My New Chimerical Kit » vibram five fingers http://whitneyclaire.com/blog Finding a balance between effort and surrender. Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:01:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Bluemont 5K, Check! http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/04/bluemont-5k-check/ http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/04/bluemont-5k-check/#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:44:26 +0000 Whitney Claire http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/?p=1792

It’s official, the Bluemont 951′ 5K 2010 is officially over and I finished!! I finished in 41:55 minutes… not bad considering I was shooting for finishing in 40:00 minutes, I only missed my mark by a tiny bit. I’ll say that’s pretty impressive given that I fell behind in my training program 3 entire weeks.

One of my sorority sisters was running as well with her family and she and I did a pretty good job of keeping up with each other. I’d love to say that I ran the entire thing, but unfortunately I just couldn’t stick with it. I did walk some and I definitely walked up the 350′ vertical 1/2 mile at the end, but I didn’t once stop. There were a couple of moments on the hill that I thought I was going to have to pause for a breather, but I pushed through (albeit slow at times) and I made it to the top, jogging across the finish line!!!

I took my Garmin 705 out for its first trial since it was the only piece of equipment that I had (other than my iPhone which from Melissa’s experience dies if you overtax it with music & MapMyRun). I was pleased with it’s overall performance, but it is really a cycling computer. There’s no way to change the activity in the settings to be a run or a hike… you have to just make the adjustments on Garmin Connect once you’ve uploaded.

For those who are interested, here’s the route:

I snapped this shot before starting the race, the view at 951'.

As I came around the turn to head up the 1/2 mile mountain (because seriously, who are we kidding… it’s really a mountain) my dad was standing down at the bottom. He’d been trying to make it to the vineyard before they closed off the roads but happened to miss the opportunity to get up the hill. A lucky accident, I say, because I got a little friendly cheering and a thumbs up before I had to head up the last grueling 1/2 mile. On top, my mom and DH, Steve, along with a handful of sorority sisters were there to cheer me across the finish line. As I was headed up the hill I wanted nothing more than to finish the race actually jogging, but I was starting to get worried that I didn’t have it in me. 350′ is an incredible incline for a half mile, and I’d say that really it’s the last 1/4 mile that are really severely uphill. I watched a dozen or so people in front of me finishing jogging and I knew that I was going to have to at least try. As I approached the very last stretch I reached as deep as I possibly could and tore off pumping as hard as I could. And before I knew it I was crossing the blue finishing mats… best feeling all year!

I did complete the entire thing in my Vibram Chili Sprints. I was a little nervous about it remembering that the course was a little “wonky” on the trail portion and a little rocky on the gravel portion. It didn’t really concern me until I talked to another runner before the race began who told me he had a pair of Classics and bruised the bottom of his foot really bad running in Nicaragua. So of course after that I started worrying that I might do something terrible like step on a really sharp rock and end up not making it to the finish line. But my feet were very safe and happy in the Sprints. The only bizarre thing that happened in the V5Fs was that a dandelion got stuck between my toes at one point. A little weird feeling, but not at all a travesty.

Oh! And I settled on my Lululemon Training Pant *Light (I’d just gotten them back from being hemmed and they’re perfect now), Enery SL running tank (except mine is a gorgeous peach color and it says “BREATHE DEEPLY” – because I figure I need all the help I can get), and a light Lululemon running jacket. The jacket definitely ended up being tied around my waist somewhere before 1.6 miles, but I was happy to have it in the beginning. I was perfectly comfortable in this outfit; if I’d worn shorts I probably would have frozen to death. It would have been much more pleasant if it weren’t so windy! But wind goes right through me so I think I dressed as smartly as I could have.

Sadly, I have no pictures from this event. I left the house without a camera… Maybe next time.

We’re headed out tonight to Lowery’s Crab Shack for a celebratory dinner and then to Charles Town Races & Slots for the Stakes Race. Should be fun, relaxing, and all around celebratory!

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]]> http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/04/bluemont-5k-check/feed/ 4 [C25K] Challenges to Overcome http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/03/c25k-challenges-to-overcome/ http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/03/c25k-challenges-to-overcome/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:45:31 +0000 Whitney Claire http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/?p=1758

At the beginning of week two I posted about how confused I was that the end of Week 1 could be crappy, but the beginning of Week 2 could be awesome. Melissa, my Twitter friend & running mentor, basically told me that running is kind of a game of chance… and the more runs that you do, the more crappy runs that you’ll have. In that same line of thinking, she also reminded me that the more runs you do the more good runs you’ll have too! Basically, the more you do it, the more you will experience the whole gamut of successes and failures.

I am officially stuck on Week 5. In the Couch to 5K program the whole program kind of changes in Week 5. In Weeks 1-4 the program repeats the run/walk schedule for three days. Beginning in Week 5 the program ramps up each day for Weeks 5 & 6. I happily completed Week 5, Day 1, doing my 5 min jog, 3 min walk, 5 min jog, 3 min walk, and 5 min jog. Then I hit a brick wall on Week 5, Day 2.

