Pavowski Fixes What's Broken

[Pavowski]

Something is broken.

 

Whatever I do, I keep almost succeeding. I almost became a great distance runner a couple of years ago, but then I developed some injuries which became chronic and I started to doubt whether I could really call myself a runner anymore. I almost made my weight loss goal, and then it slipped away from me like a greased chicken. Which I subsequently ate. With a few sides of mashed potatoes. And curly fries. I've almost convinced myself that I could be a writer, but I'm paralyzed with this fear of rejection, and as a result, the only people who've seen my serious work are my wife and a close personal friend.

 

Time to fix it.

 

This will be my third challenge. I took on the first two of the year and did pretty well with them, though I lost a bit of steam toward the end of challenge number two and ended up skipping number three. I think part of the reason, too, that I fell off the wagon is because I fell in with the assassins during that second challenge. Nothing against the assassins -- they're a lovely bunch, and god knows I needed more black in my wardrobe -- but have you been on their forum? You can't swing a kettlebell in there without bumping into some dude parkouring off the wall or doing backflips at the breakfast table. It's a full freaking house, is what I'm trying to say, and it's easy to feel lost in the mix.

 

Plus, I'm a scout at heart. So it's time to throw in with my kin.

 

Here's what I'm about this time:

 

Challenge 1: Run Strong. My feet are the problem with my running, so they need strengthening. I've been doing this informally for about a month now, but it's time to get structured. I want at least two barefoot miles every week, for a total of 12 during the challenge.

 

Challenge 2: Burp Strong. I did some fun stuff with my last challenge, experimenting with my gymnastics rings and kettlebells, and I'm going to keep at those things during my workouts, but I feel the need to shake it up. So: Burpees. They're fantastic and awful, and I think they'll help round out my workouts. Not sure how many I should shoot for, so I'm going to say 40 per workout twice weekly and go from there.

 

Challenge 3: Write Strong. It's time to start testing my mettle in ways beyond the physical. I've got a bucketload of short stories I've written over the past year and a half; for my third challenge I'm going to make something of them. That means getting three stories cleaned up, combat-ready, and out for submission by the end of the challenge. Weekly progress here will be hard to measure, so this one is strictly pass/fail.

 

So, yeah. See you at the starting line in a week.

[Terinatum]

Writing ftw!

Good luck with the goals.

You can check out the interim mini going on if you're interested.

[awesomesue]

I know I could have fallen inline with a couple other guilds but distance is where my heart lies.  LOL  Burp strong...freaking love it.  Wonderful and aweful at the same time, yes indeed.  I did a stupid number of them during one mini challenge.  Was beat by another awesome member but boy was it fun and torturous.  

 

Are you doing any exercises to help strengthen your feet?  I am not barefoot yet (?) but when I had issues with pf I found there were loads I could do to help my feet and loose/weak ankles.

[fearlesscreek]

happy burping!

i can relate to what you write. also writing and scared to fail, also lost weight and regained... time to leave the doubts and get the sh!t done...

best of luck! i will stick around to see how you do and cheer you on...

cheers!

[Pavowski]

I know I could have fallen inline with a couple other guilds but distance is where my heart lies. LOL Burp strong...freaking love it. Wonderful and aweful at the same time, yes indeed. I did a stupid number of them during one mini challenge. Was beat by another awesome member but boy was it fun and torturous.

Are you doing any exercises to help strengthen your feet? I am not barefoot yet (?) but when I had issues with pf I found there were loads I could do to help my feet and loose/weak ankles.

A little bit of stretching etc, but mostly just running and walking barefoot as much as possible. My feet actually feel better and stronger when I run; it's only afterwards, when I stop moving and rest for a while that they tighten up and get sore.

[Terinatum]

Okay, day one. How'd it feel?

[Pavowski]

Actually I started on Sunday with a barefoot 3/4 mile at the end of my 5k run, which felt great. Monday night, burpees. Man were my knees cracking, but I got through them, even if my arms felt like cooked spaghetti by the end. Then, an editing session with one of my best shorts to bring the word count up to 2300 (I'd like about 3000,as long as I can keep it tight). All in all? A really productive start.

[Terinatum]

ooh barefoot, it sounds deliciously fun to do.

