Back out in the Asics

So, after being incredibly sore from my first run in the Vibram KSOs, I wore them around all day Saturday. My thought was it would help stretch out the muscles and work through the soreness. That was probably a good idea, but I should have limited my time in them. I'm better, but wasn't ready to go for a run in them. I spent a bit of the day in work boots, digging around and trying to find where the electric to the garage is shorted out (that is going to be a nightmare). I was itching to go for a run after, but didn't think the my calves could handle the Vibrams.

I knew I needed to go for a run. I'm still painfully out of shape from doing nothing over the Winter. But the thought of running in the old runners didn't sound that fun. But, not running isn't going to get me in any better shape, so I figured an easy run was in order. I'll keep running in the Vibrams and slowly increase my usage, but clearly I need to get in some more miles than that. So back in the Kayanos. The first impression was that the heels were much higher than I remembered. I'd only been wearing around the Vibrams a couple days, but I see where much of the soreness is coming from. Most shoes have a heel. Without one, it really stretches out the back of your calf. Of course using all our muscles to stabalize your ankle and activly catch your weight without slamming your heel down adds to it. But I was shocked out how fundamentally different the position of my foot was.

Now for a brief digression to bitch about the nikeplus thing. You may recall I just replaced it because it notified me of a low battery. So I turn it on today and it gives the same notification. Does the new one have a low battery? Did the old one not have a low battery & the message is wrong? Further, the iPod could not locate the sensor. Again, this is a huge blow to my motivation. I want this run to count! So I reboot the ipod, plug it in (the battery on the iPod was somewhat low as well). Still not working. A quick google shows many people having problems with the touch (Apple, I love you be this string of hardware issues is getting on my nerves). So I went into the settings and reconnected the ipod to the sensor, and it seems to be working. See if it holds.

So, the run is back on. Have I mentioned how much I love running in this city? Especially this time of year it is just amazing. All the cherry trees are in bloom. It is getting warm. It is not yet too warm. Everyone is out enjoying it. So I decided to do a couple loops around Trout Lake. It is close to home and has a beautiful running path around it. The run there is through a nice neighborhood too. The only down side is there is a good sized hill between home and the lake, but that is good for me, right? So the run there was amazing: an explosion of white and pink blossoms on all the cherry trees, and a fine blanket of petals like snow under them. At one point a black squirrel hopped along in front of me for a few blocks. Most times when I run I wish I had a camera with me. It is too bad the iPod Touch doesn't. I have a nice route around a different lake from my work (Lost Lagoon). The other day on my lunch run I decided to lug my Blackberry around in addition to my iPod just so I could snap a picture if I wanted. This is what I got:
I could have gotten several shots just as good today. I wish the iPod had a fantastic 8 megapixel camera.

I still think my goal for the Vancouver Sun Run should be to run it in the Vibrams. The Sun Run is huge. It is so crowded I'd get a crappy time even if I were in good shape. Since I'm not, I've been just looking at it like another training run towards some mythical time in the future, when I've dropped 30 pounds and have my 10k under 45 minutes again. As it stands I'll be lucky to be under an hour. But, completing the race barefoot (well, almost barefoot) seems like a good goal. I'll have to see how I can increase my miles, but I think I can do it. Under an hour in them? We'll see.