Saturday, April 16, 2011

FiveFingers Friday: Things. Are. Going. Slow.

(Okay, so it's Saturday... things were a bit busy yesterday, so please forgive me!)

First of all, if you know me, you know that I struggle with both my patience and my stubbornness.  I always want to push further, faster, harder, than I probably should; sometimes it gets me into trouble and I end up with an injury.

Well, my goal with FiveFinger training has been to. take. it. sloooooooooooooow.  (I think I've gotten somewhat wiser with age...) But, it hasn't been easy, let me tell you.  Vibram recommends not running on two consecutive days and starting with just 10% of your mileage.  Since I've been back from Disney, I've been running 3-5 miles for my workouts- 10% of that is a half a mile!  It's frustrating to think of driving to the trail to run half a mile only to either drive back home or run back to the car to change shoes, so I've been getting most of my runs in on the dreadmill.  (Yes, mine is by far a dreadmill.  It's in a small room in the basement with no windows and nothing to look at other than taupe walls!!! I seriously need a tv down there or something!) I wanted so badly to just put them on an run like normal!  I know that taking it slow is better in the long run, especially if I want to continue running in general. 

Last night the weather was beautiful so I took the invitation to get out on the trail and really break in my new kicks.  I ran a 10 minute mile in the FiveFingers, without too much issue, but decided not to push it too much, so I ran another half a mile before walking for a bit.  I finished running a short sprint and I'll admit, i've never run sprints on my forefeet before, but it felt great.

I came home and slipped into my new CEP compression socks (in bright pink!).  The compression is supposed to help with circulation and lactic acid build-up.  Since the FiveFingers work your calf muscles a lot, especially during sprints, I thought it would be a good idea to try and ward off any pain in advance. I can honestly say that my legs feel great this morning! So it looks like the CEP socks were a great investment (they aren't cheap, that's for sure!)

It's still slow going with my training but I'm sure it will get better. I have a four mile run next weekend in preparation for the Pittsburgh Marathon.  I'm currently slated for the 1st leg of our 5 person relay team, but one of our members injured her knee and may not be able to run, so who actually knows what I'll end up running. I'm also running a 5k with my boyfriend the morning before the marathon, maybe I'll be up to 3 miles in my FiveFingers by then.  Time will tell...

~Megan

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