Finding Time To Do It All

Checking In (Happy New Year!)

Hello people!  Yes, it's been awhile and I apologise.  The Holidays were hectic as always plus the death of my friend had me in a funk for a bit.  But, as the saying goes, I'm feeling much better now!

As you might have guessed though, I managed to keep running through that time and I've even been doing some more exercising.  I took my gigantic ball to work at my new-ish job and I've been sitting on that.  Since I have my own cube now (instead of sharing like at my old job), I can actually do sit-ups on the ball when I feel like taking a break.  It's the greatest thing to be able to do that.  Plus, I'm in a corner so nobody will walk by and see me - unless, of course, they are coming to see me.  I'm sure I already have the "eccentric" label so I don't care so much about that - unless it's one of those rare days that I decide to wear a dress!

My barefoot mileage is still coming along nicely.  I decided to up the ante a bit, and I've been trying to do six miles consistently barefoot on Sundays, then I add at least two miles with VFFs.  This distance works really well for me as long runs, but the last month has had me overdoing it as far as speed goes so I end up taking more time off in between.  Yes, it's true, you shouldn't add speed and distance at the same time - it makes for sore legs!  But the weather has been so pleasant that it's hard not to go a tad faster (under nine-minute miles is ridiculously fast for me though, and that's what I've been doing) because I feel so great.  That is, until the next day when my calves are sore.

I still have a love-hate relationship with push-ups, but I suspect that will always change.  I love what they do for my arms, but oh how I despise doing them.  Ugh.

One great thing though is living in Florida.  The weather this winter has been fairly mild so I've been able to keep up the barefoot miles and have only had to wear shoes a few times due to rain.  Of course, I say that on a day when the low was 23, but I waited until it was about 40 to run.  Yes, my feet were cold!  But it was fun and the day was gorgeous.  I was hoping to get out into the woods but I chose to do some writing instead and so it didn't happen; perhaps tomorrow (I'm writing this on the weekend, although you won't read it until Tuesday - sorry!).

Obviously I don't have anything interesting to say today, but when do I?  Honestly, I'm surprised that you people keep coming back - but I'm glad you do!  

How Stupid is Stupid?

Last Thursday evening I went for a nice, easy run.  The first mile and a half or so was spectacular.

Then, something unusual happened: from the other direction came a friend of mine from high school, who happens to live in the neighborhood.  We don't hang out, but when we bump into each other it's always pleasant (at least for me - and she's nice to me so I assume it's OK for her too).  So I'm running along, enjoying a decent pace because the weather is lovely.  I see her coming and I say "Hi Chrisy!"  Then there was a really, really loud cracking sound.  I thought, "Oh shit, that's really going to hurt in about 30 seconds!" and I started just waiting for the pain.

Yep, there happened to be a break in the sidewalk that I missed because I took my eyes off the sidewalk.  I hit my second toe, which not only broke, but lost half its skin around its toenail.  Not the most pleasant experience in any situation, much less when you are halfway through a run and don't have your phone with you.

So after pausing for a moment to exchange hellos (and Chrisy's apology for "making me break my toe" which I thought was very sweet but certainly unnecessary), I got back to my run.  Let me tell you, a reasonably paced jog at 1.5 miles does not produce enough endorphins to overcome the excruciating pain of running on a broken and bleeding toe.  By the time I got home blood was all over my foot and I was hobbling (but yes, I managed to finish my run because walking would have made it last that much longer).  

People, I do not recommend finishing your run if you break your toe!

I've been relegated to wearing "real" shoes the last four days because of it and it's driving me crazy.  At least I have my Merrells, which are minimal, but I can't even wear my VFFs because of the toe situation (try putting a broken toe in toe pockets and see what happens.  You have to be tougher than me to not cry.  OK, not really, but it hurts like hell.

I'm hoping to be able to run by the weekend, but we'll see.  Even if I can, I'll have to wear shoes more than likely, which bums me out...shoes as tools, right?

By the way, the weekend was pretty good despite the sore toe. :)

No Time to Blog...

Why does life get in the way of my blogging?  Ugh.  Actually, life gets in the way of a whole lot of things...

So I've got this new job and we have a new dynamic at home, and I'm having trouble getting my act together.  Unfortunately, I'm also having trouble finding time to exercise and that really pisses me off.  Seriously people, I need my exercise to stay happy.  And trust me when I say you all want me to be happy!

