Vibram's... run #2

Well hello there. Long time no see. I really would like this photo blog to get more use, and be more of a place where I can go to share some of my thoughts. Will anyone read it? I'm not sure. But I don't care. Well that's not entirely true; I'd love to have some readers, but even if it's just a few friends or family, it ought to be a good place for me. And I don't do enough fun/creative/non-professional/not-boring writing anymore. So here it goes folks, any questions? Yes, go ahead. Will I post every day? Probably not, but I wouldn't rule out consecutive days now and then. Will I post more than once a day? Perhaps on occasion, if I feel so inclined. Will there be a photo with every post? Most definitely, even if it's completely unrelated to the text (or maybe an old photo from my flickr if I'm feeling crazy). Will you try to be funny in these posts? Uh, yeah. Will they all be this long? No, probably not. That's enough questions, this interview is over.

So on to the blog post... I'd like to tell you all about these crazy shoes I got from my Mom. These are made by Vibram and are designed for barefoot running without the barefoot. Minimal padding (just some rubber) and individual toes make these baby's as close to barefoot you can get without being all nasty and running around barefoot like a damn dirty hippie.

So I got these for Christmas, but because of crummy weather I hadn't tried them until last weekend (I only want to run out outside in them). My first run was interesting. I had some issues with my left leg and foot, with a little bit of pain in the shin area and my left big toe and little toe were rubbing a little funny. The shin pain went away after a few tenths of a mile and I thought the toe issues could be rectified with a nail trim. All in all I enjoyed it. It was weird at first because I wanted to run heel to toe, but that was very impacting, and I didn't want to break myself, so I had to make a point to land on the ball more, which isn't terribly unnatural for me (I do it somewhat with regular running shoes). My calves really got a workout landing like that. A friend at work suggested I start out slow and only do a mile or so on my first run, and I'll be damned if she wasn't right. I hit my fastest mile that day too, which was interesting because my brother mentioned later that he's read numerous accounts of people running faster in these than in regular running shoes.

So now you're caught up to today, when I got out for the second time in them. Now that's what I call a run! NO feet issues and my left shin was iffy for the first 20 paces but then was fine. My calves were very sore from the first run, but were workable today. There was some pain, but it was manageable pain, and not the kind of pain that was bad and would lead to an injury. They're BUMPIN now though. But again, in a good way.

This much soreness surprises me. I've always been a real 'King of the Calf Machine' kind of guy at the gym. Loading up the weight, hitting a full range of motion. I'm also the guy who would scoff at people with either too little weight or too little range of motion (or too much weight and still no range of motion). Running barefoot really hits your calves in a way my muscles aren't used to just yet. Today was good though because the running style felt very natural after only a few strides and I hit a pretty good rhythm. Near the end I was even able to muscle through the last few minutes at a pretty good clip. Not quite a sprint, but about all the sprint my poor calves could handle.

Now, some pictures. Congrats if you read all of that; I appreciate it. Was it boring? Maybe some of it since I was blabbering about running and junk, but it interests me so I'm apt to go on and on. But I need to stop now and go make some dinner. And probably take a shower.