Runner's Log...

Ladies and Gentlemen: there's another barefoot runner in my neighborhood. I saw him! It was at about the five-mile mark when I saw another runner coming toward me. From a distance, I was watching his form (alas, I do judge other runners' forms) and it was unusually good. Relaxed stature, leaning forward slightly, feet lightly sweeping the ground. I checked his shoes. The man was trotting along in a pair of these. (I look awesome sporting a pair of these.) I was quite excited to see another pair of Vibrams on a runner, let me tell you. Usually, I just get comments along the lines of, "You're running in those?," accompanied by a look signaling that I must be crazy. Today, I wasn't alone. We knew how awesome our shoes were.

Anyway, on with the rest of my run. I ran 17 miles this evening. Seventeen. I didn't keep track of time because I have to cross a busy road every few miles, so waiting for the traffic light doesn't figure in. Also, waiting like that makes my muscles seize up, which is a terrible nuisance right around mile 12 when your muscles have been working for a while.

On the more positive end, I am somewhat confused about my endurance. For the short runs in the middle of the week, I get exhausted after the first mile or so and finally get warmed up after the third mile. This confuses me because long runs are like taking a nice long stroll. My muscles will get tired before I do. I think this is probably a good thing. No. It is a good thing. Yes, everything from the waist down kills, but I probably could have had a nice conversation while on the run because I wasn't winded or tired at all. I don't think it has to do with pace because I run an even ten-minute-mile pace no matter what.

Another plus to my run this evening -- and most runs I do in Kenmore -- is that my runs are a spectator sport. I get quite a few people cheering me on from their porches. Usually, it's the people in or around the park, seeing that I'm pretty much a regular there. Today, it was an older woman on my street who told me that I was very ambitious and wished me luck. It really makes me happy to be running in an area where even strangers are supportive.

Tonight, I'll be taking some aspirin and glucosamine and getting a good night's sleep. Not only do I have four miles and strength training to do tomorrow -- something that will require a good helping of protein, I'm sure -- but classes start first thing tomorrow morning. It's going to be a busy week!

And So It Begins...

I feel that an introduction is needed.

My name is Michaela. I'm 21 years old and I know two constants in my life: writing and running. I've been writing since middle school when I used to hide short stories in my science teacher's classroom. I've been running for a much shorter time than that. I started running on my high school's track team in my sophomore year; I was a sprinter and I failed miserably at it. Later on I was to realize that I'm more of a distance runner.

I'm also a barefoot runner and a Celiac, and I'm absolutely positive that these facts will influence almost everything I write. For those who don't understand the ins and outs of barefoot running, I'll be sure to explain everything in detail in a later post since I'm an adamant follower of the barefoot movement and I feel like the topic deserves its own column. As far as being a Celiac, it means I'm gluten intolerant and I can't eat grains. Therefore, I will be sure to offer up my recipes and tactics for "carbo-loading" before a run or a race without the use of bread, cereal, and the all-too-popular spaghetti.

I'm mostly writing this, however, because I'm running the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October with my uncle, and I wanted a medium for the whole family to track my progress as we get closer and closer to the race. Although I plan to do a marathon a year for the next few years, this is my premier marathon and I'm pretty darn excited about it. I'll probably have something new every Sunday because those are my long run days so that everyone can get a feel for how well I'm doing.

As for my future fans who are not a part of my family-and-friend circle, I sincerely hope you enjoy the rest of my content, as well as my anecdotes of my progress (and failures; I'm finally fully recovered from introducing my face to the sidewalk while on a run -- on Friday the 13th, no less!)