The biggest problem is the darkness.  Running barefoot in the dark is a lot less fun than running when it's light out.  You have to be more careful about stepping on something.  You have to wear reflective gear.  You have to carry a light.  You have to worry about sneaking up on a deer you didn't notice, which then moves and scares the shit out of you, making you step on that acorn you were desperately trying to avoid.  Oh, and it might or might not be cold out...

Fortunately for me, I work on the 11th floor of my building.  Since I can't find time to run in the evenings, I've started taking the stairs up every morning.  Let me tell you, 11 flights of stairs is a pretty decent workout when you try to keep an even pace, and that pace ain't exactly slow.  No, I don't run up them; I don't even try.  But I do come up at a normal pace and try to keep it even all the way up.  I start getting winded around the 8th floor - and by that I just mean that I start feeling like I'm running instead of walking.  By the time I get to the 11th floor, my pulse is about 138.  That's a halfway decent (although very short) workout.

If I go out for lunch, I take the stairs back down.  Depending on what I bring back, I might take them back up again.  I worry about carrying food because I'm clumsy and likely to trip and waste the food.  But then again, elevators are always full of sick people, coughing on my food (even if it's in a to-go container I worry about that stuff, yes).  Plus our elevators here are pretty scary (that's another blog post entirely).

I haven't started doing pushups in my cube yet, but mostly because I haven't had time.  I also am trying to wear more dresses these days and I'm worried about someone walking up while I'm doing them.  I'm all for "showing it off" but I prefer to do that in the appropriate locales.  Even though my bikini covers less than my underwear, there's something about people looking up my skirt that makes me uncomfortable.

I'm truly practicing what I preach these days when it comes to finding time for exercise, and that's a good thing, isn't it?

So a Gal Goes Into a Bar Barefoot...

OK, no, I’m not going to start with a barefoot joke – mostly because I don’t know any.  But I will say that I’ve spent the summer mostly barefoot and I’ve loved every second of it!  Since I wasn’t working, I didn’t have to wear shoes when I didn’t want to, and I wore flip-flops or sandals when I went to the store.  I’ve not reached the point of feeling like I have to push the rules; I don’t really care if an establishment wants me to wear shoes to shop there.  I may or may not continue to shop there based on their rules, but that’s a different story.  I know the rest of the world has issues with people being barefoot and that’s OK by me.

However, I’ve found that people are fascinated with the fact that I can walk around without shoes on.  When I took my boys to camp, I was barefoot.  When I picked them up in the afternoons, I was barefoot.  If I stopped and gassed up the car, I was barefoot.  I have been into a few other places without shoes and nobody has ever said anything to me – but again, I haven’t pushed the limits.  People ask me, “Isn’t the pavement hot?”  or “Aren’t you afraid of stepping on something?”  The truth is, yes, sometimes the pavement is hot.  There are ways to help with that (walk in the grass or on the white lines if there are any).  I’m not really afraid of stepping on anything, because I watch where I’m walking.  I grew up in the country, and so you had to watch where you were walking (shod or not).  The reason was snakes.   They were everywhere, pretty much year-round, and if you didn’t watch where you were going you were likely to step on a rattlesnake or water moccasin, or even a harmless rat snake – which won’t hurt you but as my grandmother says, they will make you hurt yourself!  So I always walked along looking at the ground.  It’s something you never really outgrow, to be honest.

That’s not to say I don’t watch where I’m going; I’m hyper-vigilant about what I’m going to step on, but I’m clumsy and I don’t relish the idea of running into a light pole (or a telephone pole, or a person or tree).  So I’m constantly looking up, looking around, looking down.  It gives my eyes a workout too!

So last weekend I was running along on the sidewalk, and I notice that there’s this brown stuff there.  I didn’t have my glasses on (which is unusual) and I thought it was doggie droppings so I avoided it.  As I stepped over it, I realized it was pieces of a broken beer bottle.  Not good, because as you know, glass scatters and splinters.  So now I’m stuck in the middle of a broken bottle on the sidewalk and I opted to just keep going.  I ended up getting a tiny shard stuck in my foot – but the awesome thing was this: my feet have built up enough that not only did I immediately know that I had stepped on a piece of glass (as opposed to an acorn or other debris), it didn’t hurt.  I stopped running, sat down, and pulled the sliver out with my fingernails (I do run with tweezers for just such an event, but I’ve never had to use them on a run; I’ve always (twice!) been able to get the glass out with my fingernails).  It didn’t even bleed; it was like stepping on a small sticker or thorn and I just kept going.

