Barefoot Running Style 101

It will be 1 year in March since I started running as a hobby, sport, and form of exercise. Previous to last March I could barely run a mile to save my life. Since then I have made leaps and bounds in my abilities and knowledge about running. The first month I began in the pair of sneakers I'd had since age 13. In that month I managed to irritate my right knee, causing even my pathetically short-runs (at that point in time) to give me pain. I knew something was wrong, but wasn't really sure what. I figured that since my shoes weren't falling apart yet, they were fine. After seeing some ads in the paper for running shoe sales, however, I headed to the store. Walking in, I fully intended to buy a normal pair of running sneakers. Walking out, I held in my hand my first pair of Vibram 5 fingers.

I posted last year a fair amount on my experiences and love of 5 fingers, so I won't reiterate too much of that now. Those shoes were the beginning of a learning curve for me about my whole form of running. Since then I acquired a pair of Merrell barefoot shoes, which I currently run in.

Barefoot, or minimalist shoes, as they are often called, opened up new possibilities for me in running. The idea was to get me landing on my forefoot, instead of my heal, as with traditional cushioned shoes. As I transitioned to this new form of running, my knee pain lessened and eventually disappeared. I was thrilled. At Christmas time I bought a book called "Barefoot Running," by Michael Sandler. This book covers all the bases of real, actual, "unshod" barefoot running. Before reading it, I was sure I would never even try running without shoes, but after a few chapters, I was convinced I would try it come spring.

The point that the book makes over and over is that we are misled about the concept behind shoes. We often think or hear, "Our feet are weak, which is why we need to protect them with shoes and cushions." Fact: shoes actually make our feet weaker by confining them and not allowing us to use their natural muscles.

Our feet are one of the most amazing parts of our body. They are a giant mass of muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and nerves, all designed to carry us, whether walking, running, or doing any other activity.

What I have discovered from this book, and by practicing the techniques therein, is that I have incredibly weak feet. I realized that I wasn't truly running by landing on my forefoot at all, just merely landing less on my heal (still not that great an accomplishment).

My run last week broke my person distance record with 8 miles. The downside, however, is that my muscles were tired, I was lazy in form, and my right ankle began to give me grief. I knew I needed to go back to the basics again, working on strengthening my feet and running light.

Today was my first day back out since last Sunday. I didn't go far, but focused on engaging my forefoot and toes, letting my foot act as the spring that it is, absorbing the shock, and preserving my other joints. The distance was far enough, but my feet felt so much stronger. It is liberating to be able to have stronger muscles in my feet. I know it will be a longer process working up distance this way, but I know the results will be worth it. By running the right way shod, I hope to be better prepared for going "shoe-less" this spring.

How weak are your feet? Can you pick up things with your toes? Can you hold a gold ball with your toes for more than 30 seconds? All good things to try to test whether you suffer from the effects of a shod nation.

Denial and Anger go hand in hand

Have you ever noticed that denial and anger walk closely together. I suppose I knew it to be true, but unless you are confronted with it, well, denial is denial after all. Denial often results for me after bad news. I get upset initially, and anger soon follows. Bad news can make me so angry that it almost seems like it can't happen, isn't happening, won't happen, all in the effects of denial. This was the case for me this week with some news I heard. Right now I don't feel like elaborating, so I'm just going to be vague. Sorry if that annoys you.

It doesn't really matter what the news is, however, more that for me, I had to learn a lesson the hard way that anger and denial really aren't the best ways to deal with tough stuff. It got me through this week without feeling too much emotion, however. I wasn't hurt, I wasn't all that sad, I was just angry.

Today all that changed. The news confronted me, directly from the person it concerned, making it impossible for me to deny and be mad. The reality began to settle, and the wall I had so carefully built this week fell down all at once. There I was, feeling emotionally naked, in front of more people than I care to remember.

I know I'm not the only person this has happened to. Lots of people build walls every day to keep their emotions hidden, in-check, and away from onlookers. This works for a while, and it makes us feel safer. But in the long run, it only makes the pain cut deeper, and exposes us at the worst times.

What have I learned from this experience? I really need to spend more time with God when faced with difficult news and situations in my life. He already knows my heart, so its okay to let the barriers down for Him, and let Him teach me what He will in that situation. Also, I need to remember to trust Him. He's big enough to take care of the things I have no control over. After all, He wants whats best, even more than I do, and only He knows what that is.

Married With Friends: chronicle 1

Having another adult in the home of a newly married couple does change things, even if that adult is a friend. Adam's face is still the first one I see in the morning, buy shortly after that another face and voice joins us for breakfast. It's no longer solitude that greets me when I come home at 2:00 but another voice, and usually music, country or classic rock.

It's taking some getting used to and some training. The first couple times Adam came home and instead of seeking me out to talk to first, it was Sunny. Right then I decided that in order for our living situation to work, we all have to be up front and honest with one another, rather than let small annoyances build up to the point of an emotional explosion.

As silly as it seems, it's often the little things that annoy in the long term enough to cause problems. So far we're taking one step at a time and it's going okay. And yes, maybe I'm a little selfish to feel I need to make sure I'm still #1 to Adam, but it helps me to know things haven't changed too much.