[Pavowski]

ooh barefoot, it sounds deliciously fun to do.

It's surprisingly addictive, and it's ruining me for shoes of any sort. I'm a teacher, and I've taken to wearing my Vibram FiveFingers to work as much as possible... students think I'm pretty freakin' odd for that, lol. Had a full-on mile yesterday and it felt brilliant!

 

Funniest thing is, I'm starting to notice the different surfaces everywhere whether I'm walking, running or driving, barefooted or not, making mental notes... "ooh, now this would be a nice place to take my shoes off and log a half mile..." which I've actually done.

[Terinatum]

Nice!

[awesomesue]

That is unbelievably cool!  Might do part of my run barefoot today just to give it a try, finally.

[Pavowski]

That is unbelievably cool!  Might do part of my run barefoot today just to give it a try, finally.

Do it, but don't overdo it. Seriously, if you go out for a first barefoot jaunt, regardless of what sort of mileage you're used to (or even if you're running in minimalist shoes already), you shouldn't go more than a tenth or, at most, a quarter of a mile. I've been fighting injuries and discomfort for over a year because I got impatient and rushed into it.

[Terinatum]

great advice!

safety first, then a rocking great time!!

[awesomesue]

I did try it and it was sublime.  Moist soil, soft grass, and in the shade for a good portion of it.  I ended up doing 1/4 mile and then stopped.  At first it felt like a great foot massage and then I noticed a couple very minor twinges.  I stopped based on recommendations to not get carried away with it.  I will definitely try to incorporate it once a week and hopefully build distance and surface variety.  I felt later in the day.  Sort of reminded me of a strength workout feeling but in my feet.    Thanks again for getting me so excited to try it.  

[Pavowski]

I did try it and it was sublime.  Moist soil, soft grass, and in the shade for a good portion of it.  I ended up doing 1/4 mile and then stopped.  At first it felt like a great foot massage and then I noticed a couple very minor twinges.  I stopped based on recommendations to not get carried away with it.  I will definitely try to incorporate it once a week and hopefully build distance and surface variety.  I felt later in the day.  Sort of reminded me of a strength workout feeling but in my feet.    Thanks again for getting me so excited to try it.  

 

That's fantastic! A foot massage is the perfect way to describe it, and running on soft grass and soil is the tops (unless you're a teacher like me and have access to your school's rubber/turf surface on the football field... heaven!). But once you break your feet in, you'll start to love all kinds of surfaces... just yesterday I was in a park near me, where they've lined off the innermost six feet of the road for a walking track. It's that kinda jagged asphalt with the rocks embedded, and I've taken on that surface lots of times, but never for a full mile like I did yesterday. It felt great! A mile was about all I could take, but the more you do, the stronger and more resistant your feet become.

 

Oh, and the looks I was getting from the walkers (I was also pushing my two kids in the double-wide jogging stroller) were pretty smugness-inducing too.

 

I am pretty nerdjazzed to have gotten somebody else to give barefoot running a try, you'll have to pardon me.

[awesomesue]

Others have mentioned it here and there but reading your post was what I needed to get that push.  The idea of being more aware of a variety of surfaces even when in shoes is such a cool idea.  I love many of the sensations when running and biking.  How the air moves around me and how it varies based on the activity, temp, humidity, and so on always is stimulating.  How different things smell or sound when running vs biking.  I am happy that kiddo gave it a go too.  She had wanted to try and it just seemed the perfect opportunity to get her to do it too.  She has wanted to try it on pavement.  I think we will for a very short distance after our next run together.  I used to go every where barefoot including running when I was a child and never had foot problems.  I had (they are fallen now) extremely high arches that the doctors recommended inserts that my family could never afford.  I did not have the foot problems that I have encountered so I am thinking this is a good way to strengthen them.  Maybe that was what kept the high arches in check....strong feet from being barefoot.  I know years of wear and tear of course play a role but still.  I am barefoot all the time at home but walking around the house is vastly different when trying to run.

 

Have you ever stubbed your toe on pavement or does your gait adjust subtly enough to prevent any issues?  So used to protected toes in shoes that frankly only allow so much movement due to being in a neat little container that it does make me a tad nervous.  

 

I bet you got crazy looks and that does sound like a wonderful surface at your school.  

