Fed up with ordinaryExtra ordinary is where it's at

Thinking that I could run like usual in my Vibram FiveFingers, after only doing a few miles previously, I did a seven mile, cross country run in them. The run was great but man did my calves ache the next day… and the next… and the next…

I didn’t run for a week almost.

But now I’m back running and am taking it a bit slower. After a couple of tester runs I’m back more seriously. Monday was 4 miles and yesterday was 5 miles. Today is my rest day and my calves feel a bit tight but generally pretty good. Tomorrow will be 7 miles, Friday 7 or 8 and then after another rest on Saturday I’m gearing up for a big 10 mile plus.

Obviously we’ll see how my calves do but that’s the plan.

I do feel like I need to eat a bit of humble pie regarding the FiveFingers. I was very bullish when I first got them. I did 3 miles straight off even though everyone said do less than that to start with as you need time to adjust.

I didn’t need time to adjust, I was born to wear these things! Well, perhaps I was but I’m 33 now and have 33 years of walking and running in ‘normal’ shoes to contend with.

So, my advice is: if you get a pair of Vibram FiveFingers (and I suggest you do), take it easy! If you think you’re different, you’re not!

I can’t remember if I’ve actually posted this before, but apologies if I have (I can’t be bothered to actually read all my previous posts!).

The route we’re running has changed several times since we started this venture. The “final” route and dates were set a couple of weeks ago.

In terms of dates, we’re running from Thursday 6th May to Tuesday 11th May. Due to exams and work commitments, John-Paul is no longer able to run the entire six days with us. He’s joining us on Friday night and running the Hadrian’s Wall section with us. That leads nicely on to the route…

As some people weren’t happy with running long distances on-road we moved the route from the C2C cycle way to Hadrian’s Wall which is very off-road. But Hadrian’s Wall is “only” 90 miles long. to make up to the 150 miles we want to do, we’re starting in Ravenglass which is about 60 miles south of Bowness-on-Solway where the wall starts on the West coast. Yes, we know the wall is usually walked East to West but this fits in with our plans better.

At the moment I’m trying to work out exactly where we’ll be for each day so we can book accommodation but it’s harder than you think. It’s taking way longer than expected. Perhaps we’ll just need to camp wherever we fall at the end of each day!

Well, I’m back running after a prolonged sore calf! I did a hilly 4 miles yesterday and my calf was a little achy at the end but today it’s fine. I’m going to try 6 miles later but if it’s sore I’ll do less. But if it feels good I may do more. We’ll see. I need to get back up to at least 10 miles before the weekend as I’m off out with the lads.

Either way, I’ll be running in some new running gear! IAfter a clear out of crap from my office, I found a couple of bits of software which I probably was given years ago. I thought I could sell them for a couple of quid on email. Well the first item sold today for £140! I’m well chuffed with that and so a load of new running gear is now mine!

I’m also selling an old phone on Mazuma Mobile as apparently an old phone sitting in my draw is worth £42 which will go nicely towards my running fund.

Anyway, today I got an Inov-8 Race Pro 30 litre running pack with a 2 litre bladder, some Merino wool base layers and a Ron Hill Advance Windlite jacket. I’m off to buy some shorts later too. All very exciting. A shame I’m in the office really…

That was my choice this morning at 5:30am. Clean up wee or sick.

Our youngest has caught a bug off his cousin and had vomited all over his bedroom and then proceeded to urinate on the floor (I’m sure he just thought: “Well, I’m covered in sick, I may as well wee myself too”).

The day before my sister in law went into labour early. My wife was called to go and look after their daughter at 3:30am. The phone ringing woke our kids and meant I was awake from then on. They had another little girl and all are doing well, by the way.

Given that I was so tired anyway, being woken up early to clean up bodily discharge of varying sorts was not the best thing in the world! I’m pretty tired now and have no real motivation to run. A shame really as my calves are doing fine now and it’s beautiful, if cold, day.

Perhaps tomorrow…

P.S. I chose to clean up the sick.

Today my calves are feeling the pain of my run yesterday!

They are very stiff and sore. Oddly though as soon as I move with any purpose (as in, fast) they get better. Sitting still then walking short distances hurts!

I think I’ll rest today and try another run tomorrow…

Oh, the FiveFingers came out of the wash looking (and smelling) all lovely and clean. Perfect.

I’ve just finished a 7 mile run across very varied terrain. You can see the run on mapmyrun.com.

