Today I had my second appointment with Derek, my new coach I found on Coachup.com. The first time I ran on the treadmill while he took videos of my form to critique. His gym doesn't allow street shoes and I'm still not sure how they would respond to a barefooter, so I wore my Xero sandals and brought some socks to wear in the gym.
The last time Derek gave me some tips on what to concentrate on while he worked on a more comprehensive plan. Mind you the advice he me gave is specific to my body. He told me to work on pushing my knees out and mentioned activating my glutes. I worked on this just walking, due to my crazy schedule this past month. I found that when I pushed my knees, I tended to stand up a bit straighter and activated my glutes. When I explained to him the muscles I felt stretching during my walks he said I was on the right track.
Derek's plan for today was to start with a 2 mile run. I had nothing to run in, since my Xero sandals still bother me walking around, so I had to run barefoot. Strange how this gave me pause, perhaps since this was my first barefoot run with anyone. Derek knew that I was training to run barefoot, so it didn't surprise him. I'm not sure if it was because I was running with someone else or if the tips Derek gave me the last time but this was my best run of the year and my first two mile barefoot run. Though it was probably a bit of both.
During the run my right leg definitely felt some strain, but nothing that I felt like I was pushing too hard. Tonight after everything has settled down I don't feel the normal blister bubble on my right foot between the big toe and second. I do have a little spot now on my left foot that feels slightly off, but I can't seem to pinpoint it.
Showing posts with label run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label run. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Another Run and a Grocery Store
Sundays I attend church in the morning. The church has a poured concrete floor and even with my Vivobarefoot shoes I can still feel the heat being taken from my body, so it is not warm enough to skip the shoes at church just yet. We are still in the middle of winter, so I feel lucky to have accomplished as much as I have so far.
THE RUN
Sunday arrived warm again, so I decided to take another run in the afternoon. I was hoping to be able to run the whole mile. This run has more up hills compared to the last run on Thursday, so I wasn't sure I would make the whole distance. Once again I notice how cool the pavement was and you could feel where the sun had a chance to thaw out the ground a bit more. Running barefoot tunes you into nature to a whole new level, even though I am in the middle of the city. My toes got a bit cold on this run, but I managed to run the whole mile in 12 minutes. I was very happy.
GROCERY STORE
After the run I walked over to the nearby grocery store for some food. It really seems like most people don't notice your feet. When I grabbed a cart it was funny how I thought this would help hide my feet a bit. Was making a ham and chicken casserole, so visited the deli counter to get only the amount of ham I needed, just one thick slice. As the lady took my order and helped me pick out what I wanted I don't think she even noticed my feet. The checkout process at the end went very smoothly as well. Four stores and no problem. This grocery store was the biggest store I have visited yet.
After I finished my run and errands I noticed my feet had warmed up and they stayed nice and toasty warm for the rest of the night.
INSIDE MY HEAD
It is interesting when I read another blog about their barefoot experiences it always did seem they were hyper aware of their feet being bare and most of those around them didn't notice or at least didn't comment. I realized that a lot of my concerns would be in my head and that I too would be hyper aware of my feet while most others wouldn't notice. But you still don't know when you will be called out, so until you have some experience interacting with others a few times you will still be on high alert. Yet despite this the experience is still enjoyable, even though I may be a bit self conscious at this stage. I'm wondering about my own reaction to others reaction will be. Will I be more focused on sharing this new found joy and freedom of walking barefoot or will something else stumble out of my mouth.
Stats:
Miles Run Barefoot: 3
Stores Visited 4
Days 100% Barefoot - 0
THE RUN
Sunday arrived warm again, so I decided to take another run in the afternoon. I was hoping to be able to run the whole mile. This run has more up hills compared to the last run on Thursday, so I wasn't sure I would make the whole distance. Once again I notice how cool the pavement was and you could feel where the sun had a chance to thaw out the ground a bit more. Running barefoot tunes you into nature to a whole new level, even though I am in the middle of the city. My toes got a bit cold on this run, but I managed to run the whole mile in 12 minutes. I was very happy.
GROCERY STORE
After the run I walked over to the nearby grocery store for some food. It really seems like most people don't notice your feet. When I grabbed a cart it was funny how I thought this would help hide my feet a bit. Was making a ham and chicken casserole, so visited the deli counter to get only the amount of ham I needed, just one thick slice. As the lady took my order and helped me pick out what I wanted I don't think she even noticed my feet. The checkout process at the end went very smoothly as well. Four stores and no problem. This grocery store was the biggest store I have visited yet.
After I finished my run and errands I noticed my feet had warmed up and they stayed nice and toasty warm for the rest of the night.
INSIDE MY HEAD
It is interesting when I read another blog about their barefoot experiences it always did seem they were hyper aware of their feet being bare and most of those around them didn't notice or at least didn't comment. I realized that a lot of my concerns would be in my head and that I too would be hyper aware of my feet while most others wouldn't notice. But you still don't know when you will be called out, so until you have some experience interacting with others a few times you will still be on high alert. Yet despite this the experience is still enjoyable, even though I may be a bit self conscious at this stage. I'm wondering about my own reaction to others reaction will be. Will I be more focused on sharing this new found joy and freedom of walking barefoot or will something else stumble out of my mouth.