 

You should be nerdjazzed!  Inspiring each other to try new things and find our own greatness is what makes these forums so amazing.

[Pavowski]

Others have mentioned it here and there but reading your post was what I needed to get that push.  The idea of being more aware of a variety of surfaces even when in shoes is such a cool idea.  I love many of the sensations when running and biking.  How the air moves around me and how it varies based on the activity, temp, humidity, and so on always is stimulating.  How different things smell or sound when running vs biking.  I am happy that kiddo gave it a go too.  She had wanted to try and it just seemed the perfect opportunity to get her to do it too.  She has wanted to try it on pavement.  I think we will for a very short distance after our next run together.  I used to go every where barefoot including running when I was a child and never had foot problems.  I had (they are fallen now) extremely high arches that the doctors recommended inserts that my family could never afford.  I did not have the foot problems that I have encountered so I am thinking this is a good way to strengthen them.  Maybe that was what kept the high arches in check....strong feet from being barefoot.  I know years of wear and tear of course play a role but still.  I am barefoot all the time at home but walking around the house is vastly different when trying to run.

 

Have you ever stubbed your toe on pavement or does your gait adjust subtly enough to prevent any issues?  So used to protected toes in shoes that frankly only allow so much movement due to being in a neat little container that it does make me a tad nervous.  

 

I bet you got crazy looks and that does sound like a wonderful surface at your school.  

 

You should be nerdjazzed!  Inspiring each other to try new things and find our own greatness is what makes these forums so amazing.

 

That question about injuries -- stubbed toes, stepping on glass or rocks or whatever -- comes up all the time, and I can say with confidence: not only has it never happened to me (and I've been trying to barefoot for about two years now -- doing better this time around), but it is unlikely it will happen to you. Reason I'm so confident is, when you take your tender unshod feets out onto an unforgiving surface like asphalt, you are automatically going to look out for them. What I mean by that is, you'll be watching the road for little stones, sticks and other sharp bits, you'll be slowing down because you can't do any foot shuffling while barefoot (that WILL tear your feet up, and I used to do some of it while running, but barefooting broke me of it)and you'll be landing more lightly on your feet anyway (engaging the natural spring of the foot). Now, that's not to say you won't hit some pebbles or tiny, nearly invisible sharp stones that have you swearing and hopping on one foot for a few steps. You will. Thing is, though, the skin on the bottom of your feet is incredibly resilient to that kind of thing. The pain fades fast, and you become ... I don't want to say "desensitized," let's say "less tender" -- over time. Truth is, I'd say grass is more dangerous to run barefoot on by dint of the fact that things can hide in the grass the way they can't on pavement. 

 

Re: your arches, that's an interesting point. I have never had arch problems, but I'm pretty sure my arches have become more pronounced in the past couple of years. I'm definitely wearing shoes a half size smaller than before. A lot of people say that barefoot running, as it strengthens the musculature of the foot, can actually cure arch problems, especially flat arches, but I'm not going to go off and say that's truth.

 

Anyway, I'm really curious to hear how it goes for you. I gave barefooting a good shake two years ago, had some foot problems, and had to give it up for about 8-9 months when I developed some chronic pain (probably from overdoing it), but in the last four months or so I've started up again and now my feet feel stronger than ever. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I'm getting ruined for regular shoes. I can't stand to have shoes on my feet for more than a few hours. My toes feel cramped, I start having pain in my heel (which is what led to all this hoopla in the first place), and -- this is ridiculous, I know -- but my feet just feel so hot in shoes. At work (I'm a teacher, as I said), I take off my shoes as soon as I can and spend most of the day in my classroom wearing just socks. I drove to Florida a couple of weeks ago, and had to take my shoes off in the first thirty minutes, because my feet were feeling so claustrophobic. The good side to all this is that the shoes I do own are going to start lasting a lot longer.

 

I could go on for weeks about this running stuff, so I'll cut it off there unless you want me to elaborate anywhere. Have fun with it and let me know how you fare!

[awesomesue]

I will definitely keep you posted.    Anything you want to ramble on about it is fine with me.  

[Pavowski]

So week 1 is in the bag, time to weigh in, right?

