Some days are tougher than others

I didn't want to go last time. I didn't feel like it. I just wanted to eat cinnamon rolls and go to bed. I went anyway. It was not an easy run. Sometimes when I don't want to go, I get out there and it's awesome. Not this time. Some days are tougher than others.

But what are you going to do? You can't give in to psychological reasons for not running. If you're injured, fine... rest. If you don't feel like it, go anyway. When you give in for those dumb reasons, it gets harder to ever go back out.

You have to go EVERY time ANYway.

The Grind of Getting There

Running is a grind... don't get me wrong- I love running barefoot. But I mean, it's a daily or every other day thing. It's not a weekend warrior instant rush thing.

I've been running barefoot for four weeks now, and I'm only up to max 3.3 miles. Some days are easy, some are harder. I keep wanting to push myself, but everything I've read advises moderation. Only increase distance by 10% per week. Listen to your body.

Last night was the first night I had some ache in my tibialis anterior- my right lower leg was really struggling- who knows why! So weird. I tried to alter my form, really pay attention to whether I was running differently on one leg versus the other, but I couldn't tell. I tried to relax into the mid-foot strike. It's possible I was unconsciously more worried about pebbles since Hurricane Irene had just been by.

But then I read a post on the Barefoot Running Facebook Group and I think this really helped:

I did my three-mile run fully barefoot yesterday morning with no blisters, no problems. Something clicked in my mind during the run: it's about propelling your body forward with every muscle in your body *except* the ones in your feet. Your feet are just there to land on and pick back up, not to move you forward. Focusing on that made for very happy tootsies. I even felt like going again after dinner.

I'm going to think about that next time. Also, I'm reading the free PDF of Jason Robillard's The Barefoot Running Book, which you can get by clicking this.

Minimalist & Barefoot Running Facebook Group

Woohoo! Just started a minimalist/barefoot running discussion group on Facebook yesterday and we already have 61 members, including Barefoot Ken Bob and Steve Sashen (of Invisible Shoes). Pretty cool!

Pushing it a bit at the beginning of week four

My Vibram Five Finger KSO's are on their way to me right now. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with them- maybe I can run every day once I have them- one day barefoot, next with KSO's?

Last night I went 50% further. I've figured out my normal route on the golf course has been 2.2 miles, so I extended to 3.3 miles. Not super far, but considering I've only been running again for 3 weeks, probably 10 outings, and I hadn't really done aerobic exercise regularly since, um... 2007... that's not bad.

I'm trying not to obsess about times and just enjoy the running, work on my form, listen to my body, enjoy the outdoors. But I'm competitive and impatient and have big goals. So maybe I'll succeed at both enjoying it and getting better :-)

I really love running at night, for several reasons. First, I don't have to worry about what anybody thinks about me running barefoot. WEIRDO!!! Second, I don't like exercising in public too much, at least not when I'm so new at something. Happy to show off bouldering some day if I can find some boulders. Third, it's a more saner, cooler 90'ish degrees, compared to 105 with the heat index during the day. Fourth, the golf course sprinklers are on. Fifth, obviously I couldn't run on the course during the day...

What amazes me about the barefoot running is how I'm not out of breath unless I really try to sprint- I can run silent as a ninja, which is neato. To be fair, I know I'm not doing a fast pace at all, but I want to make sure my form is going and my feet are strong before I go faster.

My favorite barefoot running videos

I've been running barefoot for a few weeks, and as I typically do, being a search nerd, I've Googled this quite a bit and learned more online... Born To Run was a nice start but what about all the details??? Here are some videos that have helped me.

Yes, I know this next one is not barefoot- but you can see in the slo-mo she's actually running with barefoot style... not landing with a heel strike.

Barefoot Blogging!

I started barefoot running after reading Born To Run... surprise surprise. Not.

I picked it up in the Myrtle Beach airport and devoured it while flying to Seattle to speak about Facebook marketing to SEO nerds. Yes I'm a nerd too.

I couldn't wait to get back and get started.

We live on a golf course, and our country-ish road is very very rough, so I've started by running on a combination of rough rough, concrete cart paths, dirt waste bunkers and grass.

I get emails from this Tellman dude, which I highly recommend, and one of his emails said not to run in the rain unless you want blisters. That made me wonder if I was being dumb by running in grass and between golf course sprinklers... However, one thing I took from Born to Run was to ENJOY the running. There's a part of me that wants to force myself to be perfect and that part takes all the joy out of it. So while I'm running barefoot I try to find ways to stay in touch with enjoying it. I usually run at night so that means looking at the moon, feeling the trail, praying for people and jumping through sprinklers.

Here's that Tellman dude:

Just ordered some Vibram Five Fingers so I can run more often. Right now I'm doing it every other day, and I've been needing that day for my feet to heal.