Ran 4 miles with DarStarr last night. I didn’t get to run today, though, because my entire family has contracted some type of stomach-virus, and they are treating it like a relay race, each one taking a turn. Since it’s Brandon’s turn to relay the disease tonight, I had no choice but to take a break from marathoning and instead indulge a novel concept: parenting.
So my plan is to sleep in my running clothes, in the hopes that at some point during the night, I inadvertently wander outside and begin running. Or that I just force myself to do it in the morning. Whichever.
In other news, I was on the train this morning reading Born To Run, when I finally arrived at the part about why shoes suck. Did you know that “runners wearing top-of-the-line shoes are 123 percent more likely to get injured than runners in cheap shoes”? (Page 171) Why? Because your feet naturally land harder when they sense an unstable surface. Unstable? You mean like the 4 inches of padding in my Nike Shox? Yea, probably. For the same reason you walk so funny in a Bounce House (I know you’ve been in one of those lately), your body tries to stabilize it’s landing by pushing through your shoes and seeking the hard ground beneath. So those cushy shoes that make you feel like you’re running on clouds? They actually cause more impact!
My reaction to this revelation? Anger! And not at Nike, either. (Though they certainly deserve it!) I was mad at myself. I have been running completely pain free my entire life. I have never felt that aching in my back or my knees every runner talks about. Well, not until this year, that is. And when I voiced my new sense of pain to my peers, they all had the same response: “Ah, you’re just getting old.” Or my personal favorite, “Oh, so you’re not invincible after all!”
I feel like I should have immediately recognized the culprit: For the first time in my life, I am actually wearing nice running shoes! All those pain-free years, I was running in Converse or combat boots. How could I overlook that simple change? But I guess I understand how it happened. Why would I ever suspect that my fancy new shoes were actually causing the pain? Regardless, I just hate finding out that I’ve bought into hype!
There is another side of the coin, though. I am very relieved that I am, in fact, quite close to invincible after all!
Total Mileage: 4.27
wow so this is real eh? no more padded running shoes? just cheap converse or combat boots? hm.... i shall try that!! =D
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I ran 5.2 miles home last night in my Vibrams pain free! On top of that I wasn't even tired when I got home. Normally I would collapse on the ground next to the dog and attempt to stretch. I will say that the back of my calves were a little tight though, since they are now taking part of the impact of landing (no heels). I am using muscles I didn't know where there.
ReplyDeleteThe shoes I run in now are a pair of $20 running shoes that I've had for TEN years now! I ran the 10 miler in them back in '99. I keep thinking that should get new ones. They have zero tread... and no bounce left. After reading this, I think I'll keep them. :) They've never given me any knee or leg pain yet!
ReplyDeleteI like your style Amanda!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Dave! How do you get to work if you run home?? I'm not used to city living. hehe
ReplyDeleteBus to work with a bag of crap. Leave everything at work and run home. Next morning, bike in, grab all your belongings and change/shower in gym next door. Then bike home with all your stuff (I have a mini luggage bag that has shoulder straps). Save money on bus fare too.
ReplyDeleteOh, you guys....
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing, Dave? Without the exhastion quotient, you really could just run forever! I find myself only coming home because of time.
And Amanda-Panda, you're right on! That's exactly what you should do! The more the padding in your shoes break down, the more stable they actually become. So keep wearing those 10-miler tennies until they have holes in them! :) They didn't let you down then! Even on those rolling hills of Lynchburg. I want you to be prepared for 15-mile runs with me next week. ;)
And yes, Dave looks nuts with his backpack suitcase. But probably no more nutty than I look appareled in my head-to-toe Pro-Nike running gear and no shoes. ;)
You couldn't have read that book before I found the nicest (through previous notion), high perfromance running shoes out there? And then you bleed in them? Killing me smalls. At least you look fancy in the gym, right?
ReplyDeleteThat's a big, fat negative, there, Stone. If it wasn't for your gracious gifts, I never would have gotten so into running in the first place. Which means I never would have heard about Born To Run. I never would have searched endlessly for a copy of my own. And I never would have removed the shoes in question from my feet to find out what I could do without them! So, YOU created this monster. I am your Frankenstein! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd those shoes are by no means being retired! I still do a majority of my running in them. And when I'm not running, my feet are so tender that they're the only shoes I actually HAVE been wearing. I know you haven’t seen me stomping around in my usual boots lately!
So not only are they more important than ever, I'm actually going to pay you a huge compliment... I'm not going to replace them every three months like Nike tells me to! In fact, I'm going to keep them around for a LONG time! Boing Boing Boing!!