Now I Gotta Cut Loose Foot Loose?

Barefoot running is taking the running world by storm, the question will be whether it is a passing fad or here to stay? There has been much research done on the subject as of late. The idea is that are feet were never intended to be shackled by shoes, thus wearing shoes had actually hurt our feet and joints rather than protected them, now I am not going to get into the whole "Evolution" side of this argument because I believe our feet were wonderfully designed by the Almighty Creator God! That Being said I am not ready to  run completely unshod, I am however thinking I buying a pair of Vibram Five Finger Shoes. I went a few weeks ago to the local running store to try on a pair and was pretty impressed with how they felt. One problem I did have was putting the shoe on, you have to put each toe in it's own little home then slide your heel down. For most people this may not be a problem, I however have a teeny tiny pinky toe that hides under the toe next to it and basically serves no purpose, so I had to physically move it into place with my hand. What the dude at the running store told me was that after wearing the Five Fingers for a while my pinky toes would "remember" what there are supposed to be doing, which is all part of correcting my running to a more natural stride.

I know some think that these shoes are hideous, I for one have a love for funky shoes and I am not planning on wearing them to work or on a dinner date so I am not bothered by the appearance. What I am hoping for is that wearing the Five Fingers to run will ease some of the hip and knee pain I have been having by correcting my running stride back to how it was intended to be. I am ordering a pair online this week so once I have a chance to break them in I will post my shoe review. 

Also on a "Footloose" side note, I went to the dollar show to see the new Footloose remake last weekend. I will say I went in with VERY low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much it didn't completely suck! They put a new country spin on it but overall the story stuck pretty close to the original. That being said if I had to choose between which version to watch on Saturday afternoon there is not even a question that my heart belongs to Kevin Bacon in that contest. 

 

Getting Strong Now!

About 2 weeks into training for official training and I am starting to see some progress! For those of you who know me you already know that Rocky is my all time favorite movie, and yes Sly Stallone is one of my ugly crushes. I am not ashamed in fact nothing gives me more motivation than blasting the Rocky Soundtrack on my ipod and "Rockin" it out! This past week I have tried to focus on some Cross Training, running daily is great yes, but it can get a bit stale. I have to mix it up or I get bored an then end up on the couch or shopping at Target instead of getting a workout it. When it comes to cross training think like Rocky! There are no rules on what counts as cross training, no you don't have to chase around a chicken, chop wood, or run to the top of a Mountain in Siberia shouting Drago!!! Do whatever you like. This week, I went for a hike with my dog, went swimming, and did some weightlifting. The point is to simply GET MOVING!!!    

Studies show that it takes about 30 days to make something a habit in your life. For example for about the last 30 days I watch one old episode of Beverly Hills 90210 when I get home from work, I now feel incomplete without the West Beverly Gang in my life. So I am committing do doing some type of exercise, running or cross training every day for the next 30 days in hopes that it will stick in my brain as a lifelong habit. 
Happy Training Friends!!
 

What if everyone only gave 80%?

I am 3 weeks away from my official start of training for the Capital City Half Marathon so essentially I am "Training for Training" It is very easy at this point to not give my workouts 100% of my effort, after all training hasn't really started so I can get by with 80% right? What if 80% was the acceptable standard?

 -Your phone would be out of order for almost 5 hours every day

 -4 million people a year would receive the wrong medication because their prescription was
  filled incorrectly

 -700,000 newborn babies would be dropped during delivery by their doctor each year

 -The U.S. Postal Service would lose 34 million pieces of mail every day

 -Your home would be without electricity for 144 hours every month

 -Each year your drinking water would be unfit for human consumption for 73 days

Ok let's bump it up from 80% to 99.99%

 -12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day

- 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly

 -2.5 million books will be sent with the wrong covers

 -114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be sent out per year

 -315 entries in Webster’s dictionary will be misspelled

 -5.5 million cases of soft drinks will be produced flat each year

 -2 airplanes departing from O’Hare airport will be unsafe each day

I do not accept less than 100% from others in most circumstances, however I have no trouble cutting myself some slack! My goal is to push myself during this training as well as all aspects of life to give 100% 

 

Well here I go!

So I have finally decided to give this a whirl! First of all a bit about me. I am a 3O something wife and career girl, I began my venture into the world of running last year when I competed well maybe compete isn't a good description, I participated and completed my first half marathon with my best friend Amy. Well it's training time once again with the race coming up in May. I hope that by blogging about my runs as well as my life I can keep myself motivated and maybe motivate others. Short and Sweet for now, more to come soon!!