My Fringe Odyssey—An Update

The ATL is a great place to run—if you don't mind Hills, Heat, Humidity. Oh yeah, and Elevation (~1000 ft.). This post is about my own running experience here. It's probably more for me than you, so feel free to skip it. I feel a need to mark my milestones.

If you're interested in my running odyssey, you can catch up here. (Reading, of course, from the bottom up—it's a blog, after all.) Long story short: I ran a bit—recreationally—in my 20s as a graduate student, got involved in law and family and more or less quit. After moving to Atlanta in 2000, I tried to start up again but could manage no more than a mile or two without inflicting pain on my hips and knees that lasted for days afterward. I don't do pain well. In August, 2009, I saw Christopher MacDougall on the Daily Show, went out immediately and bought his book, Born to Run, and began teaching myself to run barefoot/minimalist style. I've now been running regularly for 4 years, and this post is an update on my progress.

Beginning around Thanksgiving in 2009, I began keeping a log of my training and race miles. Here are my totals as of today:

In 4 years, I've run a total of just over 1600 miles—400 miles/year on average—337 of which miles have been barefooted (just under a quarter of the total). The rest have been exclusively in Vibram Five Fingers or XeroShoes Sandals. I don't own a pair of traditional running shoes.

I have competed in 49 foot races for a total of 316 miles—one per month. Five of those races were half-marathons (13.1 miles), 16 were 10K (6.2 miles), 13 were 5K (3.1 miles), and a couple were 15K (9.3 miles)—all road races. The remainder were trail runs of varying lengths, from 3.1 miles to 9.3 miles. Only one did I not finish.

My Personal Bests in the standard distance road races are:

 5K  -    26:18
10K -    55:21
15K - 1:37:27
Half - 2:03:00

Not bad for an old guy—especially one didn't run track or cross country as a youngster and who hasn't been running his entire life. I'm not the fastest person out there, but by no means am I the slowest. I have to admit there's something fairly self-satisfying about a gray-haired old guy in a pair of flip flops or toe shoes passing a fit young athlete in his/her 30s, say, wearing a pair of fancy running shoes in the last couple miles of a middle distance race. I'm not gonna' lie. Racing gets my competitive juices, as well as my endorphins, flowing!

For the record, here are the mileage totals for each shoe: Vibram Bikila - 600 miles; Vibram Sprint - 270 miles; Vibram Trek (used exclusively for trail running) - 151 miles; XeroShoes Huarache - 190 miles. These figures do not include hiking miles or the miles I walk before and after each run.

Now I've just about talked myself into trying to fun a full Mary in December. That's 26.2 miles. It's an intimidating distance, and requires a serious training regimen—one which, unlike the shorter distances, includes dietary issues. I want to do it without hurting myself.

My marathon training will have several components, each of which requires constant attention:

•  Improving my barefoot technique—landing forefoot each step, inter alia
•  Monitoring my heart rate—keeping it in the aerobic range
•  Increasing my base mileage—on a weekly basis
•  Coaxing my aging body to achieve a new distance—16 is the most miles I've ever run
•  Staying injury-free—not a simple task, but essential for endurance training

•  As for technique, I constantly fiddle with it, monitoring each step. The mental focus of barefoot running is more intense than when running in cushiony, impact-softening running shoes. Some of my barefoot running friends call them foot coffins. Good technique effects each of the other components. There's much discussion and debate on the Web about how to run properly barefoot/minimalist style. My earlier posts in this series point to a number of these sites.

•  As for aerobic training, Dr. Phil Maffetone has devised a system for endurance training that involves staying below a prescribed, age-relative heart-rate. It increases aerobic fitness and does not tax the more impactful anaerobic functioning. His book, The Big Book of Endurance Training and Running, and website are invaluable in this respect. The key is that a runner can either train for speed or endurance, but not both at the same time. I'm training for the latter.

•  As a rule, base weekly mileage should increase by no more than ~10% per week over a 16-week marathon training schedule. This aspect of training should build leg strength and stamina, not sap it. And about three weeks before the race, the weekly mileage should taper.

