I <3 New Shoes.

But not just any shoes.  Running Shoes!  Buying new shoes for any other occasion makes me miserable but picking out new running shoes, now that’s my kind of shoe shopping!!  I have never been nor will I ever be a person who has a closet full of shoes (unless they are old running shoes that I have not yet gotten rid of…) and I will re-wear the same few pairs of shoes to work way past the point of them being acceptable because I really HATE it that much!  Too bad I cannot just wear socks to work, I am really happiest with no shoes on at all!  I also quite enjoy my TOMS but unfortunately, I can really only pull off wearing those to work on Fridays ONEMOREDAY!

Why this shoe speak you ask?  Well, yesterday when I got home from work, I was very excited to find two pairs of new running/workout shoes waiting for me on the front porch, courtesy of Zappos.com!

Disclaimer: I am not a professional shoe salesperson or shoe shopper, please consult your own salesperson/shopper before making a shoe purchase that is right for you.  I am just someone telling you what I think of the kinds I use!

Here’s what I got!

First up, I needed new shoes for weight lifting class.  I have been wearing the same old worn out and ripped pair of lightweight Nike’s since I joined the gym almost two years ago… I bought these shoes even longer ago than that and I think for a Kickboxing class I used to take at another gym I belonged to back in 2003/4 maybe?  Yikes!  So either way, I actually NEEDED these shoes!  I decided on a pair of Minimus shoes from New Balance.  I’ve never been the world’s largest New Balance fan (mainly because I always found them very heavy) but when I saw they had developed a new line that included soles from Vibrams,  I was sold!  I have worn my Five Fingers to the gym a few times but they always draw way too much attention there and if you knew me, you’d know I am not really interested in explaining “yes, they are comfortable” for the bazillionth time after work on a week day… during vacation or the weekend, my patience level is slightly higher but by 5pm on a Tuesday or Thursday, I pretty much would be happiest not discussing this topic again, thankyouverymuch!  So that is why I picked these out of the lineup at Zappos:

I can give more of a review of these in the future but so far, I have only worn them once but really, really liked them!  I wore them last night to do Insanity and they felt very comfortable but still allowed me to grip the floor better, which seems to be better for you when you are doing cross-training activities (or so I’ve heard!).  But I do really notice a difference and feel a lot more stable wearing ground gripping shoes versus larger tennis shoes/fitness shoes.

My second pair of shoes waiting for me on the porch yesterday was a new pair of my current favorite running shoes, the Saucony Kinvara 2!  I don’t know why I love these shoes so much, but I really do!  I swear they make me run faster and I have yet to get a pair that causes any kind of blisters!  I bought my first pair a little too small and ended up hurting a toenail when I swelled up at Summerfest because of dehydration but since buying a half size larger, I have never had anything happen with them!

This time I went for the white/black/purple combo and let me tell you, they look even better in person!! I am excited to wear these for Saturday’s long run provided we don’t have super sloppy roads… if so, I might stick with the old pair another week as to not ruin the newbies!

Since I have had these shoes for awhile (in other colors), I can list what I have found to be the pros and cons of these shoes.  I’ll start with the cons because that list is pretty short  and it’s always good to hear the bad news first, right?

CONS: 1) They rip easily on the top, in the toe region.  This has yet to actually affect my wearability of them but I still find it weird that this happens so quickly and I am not sure why it does?  The mesh covering over the shoes tears and you can see the bottom layer peaking through.  2) They don’t keep my feet dry at all!  But really, what shoes do a good job at this besides rain boots?  But it does seem my feet get a lot wetter and colder wearing this kind of shoe than past shoes I have worn but that might have something to do with the minimalistic modeling? 3) I have not found they last very long.  I seem to burn through them pretty quickly to the point I start getting shin splints (my cue to buy new shoes!).  I guess I have made it 4 months on my current pair (but pushed it a little to get closer to Spring) and maybe that is actually a decent amount of time but it seems I used to get 6 months out of shoes.  Although to be honest, I probably do run more now?  So maybe this really is not a con after all…

