A sloooooww but enjoyable barefoot run today.
10.3 Miles - 1:45:00 - 10:17/mile - HR: 129 avg - Ascent/Descent: 1097 FT
I used to always feel like if I wasn't running fast it was just a waste of a run.
I felt like I was training my body to go slow if I ran a slow pace. Well...I don't know if that's the case or not, but at this point I DON'T CARE! And it's a beautiful thing.
Why should I really care how fast or slow I run all the time? The point is I enjoy myself and I feel great.
I guess I used to really care how fast I did races, and wanted to win, or be the best in my age group, etc. etc. But I also used to be injured a lot and very limited in my ability to race at all. And I got burned out very easily. And what was I really getting out of caring that much about beating other people? Not much really, it wasn't a good enough reason to keep me into it for very long.
These days I can't seem to get enough running. I am pretty sure that if I listen to my body, and enjoy myself, and run a lot, I will naturally get faster and stronger over time, but it doesn't matter to me like it used to. I like the thrill of racing, and I will be happy and feel good to race faster. But I don't need to prove anything to anyone like I used to. I hope to keep the new attitude, because my old one was pretty lame I realize now.
Some days I feel really rested and recovered and I naturally and easily go much faster. Today was not one of those days. Last night I only slept 5 hours because I got distracted working on projects until about 2:30 am. Plus I ran 8 miles yesterday at a decent pace, for me, so today my body was not feeling fast. But I loved the run.
I didn't know how far I would go, but I was listening to a good book on my ipod and pretty soon I was 5 miles away from home and I happened to be at the far point of a 10 mile loop, so I just kept going rather than turning back.
The run had a lot of hills, which I also enjoyed quite a bit. The temp. was in the high 30's, it was sunny, the roads were dry. I am really grateful that my body feels so good and that I can run for multiple hours and not feel like I'm hurting my body, but helping it.
Afterward I worked on my hips, gluts and legs with a roller to really relax and loosen the muscles and that felt great. Then I spent about 20 minutes working on my feet with my hands. There were multiple little tender areas in both feet, and after working on them, most of the tender areas had significantly decreased or gone away and both feet felt loose and happy. I am really glad I learned that technique, it has helped my feet recover so fast and feel great. It has been VERY helpful in transitioning to barefoot running because the feet are so integral. My feet are feeling much stronger and more healthy than ever before in my life.
It actually feels pretty empowering to be able to run comfortably outside barefoot I have found out. There's something about it...I'm not sure what it is exactly.