•  LSD once a week is the most important aspect of marathon training. No, it's not what you think. That's the "Long Slow Distance" run, an easy run which pushes out farther each week—though every three weeks or so, it pays to back off and run a shorter distance to allow the body to adapt and rebuild its distance capacity. The LSDs should peak at somewhere between 20 and 23 miles three weeks before the race. If you can do that, the theory goes, you can run the marathon. The remainder of the training should be designed to maintain the shape and fitness you've achieved.

•  Technique plays a large part in staving off injury, as does mileage maintenance and rest and recuperation after training runs. Also, where muscle and soft tissue tightness comes into play, Trigger Point Therapy has proved to be a golden solution for me. The notion of 'referred pain' was completely new to me, but has borne out over the last few months since I've been learning how to do it. Foam rollers, the Stick, and a lacrosse ball have been invariably invaluable in my adventures with myofascial self-release.

The marathon I've chosen to run will be on a flat course at sea level in December. This means my training in the heat, hills, humidity, and elevation of the ATL will be magnified. I attempted to train for a marathon two summers ago, but did not make it to the end. I went too hard, too far, too fast and thought I'd hurt myself. What I didn't know then was how to release the tension in my muscles and other soft tissues—Achilles tendinopathy, e.g.—with Trigger Point Therapy.

I am still researching the nutritional issues I mentioned earlier and may or may not post my conclusions upon reaching such.

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Edit: Sorry, somehow I deleted the latest version of this post. It might have something to do with Sasha walking across my keyboard while editing. I'm afraid I lost the Comments by Thunder and Big Bad Bald Bastard. My and my cat's apologies.

Milestones

Last weekend marked another milestone (pun intended) in my saga of minimalist running. I completed my fourth half-marathon (@13.1 miles) in the last two years: the Publix Georgia Half Marathon. It's the third time I've run this race, and this time was faster than either of the previous two. Gettin' older but gettin' faster, yo!

Here I am (dark green shirt, white hat, shades), head held high, approaching the finish line, and I'm nowhere near last!

You'll notice I'm wearing my Vibram Five Fingers again. And compression sleeves on my calves (about which more infra).

This weekend also marks another significant milestone. Beginning in December '09, several months after I began running again (after an absence of some quarter century), I started keeping a scrupulous mileage log. The week before the Publix, I crossed the 1,000 mile mark! Most of those miles were in one of my pairs of Vibrams, but over 200 were straight-up barefoot. In that time, I've run 29 races (5Ks, 10Ks, and half-marathons mostly, but some trail runs as well).

Two significant failures to report: I tdid not finish an 11-mile trail run in February '10 when my legs froze up—macho idiot! I wore shorts, and the temperature dropped as the race wore on, down to the low 20s. I could only run ~9 miles that day into the teeth of a north wind coming off Lake Allatoona. Had to walk out the rest. This summer, I trained for the Atlanta Marathon which took place in October. I got my LSD runs (Long, Slow, Distance, that is) up to about 15-16 miles in August (Heat! Hills! Humidity! that's our motto here in the ATL), but my Achilles tendons got so sore I had to stop training. I did not even run the race.

Since then, I've learned it wasn't Achilles tendinitis. Whew! It had to do with these mysterious things called Trigger Points in my calves. The notion of referred myofascial pain caught me off guard. I learned how to massage the proper trigger points mid-calf (with "The Stick" among other things), and the faux Achilles pain went away. No Achilles issues in Sunday's half-Mary. I wore the compression sleeves because the trigger point on one of my calves was really sore. It didn't hurt a bit after the race. I even ran a fast 5K the next weekend (finishing 2nd in my age group [by 30 seconds]). I can't recommend the Trigger Point massage book enough if you have any sort of vague muscle pain.

For the record, I plan to train for and run a full marathon—maybe this fall. At the Expo/packet pick-up before the Publix, I met a group of folks dedicated to running a marathon in each of the 50 states. Now, there's an idea! The seed, I'm afraid, has been planted.

