So since I started back up running a few months ago, I really wanted to get into it. I wanted to be better then I have ever been before. I wanted to really train, to run like I have never run before and to prove once and for all I can run and not not stop in the middle of the race even after all the hard training I had done. I know in the past I have written about running 3 half marathons and a few 5Ks and other races, but this time I wanted to run that full marathon. In the past I signed up for and was accepted to the NYC Marathon, and each year I put it off. Well I lost my spot, as well as almost $300 in registration fees, dumb. SO this time I am FO' REAL! I lost some weight to make running easier on me and my knees. After a few years of running short distances I couldn't shake my pain off, I looked online at all the blogs and websites about running and what works and what doesn't. A lot of the blogs kept saying the same things, motion control shoes or stability shoes which are expensive and never really helped! I also wondered (like so many others) the real reason to ALWAYS replace your shoes after 500 miles and why some people wear little thin shoes and some wear the big clunky shoes? What is going on? Seriously.
SO I remember what a friend of mine had said about these tiny little shoes called Vibram FiveFingers. Like anyone new to running I was skeptical about running in these things. How could something so little and thin and with no support be good for you? I really didn't understand, but like anyone willing to try anything, I bought some and started running. I did do what was recommended and run slowly at first because your legs are not use to this kind of running. The first time I ran with these things on, nothing happened. I was expecting the worst shooting pain in my calves like I was told, but nothing. So then I tried it the next day, and so on. I was only running 3 or 4 miles at a time, but what a difference between these and running in shoes or "shod" running. Let me tell you I WAS HOOKED! I figured I could run in these for the short 5ks and that was it. So I ran longer one day, and ran the 10k setting on the treadmill, and then did it again the next day. I still figured I needed something for the half mile distance. So I started searching again I could run in these thin flimsy little things that aren't suppose to be very good for you. How can this be? Well I looked into it some more and I still never found anything real except that I didn't have knee pain anymore and my my running time was improving what other evidence do I need? Also really why was this, and was I permanently damaging my feet and legs? At this point I was running faster and feeling better for it. I still wanted to find out and I kept reading on websites about a book called Born to Run.
Apparently I was onto something. The book referenced a lot of the barefoot running to running in little sandals I was wondering about. It also concerned a guy who wanted to run, but was pretty much told he couldn't, even by the top physicians in running. The book answered pretty much all of my questions. I highly recommend it and I highly recommend trying barefoot running. I love it a lot!
So onto my other point. I am training, training for my first LONG race, and for me 20 miles is a long race. I am going to start in Kittery, ME and end in Salisbury, MA. A pretty flat course but I think it will be fun! I love running and I want to continue it for a while. I want to keep smiling while running. Even if I am running in the cold and the wind is whipping, I yell a little, want to stop, then say NO - KEEP - GOING, start smiling, and keep running. Oh and since we are training for this 20 mile run we decided to keep training, for that run even further, a FULL Marathon. So in May we will be running the Providence Marathon in RI. I am hoping to finish this race in a little under 4 hours, good aim, and hoping I reach it!
