Taking the Minimalist Shoe Plunge

Had a visit from one of my favorite guys today--that's right the man in brown himself, the UPS guy.

He was delivering my new pair of Vibram Five Fingers.  I am officially going to start introducing a little minimalist shoe into my training.

After my regular intervals at the track today, I put them on (by the way, nobody tells you that it takes an hour and a half to get them on) and ran an inaugural 1/4 mile.  Felt good. 

They are a little snug, but I'm told that they break in and will feel better after a week or so.  To help with that transition, I'm wearing them around the rest of the day. 

Already had my first "five fingers" interaction.  As I'm putting them on a guy walking by does a double take, and asks where I got them and if they were Nike's.  Uh, I ordered them online and no they're not Nike's. 

My wife thinks I look like a robot with them on.

Rotate Your Shoes!

Apparently you're supposed to rotate your running shoes.  Who knew?

Problem #1 here is that running shoes are spendy.  Back in January, I went and got fitted for a pair of running shoes that would handle my unique feet.  I have a pronounced over-pronating stride, which means I roll from the outside of my heel to the inside on toes.  But to make matters worse, I have my robo-ankle.  I broke my right ankle in three places back in 2004 and had surgery.  I am now sporting a titanium plate and nine screws.  (So if I run screwy, that's why!)

After a thorough fitting I went with the Mizuno Wave Alchemy plus the Superfeet inserts.  After about 350 miles, that pair of shoes has started to feel a little flat.  So, I ordered two more pairs.  Yup, two pairs of identical shoes (well one has a red logo and the other and orange logo).

The plan here is to rotate the shoes.  It is supposed to give the shoes greater life by giving them a chance to fluff back up in between runs.  Sounds good to me. 

I track my running on RunningAhead.com by uplaoding my GPS data, but the site also allows me to track mileage on my shoes.  Ok--I know that's a little geeky, but I've long ago come to grips with that.

Paul Bunion had nothing on me!

It turns out I have bunions.  My right foot is more pronounced than my left, but both feet suffer a little from this exciting condition.  Why the right more than the left--well that all goes back to a terrific ankle injury--a triple break of my ankle which required surgery and the permanent installation of a plate and 9 screws.  The surgery healed the bones quite well, but I find that my right foot points outward more than it should. 

This conbined with my tendency to overpronate means that my poor big toe does a good deal more work than it was designed to. 

The long and the short of it is that often after long runs, my dogs are barking! 

To the drug store I go.  They sell a nifty little pair of silicone toe spacers that are supposed to relieve pain.  I've got them in my socks right now and it seems to help.  My next step is going to have to be making sure my street shoes fit properly. 

They Make You Pay to Run?

I was having a conversation with some folks at church last night.  My running buddy Ryan and I are planning to announce a "Couch to 5K" group at the church.  We were standing around trying to talk some others into joining the effort and along the way, I let slip that I was wanting to set aside some money for running.

One of the guys in the group responds, "Wait, they make you pay to run?"  Apparently , the thought had never occurred to him that races might have entry fees.  I'm pretty sure he's been firmly living in the "You'd have to pay me to run" world. 

So I started to think about the cost/benefit side of running.  One of the things I truly love about running is that is really doesn't cost much to begin with.  In fact, when you first start all you really need are some semi-comfy shoes and some clothes that allow you to move.  When I started running again last year, I primarily did it in some ill-fitting New Balance shoes (that I had owned for a year or more), swim trunks, and a tee shirt.  When it started getting cold I supplemented the outfit with a hoodie and eventually with some warm-up pants.  Initial investment: $0.  That got me to my 5K, which cost $30 that provided me a great race, a nice-enough long sleeve t-shirt, post-race snacks, and the good feeling that my race entry fee benefitted the local homeless shelter (The Jesus Center in Chico, CA).

Now that i'm working on my first Half Marathon, I have made a few more investments, but each one comes with a nice return to me:

• Running pants--Cost $20/Benefit-warm legs and easier movement
• Winter Tech Shirt--Cost $20/Benefit--warm top without collecting sweat like cotton
• New Shoes--Cost $100/Benefit--happy feet (I can't believe I actually ran in my old shoes)
• Camelback fanny pack--Cost $25/Benefit--portable hydration
• Socks--Cost $15/Benefit--no more "sloggin' in the cotton"
• Bidwell Classic Entry Fee--Cost $40/Benefit--the chance to check off my first Half!

The intangible--The peaceful easy feeling of getting back into shape!