No better way to start a blog post than with a PUN, don’t you think?

Went for my first run today in about 2 weeks. A couple weeks back I pushed myself to 1.5 miles barefoot (longest ever), and my feet weren’t ready for it!

I’m finding out that getting into barefoot running is going to be a sloooow process. After my very first run, my calves were super tight for like 4 days before I could even think about running. Then my next couple runs I spaced out by a few days, and I didn’t have any major setbacks. But then two weeks ago I did 1.5 miles, and I paid for it.

For the last two weeks my feet specifically have been recovering. First it was the tops of my feet. Those muscles (the few that are in there) were not happy with me. But even when they started to feel better, my ankles were hurting. I told myself I wasn’t going to do any running until they felt strong enough.

So today I forced myself to stop at .5 miles, because I did not want a repeat of the last run. I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow, but it’s a good feeling. I’d rather my feet take months to get used to running this way, than to develop knee and hip pain from traditional running shoes.

I have no idea how long it will take before I can really push myself, but that’s what this blog is for…to chronicle that progress. Here’s hoping for a quick turn around so I can run again soon!

In case you missed the last post, I’ll recap. I had started jogging for a couple months, but I started to develop knee and hip pain. I took a couple weeks off, and after my very first run, I was in pain again. This led me to try barefoot running. Simply put, barefoot running makes you run on your toes, and not your heel like traditional running shoes.

Last Sunday, almost a week ago, I went on my first “barefoot” run. I actually wore shoes, but I imitated running barefoot by staying on the balls of my feet. I did a full mile that day, and everything was good…until the next day. My calves were SO tight I could barely walk. That told me something important though…it was using completely different muscles than traditional running.

So for the next three days I walked funny as my calves healed and stretched back out, but by Thursday I was ready to go. I went in shoes another time, still trying to work out the different muscles needed for the different style of running. It went well again, and the next day my calves were barely tight!

Now it’s Saturday, and two days later my calves feel great, so I decided what the heck, let’s try running with NO SHOES!

The Bad

I figure I’ll get this out of the way first. The single most important thing to me is that I don’t cause myself knee, hip, or any other sort of pain, and the next day is usually a better indicator. Right now I don’t have any of that, so I think I’m good in that respect, and hopefully tomorrow is the same.

So I ran on cement sidewalks, and asphalt for one mile non-stop, and the only real bad thing is I have blisters..quite a few actually. Apparently my feet are used to being babied, so running on tough asphalt for a mile put my skin through it’s paces. It reminds me of learning to play the guitar. The rubbing of the strings on the tips of your fingers gave you blisters. I’d say I’ve got 3 or 4 on each foot, all on the balls of my feet, and on my big toe and middle toe. The middle toe is actually the worst, which I thought was strange. I guess because it’s in the middle it’s getting used more than the rest. I have a feeling I won’t be going on another barefoot run until these all heal up!

The only other negative besides some blisters is the occasional rock. A couple times a little rock would get “stuck” in my skin, and I had to stop and knock it off.

The Good

As much as getting blisters sucks, I’m pretty sure it’s like my problem with my calves. I’m doing something my body isn’t used to, so it will have to get used to it. I don’t really WANT calluses on my feet though, so will have to see how it goes.

The best part though is that my legs and hips feel great. Even when I’m just walking normally, I feel myself using my toes more. The whole act of walking/running feels so much less “lazy” than it used to. I’ve read some articles by barefoot running people questioning whether or not our bodies were made to run in shoes that cause our heel to strike the ground, and I think they might be on to something.

I think I’ll be out for a few days or a week now with blisters, but something I read over and over is that the transition to running barefoot (forefoot strike) is a slow one. I’m a little skeptical that true barefoot running will be right for me though. I’m thinking a minimal shoe or some vibrams might better than completely barefoot.  These Vibram KSOs are sweet looking…

Thanks for coming along on my running journey. I’ll keep you posted!

I’ll probably expound on each of these parts later, but for now, I’ll lump them all into a single big post.

My journey to become healthier actually stems from an “injury” of sorts. About a year ago I started to develop chronic neck pain from going to a chiropractor for a back injury. For a while I continued to go, hoping they could adjust me and “fix” whatever was wrong. After a couple months I gave up, but the pain continued. Last November I went to physical therapy and thought I was almost back to 100%, but I regressed. Then in January I went to a new chiropractor, one with a much more medical philosophy. He didn’t fix me with a simple crack of my neck (like the last one was trying to do), but instead he emphasized how important exercise and healthy living was. He focused mostly on muscular problems, and every month I’ve been feeling better.

Besides learning more about what a true chiropractor should and shouldn’t do (another post), the fear of living with a chronic pain like that for the rest of my life finally pushed me into a healthier lifestyle. Here are the things I’ve started to do over the last couple months.

Aerobic Exercise (Every other day)

A big part of getting healthy for me was to develop an exercise routine. I’ve never had a gym membership, and I don’t really have time for one. I knew I needed something simple I could do whenever I had a chance, and jogging seemed like a great start.

My goal was to go jogging for one mile, every other day. In the beginning, I would be huffing and puffing at .25 miles. I’d have to stop and walk, run some more, but eventually I’d get to a mile. I started back in February, and after a couple months, I was up to two miles in a row, without stopping. I ran 30 miles in a 2 month period. That’s some progress.

