BAREFOOT? INCONCEIVABLE!

 Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."



    I recently started posting on the facbook page for a running club not far from me. I will meet a lot of their members at the Barefoot Fest in a couple of weeks and looking through their pictures I see tons of Luna sandals, Vibrams, and other minimal shoes. So I've been slowly sneaking in comments about running barefoot first, running half marathons barefoot with no blisters, improving my running with barefoot, how I will wear Vibrams when it is too cold for barefoot, how you need to feel the road to adequatly change your form, yadda yadda. Then I post a picture and they all say, "OMG, you mean litterally barefoot!" Um, yea.
       I've taken to clarifying with the phrase "Skin on pavement," but people still miss the point. It cracks me up how blind people are when something goes against what they expect. I'm sure 10 years ago if you said you ran barefoot, people would understand you to mean nothing on your feet. Now they just assume you mean a barefoot shoe.
      



Yes, I know I am heel striking in this picture. It was a crazy fun finish line sprint and I reverted back to my old form for a minute or two, it happens :-)



MBC Adidas Marathon Seoul, South Korea

 My First Barefoot Race in Korea

       After all my frantic worries, I made it to the race area a little after 8am after almost 3 hours of travel time, ugh. I found my group, put on my bib, sorted my gear, and headed for the bathroom and gear bag check with about 35 minutes to go. The bathroom line, however, was half an hour long and I was really sweating it, but I was very glad I stopped because there were no potty stops on the race route! After the bathroom I dashed to the gear back check, and then to the start. Needless to say I did not get to warm up and reached the back of the crowd just at the gun went off. I wasn’t even sure I was in the right race start as I frantically looked around trying to find someone else with the same color combination on their bib. No one else had red numbers, but they all had pale yellow background so I joined the crowd and shuffled to the start line.


Standing in the shuttle line. Yes, there is such thing as too much sunscreen



       I didn’t mind that I was at the back of the pack. I was still fighting the dregs of a head cold and really just wanted to enjoy the race so, no hurry. My plan was to run with the crowd, not zigzagging to maintain a pace, and relax until I was fully warmed up (which generally takes about 3 miles.) As we got on our way, I met and chatted with several runners that were curious about my bare feet. Usually their first question was, have I done this before. Mostly I heard the exclamations of disbelief and surprise, as if I were on a unicycle juggling 50 tea cups. The only somewhat negative comment I heard was from a group of young American girls. I heard the usual, ‘”OMG, she isn’t wearing shoes!” finished with a heavy Valley Girl accented, “but, WHY would you do that?” Hhehehehe. The Koreans were totally supportive, giving smiles, fist pumps, thumbs up, and scattered English words of encouragement. All in all, the reactions weren’t really different from what I had in the US.

       By around the 5K mark I was feeling really comfortable and picked the pace up a touch. Since I started at the back of the pack, I had been steadily passing people for a while, but it was hard to do with the crowd so thick. I would speed up or slow down according to the bodies in front of me, not particularly concerned with my pace, but as the group started to thin out it was getting easier to move forward in a straight line. Everyone was in such high spirits! We trundled up and down over passes, and down and through underpasses, with the crowd hooting and hollering to enjoy the echoes. Every time I crested a hill, all I could see was a sea of lime green race shirts spreading out ahead of me like a river.


My pink shirt may have been more shocking than my bare feet



       After the first hour or so I went ahead and put on my headphones. I tend to get a little bored in the middle miles and since I couldn’t really strike up a conversation with a fellow runner, I turned on the tunes and retreated into my head. My music mix is very odd, but that makes me smile. The irony of going from Jonny Cash, to Pink, to Frank Sinatra keeps me pumped up and moving. I never know what will pop up next and A Boy Named Sue is always sure to lighten the mood.

       The weather was perfect! Somewhere in the mid 50’sF with a cloudy sky and slight breeze. Once or twice I felt a bit cool and worried that a drop in temp would be a problem, but it never got colder than that and I never felt hot. That was another God send since in my hurry to get to the start, I had neglected to Body Glide my usual chaffing spots. I had dabbed a bit of Aquaphor before I left the house under my heart rate monitor and where my waist band hits my belly button, but that was it. Thankfully I did not suffer for my neglect! Around 6 miles I thought I was getting a blister on my toe. That was BAD this early in the race, but it never seemed to get any worse. I made a point of stepping on white road lines every so often and glancing back to make sure I wasn’t leaving a blood trail, but I passed all the checks.

