Vibram Five Fingers

OK, so I was convinced to try the whole barefoot running thing.  It passes my common sense tests.  We as a species ran very well for a long time before the advent of modern running shoes.  By evolution we were designed to run and do so very well.  The proponents of the modern running shoes argued that we didn't evolve to run on asphalt.  I argue that hard baked dirt is just as bad.  Whatever.  I bought a pair of Five Fingers to check them out.  I was intrigued and figured that if I was going to get better at this running thing, I should switch now before my habits in a full shoe became more ingrained. I bought them last week and walked with them for a day or two.  Today was the first run. 

First, they feel way different.  You find yourself walking as you would if you were barefoot.  Imagine.

I took them for a short run out and back with two doggy potty pit stops.  The stride is similar, but the forefoot landing is something that needs conscious effort at this point.  I didn't get the rhythmic jolt of the normal stride, but a soft spring almost like I was jogging in place, but going forward.  My time was comparable to my normal time over that distance, but my lower legs grew much more tired than normal. 

It is strange, being a former smoker, my lungs had always been my limiting factor before.  This time it was my lower legs.  When I got home I immediately noticed the tightness in the calves.  They were tight and tired deep inside like the muscles and fascia close to the bone.  I massaged my calves for a while and will probably do so again tonight like Vibram recommends.  I expect to be sore tomorrow, but not injured.  I will call it a success. 

Then, because the run was so short, I put the shoes back on and went for an 8.5 mile bike ride.  It was nice.  The sea air is playing hell on the metal on the bike and I have some maintenance work to do.  It's always something. 

The new kicks. 

Sarah's Birthday

Today was the birthday of my sweet and wonderful wife.  It's not possible for me to do enough nice things for her.  Without her I am probably still a pot smoking internet porn surfing do nothing guy in a stinky bachelor pad in who knows where.  Probably on the couch of one of you dear readers.  Stinky.  I think we all owe her a debt of gratitude. 

Today we went to the beach and then came home to watch a movie.  Finally got Secondhand Lions.  Great movie.  All day long her phone was lit up with calls from friends and buzzed with texts.  She felt loved and it was good.  I hope I can spend enough time and effort making her feel as loved and valuable as she is over the next year.  There aren't enough hours and I am not a good enough man, but I'll try. 


Love you sweetie.

7/26/12

Sarah's birthday eve.

Tonight we went to the SLO farmer's market.  Apparently it is the oldest farmer's market in the US.  Cool.  Seemed more like a street fair with a farmer's market attached.  It was still fun though.  We checked out the sights and stopped at a booth where they sold Five Fingers.  Ended up buying a pair.  Hope they work out. 

Michael is now catching the cold that Max just finished.  It seems to be hitting him a little bit harder than it hit Max.  Tonight he was telling us that he remembered being in the hospital when he was 3.  HE said he remembers seeing himself from above while he was lying in the bed.  I think he is just picturing it in his head from having heard it so many times.  He also wanted to know what it was like while we were at home without him.  We told him that one of us was always there with him and usually both of us were.  He seemed impressed.  Kids. 

7/23/12

Another busy day. 

Today's project was the hot water heater.  You are supposed to clean them out at least annually they say.  We have been living full time in here for two years.  Oops.  To say it was quite disgusting would be understating it by an order of magnitude.  There were pounds of scale buildup.  The water draining out was a dark grey that obscured the bottom of the container when it was only inches deep.  I am ashamed to say this. 

Now, I have never been Mr. Maintenance.  I am trying to get better.  The list of things I need to fix is shortening at the moment faster than it is increasing.  I am a humbled man by this disgusting experience.  Yeeeecccchhhh. 