Unfortunately, I also started to experience some knee and hip pain. I took a couple weeks off to heal, but after another run, I started to have more knee pain the next day. We have an exercise bike, and the lower impact is great (pain free on that!), but it’s hard for me to get a really good workout on it. I can pedal for 30 mins, and I still don’t get the same workout as a good jog. Maybe I’m not doing it right, but I’d rather run!

That leads me to barefoot running. Barefoot running is a “movement” that basically says our bodies were designed to run “barefoot,” not in running shoes. When you run in a pair of running shoes, each time your foot hits the ground, it’s on the heel. When you do that, your legs are rigid, and the impact of the ground seems to resonate all the way up (which could be detrimental to my knee and hips).

When you run barefoot though, you don’t land on your heel (it would HURT!). Instead, you end up running on the balls of your feet. So far I’ve tried this once, with shoes though. So how did I run “barefoot” then? I consciously landed on the balls of my feet, and kept my heels off the ground. It’s not easy at first. You’re using calf muscles that generally do very little when you run normally in running shoes.

My first run this way was on Sunday, and my calves were SUPER tight the next couple days, but they’ve loosened up enough that I’m ready to go again and keep building those muscles. But why am I so excited about it? After my first run, and even with muscles still developing for that kind of running, I had zero knee or hip pain. The best way to describe how running that way feels is like a double leg amputee who has those curved prosthetics for running. You have way more bounce in your step, and the impact from hitting the ground is greatly reduced. I even saw a show on TV where they were measuring the impact of the two running styles on a treadmill, and the impact from barefoot running was a lot less.

Granted, I’m just starting this, so who knows if it will really be the low impact/pain free exercise I’m looking for. I’ll have to actually try barefoot one of these days, but I’ll keep with shoes until I build up my endurance. If it really does work, I might have to invest in some of these.

Muscle Building Exercise (Every other day)

In addition to getting some aerobic exercise, I wanted to start a a muscle building program, specifically for my upper body. My goal isn’t to necessarily look like a body builder, but to work out my core muscles. Strong abs, back muscles, neck muscles, etc, are good for my spine and accomplishing everyday tasks like picking up Luke (without hurting myself).

Again, I needed something I could do whenever I had time, and that means gyms are out of the question. My solution was to buy three sets of dumbbells. I got a set of 15 pound, 10 pound, and 5 pound weights.  I’m slowly developing my repertoire of exercises to do with them. I’m trying to work all the different muscle groups in my upper body that don’t get worked out on a jog. Thrown into this mix are a lot of crunches too!

I have a pull up bar too, but the problem I had with that is I could only do them for about 30-60 seconds, and that’s not much of a workout. Push-ups are good too, but they only work certain muscle groups.

My goal is to workout with weights every other day, giving them a chance to rest. And that’s part of my whole workout routine, it’s just that, a routine. Ideally, I’d like to get to where I’m running one day, lifting the next, and back and forth.

Nutrition

Implementing the above routines without changing my eating habits seemed silly, but like my changes in exercise, I needed changes to my nutrition that I could handle. I couldn’t handle just eating salads all day or anything like that.

My solution? First, cutting back on the non-nutritious stuff. Soda, super fatty/high calorie take out. I can do things as simple as going to Subway, getting a chicken breast with a non-fat honey mustard, and drink water. I don’t think you have to become a vegan to eat healthy.

One area I was struggling with was breakfast in the morning. I haven’t been a breakfast person for probably the last ten years. The only food that sounds appetizing in the morning is greasy stuff, like breakfast sandwiches. Unfortunately, a breakfast sandwich has tons of calories, fat, and cholesterol, and that isn’t a great way to start the day (and that was usually accompanied by a caloric iced coffee.)

My solution for breakfast has been to make fruit smoothies. I’ve had one every morning this week, and not only is it super healthy for me, but it’s kept me away from the Burger King drive-thru. My recipe is pretty simple:

1 whole orange, peeled
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup secondary fruit
1 scoop nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt
ice

Not only are they yummy, but they’re low in calories, and high in vitamins and minerals. 100-200 calories from the fruit and juice, 100 calories from the froyo, and no fat. So far for my “secondary” fruits I’ve tried strawberries, raspberries, kiwi and pineapple (my favorite). I bought everything frozen that they had (all of those except kiwi), and it makes it super convenient in the morning. Throw it all in the blender, and it takes me no more than 5-10 minutes. I even bought a tasteless protein supplement to add to help with my weight training.

The other simple change we’re making is to always have some type of vegetable for dinner. Whether it’s squash, peas, or something else, our goal is to have something each night. I tried blending some leafy greens in a smoothie, and I wasn’t super impressed, so we’ll stick to big bowls of fresh romaine with a fat free dressing.

All of these things together should be a vast improvement over how I was eating. I’m very excited about the smoothies though!

Conclusion

If you read all of that, I’m very impressed! Granted some of these changes I’ve just started to make, but ever since I’ve started to make these changes back in Jan/Feb, my neck has been getting better. I’ve also lost somewhere around 6 pounds! My goal is to add that back with rip roaring muscle!

I’m sure I could say a lot more on each individual subject, but that can wait for a future post. Off for a run.