       I hate water stops in crowded races and didn’t want to deal with the bumping and jostling that goes on because I’m very likely to get my bare toes stomped on so I wore my hydration belt. It should have been enough water for the race, however, I was not well hydrated to begin with so by the 15K water stop my bottles were bone dry and I was starting to cramp. Thankfully, by then the crowd had thinned considerably so I stopped to get two bottles refilled and proceeded to push some fluids and down a pack of Sports Beans. It worked like a charm, my muscles stopped cramping and my energy picked up in time for a final push.

       With 10 miles behind me I was feeling really good and ready for a final 5K! I picked up the pace once again as many people were petering out and walking. Then, just after 12 miles I looked ahead and saw something NO runner wants to see on a race course. A hairpin turn onto a slope so steep I thought we would be running up stairs! It was our last climb up the river bank to street level and nearly everyone had slowed to a walk. I was determined to keep moving fast though. I managed to maintain a run, albeit a slow run, up the slope and back onto the road. From here it was a gentle uphill grade all the way back to the finish line UGH!

       As we came up to the crowd-lined finish chute I broke into a full sprint, flying past my running club to cheers of “Go Wendy!” and our standard waving! That was SO cool! I’ve never had my own cheering section before!! I crossed the line and hit my Garmin stop, glancing only enough to see 1:58:__ in the numbers, PR!!!


Jim Bates, my buddy from the Peninsula Track Club in VA.
So cool to have a familiar face at the race!

       I really hadn’t expected much from this race. Being under the weather I didn’t feel prepared and I haven’t had a lot of barefoot mileage in the last 8 months, but I think I have turned a corner. When I’m not worried about pace and just there to have fun, I believe the energy that had previously gone into worrying and feeling pressure to maintain my pace, now is going into my running and giving me very positive results.

       After a thorough cleaning and inspection of my feet I found no blisters or damage, YAY! Overall I’m much less sore than I was after my last 2 hour HM 17 months ago and this one was SO much easier. On the other hand, the RA flare that has been annoying me reared its ugly head. My hips were sore for the last 10 miles, not horribly or enough to change my gait, but enough that I worried they would cause me to DNF. They never got worse during the race, although it was pretty rough in the post-race hours and next morning, but they have settled down now and will not be the worse for wear.

       I am really happy with my splits. The first 3 miles were about a 9:20 pace, the next 7 were a steady 9:00 and the last 3+ miles where better than 8:45, including the wicked climb up the river bank! My last full mile was faster than the average pace for my 10K PR in Feb., and my Garmin says the .10 mile sprint across the finish line was at 6:21 mpm! These numbers blow my mind! I had no idea I had that in me, which is exactly why I race, to see what is hidden in my soul and soles.




Koreans really know how to picnic after a race,
 they are actually cooking the meat!

 

www.twitter.com/Barefeeties

Women's History Month 5K, Osan Air Base, South Korea

      I have been dying to take another crack at a 5K PR so I was very happy when it sounded like we were going to have a 5K on base that was a little more organized than the usual fun run. My goal is to break 25 minutes and I've come close, but just haven't quite pulled it off.

       The weather was absolutely perfect! Warm sun and cool breeze with temps in the upper 50's that might even have crossed into the 60's, GLORIOUS! I knew there would be a lot of people at this race (for a base run) so I picked out an obnoxious hot pink tu-tu to go with my black compression shorts and tank, and a matching pink anklet, you know, so my feet didn't look so naked :-) When I pulled out of the driveway to head to base, I turned on the radio and AFN was playing Eye of the Tiger, talk about a good omen!!

