Watch out for the waves

Last Saturday I got up early and set out for Zuma to train with the team from work. I arrived around 7:15am and got the bike unloaded and was setting up, everyone was getting their wetsuits on and the yellow lifeguard truck drove up. Turns out the lifeguards performed nearly 100 rescues on Friday and were expecting the surf and riptide to be just as bad for Saturday... they wouldn't let us go in the water. I drove the 1 hour 15 minutes specifically to swim in the ocean so I was a bit disappointed.

We decided we would do an extra long bike ride. Normally we just do the race route of 18 miles but with the additional time we decided to add on some miles and headed north up the coast and doubled that distance. It felt great, I was able to maintain a good pace and finish strong. Then some barefoot running to work on the transition.

the barefoot running overall felt good (as each run has) this was the first time I really felt like I found the rythm and could tell when I was doing it right. As a bonus my calfs felt much better afterwards.

Monday I went for a run at lunch time, again in the VFF's. This time I added a mile and some hills to the route. Maybe not the best idea. I started to feel a little something with my knee right at the end at about 3 miles and about 2 hours later my calfs started to knot up. The knee felt fine when I started walking and has been fine since, but I could harldy walk on Tuesday morning because the calfs were so tight. they loosened up as the day went on and today feel a lot better.

Wednesday I set out for a run again. This time flat and just 2.27 miles. During the second half I stopped to do pushups every couple of hundred yards and got in 120. Again I felt the rhythm and had a good pace for the run. The plan now is to keep it flat and slowly increase the distance.

Swimming at the Duarte pool tonight. My endurance is getting better, and stroke is a little more efficient with better body placement in the water but I really need to work on breathing.

Some freaky new shoes

Well, I like going barefoot and have been wearing flip flops to work for the past month or so. It's pretty well known (maybe not accepted) that I will wear sandals to work in the summer time. Keith tends to mock my dry cracked heels. The other day I kicked off the flip flops and was wandering around the office that way (though not to the restroom, that place requires a hazmat suit) and the only comment I got was, "Where are your shoes?" So then I started thinking, why not go barefoot? The big thing I came up with is that it hurts to walk on gravel and asphalt and I'm not a big fan of pain.

I have read a little about the benefits of going barefoot and even a bit about how some people have made the argument that the athletic shoe industry is really just a marketing engine that has created it's own market based on the notion that the human foot needs cushion and support. They make a compelling argument that I'm not sure I fully agree with... yet.

So the same day I was walking around barefoot my friend Stew sends me an e-mail with a link to an article on sneaker free running. I read it and that started me on a trail of articles where I found the Vibram Five Fingers barefoot shoes.

I was intrigued. They look funny but a ton of people say they are extremely comfortable.... with that combination I thought, "I need to give those a try." Well there's plenty of places to order them on the internet but I wanted to see these freaky things and try them on so there began my search. Turns out one of the local Sport Chalet stores carries them (though only in limited quantities and colors). Yesterday I went and tried them out.... people were right they are amazingly comfortable. Like wearing gloves on your feet. I dropped the cash and wore them back to work.

I got the Five Fingers KSO version in black hoping they would just kinda slip by unnoticed.


Not really unnoticed. I noticed one person in the elevator looking at them and trying not to but they never said a word. Another guy said, "do they sell men's shoes at that store too?" Then there was the discussion in one office where I really got the feeling that some were thinking "there goes Fred again."

So, my initial response after wearing them for a day and a half: they are really comfortable. As I said, like wearing gloves on your feet. They breathe well and protect the bottoms of my feet. I can feel the ground. I'm curious if as some research suggests, my posture will improve and my feet will get stronger and less prone to injury but I'm not sure I'm ready to wear them running. For now though, I've got happy feet.