The sulpher smell was awful.  I can't believe we were bathing in that stuff.  I didn't have enough supplies even to properly clean it.  Luckily one of our neighbors is a Mr. Fixit type who was there to lend a hand, some tools and some advice.  I tried to rely on him as little as possible.  I could see the barely concealed contempt at the state to which I had allowed the heater to degrade.  I rationalized in my head that this maintenance was important to him because of his background in auto mechanics and I spent my efforts maintaining my physical condition.  He smokes.  I joked with him when I left on my run today that it was time for a different type of maintenance.  Still.  Doesn't matter, I should have done better.  I'm trying.  I thanked him for the use of the two tools he loaned me and the advice.  He is a nice guy. 

Sigh.  Then I cleaned out the shower head that was filled with crap that probably came directly from the hot water heater.

Tonight the kids are getting a bit of a lesson.  They were told we would all watch a movie together, Second Hand Lions, if they cleaned their room quickly.  They dawdled and played.  Sarah repeatedly warned them.  She stood in the room and told them they needed to hurry.  They didn't care.  So she told them movie night was cancelled.  Many tears ensued, but she stuck to her guns and there will be no movie night for them tonight.  Ohhh, the sad stretched faces.

Maybe we will watch a movie after they go to bed.

7/20/12

Just blew off today. 

Woke up, had coffee and decided, eventually, to drive North to Big Sur and check things out.  So we did.  There was a waterfall hike we wanted to do and another short, but interesting hike we looked at.  Drove for a few hours.  We checked out some elephant seals on a beach, saw the Hearst Castle from a distance and drove the twisty roads.  We got to the state park and found that no dogs were allowed on trails.  So we left Satchel in the truck at the really short hike and checked out a neat waterfall.  When we got to the park for the longer hike, still only 1.5 mile round trip, we were reminded by the park ranger that no dog were allowed on the hike and it was too hot to leave the dog in the car.  68 degrees in the shade.  Too hot. 

Not wanting to piss off a ranger and get cited, we turned around and drove home.  Oh well. 

7-20-12

Just got home from work and cleaned up.  Normally I don't blog after work...too tired.  But there is something I wanted to mention while I was still kind of excited about it. 

This morning I got an email from the Tough Mudder folks.  It was an invitation to the World's Toughest Mudder.  The requirements are that you finish in the top 5% of the times at your event.  Now, before I get too high and mighty there are a few caveats.  There is no official time keeper.  My time was measured from my scheduled time til when I remembered to ask Sarah how long it took.  Not everyone reports their time.  Only those interested in being invited to the WTM.  So, it could be that only 5% of the people who ran reported their time, so everyone reporting got an invite.  It also might be that anyone that seems interested gets invited as the entry fee is over three times the normal entry fee.  Still, I am proud and I have the email saying I was in the top 5%.  Yeah me!

The WTM is like a normal TM course, but it is a 24 hour endurance event.  Whoever completes the most distance in the time allotted wins.  It is a $15,000 prize.  I don't think I could win, I don't even think I could go.  Sure would be interesting to try some day though.  I guess that makes me weird. 

Oh well.  Time for bed.

7/17/12

Good day today.  Actually a couple of good days in a row.  Yesterday we called off the chores and went on a hike to Montana De Oro up North of us.  That's what we were missing, some adventure.  It turned out to be a wonderful day for viewing wildlife.  We visited tide pools and saw lots of sea creatures including sea start, anemone and many others.  Coming back up from the bay we saw a rattlesnake searching through the bushes.  Later on we saw another rattler on the trail.  They didn't seem too interested in us so we marched on our merry way.  Later we saw some ground squirrels, pelicans, lizards and such.  It was a good day and a nice hike. 

Today was back to chores.  I managed to get our front toilet fixed and knock that off the list.  Then it was on to the daily grind of laundry, dishes etc.  We decided that we would have a movie night tonight.  We rented the worst movie I have ever seen.  It is called Smitty. It's about a city boy going to the country and getting a dog.  It has no redeeming value at all.  Some movies are so bad they are good.  This one isn't.  Yikes.  Now, Sarah and I are going to watch the movie we rented for us while the kids sleep.  Wish us luck.