       My dog, daughter, and I got to the race start really early. I was flying on caffeine and carbs and could barely stand still to sign in. We milled about chatting with people and spotted several people wearing Vibram Five Fingers. About a half hour before the start I took off for a warm up run with my dog. I'm used to the stares, cars slowing down to look, and grimaces from people when they spot my bare feet, but the tu-tu and standard poodle added a whole new dimention. I'm pretty sure they figured I had escaped from the psyche ward.
       After a nice 1.5 miles, in which I had to constantly remind myself to slow down, I returned to the race start, handed the dog off to my daughter and reset my Garmin. The Wing Commander gave a nice speech and then asked the serious runners who were really going for a time to raise their hands. Out of over 100 people, there were maybe 10 of us so we were sent to the front of the start line. I had the distinct feeling that I was going to be face down in the road with 100 foot prints up my back because lined up behind me were about 100 young military guys who may not be "seriously running for a time" but could still run circles around me.
       Needless to say, I took off way too fast. I kept glancing at my Garmin thinking something must be wrong with it. Granted, the road away from the gym starts with a significant down hill, but I still couldn't believe I was running a sub 6 mpm pace. I was stuck between the need to slow down and the fear of getting trampled! My first half mile split was 3:38, GULP! 7:17 pace! As the crowd thinned out I started getting it under control, but then we stopped.
       Yes, stopped. Suddenly up ahead I noticed all the runners bunching up and milling around. WHAT?!? Apparently there was something wrong on the adjacent air strip so they were stopping all traffic on the roads around it. Several of the front runners had gotten past the lead car before they could be signaled to stop so as we stood and waited, they flew by on their way back to the finish. I didn't think we had been standing there that long, but those guys were blazing! At this point any kind of PR was out the window. One's fastest 5K cannot include a 5 minute break before the first mile.
        Fortunately, it hadn't taken me long to pause my Garmin so when they gave us the all clear, I hit the start button and once again and took off way too fast again, but I got it under control and my second split was right on target with 3:53.
       Then we hit the next, WHAT THE HECK! for the day. We were barely over the one mile mark when I realized I could see the water stop and what looked like people turning around just ahead of me. I was thinking maybe on the way back they were going to route us on a different path and add to the route through the buildings.
     Now past the turn around, my third split was 3:55. I was feeling good and getting into my groove and felt like I could maintian my pace for the second half of the race when a woman all in black slowly crept past me. She instantly became my target. I had to pick it up just a touch to stay with her, but I was determined. My 4th split was 3:57, still on track, YES! Although I was beginning to wonder if I could really maintain that pace for another mile and she once again began putting distance between us.
       As we rounded the corner onto the main road, I was scanning for the new turn that would add the needed distance to take us up to 5K and realized it wasn't going to happen, the runners were barreling up the street and making the same turn back into the gym parking lot. I decided to sneak right up on the heels of the lady in black and then blast past her in the final up hill sprint through the parking lot with everything I had left.
       This was a very low tech race. There was a clock, although it was sitting down low on a table by the snacks, so after the first 10 runners crossed the finish line no one else could see it to know their time. There were no bibs, or chips, just someone standing with a piece of paper writing down who came in first second or third. We were told at the start that if anyone was over 40 to please let someone know when we crossed the line.
   As we turned the last corner into the parking lot, I powered up into a full sprint and, pink tu-tu flying, bounded past my target and across the line. It felt really awesome of have that good kick in me and despite the uphill grind. The pace for my last partial split was another 7:17! I say partial split because it was about .4 miles long. The entire race was 2.4 miles.  Ummm, that's a 3.8K guys, not 5K!


LOVE the expression on this guy's face. Do you think it was the tu-tu or the bare feet, LOL

       I got lots of friendly cheers as I ran in and was told I was the first over 40 woman, YAY! As the rest of the finishers poured in the recorder kept asking for people over 40 to check in. No other woman would admit to being over 40, LOL, and I KNOW I was not the only one. I guess when you are used to racing and having your age posted in the results for all to see you get over being sensitive about it. I tend to forget that other women do not want their age reveled. Hiding age is also a very American thing. Europeans and Asians think nothing of asking you your age and telling you theirs, we are very silly on that point.