The great thing about this was that all my barefoot peeps out there have said this would happen.  You’ll step on something, immediately know what it is, not worry, and take care of it (some things just unstick to your foot, too).  This was the first time I’d gotten to experience it though so it’s nice to feel like I’ve finally “arrived” at barefoot running.

Yeah, it’s the little things in life that keep me happy. ;-)

 

I. Just. Run.

OK, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm boring, maybe I'm not competitive (actually, I am), maybe I'm doing it wrong.  But when I run, I just run.

Let me explain.  I don't run races very often, maybe three a year.  One of those is a family event (my whole family does it, including my parents), so it's more of an excuse to get together than to really race.  Besides, that one is about 25,000 people, and I don't exactly come in near the front of the pack.  When I do race, I try my best and I've found (at least locally) I'm very competitive in my age group (I always come in top three women in my age group - at least, so far).

But, I don't run to race.  I run because I enjoy it.  I run because it gives me some time alone.  I run because it allows me to eat that piece of cake whenever I want to.  I run because I like to sweat.  I run because it feels good.  I run because I love the weird looks I get because I'm barefoot.  I run because I like to show off my hawt bod.  Ok, that last part isn't really true, but it sounds good sometimes.

So, when I'm out running, I just run.  Yes, I time myself and measure my distance.  I also measure my heart rate and my cadence.  I don't do these things though to constantly improve.  I measure these things to get an overall feeling for my general fitness.  If I'm improving, I don't really pay any attention to it.  I'm over 40, so my years of turning pro have surely passed, and at my age I'm just happy to be somewhat consistent and be able to get out and do it as much as I can, without hurting myself too much (which I am also prone to do).  In the sweltering Florida summer heat, I watch my heart rate very closely because I overheat easily.

When I set out on a run, I know whether I'm going to do a long run or a short run - usually based on the amount of time I have available.  Given the amount of time I have, I know how far it's going to be.  Every once in awhile I'll plan a "really" long run just for the fun of it - but if I decide I can't do it or don't feel like it, I go for a shorter one.  If it's a great run, I'll stop in at the house and make sure it's "ok" for me to be gone another half hour and run a little further.  About once a year I will do a very short run as fast as I can.  This is the only time I really care about how fast I am.  The truth is, I'm not very fast at all!

When I read about people doing sprints and hills and intervals and all this other training mumbo-jumbo, I laugh to myself.  I don't laugh because I think they're silly (I don't - I'm a firm believer in "whatever floats your boat").  I laugh because I feel like I'm the only person who runs for FUN and only for FUN.  The flip side is, I have intervals built into most of my runs because I live in a hilly area.  If you don't think hills are intervals (assuming you maintain your pace), you're an idiot.  This is also why races that involve bridges don't bother me in the least; I have at least two hills in my neighbourhood that are as nasty and long as the Hart Bridge in Jacksonville, FL.  The bad part is that I don't get to go down the back side; it's just uphill and then a very gradual slope along until I come back down.  No reward unless I go backward on my route - but where's the fun or challenge in that?  Not much that I see.  

So why do you run?  Is it to win awards?  To meet people?  Is that what motivates you to run at all (I'm all for that!)?  Or do you run because you look hawt doing it? ;-)  Let fly the comments.

*In case you're wondering, I did an 8:33 mile, with said hill, barefoot, without warmup, in 85 degrees and about 80% humidity.  Told you I wasn't fast, but I can run just about all day long.

Barefoot Running Made Me More Awesomer

It's no secret that I run barefoot.  I absolutely love it, even though the pavement is now over 100 degrees by 10:00AM (yes, it's true!).  I have to hit the pavement really early or really late to get my runs in these days.  Heck, even if I try to do a sunny trail run, the damn dirt is too hot to run on!  But it's completely worth it.

Although I'm still building up my mileage after a winter of rehab (torn posterior tibial tendon), I'm doing 5k consistently and it's just awesome.  I love my little three-mile runs!  Yesterday I did a trail run for the first time in about 6 months, and it was even more awesome than I remember.  So awesome, in fact, that I did 4.8 miles instead of my goal of 3.2!  How's that for feeling good?  The best part?  I'm not sore today at all.

So anyway...I'm getting to the title of the post...

