1mi run on Monday, 30th August.

Posting this as a separate workout record (well, like I used to until I got lazy posting anyway!) because this is the first time in nearly two months that I went on a training run wearing shoes! It felt totally alien and rather odd but I’m happy to report that my natural gait has changed from landing on my heel to landing on my forefoot first! And that’s just running barefoot (rather, wearing VFF’s) for two months!

Now back to the run: it was ok for the first few yards but I could already feel the difference between shod and unshod running; I felt like I was going too hard and had to remind myself to land lighter on my feet. I was also going too fast, though, my sis was the one that noted this because she was running out-of-breath trying to keep up with me. I guess springy shoes do add, er, spring to your step!

Once I slowed down to my “regular” midweek pace, though, was when I began feeling some niggles around my foot & leg muscles. Again, I might’ve been going too fast too soon, so I told my sis that I needed to stop after exactly a mile.

I’m glad I’m easing back into wearing shoes, but I’m kind of worried now that my “stability shoes” and “stability  insoles” are going to be a bit too much for my “updated” gait. Of course, I could just be thinking too much into it and probably just shocked myself back into shod running (kinda like how I went 2mi the first time I ran barefoot!) Breh. I have to add that I could already tell my shoes were too heavy! They felt clunky and just weighed down on my feet; and this was the lightest pair I have!

So, I’ll start looking into minimalist running shoes*. They should be lighter (less materials) and it’ll be better to be lower in the ground anyway — less cushioning means I’ll land softer on my feet since I’ll be able to “feel” the ground better…

I’ve another run tonight and will wear shoes again. Let’s see how I feel then.

*I found two great sites that can help my research. I remembered RunBare.com had a list of minimalist shoes, as well as this site I found via Google — it’s like a comprehensive list of minimalist running shoes! I’m checking out these options on shoes anyway until get the courage to run barefoot in a marathon… +_+