       For first place I won a nifty etched beer mug, some refrigerator magnets, a keychain pen, and a combination toe nail clipper/bottle opener/money clip (hmmm, open the beer with the thing you just clipped your toe nails with, HAHAHAHAHA)

       So, no PR in the 5K today, but now I can focus on the HM in a little over a week. My hip is very sore this morning (remnants of the RA flare) so I'm going to have to baby it for the week and hope for the best on race day. It seems speed work is its undoing so I won't push Wednesday's tempo run. Looking at my heart rates for the race I could have pushed harder. I seem to have lost a bit of VO2max so to get it up without doing speed work I'll get back to spin or the Stair Monster.

 

Notice the location of the timing clock in the background


   I am also experimenting with twitter. I was hoping to be able to tweet from the HM next week, but am still working out the technical issues (it seems everything is complicated in Korea). If you want to check it out, I'm listed as @Barefeeties These will be purely running tweets

Running progress and catching up

Catching up


       Wow, more than a month has flown by since my last blog! It has been a crazy month too. At the end of February, we went on vacation for a week in Hong Kong. It was a lovely trip with tons of walking, but only one short run. By the time I got home I wasn't feeling too hot, but chalked it up to too much junk food, not enough running, too much walking, and not enough sleep. I got in a lot of miles that first week back, but was feeling really off. Long story short, I had picked up a Giardia infection. A week of antibiotics did the trick, but they sure didn't do much for my running. Infections also make RA flare up so I was battling that as well, feeling 100 years old, but short easy runs helped loosen me up and feel better so I pressed on.

       This past week I have been slowing getting back on track. The temps were into the 40's and as tired as I have been I didn't want to get chilled so I put on my wool socks and Vibram Treks and set off around the flight line. I was cranky, my hip was sore, I didn't want to be out there and I really didn't want to run the 12 miles prescribed by my training plan.

        2 miles later I was HOT! I stopped and touched my hand to the pavement to gauge the temp. YIPPEE! Warm asphalt! I took my shoes and socks off my feet and moved them to my hands (which I'm sure perplexed the people passing me going the other way!) It was just what I needed, my attitude changed instantly! My only regret was having to carry the darn shoes. I tried tucking them in my water belt, but they bounced around too much. The tension carrying them caused was really messing with my shoulders, but not my disposition. The Flight Line is a 6 mile loop and I had started at the Gym so after carrying my shoes for 4 miles I was able to drop them off in my locker and continue on. Of course, half a mile out from the gym I realized I had left the keys hanging in the lock! Granted, the only valuable thing in there were my shoes and in a military gym they wouldn't be bothered. More likely someone would appropriate the lock, but I went back anyway.

       Keys now in my pocket, I set out again to go part way around the Line for an out and back. The would keep me from adding an extra mile to my run and making my husband wait even longer to pick me up. I felt much better not clutching my shoes, but the wind was starting to pick up and making it feel much cooler.

       By the time I got to my turn around point, I had run 9.5 miles and was starting to feel tired. Although I had felt good up to that point, flagging so early meant I'm not quite back to 100%. I walked for a minute or two and headed back to the gym. The wind on the way back was fierce, but I survived and finished my 12 miles. I was fairly happy with my time. Most of my mile splits were below 10 mpm and didn't drop off too much at the end, even with the wind.

       Monday morning I was feeling it in my hips, but they were now the right kind of sore, the kind you get from pushing you body outside its comfort zone to gain strength, rather than the sore I get from my immune system eating my joints. I'll take the former over the latter any day!
       On the horizon I have a little 5K fun run on base Thursday and my HM on April 10th is coming up fast! I'm not necessarily looking for a PR, mostly just want to have fun, but that is what I said last time :-) My plan, if the weather doesn't change unexpectedly, is to run the half barefoot. It will definitely be interesting to see the reaction of my fellow Korean runners!

Koguryo Marathon 10K, Seoul Olympic Stadium

I finally ran my first race in Korea!!!


        Searching the races for 2011 with the Seoul Flyers Running Club I decided to go for a 10K in the later part of February. I didn’t much care what the swag was, but I did want it to be somewhere that I could get to within a couple of hours. The Koguryo Marathon fit the bill so I signed up. I didn’t realize until we got there that all the races, Full, 32K, Half, and 10K would start and finish inside the Seoul Olympic Stadium! It was really awesome to be in such a great venue, even if the stands were pretty much empty.


