Runner's High

I've never blogged before...let me know how I do.  

I have never considered myself to be an athletic person.  I always preferred to be indoors.  Why?  Well, I always got headaches from too much physical exertion (even as a child) + the terrible humidity of Florida = one lazy couch potato.  

Recently after much positive peer pressure, I decided to challenge myself and join my athletic friends for a half marathon.  As I was beginning to get into my groove with running, I noticed something wasn't right.  My calves were so unbearably tight and sore.  It was as if they were screaming at me to stop like a terrified scaredy cat going on his first roller coaster ride.  The bottoms of my feet were completely numb and felt like I had been struck with a tranquilizer dart.   

I'm not an expert or anything, but something told me that shouldn't be happening.  So I decided to seek professional help.  I'm proud to say that after approximately two months of training, I experienced my very first "runner's high" last week while running three miles.  I had always heard of that expression and thought it would be impossible for someone like me to get to that point.  Me...the one who shy-ed away from stuff like this because of the inevitable aches and pains.  That's right - I found myself saying, "This is EEEEEASY!  I could do this ALL DAY!"  Woo-hoo!!!

Bare-Footsies ;)

So, after much deliberation, I decided to purchase a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers. I tried them out (just up & down my block) last night & think I'm going to absolutely love them. I've heard people try to describe the feeling of running in them. To be honest, after reading the description "exhilarating" in several places, by different people, I couldn't quiet my worry that maybe there was a lot of hype/excitement surrounding this as a current running fad & reactions were being influenced by this. But, after hearing a personal experience from a friend in Florida, I decided I had to find out once and for all. The verdict? "Exhilarating." :) It really is a completely different experience feeling ground beneath your feet and toes than layers of cushion, padding & rubber. I can't wait to start wearing them more often. I am going to be sure to take advice & transition slowly. The one thing I realized is that the light mesh on top is just that, light mesh! I jumped on Dylan's bike to demonstrate something and while pedaling scraped the top of my foot & busted the side seam on my pinky toe open. Today, I went to Fleet Feet & much to my relief they swapped them right out. Needless to say, I'll be much more careful in my shoes! I'll post updates as I progress & once I am able to actually do runs in them. :) Thanks, Lacy for the recommendation & advice!

Here's an interesting link from Mr. McDougall, author of Born to Run.
http://naturallyengineered.com/blog/the-100-up-exercise-method-for-training-barefoot-running-form/

Also, hoping either myself or Jaide can share some tips from last night's Good Form Running Clinic within the next day or so. We really enjoyed it!

Won Won Dauty Build Dam

The Guyanese have an expression, "Won won daughty build dam".  In American English it would go like this, "One One brick builds a dam".  One step at a time leads to a meter, a mile, a half marathon, a marathon, an ultra.  Ok, so I'm definitely not there yet, but yesterday this motto kept me going through a 6 mile run in the June heat.  Also much thanks to my sister, who wouldn't let me give up until I met my long run goal of 6.  I was able to keep pace with her for the first time in a long time, which if you ever grew up with on overachieving sibling, you would understand my newfound pride (I love you Jehan!!).

We made stops at the park drinking fountain, hoping a slobbering kid with meningitis didn't just take a swig before us.  We made very quick waves to our nearby golfing husbands.  I pleaded to my sister to tell me stories to distract me from my overwhelming urge to stop in my tracks.  And we made it!!  I haven't sweat so much since Guyana.

We quickly gathered our husbands and feasted at Macau Cafe.  According to these China girls' palates, we had the best Chinese food around.

Happy running!!