So this was supposed to be a gripey entry because my run this morning got off to a horrible start. I wanted to run in my Vibram Five Fingers this morning (quite a few people walking around here in them) and enjoy some pseudo-barefootin' on the Waikiki beach. Ran into trouble early on. Found out my particular model of Vibrams, the Sprints, do not keep out sand. They are pretty open around the top:
In fact, they sort of pull it in and rub it against your feet, so it's kind of like running with two rock polishers on your feet. So, I stop to get the sand out and return to the nice brick walkway which spans the main drag.
When your feet are sandy, sweaty, and oceany? The VFFs don't want to go back on. After about five minutes of struggling and murmuring (and getting “is he a stalker?” looks from the cute surfer girls nearby) I got them back on and went back about my business.
Down the road a ways, I pushed the button on my iPod to see how far I'd gone. I have a little gadget which attached the Nike+ sensor to the strap on my Vibrams. When, however, I had replaced my shoes, the sensor slipped too far to one side, so it wasn't reading anything. Six minutes of running, and I was reading a 10th of a mile at a 37 minute per mile pace. Even I'm not that slow.
I fought the urge to just give up and go back. This run was ruined, but well, I was in Hawaii, and enjoying the early morning weirdness all cities ooze. So I kept going, and shut off the iPod altogether. No music no mileage; just running.
It was awesome.
See, I had realized when I first really got into this running thing that my Firm had made me obsessed with speed, which was why I hated running. I am beginning to think though, that somewhere along the line, I became equally obsessed with distance. I had to record my distance and watch my little Mike graph go up on the website. It occurred to me while running this morning that I told myself, “self, let's keep going and just have a fun run.” Wait a minute; didn't I do this whole running thing BECAUSE it was fun? Shouldn't EVERY run be a fun run?
Without that little timey-whimey distance device, I was free. I stopped to look at a store, and I sprinted across intersections getting ready to change. I was again out running for the sake of running. As a side effect, I wasn't focused on how I was running, and in my Vibrams I fell into a natural barefoot stride, and felt like I could go all day. Unfortunately, I have to go shower and go to work.
I do love my Nike+, and will continue to measure time in my Nikes, but I think when it's just me and the Vibrams, it's going to be just me and the Vibrams. Even in the Nikes, I am going to need to be careful about how wrapped around the axle I get with distance. I remembered today why I want to run, and that is just to enjoy it. Thanks Nike, I will just do it.