Random Thoughts

I apologize, upfront, to (all three of) my readers for being AWOB lately. I could chalk it up to lots of things: despair, other-busyness, distraction, running/training, creativity—but I won't (even tho' I just did). And I will not be posting anything until, probably, after Thanksgiving. I'm going down to the Keys to visit and dive with Wisdomie who's now a Dive Master/Dive Instructor. Dude's applying for jobs everywhere from Fiji to Oz to the Seychelles to the Caribbean. Wish I'd had that sort of sense of adventure and passion when I was his age. Way to go! Happy Birthday, Son!

Here, then, in no particular order, epigrammatic-ish thoughts that probably should've and most likely would've turned into probably interminable longish posts were I not [see above, pick one or more]. Lucky y'all:

Pay Close Attention: The BIG GAME is Iran. I said it when we went into Iraq and Afghanistan. I said if I were Iran I'd be worried. Don't believe me? Ever play Risk? We're surrounding them. Strategery, bitches. The drumbeats are starting, faintly, at first, in the distance, but they're beginning the banging. Listen. Can you hear them? And, you might well ask, why? Choking China's supply line of oil. Oh, and now we're setting up shop in Oz.

re: Occupy: The coordinated assault by Bloomberg and 17 other mayors (in collaboration with DHS) against all the DFHs will only serve to galvanize the disaffected. Especially when the world sees tiny Asian girls attacking the billy sticks of uniformed helmeted giants with her ribcage and grannies being gassed. Who didn't see that coming? Our best and brightest, apparently. Ever hear of Bull Connor and his famous puppy parties with slip-'n'-slides? Oh yeah, and when Labor Leaders and retired hero cops lead the charge to the hoosegow, you know roots are taking hold. It gives me hope.

This, by someone calling themselves Ministry of Truth @ dKos (also Jesse LaGreca), makes some sense to me: Welcome to Phase 2 of OWS

"The point of Occupy Wall Street is NOT to camp in tents, it is to challenge power and corruption.

"And now that our tents are going away I am almost relieved. The tents were becoming a distraction anyway, now it is time for us to focus on how we will place pressure on the corrupt power structure and demand the changes and reforms and accountability we all know is absolutely necessary if we are going to have a viable future for millions upon millions of working class people."

Politics: Being presently domiciled in the State of Georgia, it is incumbent upon me to concede that two of the top contenders for the Republican nomination for President of these here United States also hail from here. Newt Gingrich is a mean person, dismissive, condescending. He's smart and informed. He lies; it is his SOP: his MO. And he's corrupt beyond measure. Herman Cain is ill-informed, misguided, and unserious. The only reason he isn't corrupt is that he hasn't had the opportunity yet. He's a salesman who's in it for the main chance. Another conman.

Look, if you can call me anything, you can call me a rational humanist. Looking at the Republican field, I despair. The one rational-seeming candidate, Jon Huntsman, can't get more than 2% support. He's a conservative. Fine. I don't have to agree with everything every candidate believes in. He's smart, informed, reasoned, relatively humane, and seems to have the country's best interests at heart. I don't get the sense he's corruptible—beyond the norm. In fact, probably significantly less. He's got for-real foreign policy experience. He's been the governor of a bona fide U.S. state. What's the problem with those guys? Why can't he get a hearing? Only the clowns, crooks, conmen, nincompoops, and ideologues seem to be able to get any serious attention from that base. It makes me deeply sad.

Personal aside: The last two weeks I've run two 5k (3.1 miles) races. I took a 1st in one and a 2nd place in the other in my age group. They're shorter distances, I know, but it's early season. I finished in the top half of all participants in both—besting many younger men and women. And yes, I'm still running in my Vibram Five Fingers—that's over 2 years and nearly 1,000 miles (see Running label below). And yes, I'm still injury-free. And yes, I've upped my barefoot training miles to roughly a third of my overall training miles. Did you see Chris McDougall's piece in last Sunday's NYTimes? Or this video about how to do it: The Lost Secret of Running?

Check out friend Justin's blog re same. It's never too late!

Best wishes to all for Thanksgiving!

