Barefoot Running Hangover

Yesterday I went for my first barefoot run.  Since I had so much fun, I decided to go for it again today.

That was a mistake.

Yesterday’s barefoot bliss was this morning’s barefoot hangover. I quickly discovered all kinds of new aches.  I toddled a bit, but my calves kept seizing up.  And that gazelle-like spring from yesterday?  Substantially diminished.  My feet felt stiff, and the cold morning air didn’t help.  My feet couldn’t stay warm.

So, I hobbled back to the YMCA and decided to spend some time with a foam roller.

Have you ever used a foam roller? They’ve been showing up in gyms lately, though they’ve been around physical therapy offices and Pilates studios for years.

You can use them in different ways: for balance training, core strengthening, and for self-myofascial-release.  I think of them as a way to give myself a deep-tissue massage.

So, this morning I used a foam roller to massage my calves.

It felt fantastic, like I was un-sticking all the stuck-ness in my muscle fibers, and helping to move the blood and lactic acid along.

While I rolled out my calves, I remembered:

• My body is still adjusting to this way of moving, and to this new relationship of body, gravity, and ground.

• Our feet are packed with 100 muscles, bones, tendons, other connective tissue.  Over half the bones in your body are in your feet.

Now, look at the size of your feet.  With that much stuff delicately layered in that small of space, what do we know about those 100+ muscles, bones, and connective tissues?  They are small. And what do we know about small muscles?  They get tired fast.

That’s why first-time rock climbers burn out their hands and arms trying to pull themselves up a wall.  Experienced rock climbers use their hands and arms judiciously, and push themselves up with their legs.  We’ve got big muscles in our legs.  And our glutes?  Very powerful.  As my teacher Stacey says, “Your glutes are your shock absorbers.  That’s why they’re so big.”

So what does this all mean?

I need to train smart, with patience and persistence.  It means I have to build up slowly to barefoot running, even though my feet are smart and strong in other ways!

Sometimes when I get excited about something, I forget these basics.

Fortunately, our bodies are smart and communicative.  We just need to pay attention, listen to what they’re saying, and work in partnership with them.

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