In Week 5, Day 2 the regimen is to jog 8 minutes, walk 5 minutes, then jog 8 minutes. I have not for the life of me been able to do this. I think that there are several contributing factors for my inability to move on.

Contributing Factor to Brick Wall #1

I have blisters. Maybe that sounds like an incredibly wussy reason to skip a running day, or to bail out early, but my blisters are pretty bad. And they’re on the bottoms of the pad of my big toes.

I’ve been wearing my Vibram Sprints for every C25K run that I’ve done (well, really every run that I’ve done) and I still stand by my previous assertion that these shoes are the most amazing shoes I’ve ever bought. However, I think my running form is less than ideal and I think it’s started catching up to me.

Ever since about Week 3/4 I’ve been getting these awful blisters (the one on my right foot is a blood blister) right on the pad of my big toes. I give it a rest for a few days and they heal over and I’m just sure that they’re going to build up a nice callus and then this won’t be a problem any more. But it’s close to excruciating to run on them when they’re there. I’ve googled it and I’ve posted about it on Facebook and Twitter. So far the suggestions I’ve gotten are:

I’ve taken off since last Thursday, and I’m headed to the gym tonight armed with moleskin on the bottoms of my toes. I’ve also purchased ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running on my Kindle, but I’m not terribly far into the book so it’s going to be a little while before it begins to help me. I’ll report back when I’ve finished the book!

Contributing Factor to Brick Wall #2

I’m going too fast. Or maybe I want to go too fast. I recently posted on the C25K Facebook page a request for suggestions since I felt so stuck on this one particular week/day. First of all, I highly recommend anyone doing C25K with a Facebook account to join this fan page… those people on there are awesome and are an incredible support network! I received near instantaneous feedback from others who had been there before me and they offered great suggestions.

  1. Slow down… still run… but if you have to run as slow as possible to get the job done. Slow running is still running. You should be able to talk while you’re jogging, if you can’t you’re pushing yourself too hard!
  2. Don’t wait till it’s a complete cake-walk. The program is meant to be challenging!
  3. Listen to your body and don’t feel bad about repeating, but don’t be afraid of moving on either.
  4. And some people told me that they thought the 20 minute run on W5D3 was easier than the two 8 min runs!!

I’m hitting the gym tonight after yoga, so I should be all limbered and warmed up to do my final take of Week 5, Day 2. I’m really hoping that on Thursday afternoon I’ll be heading on out to Week 5, Day 3… and that will officially be my “Do one thing a day that scares you” for Thursday (join the #LuluRevo and read Lululemon’s Manifesto). Talk with you after I’ve managed to run without walking!

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]]> http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/03/c25k-challenges-to-overcome/feed/ 1 [Material Girl] Feet, the way God intended them http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/02/material-girl-feet-the-way-god-intended-them/ http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/2010/02/material-girl-feet-the-way-god-intended-them/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:08:14 +0000 Whitney Claire http://whitneyclaire.com/blog/?p=1621

Vibram Five Fingers – Nature’s Best Shoes…

Since August I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about Vibram Five Fingers, these relatively new, innovative barefoot running shoes. I have literally had more than one revolutionary experience while wearing them. There are a bunch of new studies coming out that say barefoot running can significantly decrease the possibility for ankle, knee, and hip injuries. The basic premise behind it is that running without all of the cushioning, padding, and extraneous stuff that are often built into running shoes forces your foot to work the way God intended it to (or nature intended it if you’re not into the spiritual stuff). Our lower body is not designed to withstand constant heel strikes while running, which is exactly what traditional running shoes cause your feet to do. Barefoot running, in theory, will allow your feet to work in the completely opposite way, with the ball of the foot striking first and then rolling back to the heel acting as a shock absorber for the rest of your leg.

Some Links…

Coming from a background in Anthropology I can completely get behind Dr. Lieberman’s theories regarding barefoot running in correlation with human evolution. I just makes sense to me.

The Plunge

I was originally unconvinced that barefoot running could even be an option for me because I have incredibly flat feet. After having been to so many orthopedics and all of them insisting that orthodics were the way to correct my problem (none felt my flat feet or my pronation was bad enough to warrant expensive and painful corrective surgery), I had just given up. I’ve been buying shoes at exorbitant amounts of money that do not in any way shape or form meet the criteria of “cute” for a twenty-something-almost-thirty-year-old-woman. Comfort has been my only objective for the last 10 years.

On a whim I decided to try these Vibram Five Fingers. Actually, I decided after having seen a guy wearing them at our County fair and he didn’t get beaten up. I figured if he can walk around the County fair in these crazy looking shoes, then I should be able to wear them in public and not have too many problems. After a single day of wearing them around I was 100% sold! After a normal day of walking around I usually had pain that was probably 7 out of 10 radiating up my legs and into my lower back and hips. After wearing the Vibrams around I can honestly say that I had ZERO pain. At first I thought that maybe it was a fluke but after continual wear I noticed that my pain had been significantly reduced, if not totally eliminated.

