A Sunday 8 and 5 fingers...

Sunday mornings have been 'the secret runner's other training run' with Quabbin X-C luminaries (new and old) and other guests of some importance (myself included!).  We have been ramping up the miles little by little each week; the majority of the runners are getting ready to run 13.1 miles on Memorial Day weekend.

This past Sunday we ran 8 miles.  And I played the part of the good soldier.  I was not in the mood, not prepared, and not feeling very well.  I started out cold and tight at the  back of the pack.  Everything hurt and joints were popping and snapping with every step it seemed. 

On I trudged.

After a few miles I was running taller, things started to loosen up, and I found my stride for the first time in weeks.  The knee pain which had been dogging me never really reared it's ugly head, save one brief incline just before the turnaround point.  The run back was a major (!) negative split with the last two miles run at a good clip... I'm guessing 7:30s. 

A nice development overall.  Too bad I felt sick for the rest of the day... and sore... and tired... and dehydrated...  hahahahaha!

And so then my right Achilles was sore the next morning.  Nothing new, but I refused to not run because of it.  I just needed to train smart.

Here's where I talk about the five fingers;

A couple years ago I was hit by the barefoot running craze.  Didn't it all make sense! You're born without shoes, people roamed the earth for a long time without shoes and we never heard of them having any problems (which could lead to a big tangential argument about what those cave drawings were really all about anyway... maybe those cave people with long spears were just mad that they kept stepping in Mammoth poop with their bare feet!? ...but I won't go there...), running in sneakers just seems to cause a lot of problems for our joints, muscles, and heads. Getting back to our roots just makes sense.

Well maybe for some.

I just kept getting calf cramps on any run over three miles.  And running downhill "barefoot"... forget about it!  No way.  I could jog lightly, but that was about it.  So I gave it up and went back to sneakers, and I found out something really neat:  I was a better runner!  I was stronger, smoother, swifter.  The five fingers had done something really positive.  They allowed me to become a better runner by teaching me to be smooth and training me to run efficiently.  They had also made me stronger.

I could use them as a training tool.  I didn't need to be barefoot all the time... just some of it. 

And then I promptly forgot all of that!

Until Sunday.  When I heard myself say, "I think it's time for me to pull out my five fingers again and strengthen myself back up. I bet it'll cure these aches and pains that keep cropping up."  What an epiphany.

So I did just that.  And I walked/ran 3.6 miles yesterday and the local rail trail.  Nothing fast, nothing pretty.  But not just sitting around either.  I stopped every so often and did burpies (what the heck are "burpies"?), and sit-ups, and pushups. And when it was over I was fatigued but not hurt.  My Achilles is still tender this morning, and that's ok.  It's not to the point where I won't exercise... I may even get a short run in.  I just notice it's there, is all. 

A step in the right direction... I think.  Time will tell, it always does.