
My calf has not healed enough to run much. I have continued playing racquetball because I can take a few quick steps without much pain. The pain tends to occur after a few hundred feet of running. I tend to favor my sore calf a little during play but it has not taken much away from my game. I took a break from most exercise last week on my vacation at the beach. I did go out in a kayak a few times to get some exercise. It is my brother-in-law’s kayak and has both peddle power and paddle power. It is sort of like riding a bike in the water. You can switch back in forth from peddling to paddling so it has great exercise potential. I have continued to do toe raises and calf stretches. I can do both without much pain and I feel like they are strengthening my calf.
I went out Tuesday for a trial jog. I went about 1-1/2 miles doing both walking and running. The pain is there but not severe. I will try again Thursday. I need to get back in shape by May 1st as some friends and I are doing the St. Frances Mud Run. I have never tried it before and it looks fun. Also I need to continue my training for the Paris Mountain 15K. That run is only a month and ½ away. This calf injury is hindering my training!
Have a great day.
Gary
I went out Tuesday for a trial jog. I went about 1-1/2 miles doing both walking and running. The pain is there but not severe. I will try again Thursday. I need to get back in shape by May 1st as some friends and I are doing the St. Frances Mud Run. I have never tried it before and it looks fun. Also I need to continue my training for the Paris Mountain 15K. That run is only a month and ½ away. This calf injury is hindering my training!
Have a great day.
Gary
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