PROS: 1) These shoes encourage you to strike with your forefoot instead of your heel.  I really wish that I would have learned about proper form 5+ years ago when I first started running because let me tell you, muscle memory lasts a REALLY long time and when fatigued, I still revert back to heel striking which never fails to leave me sore the next day and cause damage to my body… these shoes really do help your foot to naturally land a bit safer so I try to keep practicing that to clear out the bad memories 2) They are super lightweight.  When I switched from my professional running store running shoe to these shoes, it seriously felt like I was not even wearing anything, they are that comfortable!  It’s amazing how much less fatigued my feet/ankles/legs get when they are not picking up heavy shoes! I also really think this lightweightedness (yes, that is a word) makes you run faster in them… 3) They are reasonable priced.  I have normally paid between $70-$100 for a pair and to me, that is a pretty decent price for good shoes.  It seems a lot of the better running shoes are above $100 and my limit is $100 or below but these shoes make that cut!

So that is probably enough rambling on about shoes but I was just so excited for them, I had to share!  If you are in need of new shoes, definitely hop over to Zappos.com!  Free shipping BOTH ways and you have a 365 days to return them if you have not worn them.  Plus, they shipped really quickly (although stinky Sister got hers a day before mine when she ordered a day after!).  I got both of these pairs on sale so with the free shipping, they only came to about $70 a pair!  That to me is well worth it!

Happy Shoe Shopping!

Marathon Monday: 1/10

Yes, I realize I am once again a day late for my Marathon Monday post but most of yesterday was spent walking around DisneyWorld and on an airplane so I didn’t have much of a chance to type anything up. I also woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat and by that evening had a slight fever so I figured an early bedtime would be a good idea. It seems to have helped because my fever is gone but I am still kind of a congested mess… bring on the EmergenC!

This past week has FLOWN by! I cannot believe I have now completed 3 weeks of marathon training. It is insane to say the least! Another thing I found insane this morning was looking up the just released marathon route for Green Bay. Let’s just say when I saw the map and all those crazy mile markers I kind of freaked out and wondered how in the world I would be able to run that far… But hopefully once training has progressed a bit more and I have done some higher mileage runs, I will feel a little bit more secure with the thought of 26.2 miles! I can honestly say I was incredibly jealous of those people I saw walking all over WDW the last two days with their marathon medals on. I want one of those so bad! Here’s to hoping on May 20, 2012 I will be wearing a marathon medal!

My last week runs looked a little like this:

Monday: Five mile easy run – Since Monday was a holiday for me and I was off of work, I was able to really enjoy this run and complete it in the daylight for once instead of the pitch blackness! I am not sure if I really ran 5 miles or more like 6 because I didn’t wear my Garmin (battery died on me) and didn’t use my iPod either. I don’t think I even listened to music on it?!? I have been much more inclined to head out sans music as of late which is very weird for me and something I never imagined I could do but now almost prefer it! Something about getting lost in the run maybe? I was supposed to keep a mid 10min/mile run pace but since I was all technology-less, I really have no idea if I accomplished this part or not?

Wednesday: Four mile easy run – It worked out well that I did not have a Tempo or Speed Work run this morning since I was gearing up for Saturday’s magical race! I don’t normally do any speedwork in the week leading up to a race just to save my legs as much as I can. This run also went pretty well and once again was run without music. I did have to run this one in the dark though! I did wear my watch on this run so I was able to at lease monitor my pace. I need to get better at keeping my pace a little slower for these runs but did at least get close to the goal pace of 10:36.

