Showing posts with label barefoot running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barefoot running. Show all posts

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Don't Panic, Keep Things in (Statistics)/Perspective!

This blog belongs to This Runner series...it is all about my introspections to help me be a better runner, with the thought of helping others in the process.

Keep Calm & "Whatever Man"
from Google image
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.”
Harvey Fierstein

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Where's your will to be weird?”
Jim Morrison

 ‘Whatever, man’. Let’s make our own luck. What do you say?” - Hurley, Lost

48 days to Berlin...


I feel I owe readers/followers/supporters an update on my training. 

If somebody can be motivated from my attempt to motivate myself, then the metaphorical and literal running pain, I have been going through lately, will not have been in vain. :)

My mind is stressing me, and I usually fall into silence when I am in this state.

Blogging is my way of not falling back into negative behaviour patterns, so here I am...

At a risk of being redundant - I need a new pair of shoes to safely run my long distance runs!

As much as I love and enjoy running barefoot, I don't want to risk injuries during a multiple marathon training by running long distances barefoot.

Something came up that made me delay the purchase of the pair of new shoes I had planned to buy this week. 

Hopefully, I will be able to finally get them Tuesday at the latest.  The situation is something I can't put into words now; I hope it would suffice to say, that it is not a big deal - it is just what it is, a simple delay.

Meanwhile, I am running short distances with my old pair of shoes to keep my fitness level.  Ankles are fine, and the shooting pain on my toe is not as prevalent as it was the whole of July.

Walking and running barefoot in the past weeks, I feel not only helped in my recovery but strengthened my feet as well.

barefoot running

Not being able to run like I want to, and go the distance I planned to because I have to be careful is driving me a little bit crazy.

The crazier I make myself, the more I get block from running - short distances is better than nothing at all! - and writing (cathartic writing is better than isolated silence!). Running and writing are activities, which both keeps me strong, and act as my shields in coping with the stress, daily life throws at me.

If I can't do both, I am in for trouble! How do I prevent a slowly annoying situation from getting worst?

The solution to this: put things in perspective!

Whenever I lose perspective regarding my running, I turn towards running stats, and eventually I blog about what I derive from all the stats staring I have done!

100 runs since I won my Nike+ Sportswatch with GPS in July 2012, delivered a couple of days before my 1st RUNniversary: 8th of August, 2012.

3 days ago, I ran my traditional 8K RUNniversary run.

10 km away from 1000K milestone on Nike+
(I ran more than 1000 kilometers since I begun running 8th of August, 2011 but I have no records on hand from August 2011 until August 2012;
I've recorded them manually in active.com but I can't find my account there just yet)

It was a great run.  Below are the screen shot from my Nike+ stats of my 8K runs from 2012 & 2013.

8K 1st RUNnivesary 2012
8K 2nd RUNnivesary 2012

As "bad"as I was in mathematics in elementary school, and statistics in high school & university, as a runner, I love checking out my stats.  More often than not it reminds me clearly how far "I" have come, since I begun running.

Hopefully, next year, when I once again  train to run for Berlin Marathon 2014, and I read back on this post, I will smile. 

Smile or laugh (!!!) at how "silly" I worried about my fourth little piggy causing too much painful trouble, and making me panic into thinking I will be injured and miss on running for months or missing out on fulfilling the goals I've set for this year!

Meanwhile, I will read the quote below from a book that have inspired many; it is my belated positive affirmation to my 2nd RUNnivesary.

“It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done (p. 159).”
John Bingham, No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running

This runner will keep on running slow, try to have fun with getting faster, and when I am finally able: run further.


Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Baby Steps to Barefoot Running

This is a sponsored post



It's been a week since my last run.


Sunday, I wrote an update of how training is going along so far for #BAM2013 (running 3 consecutive marathons in 2013: Berlin, Amsterdam & Mystery Marathon) in the month of July. 

Writing that blog helped me sort out my mind and made it easier to decide to take a break from running one long distance Sunday run (28th of July: 5K race or a fast 10K) to give myself time to heal and recover from the strain that is causing me pain.

Since I took a break, I have been walking around mostly barefoot around the house.

My left ankle feels better now; the bothersome toe on the right foot still shoots pain at unpredictable moments.

Today, I am going to attempt a slow 8K run. I'm nervous.

The last week, I have been thinking even harder over barefoot running. I am not sure if I should start building up on barefoot running in the middle of a multiple marathon training.  It is something that I am contemplating on and researching further before I make a decision.

After running my last long distance run - 25 K- last Sunday, 21st of July, we went to the beach and I relished once again the freedom of having my bare feet on the sand. Pure relaxation!


14 km lap of my 25K Sunday long distance run Sunday, 21.07.13
Barefoot  at Wijk aan Zee after a 25K run July 2013 - 21.07.13
My first barefoot run ever, a 16K run on the beach. Sunday, 07.07.13

I took a week rest after this run because of muscle pains.
It was an awesome experience, I'm looking forward to repeat (even with muscle pains!).
During and after my rest I felt great, soaring in runner's high.

Although it was awesome to run barefoot on the sand it is a different matter running on the open field.

On the 10 km lap of my 15K run Sunday, 14.07.13
My 13 year old daughter running barefoot for a couple of hundred meters to see if the path further ahead leads back to our village.
It didn't!
She is running back here towards where I was waiting for her.

A moment caught during my 15K run Sunday, 14.07.13

I was attempting to softly approach a butterfly on the fields.
A moment caught during my 15K run Sunday, 14.07.13
by oldest daughter
A moment caught during my 15K run Sunday, 14.07.13 by oldest daughter
A moment caught during my 15K run Sunday, 14.07.13 by oldest daughter.
I had to admit defeat with my first attempt at barefoot running on the fields, and put my running shoes back on again.  It was not as succesful as my attempt to run barefoot on the beach. The sole of my feet kept getting thorns embedded in it. It was a stop and go run, that I gave up on it.

This weekend I once again consulted an article on beginner's guide to barefoot running.  I've previously read a lot of articles about barefoot running after my barefoot run on the beach and so far this one lent a lot more clarity. At the end of the article are a lot more reading sources regarding barefoot running.

This article mentioned barefoot shoes (Vibram Five Fingers), which would seem contracdictory to barefoot running!

After my experience with zigsagging on the beach to avoid broken sea shells and my short but painful encounter with tiny (OUCH!) thorns on the field, I think it makes sense and is not a bad idea to wear "barefoot" shoes while slowly easing  into complete barefoot running.

Womens Bikila Barefoot Shoes - Cotswold Outdoors

I will be reading more on learning to run with Vibram Five Fingers, and try them on for short runs before I finally decide if it will be something I will add permanently to my running gear.

This is a sponsored post