Ow. No really, ow!

Week three- I am on the road, on a business trip to Florida, and in an unfamiliar area, in particular downtown Tampa. Beyond that, my work here means doing my running at 5AM. So, being a scared Southern Arizona hick, the last thing I wanted to do was go running at 5AM in an VERY urban area I don't know at all.

So, I decided to use the treadmill in the hotel.

I used to do treadmills all the time. Having recently learned how to run properly however, my love of the hamster wheel has come to an end. Running just my three miles Tuesday was tedious agony. So (trust me, this is getting us to a point), on Wednesday, I decided I would try something new. I would do the majority of my four miles on the treadmill normally- then I would do two minutes- only two minutes- barefoot.

Barefoot running as a concept is something I discovered reading the MacDougal book "Born to Run." Found out there's a whole cult of barefoot runners, and even some podiatrists are beginning to talk about the wonders of SMART barefoot running. I recently bought a pair of deck shoes- just enough soles to protect the skin, but thin enough to allow your feet to feel the running surface and adapt appropriately. Think about it: if you wear arch supports, you keep the muscles in the arch from ever doing their job. What muscle can you constantly rest and expect to have perform when you need it? In "Born to Run" they even talk about a guy who learned how to barefoot run, and lost two shoe sizes because his arches came back.

The good news is, one of my feet was very ready for barefoot running, and could have done more than the two minutes. The bad news was my injury from six months back in my achilles structure in my right foot was not as healed as I thought.

So, this week was a bit of a set back. My achilles inflamed and hurt all day, and indeed still is achy. I have been icing it every night, and did not run Thursday. Today (Saturday), though scheduled to run five miles (light week on my Higdon plan), just a light jog felt off, so I did five miles of elliptical instead. Going to keep nursing this and see where I am Tuesday when I am scheduled to run again.

Now, though this is a setback, I am not horribly discouraged. My uninjured foot was very ready to try barefooting- I have been wearing the Nike "Free Everyday" shoes which is their cunning plan to get me to pay as much for a shoe with half the padding of a normal set of Nikes. They want in on the Vibram 5 Finger market. They have been a good shoe though, and are getting me weaned off lots of padded thudding shoe which keeps my feet from doing what they are supposed to. I am still convinced I can do it, but I need to work on my tendon in the right foot.

Also, I have flex time built into my schedule- I stated from the beginning my marathon isn't until May, so the Higdon schedule (which wraps up in February) gives me a little more time. I do want to be healthy and not damage my foot.

Lastly, now that I have not been able to run for a few days, I realize that I miss it! I WANT to run! Finally breaking the horrible habits my Firm has instilled in their completely wrongheaded ideas on running is making me into a believer. Had you told me three months ago I would want to go out and run, that I would ENJOY doing five or six miles, I would have called you a dirty liar and kicked you in the knee. Now... it is so.

So, my report this week is not as great as I want it to be, but I am still in the game. You and I will find out together how long it takes Achilles to stop killing the Trojans in my foot (that's a really forced play on words- sorry).