A solitary run on painful feet...

Monday, January 9, 2012
I find it painful to sit in an office with a huge window opening up to a sun-drenched parking lot below and to know that it is almost 50 degrees…in January…and I’m stuck inside instead of riding.  Work…bills to pay…what a pain.  Can’t someone pay me to work out?  I suppose that’s my ‘Fantasy Island’.

I made my way to the park after work…there was not enough daylight to get in a ride that would satisfy me…to do a run instead.  My feet were still sore from the run I’d done two days earlier and I was starting to think that I would have to break down and buy a pair of shoes that afforded some cushion to see if it would make any difference.  I suspect it won’t…but I may have to try.  Anyway, it was so nice that I’d decided to run longer…at least 45 minutes.  The bridle trails were quite passable, but I elected to stay off the hiking trails…they would most certainly be a swamp.  I ran down past the swamp, finding no one on the trails and continued on in complete silence.  I managed to spook a group of deer, five grazing passively until my approach, but saw little else.  My feet were bothering me, but I was a long distance from the car and with no intentions of cutting it short.  I made the loop as interesting as I could, hoping to spot more wildlife and miss any fellow humans.  I succeeded in the latter and made it back to the car after fifty minutes of running and very tender feet.

I hobbled around the house all evening on feet that begged for comfortable shoes.  I suppose I have to quit being cheap and stubborn.  My body is sending me a message that, if I continue to ignore, will surely have me running less and less.  I don’t know that shoes will make a difference, but it is the first, and least expensive option I have.  I’ve been running in sturdy running shoes for over 30 years and it only stands to reason that my body…by feet…have made adaptations that I can’t ignore.  I suppose I need to get them healthy again, and then try introducing small increments of minimalist and barefoot running if I am to change.  I could also cut back on my running to 30 minutes or less, but over the winter when riding long is a limited option, running longer to compensate beckons.

Run Duration:  50 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 850.