Today I put a theory to the test: my foot injury occurred because I ran too fast with a crowd of shoe-wearers, which caused my form to get sloppy. If I ran slowly and focused on using good form, then doing a long run in my fivefingers would be ok, even though I'm kind of still recovering. I decided this was sound logic, and against Jenni's urgings not to, I took off for a long run in my fivefingers. I started off with 3.5 miles around the top of Queen Anne hill. My foot was a little stiff to start out, but it loosened up and actually felt better after a few miles. I stayed right at an 8:00 pace, which allowed me to focus on using good form. I was feeling great at this point, but I didn't want to push it, so I ran down to a dirt track and did 4 miles on the track. I figured this would be a little easier on the feet than the pavement. I still felt great after that, so I kept going and did another 3 miles around the hill. This run really felt like a breakthrough for me. Lessons learned: don't try to go too fast before you've learned good form, and sometimes running can work the kinks out of a sore foot. I am actually writing this entry the day after, and my foot feels better than it has in weeks. So, needless to say I am very excited once again about my fivefingers.
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