But… that was not one of the two revolutionary moments that I experienced. That was merely an added bonus to make me not want to ship them back despite my DH calling me “Gorilla Feet.”

Revolutionary Vibram Moment #1

I’ve talked previously about flyball, that high-adreneline dog sport that DH and I play. My first Revolutionary Moment wearing my Vibrams came during a flyball tournament. I purchased my first pair (yes, I said first… and yes, I own multiple pairs) right before a flyball tournament this summer. I wanted to test them out at top speed.

I’ve mentioned what the dogs do during flyball, but I’ve never really talked about what the people do. It’s not just a sit back and watch the dog perform it’s “trick”; there’s quite a bit more movement involved. What the human does is quite a lot like running suicides. There’s a quick sprint up the lane after your dog (who runs it quite a bit faster than you do) and then upon reaching the start/finish line there’s a really fast pivot and you run back enticing your dog to chase you back down the lane. Depending on where you release your sprint could be 50+ feet or it could be less than that. The quick pivot has been known to bring down the most agile of flyball handlers, simply because you’re also usually dodging the dog that is coming back the same time you’re running up after your dog. It’s enough to throw just about anyone off balance.

That first flyball touranment I ran in my Vibrams was a life altering experience! The first “real” heat (because you rarely really run in warm-ups) of the first race of the day something miraculous happened. When I ran up and then pivoted to turn and run back my baby toe did something it has never been able to do before… it stabilized my pivot. I was turning on a dime and I felt every single one of my toes do exactly what they were intended to do. I couldn’t believe it! I was faster, more agile, more stable, and my feet were actually working for me. Suddenly I felt sorry for people that didn’t have all of their toes because all of mine were doing something to help me make that sharp pivot turn.

I have since tried to get Vibram Five Fingers to be our official club shoe. Sadly I have not convinced everyone.

Revolutionary Moment #2

Revolutionary Moment #2 came just the other night when I started my C25K program. Of course, I’ve done tons of reading that says that when you run in barefoot technology shoes that you naturally revert to the rolling motion that your foot should do, rather than striking on your heel. But I’ve been running (or trying to run since I’ve never really succeeded before) for nearly 30 years now. Heel-Toe is just the way it’s done, right?

Wrong.

Not in the Vibrams. Suddenly, I was running in a natural gait that felt wonderful. It wasn’t jarring, it didn’t feel like I was going to shake my head loose and my feet felt awesome! I truly never want to run in any other shoes ever again. Never never never again.

So… you want a pair now, don’t you?

There’s lots of places on the internet that carry Vibram Five Fingers. Among them, I’ve ordered pairs from REI and Kayak Shed. If you’re in the Washington, D.C. metro area and you want to try a pair ON, you can head over to downtown Frederick, MD to The Trail House. A woman in my yoga class purchased hers from there and was very pleased with her experience; I have yet to go up there but I plan to in the next couple of weeks.

A little note about the sizing. A lot of online sites try to “make” the Vibram Five Finger sizing fit to US or Euro sizes. And frankly, it just doesn’t translate. They use a modified version of the sizing based on how long your foot is, measured from heel to your longest toe. I highly recommend you checking out their sizing instructions on their site before you order a pair.

Click the pictures below to see them full size

At the moment I own a pair of Classics, Sprints, and Peformas (which I kind of wish I had ordered in something other than black). To be quite honest, I’m not enamoured of the Classics. They have a drawstring elastic that runs through the shoe and tightens at the back on your Achilles tendon. To me, it pinches and digs in no matter how I adjust it. Just not comfortable. Surprisingly, I haven’t noticed the Performas doing this, even though they’re the same shoe basically, just in leather. But right now, my very favorite pair are my Sprints. They’re not a lot to look at, but they’re the most comfortable and I’m able to get the best fit because of the different velcro straps across the arch and at the heel. If I had to recommend a pair, I’d say get the Sprints. I’m hoping to get a pair of either KSOs or Flows to wear this summer when we go canoeing. But what I’d really love is for Vibrams to come out with a pair of KSO Treks for women.

I was very disappointed that their new line did not include a women’s version of that style. I’d love to wear them hiking because I like the idea of having the added balance with all your toes working for you, but I’m pretty sure that the soles of the regular Vibrams wouldn’t be enough to protect my feet from any pokey-outy (yes that’s a technical term) rocks that might be on the trail. I’m hoping that they’ll see how great they are and then put out a women’s version of the Treks soon!

I have not been compensated, nor will be, in any way by Vibrams or their affiliates. I was not instructed to review this product in a postive light. All observations are my own. I am not an affiliate of the Vibram company and do not receive any compensation for click-through links contained in this specific post.

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