Stats:
Miles Run Barefoot: 3
Stores Visited 4
Days 100% Barefoot - 0
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Second Run
Today is another surprisingly nice day. I emailed a co-worker who is the only person besides my family that knows about my new barefoot habit and invited him to join me for a run. He declined since he will be out of the office, but will take a rain check.
I work for a law firm as an assistant. So my dilemma is how not to expose my feet to my fellow co-workers so early in the process. I decided I would bring my light weight backpack on my run and once I was clear of the building I could put my shoes in the pack and then take my run. I took my socks off when I changed to into my sneakers, which make the transaction pretty smooth and quick.
I arrived at my spot and easily removed my shoes (I did wait and time the removal to the passing of my fellow pedestrians). And started my run across the Bridge Street bridge. The bride felt a bit warmer then the other sections. The run went smoothly and I was able to run the entire mile without a break and no problems. I did pass by several other pedestrians, but did not observe or hear any reactions.
After my mile, I started walking back via a different route, still barefoot. I did pretty well until I came a stretch of sidewalk that was covered in sand that was used to sand the road during the winter snow storms. This was not like your beach sand, but a coarse sand, that while it didn't really hurt me, was uncomfortable to walk on. It also slowed down my pace.
Keeping in mind that shoes are tools and I needed to get back to work sooner then later, I put my shoes back on. Then I was able to easily pick up my pace and walk without any discomfort the remaining distance back to work.
I'll have to develop a plan for how to safely increase my mileage. Not only will this hopefully reduce the chance of another overuse injury, but will give my feet time to adapt as well. In this one thing I feel very fortunate is that I am starting over again and my feet can adapt along with the rest of my body. So far I am really excited that things have gone so easily for me.
I work for a law firm as an assistant. So my dilemma is how not to expose my feet to my fellow co-workers so early in the process. I decided I would bring my light weight backpack on my run and once I was clear of the building I could put my shoes in the pack and then take my run. I took my socks off when I changed to into my sneakers, which make the transaction pretty smooth and quick.
I arrived at my spot and easily removed my shoes (I did wait and time the removal to the passing of my fellow pedestrians). And started my run across the Bridge Street bridge. The bride felt a bit warmer then the other sections. The run went smoothly and I was able to run the entire mile without a break and no problems. I did pass by several other pedestrians, but did not observe or hear any reactions.
After my mile, I started walking back via a different route, still barefoot. I did pretty well until I came a stretch of sidewalk that was covered in sand that was used to sand the road during the winter snow storms. This was not like your beach sand, but a coarse sand, that while it didn't really hurt me, was uncomfortable to walk on. It also slowed down my pace.
Keeping in mind that shoes are tools and I needed to get back to work sooner then later, I put my shoes back on. Then I was able to easily pick up my pace and walk without any discomfort the remaining distance back to work.
I'll have to develop a plan for how to safely increase my mileage. Not only will this hopefully reduce the chance of another overuse injury, but will give my feet time to adapt as well. In this one thing I feel very fortunate is that I am starting over again and my feet can adapt along with the rest of my body. So far I am really excited that things have gone so easily for me.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
My First Run
We have had a really mild winter and I am excited about starting my barefooted journey. The weather today is in the high 40's and it feels pretty warm. The sidewalks are mostly dry and I felt like running. I haven't run since October, one reason was while on vacation (where I did a bit of barefoot walking at the resort in Florida), I ran too much and got an overuse injury. It took several months to go away and then I had just lost the habit and other things crept into my life to use up that time. Beside it was now winter.
But today was the day to experiment. This would be a great opportunity. My legs would need to gain strength and I figured my feet could get stronger right along side of them. Choosing long pants to help hide my feet a little, I rolled up the bottom a tad, so my pants wouldn't drag in the dirt, and set off on my run.
The pavement was still very cool under my feet and I had to navigate around a few streams of melting snow banks along my route. As I ran past a small shopping plaza one guy notice my bare feet and exclaimed to his friends, "Look, that guy is running barefooted." This made me feel a bit proud and glad about my decision.
I made it a half mile before stopping and walking and my toes were getting pretty cold. After walking a little and recovering I did a bit more jogging and walking till I hit the mile mark. I had run 1.04 miles in 13.53. I was very pleased with this, my very first run without shoes.
One thing I noticed as I ran, was when I landed on a sharp object, my ankle, body and foot would all shift the weight away from that spot and I would continue on. I've always had strong ankles so I guess that is going to be a big help in the future.
But today was the day to experiment. This would be a great opportunity. My legs would need to gain strength and I figured my feet could get stronger right along side of them. Choosing long pants to help hide my feet a little, I rolled up the bottom a tad, so my pants wouldn't drag in the dirt, and set off on my run.
The pavement was still very cool under my feet and I had to navigate around a few streams of melting snow banks along my route. As I ran past a small shopping plaza one guy notice my bare feet and exclaimed to his friends, "Look, that guy is running barefooted." This made me feel a bit proud and glad about my decision.
I made it a half mile before stopping and walking and my toes were getting pretty cold. After walking a little and recovering I did a bit more jogging and walking till I hit the mile mark. I had run 1.04 miles in 13.53. I was very pleased with this, my very first run without shoes.
One thing I noticed as I ran, was when I landed on a sharp object, my ankle, body and foot would all shift the weight away from that spot and I would continue on. I've always had strong ankles so I guess that is going to be a big help in the future.
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