Ma Belle

Poor Michele Bachmann can't buy a thrill. First, she confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy as the inspiration for her presidential campaign. Then she was served with a 'cease and desist' letter for using the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers song "American Girl" at a campaign rally.



Now she's been hit for pilfering the Katrina & the Waves song "Walking on Sunshine" at her campaign kick-off.



Maybe she would have better luck if she'd used this Waves (Kimberley Rew) song: "Nightmare b/w Hey War Pig"



Or this Petty tune:



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Now for a rock block (Nippon style)







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Bonus just for shits & giggles.

Halvsies

Here I am nearing the finish line of the Georgia Half Marathon last Sunday. That's 13.1 miles, yo. Not sure if that's a smile or a grimace on my face, or just me gasping for breath.

It was a perfect day for running: started before sunrise, temp rose to low/mid 50s, cloud cover.

It's my third Half in the last year; I'd never run that distance in my life before last year's race. Though not a PR, I was pleased with my result: within 20 seconds of my projected time. And but for a four-minute bathroom break waiting to get into a smelly port-o-john, I would've been right on my PR. But here's the thing: I set my PR at the Myrtle Beach Half, which is flat, straight, and at sea level—none of which is to be found here in the ATL. Elevation approx. 1000 ft. Hills galore: 1407 ft. elevation change, 702 ft. total climb. By comparison, I was 28 minutes faster overall than last year's Half on the same course. That's over 2 minutes per mile improvement in one year! (If I can keep up that rate, in six years I won't even have to run the darn thing! Heh.) Not bad for an old guy.

You can follow the saga of my running exploits (and the story behind those shoes) here.

Run Better Run

The data are in.

Forgive me as I return to the personal space. Many of you will recall back in Aug. '09, I got a pair of Vibram Five-Finger shoes for my birthday and began running fairly regularly again for the first time in years. You can follow the saga here.

Beginning last December, I started keeping a running log using Gmaps Pedometer and a cheap watch. Here're the results:

From Dec. 1, 2009 through Nov. 30, 2010, I logged a total of 496.7 miles over 101+ hours (62.15 of those miles I ran barefoot)—just under 10 miles/week. I competed in 10 races: 2 5ks (3.1 miles), 4 10ks (6.2 miles), 1 15k (9.3 miles), 1 11-mile, and 2 half-marathons (13.1 miles). I ran on many different surfaces (asphalt, chip seal, boardwalk, trail, mud, granite, sand) and many different terrains (beach, hill, mountain, island, city, country) and in all types of weather (from 20° to 90°+, snow, deluge, sun, fog, humidity). Over the course of the year, my times improved to the extent that my 'easy' training runs now are at about the same pace as my first competitive races. In one 10k race, I ran my age!

One of the main questions I get from fellow runners when they see my shoes is: how many miles do you get on them? Thanks to my generous family, I now have three pair, VFF Sprint (black/blue), VFF KSO Trek (black), VFF Bikila (blue/gold) [as pictured on the left], each for a different type of run. Here're the mileage stats on each shoe for the year in question and the types of runs in each:

• Sprint: 177 miles: 49 asphalt, smooth concrete, grassy field, and easy trail runs
• KSO Trek: 68.5 miles: 16 trail runs
• Bikila: 169.45 miles: 40 road runs

Note: these mileage figures do not take into account any runs from August to December, 2009, or after December 1, 2010. They do not account for the half-mile (approx.) I walk before and after each run, nor for the hikes I've taken in the N.C. mountains in the KSO Treks, nor the gym exercises (plyometrics, cardio, etc.) I do in the Sprints. Also, because they're so comfortable, I like to wear the KSO Treks to the movies and shopping and driving! [And for those of you keeping track, I ran an additional 19.7 miles in basic $5 water shoes.]

All of these shoes are still in regular rotation.

Oh Yes I Did!

Finishing strong:

The song in my earbuds? This one (I kid you not—why do you think I'm punching the sky!) just at the guitar solo:



If Radio Birdman can't put a little spring in your step, I'm not sure what can. "Gonna start a new race..."

