6 Laps

6 laps is just over a mile. It was a good run, and I didn't lose count. I was definitely more tired than last time, but I imagine that's nothing to worry about. I got a small blister on one of my toes though. I felt the hot spot on lap four I think. I know I'm supposed to stop as soon as I feel it, but I wanted so bad to finish. I don't know for sure I made the right decision, but I won't run again for four days anyway. I'm pretty sure the tiny blister will be gone by then. No harm done. At least I had no other problems like before. I think it was because I was running too fast.

I find myself analyzing everyone else's form when they run. I almost always look at their feet to see if they're overstriding. I also look at how much they bounce. Posture is my most recent fascination. It's really interesting to me that mostly everyone has bad form. I even saw someone heel-striking in Vibram Fivefingers. It baffles me that someone would think that merely wearing the shoes would do the trick. If you're going to heel-strike, those are the last shoes you'd want to wear.

Given, my form isn't perfect. However, my posture is definitely straighter than most runners I see, if only because I'm so conscious of it. I still need to work on running light and without bounce. Today, those two were my main focus. They say you get it right when you don't think about it, but I think that's false for someone who's never run correctly before. I think that once you've done it right for a while, it will be natural, and that statement will be true. At the moment, when I don't think about it, I midfoot strike too much, and I bounce.

They say that when barefoot running, you can forefoot or midfoot strike. However, when I midfoot strike, I feel a thump. That thump is my gauge for my foot strike. If I feel it, I'm hitting my heel too much. It feels right to me that this thump is exactly what researchers are talking about when they talk about the unhealthy impact of heel-striking. That thump is the impact being absorbed by my joints. That thump is exactly what we're trying to avoid in barefoot running. At least that's what makes sense to me. You're free to disagree.

Anyway, back to my run, I focused intently on striking correctly and not bouncing. I tried to rid myself of anything but forward motion. It felt a little weird, but then again, everything feels weird the first time you do it. I imagine that the more I do it, the easier and more natural it will feel. Even though it was weird and gave me a blister, I feel like I'm slowly beginning to understand what barefoot running is supposed to be. The biggest problem is that as I focused on forward motion, I sped up a little, which is why I got the blister I think.

I'm at the point where it's becoming a challenge again. When I first started, every run wore me out. However, after I took a week break and started again with one lap, every run has been really easy. Three laps was a little tiring, but four and five were fairly easy. The six laps was pretty tiring. It made me wonder if I can progress as fast as I'm hoping. However, I imagine that as my form improves and becomes more natural, I won't get tired as fast. Also, after next week, I won't be increasing a lap a day anymore. I'll be progressing by a lap a week, so I'll have more time to strengthen before I raise the bar again.