Saturday: WDW Half Marathon – I don’t recall what the initial plan was for this weekend but it was replaced with a half marathon! And a Magical One at that! When I wrote the race flashback, I typed that I didn’t know if I would do another Disney race but after a few days, I am thinking maybe I should… you know, just to not judge RunDisney on this one race?? Ha! Sister and I are already thinking maybe the Mickey Marathon next year since it’s an anniversary year and all – lol!! How quickly we both change our tunes! I guess only time will tell on this one…

All in all, this week went well for me running wise, pain free and drama free. Soon I will start upping my mileage into unchartered territory and I am kind of freaking out about that a little bit. I just re-read my post on my first attempt at marathon training and kind of freaked myself out about doing this. I know this time will be different and I am in such a different place running-wise so hopefully that pans out and turns out to be a good sign. But it is still so far to run!!

I still have a few more Disney days to recap soon too! Still can’t believe it’s over and back to reality! But my legs are sure happy for a little rest I put on quite a few miles walking in the Vibrams all weekend! And received quite a few odd looks and comments! Never fails! Happy Tuesday!

Day Six: Waterfalls and Ziplining

Sorry, I am falling a bit behind.  We’ve been getting home late and the internet in the condo was a bit “sporadic…”  but on to Tuesday!

Day six was a good one!  We started out with breakfast in the condo, per usual.  This morning’s breakfast was Strawberry Chobani, ½ a banana, chia, buckwheat groats, ½ a Sweet Marie’s muffin and some guava jam.  I am going to miss these treat breakfasts a lot :S

After breakfast had settled a bit and we were all showered, we headed out to look for some waterfalls.  We ended up driving the wrong way for the first falls we intended to view so instead headed on to the second, Opaekaa Falls.

There was a nice little overlook here and we stopped and stretched a bit, snapped some pictures and then headed down to look into a kayaking trip for tomorrow (note: never got to this but oh well.)  After falls viewing, we drove around Sleeping Giant mountain a bit, tried to find some random picnic area mom read about in a book and then headed back to the condo for lunch.  On the way back to the condo, we finally found a fruit stand and stopped and totally stocked up… we bought 6 papaya, 2 lilikoi, an eggfruit, an avocado, 2 starfruit and 3 limes.

Lunch today included a papaya, more turkey!!  Surprise, surprise!! On a turkey, hummus, avocado sandwich and a few leftover yam fries.  This lunch ended up being super filling!!

We had a very exciting afternoon planned for day 6 – ziplining!!!  We had reservations for the 1pm Treetop Tour with Just Live Kauai.  This tour included 7 zips, 4 canopy bridges and lots of time spent waiting for safety gear to be hooked up!!  This was the event of vacation I had been most looking forward to and it ended up being quite fun.  I’ve apparently developed some sort of death wish though because this was just not scary enough for me… and I could not talk anyone else into skydiving

Regardless, this ziplining tour was a really interesting way to get a view of the island and was lots of fun.  We ended up on a tour with some very vocal people from New York, a couple from Illinois, a couple from Minnesota (Midwest reunion much?) and a couple from California plus one random dude that I don’t remember where he came from…

Aside from my own mother not recognizing which person was me zipping through the trees, this tour was very uneventful and nobody even freaked out a little bit!  I think the Sister was thinking she was going to but then realized it was not as bad as it sounded once you were up in the trees.

Our tour finished up around 4:30pm so we went trying to find some weigh and pay fro yo but with no luck… apparently everything had gluten in it?!?!  So we ate some protein bars in the car and fought the starvation stomach ache again… And then drove up to Wailua Falls.

This was a really pretty one and was actually split in two right now although I guess if the water levels really get high and flowing, this turns into one falls. After a bit more driving around, we stopped into Walmart for more POG, some ice and then a stop over to the Fish Shop to grab something to cook for dinner. Once we made it back to the condo, we started work on dinner.  Dinner turned out very tasty once again and included grilled Opah, brown rice, peas and broccoli.

