My running happenings began years ago with the completion of a ¼ mile run. I thought I was going to die. At that time I remember vehemently hating anything surrounding the proverbial run. Soon after my younger sister completed her inaugural run and soon after decided to attempt a full marathon. I carefully observed and was inspired and encouraged by her careful dedication to training.
In the subsequent years I began to run. I ran hard – too hard. In one year I pulled both my IT bands, gave myself some shin splints in both legs, irritated my knee-tissue surrounding the patella in both my knees. I was irate. Looking back I was over-ambitious and misdirected in my pursuit of distance running. In the recovering months I proceeded to complete long hours researching the pertinent and the varied in the art of distance running.
Currently, I am on the “barefoot” running portion of my running story and I am thoroughly enjoying every second. Among the positive changes, I have noticed that my general comfort in running has vastly increased. My feet are still adjusting but I am optimistic that I will be completing a majority of my runs in the future with my Vibram FiveFingers SPRINTs.
My blog entries will be about my journey to complete a full marathon using the barefoot approach. I am not interested in what the “mainstream” of runners and ad populum fallacies have to offer. I am interested in what works for the individual based on their respective unique identifiers (body type, stride, goals, etc.). With that said, I hope you’ll join Michael and I on our journey off the beaten path.