Bloody Nipples

Last November I wrote several posts about running. This post is a quick follow-up. This past weekend I accomplished something I've never done before in my more than half-century life: I ran and finished a half-marathon road race: the ING Georgia Marathon and Half-Marathon. A new distance: 13.1 miles. And I did it in the same shoes I wrote about in those earlier posts: my VFF Sprints. (Race photos to follow)

I'm not going to lie to you, there were some moments when I was really hurting. At the 10-mile mark, I had to shift the constriction brace I was wearing around my right calf to my left knee because I felt it weakening (front, exterior, above and to the left of the patella). The good news: my calves weren't hurting.

Around mile 12, near the Georgia Tech campus, the course headed up a series of long hills and I simply had to walk. Until that time I was on a pace to finish with twelve-minute mile splits. But, with about three quarters-mile to go, I saw the drum line from my son's high school one of whose sponsors was a good friend of mine. When I waved at Teresa, she started cheering me on with such warm and genuine enthusiasm I was motivated to run the last bit. (Thanks, T!) And to me, simply finishing was a victory (seeing as how I DNF my last race, an 11.5 mile trail run in 24 degree weather).

After the race, my friend Charlie and I hobbled to the MARTA station and eased down the steps to the trains. We were so sore we could barely move—especially going down stairs. (Charlie finished about an hour faster than I. Way to go, C! And thanks, again, for waiting around for me and giving me a shoulder to lean on when I got a little light-headed in the subway station.) What's remarkable to me is that afterwards—Sunday evening and Monday—I was not nearly as sore as I was after that first 10k or that first 15k race. No calf pain whatsoever. No top of the foot pain. No swollen feet. No toe pain. My knee didn't hurt either.

Bottom line: my training was almost good enough. I need to run a long, slow training run greater than the race distance at least once or twice before the actual race. I hadn't run more than 11.5 miles before Sunday. My body was simply not prepared to go that distance. Endurance first, then I can work on speed.

The biggest casualty—after that early, understandable soreness—was my shirt. When I got home and took off my outer shirt, I saw two bloody spots on my silk undershirt. Apparently the friction of running for nearly three hours can rub the skin off the tips of your nipples, causing them to bleed—chafing even against silk. Who knew? (Sorry, no pics.) Wisdoc kindly rinsed out the shirt's stains before they had a chance to set in while I soaked for a long time in a hot, hot tub. Next time at this distance or greater, it's Vaseline or Aquafor for them.

"Fringe"

In case you were wondering, here're the shoes.

"Fringe"

(continued from this post)

In accordance with proposed new FTC rules regarding product endorsements, let me just say right up front: I paid cash at retail for my Vibram Five-Finger (VFF) shoes. No one compensated me for their use or endorsement at any time in the past & I have no expectation of receiving any compensation in the future.

When I first got my VFF shoes in late August, Wisdoc, being as supportive as she honestly could, laughed and said: "Well, honey, they are sort of..." she paused, "fringe. You're certainly making a statement, putting yourself out there." It's good to be married to someone who can keep you honest. But I knew that what she was saying was true. All you have to do is read some of the websites that are oriented toward barefoot running. Some are hard-core (barefoot only!), others encourage flexibility (minimal shoes are okay, too). I'm including a number of these sites for future reference:

Running Barefoot
Barefoot Ted
Barefoot Runner.com
Barefoot Running Shoes
Running Barefoot Yahoo! Group
Minimalist Runner Google Group
Runner's World Forum

There are more, but those sites have lots of information about this whole 'fringe' phenomenon. If you're starting out, look especially at training, easing into, and technique discussions.

Here's the key article on the topic. The point being made is that high-tech running shoes (elevated heel, shock-absorbing mid-sole, orthotic inserts/insoles, stabilizing technology, cushioning, etc.), besides being heavy, interfere with and possibly hinder the body's (foot's) natural proprioceptive functioning, thus increasing the risk of chronic plantar, Achilles, ankle, knee, and even hip injury. The feet and ankles and calves have natural shock-absorbing and stabilization capacities. Relying on shoes to perform these functions weakens the body's own adaptive mechanisms. Further, as a matter of straight physics, because each step barefootin' or wearing minimal support shoes such as the VFFs is lighter when compared to shoes, mid-soles, orthotics, etc., the body exerts less effort and, therefore, uses less oxygen over distance. As one friend said, "it's kind of like cheating." Well, yes and no. You still run the same distance, you just don't carry as much weight per step (x # of strides x distance covered).