We may have also ran to the grocery store after dinner to get some ice cream… Kona Coffee and Macadamia Nut to be exact.  Along with some Killer Hot Sauce and chocolate covered mac nuts – so naughty but so yummy!!  After all our adventures today, I was once again in bed by 9pm.  This early to bed stuff is really making me feel old   Only one more day on this island and then it’s off to Maui.  I am really going to miss Kauai and cannot wait to come back…

Speed Post.

I told myself I was going to be in bed tonight by 9:30pm.  I have 9 minutes to finish this and get there…

1. Training this am included an easy 3 miles.  It was lovely weather out today and I really did enjoy the run.  It felt easy but I was keeping a 9:30ish pace so that must be a good sign!!

2. I want these.  Good thing they are not out yet or I would buy them…

3. My mom and dad came down for dinner tonight and we got to go out for PIZZA!!  We found a place not to far from my house that offers a gluten free pizza crust.  It was very tasty but only 10″.  Probably plenty for a normal person but felt like an appetizer to me… so ice cream was had!  And probably the best ice cream I ever purchased in the regular grocery store!!  Go buy some, you will thank me.

4. Today went really fast but I will take that for a Monday.  The sooner they are over, the better.

5. My lunch today was surprisingly satisfactory!  I made a little BBQ chickpea salad with BBQ sauce, chickpeas, pineapple, carrots, lettuce and hemp seeds.  And then I had some gf bread and almond butter on the side.  Not bad for a work lunch!

6. I saw a drag queen in Milwaukee today.  Not just once, but twice.  What are the chances you see the same person twice in one day and that person happens to be dressed up in alternative gender clothing?  It was a strange day also…

7. My pup finally got his hair cut yesterday and he looks so darn adorable!

8. I got stuck on the freeway exit ramp for a good 10 minutes this morning.  Told you, it was a weird day…

9. I am going to make my bed time tonight!  And there was your 9 random things in 9 minutes. POST!

Barefooting: The Essentials.

(And remember, I am not a trained anything, just simply someone who is teaching herself to run barefoot)

So, you have decided you want to try running barefoot, did you?  Well, don’t expect to run any super long distances any time soon  Over the past few months, I have learned that this is one time when slow and steady prevents stress fractures!  (Or other injuries you could cause yourself).

The first thing I did after deciding to try to run in a way that I thought would be less stressful to my legs and feet was to start running in my traditional running shoes, in the form that is more often associated with barefoot running.  The way I read this in a few places online and also in Born to Run, was making quick, small steps and aiming to land more on the ball of your foot versus the heel of your foot.  Sounds easy but let me tell you, muscle memory=better than my real memory!!  This took me some time to get used to and I actually ended up feeling quite a bit of soreness in my calves for the first few weeks or so.

Once this soreness died down a bit and I became more serious about re-training myself in my running technique, I decided to pick up a pair of Vibrams Five Fingers.  I now realize that this jump was a little more drastic then is best to do as my current running shoes had a drop of 12ish mm (difference between the height of your heel and height of your forefoot) and Five Fingers have zero.  BUT, even though I have not been able to put a ton of miles on running in the Five Fingers yet, I have been able to walk in them alot and train my foot to be able to put them on.  Let me tell you, you have ZERO control over your toes and trying to get them in those little spots was impossible at first!  But now, I can put these on so much easier, it is kind of surprising really.

Yes, they are pink, yes, they are ridiculous and yes, I love them so no talkin' bad 'bout my Five Fingers!

When I first started training to run Barefoot, I actually just started by taking my dog for a 1/2 mile Block Walk barefoot.  This really helped my feet get less sensitive and able to tolerate the feeling of walking on the ground barefoot.  After a few weeks of walking, and when my legs had stopped feeling sore after, I started to take the same loop (minus the pup) at a running pace.  Again, I felt a bit of soreness with this for the first few weeks but as my legs got stronger and more used to the use of unused muscles, the soreness went away.