I started barefoot running for a lot of reasons.   One was that I couldn't get over a weird injury I had.  One reason was that it just sounded fun.  Another reason was that it was a challenge, and I'm always up for a challenge.  One more reason is the sheer weirdness of it.  I pride myself on being different, and you don't get much different than that.  And, living in Florida, I should be barefoot as much as possible - but I wasn't, and running barefoot was an excuse to get back to it.

So once I got the running thing down, I started realizing that I wanted to change a lot of things in my life.  I didn't need more money, or a fancy new car.  The things I wanted to change came from within.  I wanted to be healthier.  I wanted to be more patient (because I'm still a very impatient person).  I wanted to stop being self-centered.  I wanted to be able to play with my kids and enjoy it, even though I despise building things with Legos.

So after the running, I took another step, and cut out canned/processed foods.  It was a gradual process, but one I did make consciously.  For some reason I started realising that I felt better when I ate fresh foods, instead of peas from a can.  I stopped eating packaged cookies and started making them at home (yes, I still eat my share of junk food; it's just healthier than all those preservatives).  After awhile, I noticed that my stomach issues seemed to go away.

While researching all that, I came across the paleo diet.  Now, I didn't need to lose weight, but I wanted to see if I could take my health to the next level.  I was already healthy and fit (at least relatively speaking), and exercising on a regular basis.  But what if I could just feel amazing, all the time?  Enter the paleo challenge, a 30-day regimen of eating whole foods, and no grains.  Being a bread person, this was agony for me.  Amazingly, it worked out great and I found out a few things about myself in the process (one being that I am without a doubt gluten sensitive).  No more "real" bread for me :(.  I thank Robb Wolf's book for turning me on to this information.

So from paleo I ended up on Mark Sisson's site, Mark's Daily Apple.  Mark promotes the "primal" way of life.  This is a modified version of paleo, but it's a complete way of life instead of just a way of eating.  This is the part I was most interested in.  Primal living doesn't mean living in a cave, or a hut, without electricity.  It really means embracing the things that matter most in your life (whether you know it or not).  Eating right, staying fit (easily), playing with your kids, and looking good naked.  What's not to like about all that?

Since incorporating all this stuff into my life, I've become a better person - at least, I think so.  I'm more fit, and I dare say I look good naked.  I've figured out how to play with my boys - and I mean really play with them, not just pretend to play, if you catch my meaning.  I still despise Legos (because I'm not terribly creative), but I love racing them down a dirt road, climbing on the jungle gym, or climbing a tree.  Even when it's hot outside, I'll run around with them (but I admit that I prefer swimming, as long as the water isn't too cold).  I'll go roller skating and spend all my time holding Lil P up, because he doesn't have his legs yet.  We take them to a water park and I spend all day doing whatever they want to do, which is much more fun (and easy) than trying to convince them to always do my favourite ride.  when I watch TV, it's just as likely to be The Regular Show on Cartoon Network as anything else (I still refuse to watch the news though).

So yes, running barefoot made me a more awesome person.  Hopefully it will continue to do so!

Vibram Five Fingers: Observations

I love my Vibram Five Fingers shoes.  I've mentioned before that I have several pair of them and I adore them.  But there is one thing that so many people talk about, that I have not encountered directly... the infamous VFF stench.

This is going to sound weird but mine don't stink.  I have six pair of VFFs. I wear them to work, I wear them on the weekends.  I wear them when the pavement is too hot to run barefoot.  In short, I don't just wear them when it's cold, and my feet surely sweat in them like they do in any other shoes (other than sandals, they are all I wear).  In the winter I wear socks (with only one pair; they are the only ones big enough to accommodate socks).  The rest, no socks.

My VFFs don't smell any worse than my other shoes (meaning my husband can stick his nose in, take a deep whiff, and say, "smells like a shoe").  I'm not saying they don't smell worn; I'm saying they don't smell bad enough to gag a maggot, which is what I hear most people saying.

VFFs smell pretty bad when you buy them, IMHO.

My boys' VFFs

My kids, on the other hand, managed to stink theirs up within just two weeks.  I got each of them a pair the day before Mother's Day, and both pair have been washed twice since them.  My boys will take them off on the way home from school and I have to put the windows down because of the stink.  I've reached the point of telling them they have to keep their shoes on in the car, and when we get home, I spray them with Febreze and take them directly out into the sun to bake and dry.

