Damplands, well that's how it seems, but for anyone who is interested I am in a village called Oundle in Northamptonshire.
My journey here is not uncommon. For many years now I've been in the community of Jan 1st runners. By February it's painful and by March it's off to the doctors with a knee or joint ailment.
Well in 2015 after my most recent failure I read born to run. After my cartlidges appeared to be back in their natural position I started the transition to forefoot in june 2015. Throw away the stopwatch and go with slow and gentle. After 2 months I had worked up to 5k on the toe with 3 runs a week.
I must have been a good boy as Father Xmas bought me some vibram KSO evo's. Wow. Ditching the asics was a revelation.
After a month of vibram, the soles of my shoes started to delaminate so on the phone to those great people at feetus and primal lifestyle, and a replacement set was in the post..... But what to do for the 10 days when without ?
I went back to the asics but it was awful .... My feet slapped the ground and my ankles ached... So I went naked !!!!! Other than a little road burn it was wow ....
So, here I am now. Most of her time it's vibrams, and certainly for anything over 5k or when it's a bit damp/muddy (for the moment). But I'll make the transition over time as my feet strengthen in these KSO.
I travel with work, and regularly get chucked out of hotel gyms for being barefoot .... But the Vibram rolls up tight and squeezes in an overnight bag.
I've got to the forefoot point where the 'bounce' now comes from the calf muscle, and my times have come down. My 5k is sub 24min and 10k in 52 min ... In the vibrams....
But I'm looking forward to some summer nights which are warm and I get get some proper barefoot in.
But for me the most Important thing is that I have now run 3 times a week since August with no injury. Ok, sore calves and feet, but only good hurt from a bit of a beating which is what we were designed to do.... But no back or knee pain, not even a twinge ..... No physio and growing confidence and sense of achievement ....
Furthermore I've converted several people along the way and added years to my life. My 2016 goal is to run a local cross country 10k in sub 50 and go on to a reasonable half marathon before my 50th next year. Over the summer I hope to go more barefoot..... But there's no rush as the KSO is pretty minimal and the impact on the shape and condition of my feet is a joy.
Aside from the ridicule of my kids .... 'Dad is going for a 5k mince', 'where are the ballet shoes dad' and the predicatable 'my dad thinks he's a hobbit' all is good.
So, many thanks to Scott. Born to run has quite literally changed my life and given me back the confidence many of us almost 50 dads lose too easily.
My journey here is not uncommon. For many years now I've been in the community of Jan 1st runners. By February it's painful and by March it's off to the doctors with a knee or joint ailment.
Well in 2015 after my most recent failure I read born to run. After my cartlidges appeared to be back in their natural position I started the transition to forefoot in june 2015. Throw away the stopwatch and go with slow and gentle. After 2 months I had worked up to 5k on the toe with 3 runs a week.
I must have been a good boy as Father Xmas bought me some vibram KSO evo's. Wow. Ditching the asics was a revelation.
After a month of vibram, the soles of my shoes started to delaminate so on the phone to those great people at feetus and primal lifestyle, and a replacement set was in the post..... But what to do for the 10 days when without ?
I went back to the asics but it was awful .... My feet slapped the ground and my ankles ached... So I went naked !!!!! Other than a little road burn it was wow ....
So, here I am now. Most of her time it's vibrams, and certainly for anything over 5k or when it's a bit damp/muddy (for the moment). But I'll make the transition over time as my feet strengthen in these KSO.
I travel with work, and regularly get chucked out of hotel gyms for being barefoot .... But the Vibram rolls up tight and squeezes in an overnight bag.
I've got to the forefoot point where the 'bounce' now comes from the calf muscle, and my times have come down. My 5k is sub 24min and 10k in 52 min ... In the vibrams....
But I'm looking forward to some summer nights which are warm and I get get some proper barefoot in.
But for me the most Important thing is that I have now run 3 times a week since August with no injury. Ok, sore calves and feet, but only good hurt from a bit of a beating which is what we were designed to do.... But no back or knee pain, not even a twinge ..... No physio and growing confidence and sense of achievement ....
Furthermore I've converted several people along the way and added years to my life. My 2016 goal is to run a local cross country 10k in sub 50 and go on to a reasonable half marathon before my 50th next year. Over the summer I hope to go more barefoot..... But there's no rush as the KSO is pretty minimal and the impact on the shape and condition of my feet is a joy.
Aside from the ridicule of my kids .... 'Dad is going for a 5k mince', 'where are the ballet shoes dad' and the predicatable 'my dad thinks he's a hobbit' all is good.
So, many thanks to Scott. Born to run has quite literally changed my life and given me back the confidence many of us almost 50 dads lose too easily.