My current distance is up to about 1 mile round trip, to and from the gym, for Body Pump class.  I am finding just how different Body Pump feels without shoes on and am kind of surprised how much harder squats and lunges are this way!  I have not been feeling any soreness at this distance so that is a positive, I think!  Provided I am feeling better next week, I might start to run slightly over 1 mile of my training runs with these on and then switch to my regular shoes.

Another item I can recommend when training to run Barefoot, is to search out a place you can take a Barefoot Running clinic.  A new store opened up near my house called Revolution Natural Running and Walking Center.  If you are in the Milwaukee area, definitely check them out!  The clinic was only $10 and gave a good overview of the form modifications you need to make to run unshod.  At the class we got to watch ourselves on a slow motion camera to see the difference when running in shoes versus running without shoes and it was quite eye opening for some people.  This is where I also learned that the easiest way to transition from 12mm to barefoot, is to work in 3mm steps (12mm to 9mm, 9mm to 6mm, etc.) so with each new pair of shoes, you make just the slightest adjustment.

A final recommendation would be to check out videos of barefoot running form online and study those.  I found them helpful to see what your ideal form would look like and then keeping them in mind for your first few runs. (Here are a few I found but Google and YouTube have plenty of other options if you want to look around Video 1, Video 2, and Video 3).

All this talk of Barefooting makes me want to take a little loop around the neighborhood in lieu of my stomachache prohibited long run

Happy Barefooting! (And remember, me=not a trained professional, so please use your best judgement when trying this at home.  It’s not my fault if you are a wee over enthusiastic and hurt yourself )

Changes.

I am currently contemplating making some changes in my life and every time I decide I need to change something about my life, I end up feeling like a little bit of a failure for not making it work out the way I wanted it to and the way I think it should have gone originally. For some reason, to me, change equals failure.  But really, I should realize that change is good and realizing I need to make changes is good because it means I am capable of accessing my current situation, determining whether it is or is not working for me and then decide to do something about it… Instead of just perpetuating the same unsuccessful choices, over and over again, just because I think it should be this way or that way… I am pretty sure I also recall from the good ole days of being home at 3pm and watching Dr. Phil, how he would often ask guests on his show “How’s that working for ya?”

Can't live with it, can't live without it.

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.  ~Author Unknown

I might talk a little bit more about this in the future, but for now, I just wanted to type a little bit about how I am feeling and it also kind of ties in with day 11‘s reflection from the Faith, Fitness, Fun, Seeking Control.  Sometime I catch myself wishing that I was the one in control of my life and that everything would turn out the way I want it, when I want it to but then I remember that God just might know a little bit more about what is good for me  And more often than not, when I see a situation through to the end, I realize my idea would have been only half as good as what God had in store for me!  Hopefully a few months from now, I will look back on my current changes and realize I am making them for the better.

Another thing that is changing right now if the weather!  I can feel fall in the air in the mornings now!  That and it is crazy dark again when I am up and running in the mornings  Yesterday I did the 3 mile easy run instructed by my training schedule and it went very well.  I felt really good the whole time and finished in about 28 minutes!!  Then when I got back from running, I did a quick Body Rock workout.  Holy Craziness!  I feel like a fit person most of the time and this little ole 20 minute workout had me feeling like a pansy!  Plus I was already doing the easy modifications!!  Yikes!

Today was a running rest day but I still like to keep up with Body Pump on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s to keep my legs and core nice and strong for running.  I have found a significant benefit from keeping this as part of my routine, even when training for half marathons because it really helps me avoid injury.   I changed up my Body Pump routine today though by wearing my Five Fingers!  I was kind of surprised by how much harder it was to balance for lunges and the back track with them on though!  Hopefully I don’t feel too DOMmy tomorrow

My breakfasts the last two mornings have just been so darn cute, I had to take pictures of them so here they are.

I want this right now!

Monday’s Breakfast: Dough Boy Smoothie with Nectarine, Erin Baker Granola, The most fantastical almond butter (aka Trader Joe’s Raw Unsalted Almond Butter), Trader Joe’s Organic Blueberry Jam and a few sprinkles of Raw Vitality.

