In the interest of keeping these blogs kinda short, I decided to give you all an update on everything running in my life in a separate entry which hopefully won't be that long.
So here goes.
It is SO HARD to run with my feet and ankles relaxed! Which, if memory serves (and it may not), is the way I'm SUPPOSED to be running. I'm basing this on the theory that my body knows how it wants to move and therefore how to land its' own feet when it's running so if it's wrong, my body will slowly correct it until I'm running the right way. But as my feet DON'T hurt when I'm running, my guess is that I'm doing ok so far.
I think I need to go back to a chiropractor. My back is much improved from previous adjustments, and who knows how much or little from being minimalist in the shoe department, but I really feel like I have too much anterior pelvic tilt. Feels like I'm walking with my ass sticking out all the time. And not in a good way lol. I do actually have a back injury and have been told by chiropractors that it can be fixed, but they want me to come in 3 times a week for probably forever at $40 a time. I'm not that rich right now so I'm just being careful in the meantime. But I think finding a new chiropractor and getting adjustments at reasonable intervals is a good idea and would help me out quite a bit.
My feet hurt pretty much all the time now. I would give it a 3 out of 10 on the pain scale. Enough to notice but not enough to do anything about lol. It used to be my feet were fine as long as I didn't walk too far (less than a mile at a shot), but over the last 2 years I slowly built that up to where it's not TOO much of a problem. Now they hurt all the time. This COULD be my plantar fasciitis getting worse maybe (or may be my feet rebelling because they walk basically unprotected on tile all day at work and sidewalk and more tile at the grocery store when I'm OFF work), but I subscribe to the theory that my feet hurt because I'm wearing minimalist shoes and the pain is my feet getting stronger. :)
I'm surprise how easy it has been to become addicted to running. I'm not even doing it completely regularly yet. Intermittently, but usually at least twice a week. I think for about a month. Maybe a bit more. A good and healthy addiction. I'm also surprised tonights run went so well. I've been feeling kinda think physically and short of breath when I go up the 2 flights of stairs at work. But for some reason running was running and I'm happy for that.
I can feel my creativity slowly growing back. It's not quite ready to come out and play yet, but I remember how it felt when I was there all the time and it's a welcome feeling to recognize in myself again. It's also not entirely due to the running, but it sure doesn't hurt. I've heard some authors say they're more creative when they're healthy. Looks like I might be that way as well. :)
I'll probably think of 10 more things to say as soon as I post this, but for now I think that's all the updates I've got. Oh yeah. I gotta get my Fivefinger Flows ordered before winter gets here. I'm excited for that.
Happy Running!
:)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My Burgeoning Addiction
I'm happy to say that it's pretty much official. I may in fact have an addiction on my hands!
All I wanted to do tonight is go for a walk. See I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy with this whole barefoot transition thing, but let's face it: I'm too excited and too impatient to do this any other than the way I'm doing it. Now Keeping in mind that I've got what is probably a mild case of Plantar Fasciitis, the process goes something like this:
I read a bit about barefooting life and everywhere says the same thing: "Transition SLOWLY. This way when your feet hurt (due to muscle development in the foot)you can go back to normal shoes and your feet will having the padding they're used to." Well in my mind, I've been barefoot my whole life. (Not entirely true.) I'm even known to some people BECAUSE of my barefootedness. (All true.) Therefore I should get to skip this step.
So I go for barefoot (or mainly my VFFs) for a long time no problem. Then my feet start to hurt. At which point I ignore the pain (which to be honest is a combination of I forget to put normal shoes on, and just plain refusal to put normal shoes on lol), and continue to be barefoot or VFFd until my feet hurt bad enough I don't dare go on walks for fear my feet will fall off and I'll never return.
But all I wanted to do was go for a walk tonight. I didn't want to push anything with said hurting feet. I just had that feeling that I needed to do something outside or I would go insane and die. So I thought to go for a walk. Even if it was a short one. But alas. I got as far as the driveway with my dog (who because she only goes out for runs with me at night now kept racing off down the driveway and turning around to see why I wasn't running along side her-funny!) and it was all over. My body yelled "RUN!!" and so I did. I ran to the drinking fountain by the Police Station and decided to walk for a bit in the name of not pushing it. Then I ran, then I walked, then I ran... Every time I ran, it was great! And every time I walked, it felt like there was this force kinda pushing on me from behind to GO FASTER! I tried to ignore this feeling but running just feels so good! Even though I don't run far and I don't run fast it's awesome!
So I'm going to go ahead and say I've got an addiction to running. Might be a small one, but that's how it all starts right?