The tiny yellow arch in the distance is the finish chute. This place is HUGE!


        After meeting up with two other runners (who’s collective ages barely exceed my own), we hopped a bus, then a train, and arrived at the stadium in time to pick up our packets from the tent set up for our running club. Everyone was milling around trying to stop their teeth from chattering with cold and laughing hysterically at the tiny shorts that came in our swag.

Yes, my friends, those shorts I’m holding are not for an infant, they are Korean women’s medium!

       The information simply said the race started at 10am. What everyone else knew, but I didn’t, was that by the time they got through all the waves for the marathon, 32K, and half, the 10K would be starting around 10:45. Needless to say I was not properly warmed up at all! Oh well, no matter, I was only running for fun and not expecting a PR. It was all about learning the ropes for Korea and meeting the Flyers.

       When they finally called for the 10K, we all crowded behind the start, but first, a little warm up. Of course, I couldn’t understand the words, but you pretty much get the idea when everyone around you puts their hands over their heads and stretches to the right, then left, then shoulder rolls, then everyone puts their arms out and gives a shoulder rub to the person in front of them. Then we all turn around and give shoulder rubs to the people behind us. I must say, the guy in front of me gave a great shoulder rub! Okay, all ready for the start horn.


Some of the Flyer ladies


       Talking to another American runner, it sounded like we were similarly paced so off we went. Leah was great. She was planning about an 8:40 pace, but if she felt good at 3 miles would pick it up. Cool! We chatted while we ran, her giving me tons of info on Korean racing, me prattling on about who knows what. I repeat, I had not warmed up properly, but I didn’t want to lose Leah and be alone the rest of the race so I struggled to keep up with her. We ran around the through the stadium, and then out along the Han River. It was mostly flat with only slight grades up and down along the river bank, but sunny and warm enough to be comfortable. By the time we approached the turn around to head back, I had to stop for water, and that was the end of having a buddy. Leah got ahead of me while I gulped/inhaled a mouthful of water and I was never able to catch her again, she was true to her statement about speeding up if she felt good at 3 miles. No worries, I was on a good pace, finally feeling warmed up, and ready to relax and enjoy my groove.

       Earlier I had set the virtual partner on my Garmin for a 54 minute finish to show another runner how to do it, but I didn’t really expect to run that fast. I had glanced at a few of half mile splits, but was more concerned with my heart rate and having a solid race. Between the part of the race that was through the stadium, and a cluster of huge freeway overpasses that we ran under, my Garmin had lost satellite a couple of times so I didn’t know if it was accurate anymore or not. Once again, I didn’t really care. I watched my heart rate and if it went down too far I stepped it up, but when my “Pace” was saying things like 14:23 and 6:02, I knew I couldn’t trust what I was reading.

        On the return, somewhere between the overpasses and the Stadium, the 10K runners were split off onto another path. It was a little weird because the path had lots of Sunday strollers who were walking 3 abreast with a child in the middle and not paying the least bit of attention to the fact that they were in the middle of a race course! I weaved and dodged, hopped over chunks of old packed snow, and tried to spot the stadium entrance. Finally they turned us right and into the cement arches and darkness. Around we went and then up a steep slope. As I crested the slope, I saw daylight again with a steep slope back down through the stands to the track and finish line. For a brief moment I was sure I was going to make my entrance in a head over heels tumble down the ramp, but I managed to keep my feet under me and even pulled a final kick (although it couldn’t really be called a sprint). I had definitely left it all on the course! The clocks were about 15 feet in front of the finish line. Yes, clocks, one on top of another, 4 clocks. I figured the little one on the bottom must be for the 10K, but I couldn’t believe my eyes, 53:20! Of course, it took me a while to remember to stop my Garmin, so I wasn’t sure what my chip time was, but I didn’t care, had to be a PR!

