Well, unfortunately the GPS on my Iphone decided to lose signal for most of yesterday’s run. At least it kept an accurate time. Yesterday was scheduled for a 3 mile trail run, and since I am running on the Leif Ericksson trail, I just kept an eye on the trail markers. Knowing that the distances may be a little off, I ran to the 1 ¾ mile marker before turning around. That means, if the markers are correct, that I ran about 3.5 miles in 39 minutes and 36 seconds, which averages out to about an 11:31 pace. Not bad, especially since I was cruising along in my Vibram Five Fingers, which meant I was being very, very aware of all of my footfalls. The downside is that I can't view my splits, but those really aren't necessary for this run.
I ended up running by myself yesterday, as everyone who had initially said they would join me ended up having other obligations. While waiting (as I didn't know who was actually showing up), I entertained all of the other runners at the trailhead with my sales pitch for running in Vibrams. It seems that everyone out there has heard of them, but no-one seems to have seen them in real life. Which is funny, because I know at least six or so other people that wear them on a regular basis. I guess that just means that I am in the minority.
Surprisingly, my feet felt fine at the end of the run – my toes were cold, and I thought that I had bruised a toe or two (nope, just that cold), but my feet felt no worse for the wear. And the wear was stones, gravel, stones, gravel, etc, the entire time. You really become aware of the surface that you are running on when you are nearly barefoot. You also get a sense of just how loud running shoes make us. “Clomp” is a pretty good word to describe just what it sounds. It makes you think about all of the people out there running who really don’t feel the ground underneath them – I saw a couple of runners really flying, and I doubt that they could have done it without the inch of foam under their feet. Not that that is a bad thing, but observing someone else run, and only avoiding the rocks that would obviously twist their ankles, while I’m mincing along aware of every last stone underfoot, is a neat experience.
No, the part of me that hurt during the run, and after the run, and now, is my calf muscles. Specifically all of the muscles that help to plantar flex and stabilize your foot (so the ones on the back and sides of your lower leg). It was bad enough yesterday that I really couldn’t walk normally – trying to plantar flex and push off in a normal walking style hurt, and the muscles felt completely worn out. So I ended up hobbling most of the time. I received some acupuncture, and today they still hurt, but I am walking normally. I am trying to figure out if the pain and weakness came from utter muscle fatigue – Yesterday I placed a tremendous demand on the muscles in my calves – 3 miles isn’t a long way, but really, the muscles that took the majority of the load yesterday were in my calves. My hamstrings, quads, hips, they all felt like I had barely started running at the end of the run. I’m hoping that as I continue to run in the VFFs, my calves will get stronger.
Today is day one of me trying to follow a paleo style diet. I have resolved to at least drop refined sugars and wheat products, and those shouldn’t be too difficult – it may be a little more difficult to not eat rice. I was thinking about it on the drive into the office this morning. The resolve to change your diet starts with you realizing that the little voice in your head that is complaining that it is too hard to avoid those foods is the one that is addicted to them. Addicts will make any excuse or justification in order to support their addiction. Confronting that voice, and overriding those complaints is really the core to successfully changing your behavior.
We will see if the sugar monkey is riding my back tomorrow. And the smell of baked bread, well, I just need to avoid bakeries.
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