Vibrams to the Rescue!

After my post yesterday, I decided I wanted to show you how easy it really is to make eggs in the microwave so I photo documented the process :)
Step 1.  Beat eggs with some milk

Step 2.  Add omelet toppings (for me, broccoli and mozzarella)

Step 3.  Pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Out comes a beautiful omelet!  I even flipped it over so you could see how fluffy the eggs are!

Now you have absolutely no excuse to skip breakfast!  Now, on to my day.  Its mostly pictures of food since I didn't do much all day.  I did snap this pretty picture of a flower with dew on it when walking into work in the morning.

I am sure I got a few funny looks from people in/around the building.  Haha!  Whatever!  So I started my day off with my microwave omelet and then when I got to work, I decided to go buy some coffee.  The coffee in the breakroom is TERRIBLE.  I drink coffee because I enjoy it, not for the caffeine so I'm not going to drink bad tasting coffee.  Anyway, I had a moment of weakness and got a cookie too.

I figured I would be fine because I had my foot planned out for the day.  Well, then my coworker Dave came in with a treat for everyone but "everyone" was at the lab and it was only me and him to share this wonderful treat he brought in...

That's right, a whole box of munchkins.  I had like 5 total for the day.  Bad!!!  I didn't realize it until lunch though that I was so full off donuts that I never had my oatmeal.  At least I didn't go crazy and have both!  I had PB&J for lunch but wasn't feeling it so I decided to head out for lunch for a salad.  We hit the Cheese Board again and I got this huge plate of food.

The hummus and avocado plate they called it.  It had marinated veggies on the side there too.  It was pretty good.  I have the rest for lunch today.  There are always lots of temptations at the Cheese Board though!

I had a sample of cheese when waiting in line :)  I ended up getting hungry before leaving work and ate my PB&J anyway!  I wasn't really hungry for dinner but ended up muching on various things and cleaning out the fridge.  Ended up high on calories.  Oh well!

So my foot was still hurting yesterday morning and it always goes away by mid day.  Then I got this crazy idea and jumped on the Runner's World forums.  Would running barefoot (or in my Vibram Five Fingers) help me repair my "injury"?  So if it is plantar faciitis, it is an irritated plantar fascia or something.  Basically, a ligament is annoyed with me.  And that ligament gets stronger by walking and running barefoot.  Most people rest it by getting arch support or orthotics but once you do that, it never gets stronger and you will always have problems.  Anyway, most people have been telling me RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate) but I didn't feel like it was doing anything.  It feels better when I walk around so why not move it more??  I got mixed advice from the Barefoot Running forum and made my own decision.  Right when I got home from work, I strapped them on!

I put on workout clothes but ended up in a cleaning frenzy somehow and then spent the rest of the night hanging out with my parents.  A night well spent but no workout.  I did run a few laps up and down the driveway though.  And guess what?  My foot barely hurt this morning.  This week, I would be limping until about 10 and then it would wear off.  I limped for about 20 feet and then it went away.  Did it help or heal on its own?  Who knows but I'm putting my Vibrams on again tonight!!  Yay for no foot pain!  Now I just have to figure out what to do about my 7 mile run this weekend...  Sneakers?  Vibrams for the first 1/2 mile?  Shorten the Distance?  Hm...

Vibram Review & My New Garden

This weekend was so much fun! Rob and I didn't get to see each other really all week due to me working nights. Only 2 more weeks of that! So we were excited to see each other all weekend. Saturday, we headed out for breakfast and tried a new place. It was SO CUTE! And very country style. Loved it.



Then we headed over to Historic Smithville (where we were initially going to eat and then walk around but change our minds to try the new place). Anyway, it was nice but then got a little crowded so we headed home.



The cooking shop had all different kinds of salts. So cool! Anyone use exotic salts and have cooking suggestions? I don't use salt at all but don't mind the taste really. Just cut it out to cut sodium. I think it would be fun though to use the red or black salt as a treat now and then!


After getting home, I decided to try out my Vibrams!