        Gasping for breath I stumbled up to Leah, who had finished about 3 minutes ahead of me, and another Flyer. They told me where to go to turn in my chip and get my medal and snacks. The snacks were weird, but not as weird as when I ran in Thailand. I cracked my drink to discover it was something like ginger Gatorade, which was awesome since I love anything ginger flavored! Then the pint sized banana, and last a pastry with a hot dog in the middle. Even though it was only a 10K race, it had been 5 hours since I ate breakfast so I inhaled everything! After my finish line Kodak moment, we wandered back over to the club tent.

hot dog danish anyone?

       Some of the Korean clubs were in full party mode with delicious smelling food wafting from the groups and drinks being passed around. Someone took pity on us and brought us a bottle of Mekgeolli, Korean rice wine. While rather different than the cold beer served to runners in America, it was quite refreshing and tasty. Everyone was really enjoying the sunshine. Down in the stadium, with the breeze blocked, the warmth was amazing and people were sprawled out on the track like starfish on a beach soaking up the rays.

Mekgeolli, Korean rice wine

       One of my traveling companions, who is only in Korea for a couple of weeks for a military exercise, won the 32K! The prize was a nice digital camera and very cool trophy.

       When it was coming up on 3pm, most everyone had finished their runs and people had been trickling away to head home for some time so our little group from Osan headed south. I was told my final chip time would be texted to me on my phone so it was long after I had tumbled through the front door that I got my final time. 53:10! I hadn’t realized it took me so long to get to the start line! My splits were a total mess. The first mile was way too fast, but the half miles before and after the turn around were my most consistent and average. Each mile after that was slower than the last. I definitely need to work on my pacing again and get a better feel for what I’m going for. I hadn’t practiced 10K pace and it showed. Leah’s finish time was also a PR, I wonder if staying slow the first half helped her.



Finisher's medal

       And once again, the Vibrams were a big hit. At one point I had to grab onto a friend to keep the Koreans that were lifting up my foot to examine my shoe from tossing me on my face, LOL.
      Next stop, half marathon, Apr 10 Adidas MBC Marathon

On the Road Again

"You have to erect a fence and say, Okay, scale this." **Linda Ronstadt**
     My running schedule has been so erratic lately. I tend to decide on the spur of the moment what distance I will run. I can plan which days I will run versus spin or weights, but I have been going by feel when it comes to the decision to do intervals, long slow distance, tempo, etc. The weather also plays into the decision, but I have no hard and fast rule for what temperature is my breaking point.

     Wednesday I decided to take advantage of lovely weather and run the flight line. I figured I could run the 6 mile loop and then do 4 more on an out and back to get in a 10 miler. As I approached the 5 mile mark I decided that even though I felt great if I went all the way back to the gym I would likely talk myself out of the last 4 miles. I decided to do an about face at 5 miles and retraced my steps. This was going to be my longest road run in 7 months! The last time I went over 6 miles was my farewell run on The Noland Trail back in early July, so once I had covered the first mile on the trip back, every step was shiny and new.

     I love the feeling of accomplishment when I hit the stop button on my Garmin at the end of a successful run. As I planted my feet in front of the gym I felt fantastic to have finally accomplished a double digit road distance again, but the real thrill came when I got home and uploaded the record to the computer. I didn’t know at all what my pace was because I decided at the start to only go by heart rate and had forgotten to reset my Garmin.

  Once I had deleted the extraneous laps, my pace popped up as exactly 10 mpm mile. Not 10:03, not 9:59, but exactly 10:00 even! I thought I must be looking at it wrong to get such a precise time, but the splits added up. When I was running into the wind, I averaged 10:30 mpm and running with the wind I averaged 9:30, but it all broke even at the end. I could definitely have run it faster. There were times when I noticed my heart rate was around 10 beats per minute lower than my target and I push a bit more, but by the end I was coasting a lot and letting my heart rate stay down.

     That was my fastest pace ever for a long slow distance run and has been my goal pace for those runs for a long time. I am so excited to be at this point! In December of 2008, I ran my first 5K with a less than 10 mpm pace and was over the moon. I had pushed myself to my limit that day, maxing my heart rate in the last moments and nearly throwing up on the poor guy removing my chip. If someone had told me I would be able to run that pace comfortably, for more than 3 times the distance, in little more than 26 months, I would have thought they were selling some kind of fake miracle juice!

