glidergirl

• 10 easy miles - South Temple route that I haven't been able to run forever!
• Between mile 4.2-6.2, I took off my shoes and carried them for 2 miles while I ran barefoot in my socks!

If you were to tell me last December (or even just a month ago) that I would be running my old 10 mile route, in my Nike Frees and 2 of those miles were barefoot, I would have laughed!  It feels so great!

I ordered a pair of Saucony Hattori's today from www.runningwarehouse.com.   You really should check that website out if you haven't already.  Good deals, free shipping AND free returns. It's where I buy 90% of my running gear unless I can find it cheaper somewhere else, which is very rare. The Hattori's are normally $59 on the website, but I got a coupon in the mail today for 25% off so they were only $44.25 with no tax!

5.2 miles in the heat (only time to run today)

I probably stopped every .3 miles to rest in the shade for a couple minutes because it's so hot.  We're getting a treadmill this weekend (2nd attempt), so I can't wait to have that for these hot days when I can only run in the afternoon.  I took off my shoes at mile 3 and ran one mile in socks.  It felt really good to get the heavy, hot things off and have some ventilation and just run barefoot.  Then I walked 1 mile barefoot (not included in the 5 miles) and then put my shoes back on.  By then it felt good to get the cushiony comfortable shoes back on my feet. :0)  I ran the last mile home. 

While I'm running barefoot on the sidewalks, my eyes are on the ground constantly.  I do somewhat of a winding motion to avoid the obvious holes in the sidewalk, but otherwise it doesn't really hurt to land on twings and small rocks, etc.  You can usually see the bigger rocks and you automatically avoid those.  It really doesn't hurt at all, especially after giving your feet time to get used to it by walking barefoot first for awhile.  Every now and again I step on something that sticks to my foot or socks and it hurts to land on it again, so I just stop and brush it off and move forward.  The track is my favorite because of the texture (it feels like a massage on my feet) and it's clear of holes and big rocks.  It's just more convenient to pull of my shoes and include the barefoot running during my normal run.  I'm eventually planning on running in very minimal shoes (like Vibrams or Hattori's) for the entire run someday.  The barefeet running (in socks) is just to slowly transition and teach my feet how to land correctly and to strengthen my feet, heel cords and legs.  It's definitely working for me.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/105517915

• 5 miles of east high loop (1.3 miles were in my socks)

• 5 miles at 9:36 avg pace

Two fun new things happened today:

1) Ran all 5 miles in my newly arrived Saucony Hattori's (Allie you're right, they are AWESOME!).  My favorite minimalist shoes so far.  The perfect mix between Vibrams and Merrells.  They hug your feet like a sock or water shoes and give you plenty of room to spread your toes out.  And they're soft and cushiony, but not too much cushion so you can still feel in control.  They only weigh 3.8 oz and they have no heel to toe drop.  They are a lot more minimal than Nike Free's, so I had my regular shoes ready just in case.  I could start to feel that I may need to change into my regular shoes around mile 4 or 4.5, so I just finished it out because I was too lazy to stop and change shoes.  As for the sizing, I got a size 9.5 which is half size bigger than my regular running shoes.  I wear an 8.5 for every day shoes, 9 for regular running shoes and for Merrells and Nike Frees and a 9.5 in the Hattori's.

2)  I got to run on my new treadmill!  Treadmill Attempt #2.  We bought one off ksl.com a couple months ago and had an awful, awful experience (it ended with the guy totally lying to us, selling us a complete lemon that didn't work, then saying "sorso ry, there's nothing I can do"...and then us leaving it in his driveway as a statement - that felt really good actually!  LOL  We're so mean).  Well, this week one, of James' coworkers came to him and asked if he would be interested in trading.  She asked if he could build her one of his custom computers and they would give us their new-ish treadmill that only had 30 hours on it.  While I was at work last night, they brought it over and James got it all set up for me and tested it out even.  He showed it off to me this morning.  He said "compared to this, that last treadmill was a dumpster dive."  I was relieved!  I guess I was a little nervous the same thing was going to happen (that it wouldn't work). I ran on it when I woke up at 2pm and it was SO nice!  It's a high quality machine (NordicTrack Viewpoint 3000 I believe).  It even has a fan to cool your face off while you're running.  It was MUCH easier to run 5 miles in 72 degrees indoors than try to run 5 miles in .3 mile increments outside in 90 degree weather.

We're off to Bear Lake for the weekend.  Hoping to get a few miles in tomorrow on some beautiful terrain. :) 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106004490

• 12 miles near the Minnetonka Cave and campgrounds (6 miles down the road towards Hwy 89/Main Street and Bear Lake, 6 miles back up)

We stay at the Porcupine campsite.  It's a nice place and has a stream running along the road.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106573602