2 miles

Yesterday I did another 10-minute run, and then this morning I did 2 miles as planned. It was devilishly humid outside both days -- truly disgusting weather to run in. The 2-miler took me just over 25 minutes including a couple minutes of rest in between miles 1 and 2, meaning that I was running at an 11-to-12-minute mile pace. I had expected to be a little slower than that.

When I started out this morning, my left foot was hurting quite noticeably (but not my left ankle! huzzah!). I don't know much (anything, really) about foot physiology, but the pain was in the section of my foot that contains the metatarsal bones. My best guess is that the particular ways in which the feet bear stress when running in the crazy shoes (which are much different than the ways in which the feet are stressed when running in regular shoes), combined with the fact that my left foot and ankle are weaker than normal due to the injury, are to blame for the pain, which I hope was just fatigue. It didn't get any worse, and maybe got very slightly better, over the course of the run. My right foot had a little bit of similar soreness, but not nearly as bad.

One thing I noticed had to do with running technique. I recently read somewhere, though I can't remember where (maybe Barefoot Ted's website? but maybe not there) that when running barefoot-style, you should not be pushing off with your toes; instead, think of each step's impact as simply tapping the forefoot against the ground. A couple of times during the run today, I remembered to remind myself of that and whenever I did, the foot pain was a little less. I'm not sure what minor adjustment that thought was causing me to make to my posture, but whatever it was, it seemed to help.

Time now for a day or two of rest with lots of stretching and ice. I bet my lower calves are going to be pretty sore tomorrow!