Whoa. Thought I was going to have to call 911

The kids are napping and I'm rearranging my office. The windows are open and I hear this gasping noise. WTH? I look outside and across the street is a semi-overweight jogger. He staggers into view, leaning so far forward that he's almost falling into each step--I'm wondering how he can stay upright. He stops in front of my house and continues gasping. Then he bends over at the waist and gasps some more, ripping his headphones from his ears in a panicked motion. He's swaying a little and I'm thinking, "OMG he's going down, where's the phone!?" Incredibly he stays on his feet, puts the headphones back in and continues staggering jogging down the street!

OMG dude, slow the hell down! Walk! Walking is good, walking is your friend! He's the epitome of, "No Pain, No Gain." A heart attack waiting to happen. Scary. I hope he's okay.

Run 21--free at last! (1.8 miles)

I've been feeling...uninterested. Considering the fact that I've now been running for 3 months (as of the 15th) and am only on Week 5--I guess that isn't too surprising. I'll be out running and feeling great and The Voice on my iPhone tells me it's time to stop before I'm ready. It tells me to run and I do but then occasionally I can't finish the amount of time it wants. It tells me to run 20 minutes solid at the end of Week 5---are you kidding me??? All in all, The Voice and I are out of sync. MY Inner Voice said, "Duh. Time to let that all go and do what I say!"

Tonight I left the iPhone at home, brought my handweights (my Soft Star running shoes), Onya's frisbee, and Onya off leash. No music, no Voice other than my own. Lovely.

I ran the whole thing barefoot. I stopped when I was ready and ran when I was ready. Still doing walk/run. My pace was steady. My body felt great. My feet felt great. My mind felt great. I wasn't frustrated with Onya being off leash because I was paying attention rather than to The Voice. She was relaxed and easy going because of it. We were happy campers with each other. I left at 8:15 and it was still light.

I know I ran more than I ever have before. I did measure the run on Google Maps and came up with 1.8 miles. I did it in 35 minutes. Slow but happy for me. My final run was a 1/2 mile. A 1/2 MILE!!! It was AWESOME!!! I've never been able to do that before--yay for me! :-)

Run 20--Week 5, Run 1 (again)

Well, this was just blah. I don't even remember which day I did it on--sometime this past week. What happened after was more interesting (to me anyway).

Run 19-- Week 5, Run 1

Marvy. I felt good, did it all. Was curious how many minutes I could go on the last 5 min run but only made it to 7 before pain in my calf. I guess I'm still gaining strength.

Soft Star running shoes were shipped today!

Run 18--Week 4, Run 3

Happiness!! I felt wonderful! I did the first half in my Soft Star Shoes (hoping for my RunAMocs by Saturday) and the last half barefoot which was why the run was so great. Anytime I take off my shoes I have a great run. The last run was 5 min and i felt like I could go forever. What could be better?

My friend Jim asked how many shoes I've tried now, he's teasing me--let's see...
1. I started off in regular old sneakers
2. Pool shoes
3. Vincere Sand Socks (I've not given them a true test run though. I'll have to wait until I'm only running and not walking as they aren't so great while walking.)
4. Invisibleshoes huaraches--still haven't made them! I have the kit, just need some time!
5. Soft Star Shoes-Grippy Roos
6. Upcoming Soft Star RunAMocs
7. And then of course my favorites: my bare feet!

I've never cared so much about shoes before lol

Run 17--Week 4, Run 2 & RunAMocs!

Tuesday night
It happens every week it seems--the middle of the week run is icky. I didn't get out for a week and a half because of being sick, Brad not being home for a week, etc.

I did try running in my Elf shoes--the Soft Star Shoes that I've been wearing for a week. They're great to walk in but I didn't love wearing them for running in. For one reason only though--the sheepskin/fur footbed. It was just weird. It made my feet start to feel numb, forefoot first. Too much texture on the bottom of my foot--I could just about feel each individual hair. The rest of it though was great, good ground feel and comfortable. More than great really. All I really wanted was a leather footbed. And so yesterday I ordered their new RunAmoc in red!

The run...my legs gave out before my lungs did darn it. Out of the two 3 min runs and the two 5 min runs I was able to do a 3, 3, 5, and half of the last 5. We'll see how the next one goes, maybe I need to repeat this week. I'm still enjoying it though.

I am having some rice crispy sounds (no pain) in my right knee when I climb stairs since running. No pain, no sounds when running or walking. After doing some web wandering I came up with a possible reason: the quad muscle on the inside of the leg isn't developed enough. That muscle is the one that keeps the kneecap tracking correctly. So now I'm doing exercises to develop that muscle. Hope that's the issue. Maybe I'll add some glucosamine to my day too.

Soft Star Grippy Roo Shoes, Invisible Shoe Huaraches, Vincere Grip Socks

After this post last week I decided to order these three brands of minimalist shoes and give them a try:

Vincere Grip Socks:

Invisible Shoe's Huaraches:

Soft Star Grippy Roo Shoes:

All three have arrived! I'm getting over yet another cold (having a kid in preschool is AWESOME-the variety of crud she brings home is stunning) this is the 3rd cold in 2 months. I'm sick of it! Plus hubby is out of town so I'm single parenting for a week which doesn't leave me with a lot of time or the ability to go running once they're in bed for the night. Phooey.

Today I took the Vincere Grip Socks out for a walk with the kids. It was 45 degrees, breezy and chilly but my feet weren't cold at all. My current thoughts on the socks, great ground feel--amazing ground feel actually but the sole of the sock kept slipping forward. I suspect this won't happen while running as I'm landing on my forefoot as opposed to heel/midfoot while walking. I took a few running steps and it seemed to stay in place better. It was a weird feeling though and I was constantly worried that I was walking on the Lycra (like a thin bathing suit) section of the sock as opposed to the reinforced bottom.
The side you see around the toe section isn't reinforced it's just Lycra.

The socks have a sole shaped to each foot which I liked and it helped them fit well. More on these soon.
















The Invisible Shoe Huaraches--I haven't made yet. I bought the kit but it arrived just in time for Brad to go off on his trip so I haven't had time. I can't wait though! Obviously--more on those soon!

Soft Star Grippy Roos! OOOOOOooooo! I LOVE these already! I pulled them out of the box, put them on and my feet smiled :-) Yes, they were $63 but even if I never wore them for running I would wear them both around the house and around town. They fit well, the real sheep fleece insole is so soft and well...I've fallen in love. I'll be interested to see how they hold up for every day use and of course how they feel while running. Here's what their website says about the sole of the shoe:

Grippy Roos feature our T-Rex soling-- a soft black rubberized non-slip surface which maintains good non-slip properties on wood floors.  T-Rex soles also provide a clean look over time, and offer a moisture barrier for those of you who like the indoor/outdoor use of your mocs.  T-Rex is NOT a rubber sole - but instead is a soft, rubberized fabric layer that is bonded over the top of the traditional suede sole. T-Rex can possibly show wear with use - but it will not affect the functionality of the shoe as the suede is bonded underneath. T-Rex material that is also used in apparel by mountain climbers to keep their grip on tough terrain.

Again, more on these as running shoes soon!