A Blissful Run

Back to VFFs. I went running last night around 8, in my VFFs of course, and it was AWESOME! It was just that perfect run when all the conditions add up just right for an altogether pleasant experience. The temperature was 65 degrees with a slight breeze. My legs felt rested. I admittedly went a little slower than usual to try and focus on posture and how my feet were landing. Every step felt great though. I stood much more straight up than I have been. I think you are supposed to have a slight lean forward to run the way I want to, but as sloppily and slanted as I was running, it felt like I was standing up straight even though I had a slight lean.

By the time my little Nike+ man told me I had reached my halfway point I almost felt as if I had just started. Now I don't know if I am just getting in better shape or what, but I have been feeling a lot better running with VFFs, and it can't just be all coincidence. It makes sense too - you run more efficiently barefoot or close to barefoot because rather than completely stopping the forward motion upon each impact when you heelstrike in regular shoes, you land midfoot and you propel forward a little. (If this doesn't make sense to you, go back a couple posts and watch that video on barefoot running.) More efficient running means it should be easier, and it is. I hardly feel out of breath unless I really push the speed and even then, it's just out of breath, not that I'm going to collapse, heart-pounding sort of out of breath. On the other hand, my calves hurt a lot more. But if you are like me and love the burn when you work out, it's a good feeling, like I know my muscles are working. Back to the benefits of VFF running, my shins have not hurt at all and neither have my knees.

I have also been able to move down hills a bit faster. It's still not that gliding feeling that you get with regular shoes, but I've been moving more confidently and certainly quicker downhill. If anyone has tips on running downhill barefoot or in VFFs, please leave a comment. Uphill is still just so good. There is this one long hill on the path where I run, and if you are starting at Locust St and run north, by the time you get to the top of the hill it is about a mile, and it used to annoy me when I got to it. It's not very steep, but kind of long on this almost otherwise flat path. I noticed last night that I didn't even realize when I started up it. After I turned around, there is shorter, steeper uphill, and it feels so good to power up it. So uphill - good, downhill - getting better.

When I finished my run I felt like I could have gone on another. If it wasn't so dark I think I might have kept going. My favorite part about the run was that there almost no one on the path. I was out by the Schuylkill River Trail earlier that day to eat some bread, grapes and cheese and take a nap in the sun, and it was a disaster out there- tons of people running, walking and biking and just enough people haphazardly walking their dogs or toddlers and inconsiderate people strolling 3 or 4 wide to muddy it all up. I don't have anything against people moving any speed they like out there. I'm no Abebe Bikila, and think it's great that people are being active and out there at all. It is a nice place and I go out there to walk sometimes too. Everyone should be considerate of the others though, whether you're running or walking or biking. Please don't walk 3 people wide if the path is busy. Don't walk your dog without a leash if it's amazingly well-trained and will stay with you. When I'm walking home from a run with Ryan, we often walk single file when it gets busy and guess what? We can still talk to each other and be in eachother's company without taking up half the path. That goes for runners and bikers too. There is one thing I don't like though and that is rollerbladers. I don't want to discriminate, and I know that it might be one of the few places in the city that you can rollerblade, but it just takes up a lot of room. I kind of feel like people should just stop rollerblading all together. I sort of thought they had stopped some time in the 90s, but I guess there are a few stragglers.

Ok I think I am going to eat ice cream for brunch now. Next time look forward to some non-running related topics.