Week 1 Day 2 (or Day 1b)

Date: 10/22/09

Time of Day: 9:30 PM

Location: Neighborhood

Conditions: Slight drizzle, 67-68 degrees F

Music: Backspacer by Pearl Jam

Clothing: Under Armour Shirt, Compression Shorts, Adidas Shorts

Shoes: Vibram Five Fingers KSO

After work yesterday, I drove to Cumberland Transit to try on the Five Fingers KSOs...after struggling for about 10 minutes to get my toes in the slots, I walked around in them and loved the way the felt. It's almost like wearing a flip-flop with a sock on top of it...it very much does not feel like wearing a shoe. So, I bought them and wore them out of the store (partially because I was afraid that if I took them off, I'd never get them back on) and went home.

Once I got home, I practiced putting them on and taking them off. While I pretty much can get my toes into their slots with relative ease (every once in a while, I have to back my foot slightly out to unbend my middle toes), I still have trouble getting the back portion over my heel...when I do, however, it's an almost perfect fit.

At around 9:30, I put on my compression shorts under my workout shorts (this is pretty much my no fail anti-chafing strategy), strapped on my iPod, put on my GPS, wriggled my way into the Five Fingers and headed out the door.

To my surprise, it was drizzling. Fantastic...

When I got to my starting point, I turned on my GPS, started the Day 2 portion in my iPod app and started my warmup. The Five Fingers felt absolutely fantastic. Every once in a while, I would walk off into the grass to feel the crunch under my feet.

Finally, when it came time to run, I confirmed (as I had suspected) that I already had the proper running form to run comfortably in the Five Fingers. My midfoot hit every single time and I don't think I had a single heel strike.

Instead of running with a set route, I decided to "get lost"...or at least, just kind of go where I felt like going when I got there. My route took me into a dark, slightly hilly neighborhood behind my own neighborhood. I had never been into this neighborhood, so it was pretty much an adventure...especially when I ran by a very dim streetlamp and noticed that my GPS had decided to turn off.

"Okay", I thought. "Looks like I'm running this one blind."

That turned out to be a good thing. I quickly discovered that running was a lot more fun (and relaxing) when you weren't constantly checking your watch to see your pace. The only problem was that I had never been into this neighborhood, it was dark...and I wasn't entirely sure of the way out. Luckily, my natural sense of direction propelled me back to the exit.

I'm not sure how far I actually went during my run, but I can say that I absolutely loved running on the Five Fingers. I discovered that grass is absolutely a softer running surface, which is something that is generally hard to ascertain when running in normal cushioned shoes. Also, I admittedly ran out of my way to run through puddles just to feel the water.

I also learned two other things. First, running is more fun when I don't have the GPS. Sure, it's a useful tool during a race or a timed workout, but right now, it's probably better (and easier) for me to run at a comfortable pace instead of feeling that I need to pick up the pace because my "comfortable pace" is too slow (I also have a feeling that as I lose weight, I'll pick up speed). The second thing I learned was that running in the rain is fun. I'm sure it won't be as fun when the weather gets colder, but yesterday, it was absolutely amazing.

When I got home, I turned the shower on as cold as I could get it and ran my legs under it, stretching them and running cold water over them as I leaned against the wall and stretched them out. Then I took my shower. Apparently, this seems to have worked, as I have very little soreness today (of course, we'll really know if it worked if I have soreness tomorrow).

I'm not experiencing the pains that I hear you get from doing too much too soon with the Five Fingers, which makes me think that perhaps I didn't do too much too soon (at least one can hope).

Needless to say, the run went quite well.