I realize it has been 7 1/2 months since I posted last. It has also been just about that long since I last exercised, too. There's definitely a correlation there, possibly even causation. (I'm not sure which way causation might run, though.)
But I'm back, and I've got a new fitness project - running. I've never really been what you'd call a "runner," though at a couple points of time in my life I ran fairly regularly - mostly when I was on active duty in the Army and I either had a physical fitness test coming up or a drill sergeant ready to pounce on me if I didn't. When we first moved to Arizona, I ran several times a week, but that only lasted for a month or two. Then I stopped. Then I got out of the National Guard. Then I really stopped running. I don't think I've actually had a workout based on running since, oh, January 2005. Until now.
I read recently about some new research that seems to indicate that a lot of the problems people get from running are because all the running shoes we buy change our gait from a natural one (leading with the toe and allowing the bones of the foot to absorb the impact) to an unnatural one (leading with the heel, causing the impact to be sent straight up through the ankle and into the knee). The idea is that if we all ran barefoot (or, at least, with less padding), we would be able to run with fewer injuries, and therefore be able to run more.
So, I decided to give it a shot. Tonight was actually my second run (my first was on Saturday). Since it has been so long since I've run at all, and since I'm actively trying to change my gait, I'm going with a regimen where I run for one minute, then walk for two, repeated 8 times. I haven't purchased new shoes - the ones I'm using are about 18 months old and were bought at Payless for about $25.
Past experience tells me that my shins and knees should be killing me right now, for running in such awful shoes. But I actually feel pretty good. My calves are rather sore, having to absorb a lot more motion than they're used to doing, but they don't feel injured - just sore. My knees and feet feel fine. And the kicker is that when I run (as opposed to when I'm just walking), I'm running much faster than I used to. Tonight I did just shy of 2 miles in about 25 minutes - which is not too much slower than my firs-ever 2-mile run at Basic Training. (Remember when I said I've never really been a strong runner?) If I assume that my walking speed was about 3 mph, and my math is correct, that means when I was running, it was at about an 8-minute-mile pace. Not amazing, I know, but not too shabby for someone who has had 5 years and two back surgeries since his last workout.
2 comments:
may I suggest you warm up to barefooting by wearing these vibrams first.
if those are too extreme you may want to try the nike frees.. here's an article describing the differences.
Thanks for the info. I've read about the frees before, and I wasn't super impressed - I figured I could go pick up a pair of Converse All-Stars from Target for about 1/5th of the price.
But the Vibrams -- those look like they'd be pretty cool. I like the idea of them, anyway. I think after I've done this for a month or two (if for no other reason than to prove that I can stick with it), I'll see if I can pick up a pair of those.
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