     No miracles here, just hard work. In the world of running 6 mph pace for a long run is nothing to get excited about, but in the little world that is just me running for me, it is Olympian!

     Next up is a 10K. I think instead of setting a specific time goal, I will just watch my heart rate and do my best. With a little luck I’ll remember to look at the clock at the end!

Ten Miles on a Treadmill

“Life's rewards go to those who let their actions rise above their excuses.”


**Lee J. Colan**

        My mileage is coming back more each week, despite the occasional set back. After my 25 mile week my back went out (non-running related, too many teenagers in the house at once related,) so I missed about 5 days of running, cutting me back to 10-12 for my weekly mileage. Once the muscle spasms and soreness was gone, I got in a couple of days of good running before a weekend of craziness bumped it to a back burner again. It is SO easy to let excuses take over and keep us from running. Looking at my schedule for Monday morning I knew if I didn’t get my run in before dawn, it wasn’t going to happen. Time to put my money where my mouth is and do it!
      I had hoped to run 10 miles, but I woke up feeling an RA flare in full swing. My jaw was so inflamed I couldn’t open my mouth to eat breakfast and I was wiped out tired, the last thing I felt like doing was go for a run. Fortunately, I knew a good run would get my joints back in motion and bring my energy levels up. Running was my best shot at feeling good fast.
      A glance at the thermometer told me it was going to be a treadmill run. UGH! I headed to the gym with hopes of a 10 miler fading from view, knowing that if my back started to tighten or I totally ran out of steam I could cut it short and simply get off the treadmill.
      Arriving at the gym I organized me things, untangled my headphones, filled my water bottle, said hello to a friend, and then finally ran out of ways to stall and started my run. After less than a mile my body was warning me to plan a bathroom stop soon, rats! I decided to push and try to make it 3 miles. Done!
      I made a quick dash to the ladies room and got back to the treadmill. I was feeling good and loosened up so my next goal was to run through a TV episode I had downloaded to my MP3 player. That took me another 4 miles. Done!
     At that point I was a mere 5K away from a 10 miler and still feeling good. No soreness, no tightening muscles in my back or feet, and no screaming RA joints. I made a break for the water fountain and refilled my bottle, then back on the treadmill for one last stint.
     I had maintained a 10 minute per mile pace thus far, but without the usual incline to simulate a road effort. Mostly I just wanted to get used to running long again. I was irritated with my RA flaring up. With all the things I had to do I simply did not have time for it and was determined to beat it back without having to crawl to my doctor's office for more bone thinning steroids.
     At this point I was starting to flag. With 7 miles and over an hour behind me, I was approaching my limits.
     {Half a mile} come on body, we can finish this
     {1mile} okay, 2/3 of the last 5K done
     {2 miles} Cool, that one went by okay
     {2.5 miles} Just---hang---on---for---5---more---minutes....
     DONE! A 10 full miles. I was exhilarated! As I wobbled off the treadmill with my jellied legs I was felling back in charge. One more step to reclaiming my pre injury levels and a great start to my log for the week. Take that Daily Mile!
     After getting cleaned up I grabbed a 15 minute power nap and faced the day. By the time I collapsed into bed that night I felt good about all the things I had successfully scratched off my to-do list and all the obligations I met, including the most important obligation to myself.
     It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized the extent of what that 10 mile run had done for me. I woke up almost free of RA symptoms! No sore jaw, no stiff feet, and no tin-man shuffle to the coffee pot! The only lingering pain is the hip that has not totally recovered from slipping on the ice last month and even that was better than it was last week. A steroid shot wouldn’t have worked this fast or this completely. I was totally shocked at just how effective my run was. I have no doubt that the same effect could be achieved with other forms of intense cardio so I recommend anyone battling an auto-immune disease to find what works for them, swimming, biking, walking, whatever. I haven’t been able to give up my biologics yet, but I still hold out hope that one day I can let them go too. It only takes one time of feeling the release from RA’s grip to make you a devoted exerciser!