I don't know if it's the sand, or water/traipsing through puddles, or what...but mine don't smell like that, or even close.  Am I doing something wrong???

 Just an observation, and curious as to why my feet don't stink so badly...

Please note: yes, my poop DOES stink; I'm not saying I'm special, just curious about it! ;-)

Minimalist Shoes - for Kids!

You all know how much I love to run barefoot (when I'm able to), or even BE barefoot (as I type this, I am sitting at my work desk...barefoot!).  Last year I pretty much gave up regular shoes completely.  If there is a raised heel, I don't wear it.  I saved one pair of shoes "just in case I went on a hike or something".  It turned out to be a good decision, because I just spent three months in a boot and needed the height...but that's a different story.

Now that I've freed my feet again, I'm back to my minimal footwear.  I wear moccasins, sandals (no heel), Vibram Five Fingers, and flip-flops on rare occasion.  I have even been known to wear Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats to work with a skirt.  My kids, on the other hand, wear the heaviest shoes known to man: Skechers and Nikes.  There is no way I would wear either of their shoes for longer than 10 seconds.  Of course, these are the tennis shoes they are required to wear to school; when not in school, they are either barefoot or in Crocs.

Apparently, shoe companies are starting to wise up on children's shoes.  Now they are making the same minimalist shoes for kids, that they make for adults, which is uber-cool in my humble opinion.  There is a Fila Skele-toes that comes in kids sizes, and now Merrell will be releasing some in May (w00t!).

Jason Robillard over at Barefoot Running University has done an excellent writeup on the children's shoes (as well as scads of adult shoes), so please check out his site for more information.  If you've never heard of Jason (where do you live, under a rock?), he's a well-known barefoot runner and evangelist.  I've never had the opportunity to meet him (although I'd love to when the chance is available) but we do both belong to the same online "club", Barefoot Runners Society.

It makes me really happy that shoe companies are starting to realise we need to solve the problem before it gets started.  And yes, you can bet I'll be checking out investing in some of these shoes for my boys very soon!

Barefoot

This was too great to pass up!

Checkin' Out The Paleo Lifestyle

It's no secret that when I run, I prefer to be barefoot.  As a matter of fact, I prefer to be barefoot whether I'm running or not.  I live in Florida, people, and despite being over an hour from the beach, barefoot is still a way of life.  In North Florida, where I grew up and still live, we live in the country and we do everything barefoot.  Of course, so-called "civilized society" frowns on being barefoot.

I often joke that I was born about 200 years too late, because I'm telling you I could live in a tent somewhere without electricity and most of the modern conveniences.  I'm not saying I don't appreciate them; I could just live without them (except a toothbrush; I do require one of those).

Because of my propensity to take things too far, I've started to ebrace a very minimalist lifestyle - and by "very" I mean as much as having a modern family allows.  After all, I make my living as a software developer, so to say that my 8- and 6-year-old boys each have their own computer should not surprise you.  But, I've kinda stopped buying "stuff" (and no, it's not the recession; it's a conscious effort to say, "I don't need more shit!").

In doing this, I've also started looking at the paleo diet and exercise routine.  I'm a huge fan of using no equipment to work out; I'm a girl, and I don't want to look like a boy (been there, done that, and it was NOT pretty).  I want the tone, even the washboard abs, but I don't want to pay some ridiculous amount of money to spend even more time away from my boys.  I want to work out at home in the back yard, hanging from a tree!  I really love the idea of MovNat and Paleo/Primal workouts.

I've invested a fair number of hours reading about the Primal Blueprint Fitness routines.  I can get into a routine that says "Do what you feel like doing".  That's actually something I pretty much do anyway.  I like to do enough to keep fit, but I don't want to get into the drudgery of "having" to work out every day.  If it's not fun, I ain't doin' it.

I've been reading a lot of stuff about primal diet too.  Personally, I'm a meatatarian, and there is nothing I enjoy more than red meat.  Unfortunately my husband wants to be a vegetarian, and it's driving me crazy.  I'm a woman, and I need my iron (yes, I know you can get it somewhere besides red meat, but I have a hard time with vitamins.  You guys know those are just chemicals, right???).  I want a steak once in awhile (read: at least twice a week).  Chicken just ain't cuttin' it for me.

If you are doing this, I would love to hear how it's working out for you, and how you got started, and whether you love it.   So far I kinda do, but I also enjoy a good sandwich once in awhile. :)