Tuesday’s Breakfast: Buckwheat Bake (with real egg for protein), topped with the same delicious AB&J topping and the trail mix named above.

I really can’t even remember what I used to eat for breakfasts before these delicious creations entered my life.  I like to refer to those as the “dark pre-blog world” days  So that is another thing that has changed for me and it sure was for the better!  Better breakfasts =better Kinley, I think!

Tomorrow I may or may not participate in What I Ate Wednesday as my sister is a big fan of this day so we shall see… that could be another change this week for me!

In the Beginning.

I have no recollection of what made me want to run in the first place, over five years ago.  Too bad I didn’t have a blog yet to keep track of what in the world I was thinking!  But whatever made me think I should start running, I guess it was a good thing.  Since I started running in the summer of 2006, I have logged quite a few miles on my feet and wouldn’t want it any other way .  According to my Nike+ online account, I have logged about 2,700 miles on there but for some reason I lost 11 months of my miles from 2008 and 3 months from 2009, so I am guessing the true total is a bit higher than that.  Plus I don’t ALWAYS run with my Nike+, but for the most part I like that it keeps track of my distance, pace, etc.  I have also logged a fair number of miles walking with my Nike+ so it’s not all purely running either… but oh well, it’s still a lot of miles on my legs in the last five years.

I am a rather slow runner (10:00ish minute miles) but this is also something I am hoping to work on and improve in the coming years.  Somewhere recently I read something that said, it really doesn’t matter if you run 5:00 miles or 20:00 miles, It’s still a MILE!  And that is really true.  Although I often beat myself up about my “slow” pace, I just need to keep reminding myself that a few slow miles are still better than not being able to run at all!  So I guess I have to take what I’ve got and work with what I have to be the best runner I can be, not the best runner in the world.  I also tend to slip into always comparing myself to other, better, faster runners, but hopefully this blog will help me just be proud of my accomplishments and not be so concerned with what “other people” can/are doing!

So why barefoot?  Well, a few months ago, I read Born to Run by Christoper McDougall and it pretty much changed my life – .  (In fact I think I need to read this again, soon!)  The stories told and studies referenced in this book made so much sense to me that I had to give it some more thought.  Add to that the fact that I had purchased my first “real” running shoes from a running store a few months previous and was experiencing new aches and pains in my knees, feet and legs that I have never had in the previous 4 years of running… so I figured it couldn’t hurt to experiment with my running form to mimic the barefoot style and see what happens.  Well despite being still shod in my hardcore sneaks, I was able to see my aches and pains diminish significantly and my pace quickened a bit!  So I decided to start to make the slooooowwwww transition to minimalism.  At this point, my shoes were about at the 500 mile mark, which seems to be my breaking point for needing new shoes, so I decided to give the Saucony Kinvara shoes a try.  My first run in them felt soooo much better!  The shear difference in weight between my old shoes and new shoes made my legs significantly faster!  The first week with my new shoes, my pace picked up about 45sec/mile!  This has slowed down a bit now with the summer heat but I am hopeful that come fall, my pace picks up a bit again!  Besides running my long distance miles in my Kinvara’s, I also take about 1-2 SHORT jogs per week with my Vibrams or completely barefoot.  Right now I am at about 1/2 mile per run and am at the point I can start to think about inching this up slowly but surely!  I also take nightly block walks around the neighborhood with my pup completely barefoot to help build up the unused muscles and ligaments in my feet.

So why a blog?  Well… because my sister has one?  And I can’t let her have all the fun??  And really, I tend to always forget the lessons I learn and end up remaking the same mistakes so hopefully if I have the ability to consult my blog, I can avoid redoing one or two of these lessons I learn while training barefoot .

So I guess here goes nothing and I don’t plan for this blog to be entirely about running, but do want to journal about my current training plan and upcoming races so I am guessing that will be a majority of my entries.  I guess only time will tell!