Wednesday 10 August 2011

The Daily Jog Day 28-ish

The thing they say about knees and jogging is starting to ring true. My right leg is acting suspiciously during exercise. It is starting to resent my 4 km prowess. Today I took two or three "interval walks" during my 4k's to ease the way.

I may have to exchange my sneakers for "togs and goggles" tomorrow and swim instead. Still, I'm feeling fit and healthy, which is exciting.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Someone I know recently took up running. She did several 5k but then even more recently gave up running altogether. Her knees couldn't take it anymore. She's now swimming-- much easier on the joints.

Glad you're feeling healthier!

Jen White Doom said...

Have you tried running barefoot? It is significantly kinder to your joints and your back. Harder on the soles of your feet, of course, but they can build callouses and adjust more easily than your joints can adjust to the pounding.

I'm off running right now, but I ran five miles a day last year, with one or two days off a month, and I ran barefoot the entire time. It was really interesting and cool!

I highly recommend doing some reading about the benefits to see if it could help you.

If you're nervous about jumping into barefoot, some people transition by using the Vibram Five Fingers or Nike Free shoes, but I'd say that you're better off just jumping into it. You won't get all of the joint benefits (though it will be better than regular running shoes) if you wear any foot protection.

Here the original web site about barefoot running: http://therunningbarefoot.com/begin-here/

And here's the primary one against it, just for fun: http://www.runningbarefootisbad.com/

And here's one from Harvard about the biomechanical reasons that barefoot running is better:
http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

Enjoy! (If you've already tried barefoot running and rejected it, sorry to have bored you... I think it is the coolest thing and I'm always trying to get people to try it!)