Running Speed · 30 August 2012
Day 3: August 29, 2012
I know that I have not been running very far, but I feel like I have been running fast. Not really fast. But fast. I am not sure if it is just a product of the barefoot running style or just because I do not like to go too slow. Or if it just my own definition of fast.
I am sure I said it before, but I do not really like to jog. It seems too slow. But running is an entirely different matter. When I just jog, it seems that a fast walk would suffice, but when I run, it feels like I am going somewhere. Going quickly means that I cannot go for very long, but it still feels like the way to go. Mind you, I am not ready to race. Unless it is with my kids to see who can get to the end of the block first. But I am ready to run fast.
This thought about going fast makes a lot of sense to me. I have often said that I cannot stand jogging, but I like to sprint. Not that I have done it much, but I have incorporated sprinting into my health routines before. Still, it does make sense that sprinting is more enjoyable than jogging. After all, sprinting form is much more normal than jogging form. The heels do not hit first, if at all, when sprinting.
I guess that is the point of barefoot running. The feet should do what they are meant to do. In the book, Born to Run, the author says that the feet like a good beating. That beating is how they give feedback to the body. Nobody would run on pavement striking his heels if running barefoot. So why would we when running with shoes? That is why I like my Merrell shoes. They are designed like the FiveFingers to just put a thin layer of material between my feet and the road. That way my feet can do the job they were designed to do.
I have not said much yet in the way of goals, but what I really want to do by the end of a year is be able to run at a quick pace for an hour. I am not sure whether my pace is 10 minutes per mile or 15, but it does not really matter. It feels like I am going fast and I just want to be able to go fast (my fast) for a long time.
I am not sure that a person could go too slowly barefoot running (even if he is technically not barefoot), but I am hooked on running quickly. And it seems that I always want to run. Short distances to get where I am going or longer distances to get that run in. Believe it or not, even though it has only been a couple weeks, I no longer dread running. I crave it. I ran a couple days ago after sunset because I needed to run. Because I wanted to run.
When it comes right down to it, I want to run for longer periods of time and I want to be able to run for the rest of my life. But I also want to run fast. Even if my definition of fast is just my own.
© 2012 Michael T. Miyoshi
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