So how did my Vibram FiveFingers perform?

Well, to honest, they didn’t perform brilliantly 4 inches of mud! Seriously though, I doubt even off-road, trail running shoes would either. All in all they were great. Running off road just feels brilliant. I mean, previously it was fun but now my feet seem to enjoy the sensation of it. It makes the whole thing less of an effort somehow.

Fitness wise, I’m sure I’m getting fitter – well, I hope I am – but I do think my FiveFingers make it easier. The blisters on my toes from my old shoes have gone now as the FiveFingers don’t rub. But I do have a blister from today’s run on the ball of my left foot. I actually think this is from a stone or something that may have got into my shoe rather than the shoe itself. I think this because the blister is tiny, only about 2mm in diameter. Usually rubbing blisters are much bigger than that.

My calves are a bit sore now I’ve stopped running but they were fine while I was out. I say that it’s my calves but it may be my tendons, I’m not sure. Either way, the bottom bits of my leg, at the back, near my foot, is sore!

Apart from that though my legs feel great. It’s a couple of hours since my run and I have no pain, aches or stiffness elsewhere in my legs or feet at all.

When I got back from my run I was pretty filthy, so today saw the first attempt at a machine wash for the FiveFingers.

One final thing, I’ve realised that people don’t really look at your feet when you’re out and about! I was really conscious of wearing my shoes at first but now after only a week I’ve come to realise that perhaps less than 10% of people seem to notice when you walk past them.

That’s it for now, I’ll let you know how my calves feel after a good rest, in the morning.

Sayonara.

Well, the best so far anyway. I’m hoping the actual run will be better!

Today was a 7 miler through the parks into the Peaks. It was muddy and wet. Perfect conditions for a run really. You can see my run here.

At first I’d planned an easy 6 miler through the park, I’m still getting used to my Vibram FiveFingers and didn’t want to push it too far too soon. But as I got almost to Fulwood Lane I noticed a footpath across a field that looked interesting. I would like to point out that the reason I took the path was that it looked interesting and had nothing to do with the fact that it was downhill and I was tired of going uphill. Honest.

Anyway, taking that path was an inspired move. It proved to be a brilliant route with varied terrain – some roads, some tracks and lots of mud! It also opened my eyes to a whole new area of available routes that I’d not really thought of before.

I sped up and was running with a smile on my face. Perhaps it was endorphins or perhaps it is just actually good fun to go for a run. Whatever the reason, it was brilliant. I did 7.1 miles in about an hour and ten minutes. Considering the terrain and the hills, I’m well pleased with that.

How did my FiveFingers perform? I have an entire post about that…

Okay so yesterday was my first run in my Vibram FiveFingers. As mentioned yesterday I did four miles in them with no ill effects.

This morning the slight pain in my left calf has gone but both calves are a little tighter than usual after a run. I also have a bit of an ache on my left foot, just below my little toe (I’m not sure if that part of the foot has a specific name).

All in all though I feel fine. So today will be a slightly longer run. Or at least that was the plan. Last night saw a couple of inches of snow fall. The paths are really quite icy this morning and it’s bloody freezing! I’m not sure I want to run in the snow with open top shoes! I may have to find a quite road route to do instead of heading through the parks. We’ll see what happens.

I’ve not really been watching what I’m eating lately. Well, not in terms of volume anyway.

I’ve been trying to eat much less snacks, mainly crisps! Instead I’ve taken to eating rice cakes. Surprisingly they taste pretty good! I’ve found some with lemon and pepper flavour that contain almost nothing in terms of calories, sugar or fat. Just a bit of salt, which is fine with me as I’m sweating lots with the running and generally have a lowish salt intake.

As for the numbers, this week I weigh 13st 9lbs. I’m pleased with that as it’s a loss of a few pounds and included a belated family Christmas gathering. I was very restrained and ate hardly any chocolates and only went up for seconds of the main meal, no thirds or fourths for me! How restrained!

You may have noticed (the two or three people that read this anyway!) that I’ve just added some Google AdSense adverts to the site.

I’m experimenting here and don’t want to cheapen the site or to make your experience less than pleasurable. But I’m also very happy to accept money from Google if people find the adverts useful.

So, it’s a balancing act but seeing as I’m unlikely to make [any] money from the ads, I’m happy to remove them if you think they’re in the way.

Let me know what you think!