For Old Time's Sake

I went running tonight for the first time in a few weeks. It felt great. And it took me back to my first attempt at training for a marathon and the fun I had blogging about that. So, this is an ode to my first blog.

Running is near and dear to my heart, but a bit outside of the yogi's creed. Bikram yoga heals the body, and running breaks down the body (or so they say...), so the two don't really play nicely together. At present, my attitude is that Bikram yoga will allow me to run longer... we'll see if that sticks through TT (and never mind the converse - that running might mean I do yoga shorter... or something).

My goal for now is to run a few miles every Sunday through TT. This will give my body a break and maybe even loosen it up after almost too much yoga Mon-Sat. It will also (and more importantly) clear my head.

And to make running even more fun, I am giving the minimalist approach a try. I picked up a pair of Vibram 5 Finger road running shoes this weekend. And so far I think I'm hooked.

My run tonight felt great, knee included. (My knee and I have a tumultuous history, but through lots of patience and therapy we are now in a good place. We tread rough waters from time to time, but we know each other well and can make it through anything now.)

The magic of the minimalist shoe is that your feet and the ground tell your body when it's running well, or running poorly. Your feet can collect more feedback in minimalist shoes than with traditional running shoes. If your foot strikes the ground at a bad angle (aka in poor form) in minimalist shoes, then your feet and body feel the error in form and correct accordingly. For more information on this, please see Jordan Johnson. :)

Poor running form lead to my first knee injury. Poor coordination and a comedy of errors lead to my second, more serious injury. Nonetheless, I have been crazy focused on my running form the last 2+ years. And tonight, with my feet in direct communication with the ground, I found my running to be the most efficient, pain free, and enjoyable since before running the marathon last Summer. I have not been as hopeful about running again since my second knee injury, and tonight I'm totally pumped to be a runner again. What kind of distances will I run? Only more time on these 5 Fingers will tell.