Still, you have to be careful when you change over; there are risks of other sorts of injury such as puncture wounds, contusions, blisters, scrapes, etc. But, the point is, when you run barefoot or minimally shod you are more conscious of each step and pay closer attention to the placement of each footfall—that's the point of proprioception. By adjusting each step to the varied terrain (which you don't have to do in padded, structured shoes), you avoid repetitive motion injuries. Think of the VFFs as a second skin on the bottoms of your feet. You'll be amazed at how much protections they actually provide.

Also, you change the way you run. This is big. And it requires some discussion.

Mainly, you learn to strike the ground differently. Instead of heel-striking, you strike the ground with your mid-foot—balls of the feet and arches. This strengthens the muscles of your feet. My feet are actually larger now because they are more muscular. It also uses the calf-muscles; that's why if you don't ease into it, you can really get sore calves. My calves and ankles are larger now, too, more muscular. The advantage, though, is it takes pressure off your hips and knees. With my old running shoes, my knees locked on each stride, absorbed upward force, and it felt like I was jamming my thigh bones up into my hip. Now, I feel my core muscles working and my glutes are stronger.



The key to remember here is NOT to extend your leg out in front of you and land on your heel and roll your foot forward as feels natural in stabilizing and cushioned types of shoes. You should land on your mid-sole underneath your center of gravity. The idea is that each time you strike with your heel you are technically 'braking' or halting your own forward momentum. When you land mid-sole or slightly on the balls of your feet, you propel yourself along almost like your feet are wheeling.

One other thing, if you run barefoot or, like me, wear your VFFs in public—say, at a race or popular jogging route—you have to be prepared to be 'that guy.' As in, 'did you see that guy with the shoes?' People are always curious, and since there have been articles in a number of running magazines and McDougall's book is getting a lot of publicity, they want a first-hand report. And me? I'm always willing to oblige. It's a great ice-breaker.

I don't do a lot of pre-run stretching. I like to walk about a half-mile before I start, to loosen up my hamstrings and my feet. Then I jog the first mile more slowly than I know I can. But, I do feel the need to do a few stretches for flexibility. Here they are:



Then I do some foot exercises

And then I have to make sure my 'calves aren't too tight, bro''

So, last Saturday I ran a 15K road race. I finished, running the entire way! It was easily the longest distance I'd run since I was in my twenties. It's Sunday and I've got some lingering minor calf soreness. I had a little bit of foot pain in the ninth mile, but fortunately the road for that last mile had a broad, grassy shoulder. I ran on the grass and the foot pain went away almost immediately. I still have some adjustments to do w/r/t my stride, but that is par for the course when using the VFFs or going barefoot. Every stride is an adjustment.

Next week I'm running another 15K, but this time it's a trail run. I don't expect to have the same foot pain. And I prefer—no, I love—trail runs. Here, check out the course. It looks magical.



Finally, here's the bottom line on all this 'fringe' activity for me:

• Things that are larger: my feet, ankles, and calf muscles.

• Things that are smaller and tighter: my waist (from 36" to 33"), my glutes, my thighs.

• Things that are stronger: all the above plus my toes, my arches, my Achilles, my knees, my core, and my cardio-vascular system.

• Things that are longer and more flexible: my hamstrings! (Don't ask me why; I don't know.)

• Thing I have to get used to being: 'that guy', i.e., the one with the funny toe shoes.

• Thing I haven't seen in probably 15 years: the left side of 170 lbs on my bathroom scales!

• Things I can do now that I couldn't do this summer: run 10Ks and 15Ks relatively pain free.

• Things I aspire to do that I haven't ever aspired to do: run a mini-marathon and possibly a full marathon.

• Thing I forgot I was addicted to: the morphine-like endorphin firing in my brain when I run long distances.

