Is it OK to start a thread here? There seem to be two or three beginners on the forum and I thought a diary thread might help keep the enthusiasm going while helping to resist the temptation to go wild.
So far, my foot pain seems to have gone. Whether it was just rest after overdoing it, or whether it helped that the massage therapist at the running shop suggested using a Tiger Tail roller on my calves, i dont know.
I'm really liking the skipping. If I do a bit of that on the hard pavement of my garden patio and then run out onto the grass, my running form feels really easy and natural. I think it is probably because skipping is something i have done with a forefoot touchdown ever since i was a kid, so there are no conflicting messages from my brain. I am doing such small amounts at the moment I would feel pretty ridiculous calling it 'a run' and going out of my own backyard. So I'm just thinking of it as foot strengthening/ form building exercises. I am strictly truly barefoot only for running & skipping now, because I just don't get the 'don't have to think about it' feel even with the VFFs which I love otherwise.
Next week I am away on a retreat at Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire, and unless they have Health and Safety issues, I will probably be able to be barefoot more or less all the time. I'm rather wishing I had some minimal sandals in case they do have a rule about it. I might even try to make some, but I think the leather I have is too soft for a sole.
So far, my foot pain seems to have gone. Whether it was just rest after overdoing it, or whether it helped that the massage therapist at the running shop suggested using a Tiger Tail roller on my calves, i dont know.
I'm really liking the skipping. If I do a bit of that on the hard pavement of my garden patio and then run out onto the grass, my running form feels really easy and natural. I think it is probably because skipping is something i have done with a forefoot touchdown ever since i was a kid, so there are no conflicting messages from my brain. I am doing such small amounts at the moment I would feel pretty ridiculous calling it 'a run' and going out of my own backyard. So I'm just thinking of it as foot strengthening/ form building exercises. I am strictly truly barefoot only for running & skipping now, because I just don't get the 'don't have to think about it' feel even with the VFFs which I love otherwise.
Next week I am away on a retreat at Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire, and unless they have Health and Safety issues, I will probably be able to be barefoot more or less all the time. I'm rather wishing I had some minimal sandals in case they do have a rule about it. I might even try to make some, but I think the leather I have is too soft for a sole.