Learning to ski

I haven't run in several weeks, and I can't stand it!  If you don't love to run, you won't understand, but there are some days when I want nothing more than to be outside running.  That's why it's tough to go to the window and see nothing but snow and ice out there.  That's winter in Minnesota, though, so I guess I have to deal with it.

I mentioned in my last post that I've taken up cross country skiing.  It has proven to be a good activity to see me through some of these winter days.  I really enjoy it.  I'm learning from a member of my parish who has trails cut around his property.  It's great to be able to learn from someone who has been skiing for almost as long as I've been alive, and to be doing it out of sight of others.  I had never been on skis of any kind in my life before, so I fell a lot the first time, even a couple times on level ground!  It would have been embarrassing and frustrating to go through that in a more public place.  Luckily my teacher is very patient and encouraging.  By the second and third time, I was doing much better.  I still fall every once in a while going down some of the steeper hills, but I improve every time out.  It's great cardio work and really enjoyable to be out in the woods.  I wish I could do it more, but it takes more of a time commitment than running, so I'm only able to get out and ski once a week or so. 

On a deeper level, the whole experience has reminded me of how important mentors are for us throughout our lives.  Perhaps there are some people out there who really are "self taught" at certain things, but for most of us, we need others to look up to and to instruct us.  I've been thinking a lot about how we are essentially relational beings.  We are not individuals who form relationships.  Instead, our individual identities emerge out of the relationships around us.  This is not meant to pass the buck, as if we aren't responsible for our actions as individuals.  For me, it just brings a greater understanding to who I am and why I am.  It also helps me remember that I'm not running (or skiing) alone.  Since winter can be pretty isolating here in the north, that's no small thing. 

Perhaps that's one hidden blessing in winter.  It gives you a healthy appreciation of the blessings you enjoy when they return.  Maybe I would start to hate running if I could do it in 65 degree weather all year long.  A little time to wait and reflect and anticipate that joy again is good in its own way.  Like spending time away from a good friend, it can make the reunion that much more joyous. 

Beginning again

This is life.  Life is starting something, working at it, seeing it succeed or fail (or land somewhere in between), and then starting something again.  Life is not a straight line, but more like a spiral...or maybe a double helix.  I'm not making any sense, so let me begin again...

I'm beginning again.  Last year's attempt at a blog and a half marathon failed...sort of.  They were both partially successful.  Not long after my last post, I injured my foot, which meant that I could not run the half marathon in May.  It also deflated my interest in blogging.  I know that's lame, especially because the posts I would have written at that time probably would have been my best.  So I was lame and the blog was lame. That's why I'm trying again, at both the running and blogging. 

So about the injury...I had worked up to running around 7 miles every other day in my Vibram shoes.  That turned out to be too much.  On Easter Sunday afternoon, at about mile 6, I felt something "catch" in my right foot.  I finished the run without much pain, but by the next day, I knew the pain I was feeling was not the usual muscle fatigue I had been used to.  I rested it and rested it, waiting for the pain to die down.  It didn't hurt all the time, only when I put weight on it in a certain way.  Finally, after two weeks, I tried running a little bit, but could hardly make it around the block.  I relented and went to the doctor.  They took X-rays, which showed there were no breaks or stress fractures (good news).  He concluded that I had ligamentous laxity (loose ligaments).  Basically, I had strained the ligaments in my foot, but not torn them.  He suggested I keep resting it and start running again when I felt comfortable, but starting with only a mile or so at a time. 

So that pretty much shot my training schedule and my hopes of running the half marathon.  I was pretty disappointed, but once I started running again, my wife encouraged me to set a new goal.  We picked a 10k in October to run with a couple of friends as our goal to work toward.  That gave me enough motivation to start running again once my foot felt better.  It wasn't long and I was back to feeling great during my runs, but I was still disappointed with the realization that running a half marathon may not be something I would ever do. 

But, since I was running up to 4 or 5 miles with no discomfort, I decided to run the 2 mile race for our city's summer festival (Bonanza Valley Days) in July.  Since the guy who would have finished 1st missed a turn (he was from out of town), I finished 3rd in my age category with a time of 14:35.  Obviously, it's not a very competitive race, but it was fun to run and show people around here what running in minimal footwear is all about. 

