Another decent week, 11 miles, nothing spectacular. 3, 3, and 5 mile runs. Almost fully recovered from glass in foot. I'm used to it healing instantly, and this took more like 2 weeks.
No worries, as it stayed under 40 degrees most mornings (arrrgh!!!) here in Ohio. Now that it's May, it was 34 degrees this morning. Frost on the windshield. Good God.
5 miles is looking to be a nice every-other-day run. Probably could do more, but why push it? That's 15-20 miles per week, going to try and keep that up steady for May, with a 10 mile or more run once it's warm. Looks like a 5K on gravel this Saturday, that's about all the excitement. Here's my running tips for noobs:
1.) Run in the Rain - I hear from a lot of barefooters they don't run when it's wet, they get blisters, etc. What are you gonna do if your race is on a rainy day? Waste your $20 bucks, or more because of the weather? You might get blisters, but that means your form is bad. Toss your watch so you don't try to go too fast. Set a goal of a 1/2 mile without blisters in the rain. Run as slow as possible. Don't count cadence, nothing. Slow, relax, bend knees more than normal. Add a little distance every time it rains until you love running in the rain. Not having yucky, soaking wet shoes and socks is one of our great advantages over the shod!
2.) Don't measure speed. I hate to say it, but trying to go fast was one of my biggest roadblocks. Some of you out there can handle it I'm sure, but for me, it just kept me in bad form. I'm getting way more total miles in now that my form is better (albeit slower). Every time I try to do sprints or whatever, is exactly the only time I get blisters or pain in my feet. Toss the watch for a year or two. Once you're running, I don't know, I'm not there yet, but 10 or 12 mile runs no problem, maybe then you can do speedwork and stuff.
3.) Minimalist shoes kind of suck. I've tried vibrams, water shoes, and luna sandals. I'm not as happy with any of them as I am barefoot. Vibrams gave me blisters from the straps. So, I can buy a different, more expensive pair to fix that, but how many $125 "shoes" am I going to go through? When running in the rain, water shoes let in a lot of pebbles that would stick in (yes in) my feet. Lunas have the same problem, but seem to be the best of the lot. I was fast in Lunas, but it definitely wasn't perfect barefoot form. The soles are too thick - they are great for rocky, rocky trails that go for miles, but I just don't run on that crap for more than 4 or 5 miles, which my bare feet handle just fine.
4.) Don't compare yourself to other runners, barefoot or shod. Yeah, some dude went barefoot and ran a marathon in 3 months. Some other dude did it in 6 months. F them. They're not you. You are on your own schedule, and it will be different depending on what your form was going in, what the weather is like where you live, all kinds of stuff. I'm prouder of my injury-free 25 minute 5K this year, than a 20 minute 5K where my feet were all gashed up at the end.
This is just ramblings I wish I had heard when I was starting!
No worries, as it stayed under 40 degrees most mornings (arrrgh!!!) here in Ohio. Now that it's May, it was 34 degrees this morning. Frost on the windshield. Good God.
5 miles is looking to be a nice every-other-day run. Probably could do more, but why push it? That's 15-20 miles per week, going to try and keep that up steady for May, with a 10 mile or more run once it's warm. Looks like a 5K on gravel this Saturday, that's about all the excitement. Here's my running tips for noobs:
1.) Run in the Rain - I hear from a lot of barefooters they don't run when it's wet, they get blisters, etc. What are you gonna do if your race is on a rainy day? Waste your $20 bucks, or more because of the weather? You might get blisters, but that means your form is bad. Toss your watch so you don't try to go too fast. Set a goal of a 1/2 mile without blisters in the rain. Run as slow as possible. Don't count cadence, nothing. Slow, relax, bend knees more than normal. Add a little distance every time it rains until you love running in the rain. Not having yucky, soaking wet shoes and socks is one of our great advantages over the shod!
2.) Don't measure speed. I hate to say it, but trying to go fast was one of my biggest roadblocks. Some of you out there can handle it I'm sure, but for me, it just kept me in bad form. I'm getting way more total miles in now that my form is better (albeit slower). Every time I try to do sprints or whatever, is exactly the only time I get blisters or pain in my feet. Toss the watch for a year or two. Once you're running, I don't know, I'm not there yet, but 10 or 12 mile runs no problem, maybe then you can do speedwork and stuff.
3.) Minimalist shoes kind of suck. I've tried vibrams, water shoes, and luna sandals. I'm not as happy with any of them as I am barefoot. Vibrams gave me blisters from the straps. So, I can buy a different, more expensive pair to fix that, but how many $125 "shoes" am I going to go through? When running in the rain, water shoes let in a lot of pebbles that would stick in (yes in) my feet. Lunas have the same problem, but seem to be the best of the lot. I was fast in Lunas, but it definitely wasn't perfect barefoot form. The soles are too thick - they are great for rocky, rocky trails that go for miles, but I just don't run on that crap for more than 4 or 5 miles, which my bare feet handle just fine.
4.) Don't compare yourself to other runners, barefoot or shod. Yeah, some dude went barefoot and ran a marathon in 3 months. Some other dude did it in 6 months. F them. They're not you. You are on your own schedule, and it will be different depending on what your form was going in, what the weather is like where you live, all kinds of stuff. I'm prouder of my injury-free 25 minute 5K this year, than a 20 minute 5K where my feet were all gashed up at the end.
This is just ramblings I wish I had heard when I was starting!