They were great! I ran up and down my street for a total of 1/2 mile in 5 minutes. I was speedy! I stepped on a few rocks which wasn't pleasant but not very painful either. I could really feel the slant of the road though so I ran on the shoulder more which has packed down crushed pavement. That felt great! (but that's where the rocks were, lol). I ran a bit around the yard when I finished my laps and that felt AMAZING! Totally worth the purchase right there! I think I am going to use these as my trail runners and cross trainers. Not so much for road running. I definitely had a lighter strike that with sneakers and the balls of my feel could feel it. They were slightly sore the next day but not bad! I could feel my achiles tendon more too when running. The next day, my left calf was really sore. Overall though, not major pain, just soreness. Can't wait to try them again!!!!!

Sunday, Rob and I woke up to icky weather so the bike ride we were supposed to do on Saturday but pushed off to Sunday now couldn't be done. I'm going to have a tough time at the race in July! Eek! Anyway, we did various errands like breakfast and grocery shopping. Check out my refrigerator!


All healthy deliciousness. We stopped at the local farmer's market and got strawberries. Not as good as last time but still amazing!


Isn't that one crazy looking? Haha!

We decided to do some house projects and headed to Home Depot. I was so happy to let my toes breathe in this summer air.

Rob was pouting that he wants a new lawn mower

I had a crazy idea for a garden at home so we picked up some plants

Never again!!! I never knew how much plants were! Crazy! Seedlings next year. This year, we were really busy with rugby. Well, next year, too bad because plants are expensive!
Anyway, my project involved some building so I got on my PPE! (personal protection equipment, gotta love my stylish safety glasses!)

And we got cutting and building



We had to take a break to feed the chickens and collect the eggs

Then we got to mounting! We had this blank wall on the side of the chicken coop that I decided to put planters on. We were going to buy them but after seeing that they were really expensive at Home Depot, we decided to just use scrap wood and build them ourselves! Here they are!!




I had planned on doing just herbs but then with all the space, I got some tomatoes and squash too. I'm hoping since they are up off the ground, we won't have a bunny problem and the deer don't usually go between the garages where they are either. Hopefully we'll have some veggies this year! Oh and I planted a strawberry plant too :) Can't wait to get some of those!

Anyway, we decided to head out to the field where our garden was last year. The plant that won't die is still there!!!! Last year, everything got eaten by deer or just died. Well, the stupid Kale that we planted never died, thrived like crazy, and the animals wouldn't eat it. Well, it sprouted back again!!! And it even flowered!

Then Rob started putting up onion grass, giving me little pearl onions. These should be safe to eat right? He picked me a bunch and said I could make soup. He doesn't eat onions!

There were also mushrooms but the picture didn't come out. I don't mess with those though, could be poisonous. Anyway, Rob was joking I could have a kale onion mushroom salad. LoL.

So that's it! Today is raining so i guess I don't need to water my plants! LoL. We'll see if my boxes work ok. It was fun building them :) We already have a project for next week too! I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Officially Barefoot!

First, I enlisted the services of my chauffeur

Then we headed out to a "local" running shop about an hour away that my friend Tiffany pointed me toward. There is a closer running shop but I heard it was no good. I decided to just make the trip to this one. Anyway, it was the Haddonfield Running Company

I was happy to see the rain cleared up because I knew the area that the shop was in is super cute. The houses are just amazing there! Let's just say I'll probably never live in that neighborhood (unless I do really really well in life!)


Anyway, I didn't get many pictures from the inside of the store except for the shoe wall!

That whole center section is just the barefoot running section! Wow! I had called the store today to ask which brands they carried just to be safe. They have the vibrams, new balance, and merrell. First, I tried on the New Balances

These are cute and stylish. They also came in bright green which makes me happy (but didn't have my size so I tried on these pink ones). Anyway, These were ok at first but there was slightly more rubber on the outside of the ball of my foot than the inside so it felt like it was pushing my foot inward. The whole point of barefoot running is to have minimal effect on your gate. Obviously, these weren't going to work for me. Next were the Merrells.