All I wanted to do tonight is go for a walk. See I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy with this whole barefoot transition thing, but let's face it: I'm too excited and too impatient to do this any other than the way I'm doing it. Now Keeping in mind that I've got what is probably a mild case of Plantar Fasciitis, the process goes something like this:
I read a bit about barefooting life and everywhere says the same thing: "Transition SLOWLY. This way when your feet hurt (due to muscle development in the foot)you can go back to normal shoes and your feet will having the padding they're used to." Well in my mind, I've been barefoot my whole life. (Not entirely true.) I'm even known to some people BECAUSE of my barefootedness. (All true.) Therefore I should get to skip this step.
So I go for barefoot (or mainly my VFFs) for a long time no problem. Then my feet start to hurt. At which point I ignore the pain (which to be honest is a combination of I forget to put normal shoes on, and just plain refusal to put normal shoes on lol), and continue to be barefoot or VFFd until my feet hurt bad enough I don't dare go on walks for fear my feet will fall off and I'll never return.
But all I wanted to do was go for a walk tonight. I didn't want to push anything with said hurting feet. I just had that feeling that I needed to do something outside or I would go insane and die. So I thought to go for a walk. Even if it was a short one. But alas. I got as far as the driveway with my dog (who because she only goes out for runs with me at night now kept racing off down the driveway and turning around to see why I wasn't running along side her-funny!) and it was all over. My body yelled "RUN!!" and so I did. I ran to the drinking fountain by the Police Station and decided to walk for a bit in the name of not pushing it. Then I ran, then I walked, then I ran... Every time I ran, it was great! And every time I walked, it felt like there was this force kinda pushing on me from behind to GO FASTER! I tried to ignore this feeling but running just feels so good! Even though I don't run far and I don't run fast it's awesome!
So I'm going to go ahead and say I've got an addiction to running. Might be a small one, but that's how it all starts right?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Fat Old Man
When I run, I see a fat, tired old man. He doesn't move fast or well and appears as if he might drop dead at any time. His chest is puffed out like a bird attracting a mate and his skinny legs pound gracelessly as his hopefully relaxed feet slap the pavement.
I should probably stop looking at my shadow while I run.
I've gone running a good 3 or 4 times in this last week. My legs are still a bit sore when I'm done but not nearly as much since I managed to slow my pace. And when I say "legs," I mean calves. My thighs are apparently bulletproof. They never seem to get sore and the only time they get tired at all is when I'm running stairs or riding hard on a bicycle (the only way I seem to be able to ride one :) ).
Tonight I thought went particularly well until the home stretch. I managed to run the entire way with the exceptions of stopping twice for Hero to eliminate. But by the time I got to said home stretch I was ready to die. I realize of course that part of threatening to become an ultra-runner is increasing the length of the course your run, but shouldn't I be able to run the length of the course which is at this point not more than 1.5 miles (my guess) without stopping to walk or dying? I'm just impatient I think. I want to be able to run 50 miles at a shot RIGHT NOW without having to do the work to get there. I want to be able to run and enjoy it without wondering if my right hip is going to fall out of the socket and leave me on the side of the road to die.
Hero still isn't keeping up with me even though I'm "running" at a speed that I figure is on par with (or maybe SLIGHTLY faster) than the speed at which Hero would naturally migrate. So I'm sticking to my theory that she is in fact NOT a border collie at all, but something else entirely. I'm still working on what she is but I'll let you know when I figure it out.
I'm giving up for now. I've been writing for at least an hour it seems, but the Lady Disdain is watching Little Women and it's pretty seriously distracting. So...
I'm done. I went running. The End.
I should probably stop looking at my shadow while I run.
I've gone running a good 3 or 4 times in this last week. My legs are still a bit sore when I'm done but not nearly as much since I managed to slow my pace. And when I say "legs," I mean calves. My thighs are apparently bulletproof. They never seem to get sore and the only time they get tired at all is when I'm running stairs or riding hard on a bicycle (the only way I seem to be able to ride one :) ).
Tonight I thought went particularly well until the home stretch. I managed to run the entire way with the exceptions of stopping twice for Hero to eliminate. But by the time I got to said home stretch I was ready to die. I realize of course that part of threatening to become an ultra-runner is increasing the length of the course your run, but shouldn't I be able to run the length of the course which is at this point not more than 1.5 miles (my guess) without stopping to walk or dying? I'm just impatient I think. I want to be able to run 50 miles at a shot RIGHT NOW without having to do the work to get there. I want to be able to run and enjoy it without wondering if my right hip is going to fall out of the socket and leave me on the side of the road to die.
Hero still isn't keeping up with me even though I'm "running" at a speed that I figure is on par with (or maybe SLIGHTLY faster) than the speed at which Hero would naturally migrate. So I'm sticking to my theory that she is in fact NOT a border collie at all, but something else entirely. I'm still working on what she is but I'll let you know when I figure it out.
I'm giving up for now. I've been writing for at least an hour it seems, but the Lady Disdain is watching Little Women and it's pretty seriously distracting. So...
I'm done. I went running. The End.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
