Hi Fit Friends!
Hope you had a fantastic weekend – Monday came quickly, didn’t it? We had a warmer springlike day on Sunday finally so it was great to get out and enjoy it a bit. And extra bonus: it’s a short week, since we have Good Friday off at my office! (Wahooo!)
In case you were out enjoying the spring weather this weekend and weren’t online, check out my post about the crazy Cadbury DREAM eggs! As well as updates to the Spring Slimdown.
Sunday morning was amazing. We finally got to get outside for a wonderful run in our FiveFinger unshoes.
It was 35 degrees and very sunny. 35 with no snow right now feels like a tropical vacation! 
And things were melting down on the dirt trail. Our “bare feet” were pretty dirty by the end.
We ran 6 miles at just over a 10 min mile pace and the slow-down I’ve been doing over the previous weeks seems to be working – my average heart rate for the full run was only 161 this time. It felt great. I had ZERO KNEE PAIN. I felt energized at the end and ready to tackle the day. Which is exactly how I want to feel after a run, rather than completely spent. I am LOVING these Vibram FiveFingers and very excited about continuing to add distance in them. If I can keep adding distance without knee pain, then maybe I can get back on track with some race goals!
My calves are lightly sore today but nothing like they’ve been on past VFF runs, so I’m hoping that my lower legs are finally conditioned for barefoot running.
The best part is you can hose these shoes off and then pop them in the washing machine! Now they are clean and ready for the next run.
Off to start Monday at the office! Have a wonderful day everyone!
– Shari B. =)
#1 by Tracy Zhu on March 30, 2010 - 8:15 pm
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Ooooh, I’ve been wanting a pair of these. I would love to know if it causes you problems to switch between these and traditional running shoes, since I imagine Vibrams force you to modify your form somewhat. I mostly run on trails, which it seems the Vibrams would be great for, but am also training for a marathon that’ll mostly be on pavement, and no way am I not wearing my bulky old-fashioned running shoes for that. Just wondering whether it makes sense to try Vibrams for softer surfaces but stick to the regular shoes for pavement.
.-= Tracy Zhu´s last blog ..Quick Trip to the Desert =-.
#2 by Shari B. on April 1, 2010 - 8:04 am
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Hi Tracy!
I switch back and forth between mine. I don’t know many Vibram owners that wear them for their runs 100% of the time. I do wear mine on pavement and concrete paths as well as trails because I like that it forces me to ‘tread lightly’ on the harder surfaces, which seems to help my knees.
Do some reading up on it first before you give it a try so you can learn about proper form, etc. I think that ‘knowing’ beforehand that I should land on my forefoot or midfoot (among other form notes) helped when I took my first few steps and you DEFINITELY want to start SMALL. I have had mine for almost 2 months and am only up to 6 miles in them because the lower leg needs time to get used to it.
#3 by Cindy on March 29, 2010 - 11:01 am
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so happy to hear your slowing down has been working.
I got a garmin over the weekend, and Wednesday am taking a 4.5 miler outside with the teenager.
I need to keep doing my mile or so a week barefoot on the mas! I love it so!
good for you Shari!
6 feel good miles is GREAT!!!!! can’t wait till I get there.
.-= Cindy´s last blog ..It’s not even my birthday =-.
#4 by Shari B. on March 30, 2010 - 7:25 am
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Hi Cindy! Wahooo you got your Garmin! You WILL LOVE IT! It’s the best fitness tool I think I’ve ever used… maybe except for my VFFs.
#5 by Joan on March 29, 2010 - 10:03 am
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yay for melting snow! and yay for no knee pain! and yay for little calf pain! and yay for fridays off! love it when monday’s can be a quadruple yay day!
.-= Joan´s last blog ..What’s In A Name? =-.
#6 by Shari B. on March 30, 2010 - 7:26 am
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Joand – Wahoo for the QUADRUPLE YAY DAY! Your comment made me smile!