These were ok at first until I started walking around. Well, actually first, I noticed that in order to make them fit my skinny feet, they bunched up by the bottom of the laces. Weird. So when I was walking around, the area around my toes felt huge, like I was wearing shoes too big, but they were the right length. I felt like I was going to trip over the front of the shoe! Another no.

From there, I tried on a few pairs on Vibrams. I liked this one pair but they were a little short. My big toe was hitting the front but when I tried on a size up, my smaller toes had too much space and I felt like I was tripping over too-long shoes again (I just can't win huh?) Finally, Rob pointed out that the one pair I tried on with the laces, I hadn't complained about their fit other than that the laces were too long (I had to pull them way tight again for the skinny feet!). I told him to stop being right and tried them on again, so I got them!!! Here they are!


They are the Bilikia LS model. Good for trail or road running, and the laces worked best for my foot shape. I am so excited to try them! It has stopped raining and I'm hoping tomorrow morning, I can run a few times up and down my street for my maiden voyage! I will let you all know how they are!!!

And the day ended with a beautiful rainbow:) Good night all!

Barefoot or Not?

If you read my book review on Born to Run, you already know that I've been debating on taking the leap to barefoot running.  What I've found online isn't very helpful.  I've tried doing true research into the benefits and drawbacks of running but it seems that everyone is biased out there.  Either they are 100% supportive of barefoot running or they swear its just going to cause problems.  There is really not much unbiased, neutral information on it (that is easy to find via google searches anyway).  So from what I've read previously and what I read in Born to Run, I've decided to take the leap and try barefoot running!

Source

But I can't stand the thought of going completely naked on my toes.  The thought of cuts and little stones and calluses is just not appealing at all to me.  So I want to find another option.  Of course, a lot of companies like Nike, Adidas, and Rebok and jumping on the barefoot running bandwagon, all coming out with their own version of the perfect shoe that is "barely there".  I've tried on the Nike Free but found that the part around the toes got in the way.  Like it was flopping around and messing with my stride.  It still felt like a shoe!

I want something that feels like I'm barefoot (that's the whole point right?).  I want to be able to feel the ground and allow my feet to move like they are supposed to.  I want to feel like I'm not wearing shoes!!!

I've tried them on before.  Those crazy looking Vibram Five Fingers.  The ones that when you see someone in them, you think "what in the heck is on his feet?!"  The first time I tried them on, they were "unisex" and didn't fit well (the toes were too wide, I prefer my pinkie toe to remain attached, thanks).  The second time, they were women's and were much better, almost comfy!  I almost bought them that time but was still unsure and left without them.  I've decided to go ahead finally and get myself a pair of Vibrams (thinking of it as a Happy Birthday to me which is next month).  Now the tricky part is deciding which ones to get.  Apparently there are all different kinds!  I am thinking I should get ones with at least some traction because I do love trail running, but then again I do a lot of street running (most of my running is on pavement).  Oh decisions.

So I guess my point of this blog is to ask a few questions of my fellow runners.

Have you ever tried barefoot running?  Do you have any tips or suggestions?
Do you have any information on the benefits of running barefoot verses the benefits of wearing shoes?
If you use Vibrams, what do you use them for?  Have you tried endurance running in them?  How do they feel after long mileage?
Have you every thought about going barefoot too?
If you have Vibrams, which do you have?  Which do you recommend?

Can't wait to hear your suggestions and answers!  Very excited to give this a go once I pick the pair I want.  I know to start off slow, with 1/4 mile at a time.  I plan on rotating them in on short runs for a while.  I probably won't be ready to wear them in September for my half.

Oh!  Another thing I almost forgot.  A lot of talk about barefoot running talks about transitioning from heel strike to mid-foot/forefoot strike.  I already hit mid to forefoot so should the transition be easier for me?  Excited to hear your answers!

PS. These seem interesting though too.  I wonder if the Fleet Feet near me might have them?