Soon, the summer was over and it was time for the 10k in Fargo in October.  I wasn't sure what to expect since I had never run in an event with that many people.  It turned out to be a complete blast.  I thought maybe there would be some others wearing Vibrams or running barefoot, but everyone that I saw was in running shoes.  I got a few looks from people and a few questions.  At the starting line, one guy asked, "Doesn't it hurt when you step on a rock?"  I just smiled and said, "I don't step on rocks."  :) 

Based on my training, I knew I could run it in under an hour, but I wasn't sure by how much.  I ended up finishing with a time of 54:23, finishing 115th overall out of 640 runners, 12/26 in my division, and 64/171 male finishers.  Even better, I finished feeling fantastic with absolutely no pain or soreness.  I sprinted across the finish line with a huge grin on my face.  I kept running through the fall, but that was it for races for me in 2010. 

So, with 2011 already 13 days old, I'm beginning again.  Based on my experiences of 2010, both the failures and successes, I've decided to aim again for the Fargo half marathon in May.  I'm more confident that I will reach my goal this time, but also more cautious.  My training is different this time.  I'm going to try to focus on cross-training, including some weight lifting (something I've never been fond of), and running less each time out.  I know my right foot can't take the pounding of running more than 6 miles on pavement very often, so I'm going to have to be careful.  I find that if I can get 3 miles in every day, that feels better than trying to run 6 or 7 miles every other day.  I will also try to do a lot more running on soft surfaces.  My experience at the 10k was that, when I'm feeling good, I can run and run and run.  The only thing keeping me from running more was the finish line.  I know my foot will hurt after the half marathon and I'll have to take some time off then, but I'm confident that I can keep it healthy until race day. 

With lots of snow and ice outside, it will be a while before I can even think about running.  I did run in the middle of a snowstorm a while back, which was exhilarating.  Nothing like looking back and seeing barefoot prints in the snow!  On a related note (and I'll write more about this later), in order to keep my cardio activity level higher during the winter, I've taken up cross country skiing.  I haven't been able to do it very often, unfortunately, but the time I've spent doing it has been great.

Ok, so that's enough for my first post in 9 months.  Here's to a great 2011 and to beginning again (and again).

Spring is here

Thought I'd post a quick note to say I'm fully enjoying running again.  Both feet are virtually pain free.  My run on Thursday was the best I've had in nearly a month.  After the first mile, everything loosened up, and I felt like I could go forever.  I still only did 2 miles, just to be sure I didn't go too far too soon.  I probably looked goofy running around town with a big smile on my face, though.  That's what happens when I can just run, especially with the sun out!  It's honestly like I'm a kid again, just running for fun, to see how fast and how far I can go.  I was reminded of that joy again today as we had some friends over for supper.  Since the weather was nice, we celebrated the first day of spring by grilling and playing outside.  One of the first things the kids wanted to do was race their dad around the house.  It was great to see them running just to run.  That kid is still in me, the one that just wants to get out of the house and run in the warm spring sunshine, and I know it's those moments of freedom and childlike bliss that keep me running. 

Anyway, I did 3 miles today.  Again, virtually no pain except for plain ol muscle fatigue.  My confidence is building again and I am really excited to start working up the distance again.  Monday marks two months until the race, so I guess I'd better get going! 

March-ing on

I haven't written anything for several weeks (ok, almost a month!)...a couple of reasons for that.  First, our second son was born on February 26th, so we've been a bit busy taking care of him along with our 2 year old!  Overall it's been great and all the joy he brings us more than makes up for the lack of sleep and added stress.  The other reason is it's Lent and well, if you are or were a pastor, you know that's enough said about that...

BUT, in spite of all of these exciting yet time-consuming events in my life, I have been finding time to get out and run.  The weather has warmed up and the snow is gone off the streets, so it's been nice to run without all the cold weather gear or trying to make my way across snow and patchy ice.

A couple things on the running front, though.  Around the time Matthew was born, I started increasing my base distance for my daily runs up to 4 miles a day.  I was able to maintain that for 4 days.  Then I started running on asphalt instead of the gravel (the gravel had turned to mud and that was not fun).  Anyway, it only took one run at that distance in town and the tops of my feet started to get really sore.  The added impact of the harder surface was just too much for them to take at that distance.  My frustration level went up and I really started to have serious doubts about whether I could run this half marathon in these "shoes."  I knew there were several options.  I could completely stop running and let my feet recover before basically starting from scratch, or I could continue running through the pain and see what happened.