 

My barefoot runs are great; On Sunday last I had three quarters of a mile, on Tuesday I had nine tenths, and on Thursday, a full mile barefoot; putting me well above the two miles I wanted for the week. More important than the distance, though, is that my foot (feet) are feeling great afterward, and in fact they feel absolutely fantastic during the barefoot stints. One weird thing: I've got some weird black marks on my feet after my runs. They're not bruises or blisters and they don't hurt -- if anything, it looks like somebody took one of those fat stinky permanent markers and dotted up my soles a little bit. Dunno what I would've run over to get a mark like that, but it wouldn't wash off. Weird!

 

My burpees are burptacular. Four sets of ten are enough to get me sucking wind like a fat man climbing the stairs to the tenth floor, which is actually kind of a nice feeling in my workouts... not that my workouts were slackish, but I haven't put myself through it like that in quite some time. I think the 40 per workout twice weekly is a good starting point, but want to aim for more reps as the challenge progresses, maybe adding 1 per set each week, which would put me up to 64 per workout twice weekly by the end? When I write it out that way it sounds daunting... yeah, I'll keep playing that by ear.

 

And my writing is ... okay. I did some editing of a piece I really like, but last week was tough to find time for this *extra* project (that's extra on top of working on my novel, getting my daily workouts in, writing occasional blog posts, and oh yeah, we spent the whole week prepping for a massive garage sale, so... yeah, I didn't have the time for writing that I would have liked). I need to log some more hours here over the next week to feel back on schedule here.

 

After reading SueLK's post, I feel like I need spreadsheets and data and graphs. Maybe I can hack something together for my next weekly wrap up.

 

All in all, the first week is a solid start.

[Terinatum]

That's a great first week. 

Most Scouts love spreadies - I think it's a great idea.

Even just writing down the stuff I do or want to do, makes it real for me and I can 'see' just how much I have accomplished. My brain doesn't always remember everything.

Hope Week 2 is going great.

[awesomesue]

Solid first week.

 

Hey I only added graphs after someone else posted graphs.  I had done a spreadsheet before but not graphs and well graphs are great visuals.  I had graph envy.  

 

You can do that goal with the burpees.  Coming from me this is funny/ironic (since I do it too...way too much) but do not psych yourself out before trying.  I know this may sound weird but if counting them starts to build the anxiety at all (oh my gosh I am at 35 and it should hurt more so it is kind of thing) then keep 200 pennies unrolled.  Grab a handful and for each one you do drop it in a pile or move one from one pile to the next and then count when you are done.  And to keep from counting as you go work on your story in your head or do some fun math.

[Pavowski]

Solid first week.

 

Hey I only added graphs after someone else posted graphs.  I had done a spreadsheet before but not graphs and well graphs are great visuals.  I had graph envy.  

 

You can do that goal with the burpees.  Coming from me this is funny/ironic (since I do it too...way too much) but do not psych yourself out before trying.  I know this may sound weird but if counting them starts to build the anxiety at all (oh my gosh I am at 35 and it should hurt more so it is kind of thing) then keep 200 pennies unrolled.  Grab a handful and for each one you do drop it in a pile or move one from one pile to the next and then count when you are done.  And to keep from counting as you go work on your story in your head or do some fun math.

 

Fun math? DOES NOT COMPUTE

[Pavowski]

Week 2 is in the books.

 

My record-keeping is dubious at best -- need to make up another workout notebook -- but I know I got my miles and my burpees in. Great thing about burpees -- even on a night when I just don't feel like doing a full workout, all those burpees still make me break a sweat.

 

Story work is still lagging behind. I just can't find a good writing rhythm with summer vacation going on. Blerg.

 

On the plus side, I went out for a run with the kids this morning, got two miles then kicked my shoes off. Ran for a bit longer and then realized I had forgotten to start my watch again... so I just ran a mile from that point. Which means that the mile I usually go for while shoeless was more like a mile and a quarter, mile and a third. Most importantly: no ill effects from the extra distance. Whee!

[awesomesue]

Great job!!!

[awesomesue]

How has week 3 gone?  

 

We have not barefoot run this week but tomorrow we are doing a little trail run of about 2 miles.  When done I believe we are going to knock out some barefoot fun.  It has been raining so much the ground is sure to be soft and squishy fun.