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| Photo Courtesy of Trey Bailey |
Long time since my last post. Lots of news to share. First off, my Inov-8
Evoskins came in. If you don't know what these are check out my feet in each of the photos. Very similar to a company that has made numerous types of five toed shoes giving you the ability to walk/run barefoot with minimal protection and 0 mm heel to toe drop. I've talked with many people who have read stories and books on barefoot running. My stance on barefoot running is that it should be done at very minimal mileage and slowly build up mileage or else, you could end up hurt. They are great in terms of building strength in the toes and creating toe-off power. Also, they allow the feet to expand and the fascia bands to stretch, which feels extremely good after a long run.
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| Photo Courtesy of Trey Bailey |
Material
The Evoskin basically beats out any other shoe on the market in terms of minimalism. They have no support, the shoe is basically a condom for the foot composed completely of silicone. There are straps on the top of the shoe to help with giving you a more snug fit. However, the straps are unnecessary if you get the right size. The inside can be a bit slick once you start to get sweaty so this leads me to the next point.
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| Photo Courtesy of Trey Bailey |
Breathability
At first look, the Evoskin looks like a shoe that could be problematic once you get sweaty feet being that silicone does not allow the skin to breathe. The good thing is the shoe features holes above each toe to help with giving the feet much needed air to keep them somewhat dry in the non breathable silicone skin.
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| Photo Courtesy of Trey Bailey |
Traction
Silicone is not known as a substance used in shoe sole development to improve traction. You would be amazed at how well silicone grips to wet rocks, concrete and even treadmills as the Inov-8 website states. I have better traction in my Evoskin on a treadmill than I do with any of my favorite road shoes.
Why the Evoskin? If you are a true minimalist, the answer to this question is a no brainer. You have nothing but a thin layer of silicone separating your feet from the earth you walk on. The amount of proprioceptive feedback you are able to gain from this level of minimalism mimics that of our ancestors who roamed caves and beat their chest, with not a shoe in sight (:
Since my injury things have been slow. Building up the mileage slowly and not worrying about being out of shape. Since I have finally gotten fit and a few workouts under me I decided to do a tempo and then I heard about a small town, known as "Little Norway" in my state. I came up with a crazy idea. Since I had a long tempo I wanted to do in prep for a long race I have planned, I decided to run the marathon. It was my official debut even though I did not race it. I have run an ultramarathon so technically I have run a marathon and beyond. The course featured alot of climbing and also a net elevation gain. My kind of race! The course was split into two different sections. The first half was pretty much a drop down to the beach front and around the downtown of the small Norwegianesque village known as Poulsbo and then back up some monstrous hills to connect to the second half of the course. Heading up the hill to the last half I was told by the bike pacer that the second half was nothing but climbs like the one we were ascending. Of course being a mountain runner I downplayed his comments and charged to the second half. A few miles into the second half I was eating my thoughts and found myself looking straight into a long vertical section of concrete that seemed to never end. I remember thinking, "Boston marathon would be easy after running this". I ended up cruising it in after really hurting up the last hill and breaking the course record by a bit in the process. I guess you can say my Marathon PR is now 2:34 even though it was a tempo which also included my warm up and cooldown. I feel confident now that I can put together a solid marathon under 2:17 given the right conditions considering I now have a sub 64 half under the belt. I think the half really doesn't say much in terms of marathon possibilities, but its a great sign of fitness nonetheless. It really opens a whole different world when you think about what it takes to run 26.2 miles strong. In a half you really don't need to know much about fueling nor is it really that important as you are running for less than 65 mins for most top athletes. The trouble fast runners run into with the marathon is what is known as glycogen depletion. The body pretty much runs through glycogen exponentially the farther you run i.e. the marathon. My true marathon debut awaits...I'm in no hurry. Honestly, I do not enjoy running concrete for that amount of time and the risk of burning out is increased once you start running marathons. The recovery is also long, which makes it hard to stay competitive in races post-marathon.
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| Post race Norwegian bakery visit! |
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/oct/16/interest-in-poulsbo-marathon-continues-to-grow/
Since the injury and the lack of training I have had more time doing what I love, cooking! I came up with another great recipe, my Mother's lasagna recipe with gnocchi and gorgonzola sitting on the top mixed with a fresh assortment of veggies. I can't tell you everything or else it wouldn't be a secret recipe of course!
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