After taking two days off, I decided to keep running, but I scaled back the distance and speed, focusing again on getting the proper barefoot running form down.  I'm back to 2 miles, all on pavement, and I try to keep the pace to about 9 minute miles.  I know I haven't done any major damage to my feet because I haven't had any swelling or bruising, and the soreness goes away after a good night's rest.  Basically, it's just the muscles in my feet adjusting and getting stronger.  I still have no knee, hip, or back pain.  I know that this is just part of learning to run differently and using muscles that I've really never used this way.  After nearly a week of this, the pain is much less and I'm regaining my confidence that I can achieve my goal.

On a deeper level, it's reminded me that growing and getting stronger is almost always a painful process.  I think I had almost kidded myself into thinking that this was going to be easy if I took it slow.  Eventually, though, you have to push your mind and body to its limit and beyond what you think is possible.  In my faith, one of my favorite theologians is Dietrich Bonhoeffer and one of his most famous works is "The Cost of Discipleship."  Faith and a life of discipleship is not meant to be easy or comfortable.  The call to take up our crosses and follow Jesus is going to hurt and be inconvenient.  

We live in a paradoxical culture that on the one hand says it values hard work, but on the other seems all too eager to take the easy way out whenever possible.  It's the same in our churches.  We talk about discipleship and the importance of sacrifice and service, but we often drag our feet or make excuses for not doing those things.  In the end, maybe we each would prefer a faith or a savior that wasn't so challenging.  I'd like to keep my own goals, dreams, and ambitions without having to lay them down at the cross of Christ and replace them with obedience to God's will.  Of course, there are going to be setbacks and frustrations and we will fail, but the call remains to "run the race."  So whether we are setting out to become a runner or a disciple, we shouldn't be surprised that it will come with pain and hardship.  I almost forgot, but my sore feet are reminding me again.

They're finally here!

Well, I finally received my Vibram Five Fingers shoes several days ago.  Here's what they look like:

Attractive, huh?  Well, they're not stylish, but they feel great.  I've been wearing them around the house to get my feet used to them, and today I took my first serious run in them.  The day after I got them I ran around the block just to see what they felt like running, but nothing strenuous.  Today the weather was warm enough in the afternoon to give it a try for a longer distance.  I ended up doing a little more than a mile in them.  No aches, no pains, but I was glad I only went that far for now.  By the time I got home, I could start to feel my feet tiring a little. 

It's an exhilirating way to run, though.  You can really feel the ground, but the rubber on the bottom of the shoes is enough to keep your feet free of cuts and scrapes.  They provide good traction on most surfaces.  There is some hard packed snow and ice on our roads, so I did slip a few times, but no falls.  It just makes you pay attention to where you're going.  I was also a little wary of going out and running on snow because of the temperature.  I wasn't sure if my feet would stay warm, but they did.  In fact, they warmed up as I went.  The top cloth on the shoes is not meant to insulate much, but at least it gave some protection from the wind.  I wouldn't go out and run if it was around 0, but anything in the double digits should be managable for moderate distances (< 5 miles).  The only thing I think I'll get is some socks to wear in them because my left big toenail rubs a little on the rubber part that wraps over the end of the toes, even after trimming it closely.  I think it's because that nail sticks up just a little more than the others, so it's not a fit problem.  It's probably nothing that would do any damage, but just a little annoying.  Plus, the socks will add another layer of warmth for these colder months.  All in all, it was a great first run in them.  I found myself smiling uncontrollably through much of it. 

For now, the weather is supposed to hold up with warmer temps through the rest of the week, so hopefully I can get out there again for at least a mile every day.  I'm really trying to hold myself back and take it slow because I've heard some stories of swollen feet, sore achilles tendons, and aching calves from people who have gone out and run several miles in them right away without building up to it.  I've avoided all of that so far, but still don't want to push too far too soon.  In the meantime, the half is a little more than three months away, and we still haven't had our baby yet!