Still running: Vibrams, Week 2

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Wore my Nike Free yesterday, as they’re the most flexible (actual) shoes I own. No time for running, tho, also still some residue muscle pain.

Today: Beautiful morning, decided to ignore the bus and walk to the subway. 3.5 km in my Nikes, and while they’re pretty good, I miss the ability to wiggle my toes.

Came home, went for a 3.5 km VFF walk with Dana. My calves seem to man up, finally. With a bit of luck I might be able to go for a run on Thursday again!

Wednesday

Came home, my legs still aching a bit, but I thought “eh, what the eff” and went for a 5 km run. Didn’t even take a watch or anything; I just felt like running. The last time this happened to me was never. And I had fun.

To be honest, the combination of THE BOOK and MY NEW SHOES caused this almost eerie, constant desire to get out and run. I’m not making this up; it’s uncanny. I’ve never had this urge to just crunch some miles. And it’s not because of stress at work or anything. I’m calm, I’m my usual sunny self, not stressed out… It’s just a deep-seated feeling that running would be the right thing to do right fucking now. For no apparent reason. (Perhaps they’ve put brain-altering chemicals into the book; I don’t know… I don’t know.)

And I won’t lie, I’ll enjoy it for as long as it lasts. It might go away tomorrow or next week or in five years time, I don’t know, but I’m cool with it. There are worse urges, really.

Also: I can predict the future! Tomorrow, walking will hurt. (I wish my calves would man up quicker.)

Thursday

Turns out I can’t predict the future after all — I can walk rather painlessly today. Apparently all the extra post-run stretching and muscle rubbing¹ was a good idea.

Had a discussion with another (ex) Y! about running barefoot’ish. It’s not just about not running on your heels, but about foot strength/health in general. In running shoes, the foot’s arch is bolstered and propped up to various degrees. And your toes are pretty much suspended. When running without shoes, the arch acts like a spring, and the toes react to the underground, but they can’t do that when shod.

The difference is not just that you’re running on your forefeet, it’s about giving the foot (and therefore the leg) a chance to work as intended.

Friday

5 km, ‘twas okay — not more, not less. The humidity took me a bit by surprise, and my big lunch wasn’t helping the cause either. So: eh.

My lower legs are slowly adjusting to the change. Atta boys!

One of the Vibrams is slowly coming apart a bit at the heel (where the mesh is glued to the rubber “skin”), which is a bit strange after only one week of moderate use. They’re not falling apart or anything, their function isn’t impaired, it’s just a visible “glitch” I’m not too happy with. They’re one week old after all.

I’ll hit the sports store on Monday and ask for either a replacement or (some) money back.

Saturday, Sunday

Rest of the week were wasted on shitty weather and/or me freezing, so no running.