Oh, and as for that 'fringe' crack: Wisdoc and I used to run a lot together when we first met in Philadelphia, along the river, by the museum, around U. Penn, Haverford cross-country track, St. Jo's, etc. Now, because of her schedule, she only gets to run in the morning's on our running machine. But she does it barefoot. Last week, after hearing me go on and on ("and on and on" apparently) about my VFFs and all the new strides I've been making in my running over the last couple of months, she made me take her to REI and buy her a pair of these 'fringe' shoes. Turns out, her New Balance shoes were making her knees hurt whenever she got the opportunity to run outside in them, too.

Go figure.

Drop me an email or leave a comment and I'll be glad to answer any questions I can.

"Fringe"

I've been sitting on this post for some time now. It's not so much a lit-crit or lit or political essay as a personal statement.

First, some background: I began running in college. In high school, if I could make it twice around the track without being completely winded, I felt I had accomplished something. In college I discovered running trails and around multi-field soccer complexes. I loved running on grass. In grad school I started extending my distances and ran some 10Ks in fairly decent times (sub-7s). New York City and professional and parental obligations slowed me down and fattened me up some. After moving to ATL, in order to regain some fitness, I began jogging a mile or two.

As a middle-aged man, I began feeling some adverse effects from running: (1) something resembling Plantar fasciitis in my left heel, (2) a weak left knee, (3) a left hip ache that felt like my spine/hip connection was malaligned, among others. I would run, say, two miles and have to spend a couple days recovering—stretching, doing yoga, inversion table, etc.—to get right. I spent good money on top running shoes, but to no avail.

In August my life changed! On August 18, I saw Christopher MacDougall on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His tale about barefoot or barely-shod ultramarathon runners caught my attention. I did some on-line research and thought, "Geez, if I could run again without pain, how wonderful would that be?"

I found a large soccer field and ran some laps around it, first with shoes, then without. It felt odd, but invigorating. And NO PAIN! I began walking around my neighborhood streets barefooted to build calluses on my soles, but all I got was a few blisters. This was not going to work on the rough concrete streets around here for me. Zola Budd I ain't.

I continued to read up and found discussions of Vibram Five-Finger shoes. I had seen them in the local, funky shoe store where my teenagers got their Birkenstocks and in the local REI outdoor store. So, when I had a free hour, I went to REI, fitted a pair, and decided to try them out. I needed a new pair of running shoes, and these were one-half to one-third the price of the sort of good pair I felt I needed. What the hell! If they didn't work out for running, I could wear them for driving or water shoes or whatever.

I love them! I absolutely love them! I began running in them the first day, on the soccer field and a short trail I discovered in a neighboring neighborhood. I couldn't believe how they felt. I was stronger, able to run further, and felt great. I knew I could use them on trail runs and did my normal, short local trail run several times that first week. The infatuation was on.

Then I decided to take them out on the road. I did my "long" two-mile run—successfully. I wasn't winded and felt I could go longer. I was incredulous. The next time I decided to extend it. At about mile four, my calf muscles seized up like they were made of bricks. I hobbled back home and Wisdoc lovingly massaged my calves that night. But here's the thing: no PF, no weak left knee, no hip/spine pain. None. It was like my calves were taking the shock that had my heels, knees, and hips had been absorbing. This calf pain, I realized, was of the 'no-pain-no-gain' type, not the incipient injury type.

I read more and discovered that you really are supposed to ease into this style of running because you exercise different configurations of muscles than with running shoes. I rested for four days and the calf pain faded away. My next road run was just two miles; no soreness. And I eased up the distances. Three weeks ago, after a few longish runs of about 4 and 5 miles, on a whim, I ran a 10K for the first time in about 25 years. I pushed myself and, after minimal training, had 10 minute splits for the miles. I finished the 6.2 miles in just over an hour. My calves were sore but not nearly as much as before. I took my daughter shopping that afternoon and coached a baseball game the next day.

Bottom line: I bought the shoes in late August. I ran a painless 10K road race in early October and I'm running10-15 miles a week comfortably now. The shoes were a revelation.

(to be continued)