I Began...

I've never, I repeat never, run more than two miles in my life and the last time I can recall doing that was when I was in the seventh grade and I'm still not certain if I actually ran the full two miles or not. I've always enjoyed exercise though I've not been fanatical about it. I usually muster up some motivation to exercise consistently in the Spring and it subsides by the time the dog days of summer steam roll into southern Georgia. For some reason however, this year has been a little different. Like many people I lost my job in 2009 (not that it was all that fantastic to begin with). I've been taking care of my home, my husband, my children, the plants and my animals ever since. My husband's career provides for our family solidly and so for that we are always very grateful. A couple of months ago a friend on Facebook asked for volunteers who might consider running a marathon with her in January 2011. Under normal circumstances my reaction would have been, "...she's insane and no way in hell". But on that particular day the Earth tilted, or spun an extra spin or perhaps it stopped cold. Whatever it did propelled me to volunteer before I had a chance to talk myself out of it, or really even give it serious thought for that matter. My husband, children (ages 12 and 9) and myself had been walking for an hour in the evenings for approximately a month at that time and I was feeling a bit more motivated than usual. When I started running I would jog for a bit and then walk back to my family on the sidewalk, walk with them a bit more and then repeat that process several times. I couldn't run any significant distance and so it was of no great consequence to my body... yet. After a couple of weeks my knees and ankles hurt so badly that I would have to rest for three to four days at a time before I could run again. By that point I was running half mile increments and was beginning to believe I'd be in excruciating pain for the duration of my running experience. I had searched the net many times over looking for someone with similar experiences and could find nothing. Finally the injury I sustained in my left knee kept me bed ridden for more than a day and off the sidewalk for over a week. I had sunk into a mental hole of desperation and self pity and believed I was simply "not meant to be a runner". And then one morning I happened to catch an episode of Real Sports on HBO (a show that I never watch - EVER) and saw that the feature that day was on 'barefoot running'. The guest, author of Born to Run, Christopher McDougall brought up an interesting point. He stated that there has never been any scientific research to suggest that the expensive running shoes we've been trained to buy for the last forty years, have ever done anything to prevent injury to runners. His suggestion was that the human foot, complex and expertly designed was built to land in a way that would cushion our bodies and especially our joints so that we did not naturally succumb to injury. I was so intrigued by this blessed show that I knew I must try it for myself, this running barefoot; However I don't walk around my house barefoot so I knew that attempting to run on naked feet was not really an option for me. So I plundered through my closet and came across a pair of cheap Sand & Sun water wading shoes I'd purchased at Wal Mart two years ago. They have flimsy pliable soles and provided just enough protection for the soles of my feet that I knew they'd be just the ticket. That evening I fastened the velcro on my otherwise meaningless water shoes and ran one mile. It was a different experience for sure. But the real test came the next morning when I awoke and placed my feet on the floor. Since I began this journey I had never, up to that point, been able to walk without pain and extreme stiffness upon waking in the morning. But the morning after my water wading shoe run I placed my feet on the floor and moved around effortlessly. I felt no pain! And I haven't looked back at my Asics since. I still experience sore, achy muscles and a little tenderness in my ankles but nothing other than discomfort. There is no intense, bone shocking, joint grinding pain associated with my runs any longer. I'm now running an average of 4 days a week and about 8-10 miles per week. I still have much to learn and many struggles ahead of me but not a day goes by that I'm not unbelievably grateful I saw that episode of Real Sports. I found a key to a small success. And so far that's what this journey has been about, finding the little things, small keys that unlock the seemingly small doors that lead to the small successes.