Jinxing the Body of the Rational Mind

In my blog yesterday I spoke of plans to do two or maybe even three runs during the course of the day. I should know better. I don't like to talk about, or write about what I'm going to do. It jinxes the outcome for me. I work with a math teacher who is coaching his daughter to run in the next olympic marathon. He has every day planned out until the olympic trials. Aside from favorable genes, undying determination, and twenty-five years maybe that's why she's has a chance and not me. A list can be a useful tool and I may make one if I have some bills I mustn't forget to pay, or there are some things I better not forget at the grocery store but I don't like my running to be like chore to be checked off on a list. I want it to remain in the category of whims to which I may succumb.

Yesterday morning I succumbed to the whim of running 5.4 miles on trails in the Vibram Five Fingers; what a pleasure! Something less than five miles seems like the barefoot limit for me right now; my calves begin to fatigue and steps become an effort. Clearly I am still building muscles that are needed for natural running. I recently read someone's guide for transitioning to barefoot running. She felt that the runner should count each barefoot mile as three miles. So if you run two barefoot and four shod in a day you should think of it as ten and to do this for the first few months. Then change the ratio to 1 to 2 and after the first year you can begin to count barefoot miles 1 to 1.

I came home to Ruth working in the yard and I joined her. I ended up turning over a fair portion of the garden with a shovel. My plantar faciitis eventually became more and more painful everytime I stepped down on the shovel. I eventually had to switch to pressing down with my left foot. I found myself hobbling around the rest of the day instead of going out for more runs, obviously jinxed I took 220 mgs of naproxen and submerged the offending extremity in an ice bath for 15 minutes, and I took 440 more millgrams of naproxen before going to bed. It seems to have help somewhat; aside from the first few painful steps upon arising I am able to ambulate normally. I am anxious to see what my whims have me do today.

Young Elliott has joined me at the table and is enjoying a whole wheat bagel topped with a slathering of organic almond butter. He has applied some to his face; I don't know if it is to enjoy later or he has heard that almond oil is good for the skin. Actually almond oil was probably the first non-breast milk food product he consume because Ruth applied it to those tender areas of early nursing.