Rookie on the Run

My New Gym In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to check out a new gym. For $10 per month and no commitment, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was impressed! The gym is large, clean, filled with new equipment, and not filled with big egos. The staff is friendly and didn't try to pressure me into upgrading my membership to one of the more costly options. There are plenty of free weights, weight machines, and lots of cardio machines! At my old gym, there were too many grunting, sweaty, guys with egos larger than their overworked biceps.  The staff & trainers wouldn't give you the time of day unless you had an appointment... or if they were trying to get me to recruit my friends and family.  There were times when I'd notice at least three or four broken machines.  While the group instructors at my old gym were great, the rest of the gym wasn't worth the money they took out of my account each month. I had a great workout last night and can't...

I really dislike not being able to run.  And I have mixed feelings about bike riding:  Cycling is fun, fast, and satisfying.  I love the sound of the wind blowing past my helmet-clad head.  I like thinking that I may be able to out-ride even the meanest rabid dog, should one choose to try to take a chunk out of my leg.  I enjoy being able to go relatively far distances on my bike.  Mostly, I love the speed I can get while going down a steep hill. So, why do I get on my bike somewhat begrudgingly?  Because it's not running.  The thing is, I love to run.  I only like to bike. I like the solitude I get from running.  I love the control running gives me.  I can control my speed (as long as it's set on slow).  When I run, I can see cars coming toward me because I can run facing on-coming traffic.  I like knowing that I won't get a flat shoe when I run.  I feel secure in knowing that if I fall while running, I proba...

Note: If you haven't read Part I of this, you might want to go back one post.  Here, I'll even save you the trouble of having to click around too much to get there.  Just click here:  Part I  I left off on my last post explaining what I had been learning about running barefoot as opposed to running with shoes.  I tried to leave you guessing regarding what I was going to do with the information... but I'm sure you've figured it out.  And if we're Facebook friends, you probably already know. Making Contact The more I read about barefoot running, the more I just wanted to get out there and try it.  I have always enjoyed being barefoot and I love to feel the ground under my feet (unless I'm in my boys' bathroom... then I pretty much have to put on some of those biohazard footies prior to entry). So the other day, I was a good cross-trainer and went on a bike ride.  After that, I decided to go on very short, one-mile run.  I headed out ...

I don't know where to start!  Since my last post, I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking.  If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know that since I started this venture into the world of running less than a year ago, I have spent much of my time trying to recover from one injury or another.  Looking back, I can almost trace each of my injuries according to the type of shoe I was wearing at the time. Here's my shoe/injury time line: January 2009- Asics GT-2140:   My first pair of shoes as I started training for my marathon.  I bought these based on "expert" evaluation of my running.  I was told I overpronate so I need stability shoes.  Less than three months later, I exchanged them due to sharp pain in both ankles and the start of pain in my right knee. March 2009- Asics Kayano15:   My second pair of running shoes.  I exchanged the first pair for these based on the suggestion that I must need more cushion a...