Day 2,332: A five-fingered flight test

I've owned a pair of Vibram Five Fingers running shoes -- you know, the ones with the funny-looking toes -- for several months.

Today is the first time I've done any kind of running in them.

As a runner who has run every day for the last 6-1/2 years, I've been interested in reading about the barefoot running movement. Although when I've thought about doing it myself, I'd always think, Ouch! Wouldn't that hurt?

Today I was prompted to try running in these shoes for the first time, after my checked luggage disappeared on our trip home from Rochester. Inside were my Nike Air Pegasus+ 29 shoes. All of my older shoes, including my last pair that I ran in for nearly 700 miles, I've long since donated.

Yesterday I ran in my old Solomon trail shoes. I would have run in the Vibrams then but my kitty Forrest has a way of moving shoes around the house.

Anyway, I've talked to people who run in Vibrams and I've done enough reading about it to know that you can't run the same way. Traditional running shoes allow you to strike the heel of your foot as you run but Vibrams are made for the ball of the foot.

In recent months, I've noticed that I may not be a heel striker at all. I find myself many times striking the ball of my foot first.

It's a more natural way of running, proponents say, and can keep people from developing running injuries.

Yet how would this affect someone who runs day in and day out and never gets injured?

I was about to find out.

The first thing I noticed is that I started out with shorter strides. My running stroller seemed almost too fast for me down the first hill. And it felt like I could pick up every rock that I ran on.

I made a concerted effort to not strike my heel and after a while I felt like I got into a good groove as I entered Piedmont Park. It sort of reminded me of running in flip-flops. My legs definitely felt less encumbered and I felt like I was flying along my regular running route.

Around mile 2, the inner sides of my feet started to chafe from the stitching, which wasn't very comfortable. And I could tell that as I got tired, I wanted to cheat a little bit by striking my heel.

With my feet irritated, I was only about a quarter of a mile away when I must have stepped on a piece of metal in the sidewalk. It wasn't really pleasant.

I ended up at home after my 3.5-mile trial run. Later on, I could tell my right calf muscle was a little sore but that wore off later on in the day.

My impression of the shoes is that they definitely are novel and felt good in some instances. But for someone who can run day in and day out without worrying about the wear and tear, I think I'll stick to traditional shoes.

Time: 8:40 a.m.
Temp: 72.6 degrees (96 percent humidity)
Gear: Short-sleeved T (Carolina), shorts, Vibram Five Fingers.

Day 2,314: The power of Ingress (for running)

It's been a while since I've updated, so I thought I should write a post about what I've been up to.

Last month I crossed 2,300 consecutive days of running! It's nice to know that's still happening. Today, and more recently, my runs have focused on the Piedmont Park area, where I can get a good run with baby K. in the stroller and gain some points in Ingress, Google's augmented reality game.

Basically you get points by either setting up or destroying virtual "portals" which are typically located at historic or public places. There's a few in Piedmont Park and a bunch in the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

So it makes it quite easy to run down the hill into the park when there's some work to be done.

Since I last wrote, we spent half a week in Miami, where the wife had a conference. Because of space issues, I used our Maclaren umbrella stroller, instead of our all-terrain Bob Revolution SE.

And on the pretty flat terrain around downtown Miami, the stroller worked just fine. We brought it last September to Missouri, where we went for a wedding, and the wife pushed it around then.

I'll update more later!

Day 2,290: Hot already

Today we went to Piedmont Park. Only mid-morning, I didn't think I'd have to worry too much about the weather.

But almost immediately I could tell that it wouldn't be one of those regular, pleasant runs I'd been having. Halfway into the run, I was sweaty.

Then it turned out that K.'s spare bottle was missing from the stroller. I must have dislodged it going over a curb.

So I turned around, left Piedmont Park and we retraced our steps back home.

About halfway home I noticed K. was playing with a new toy -- the missing bottle. It must have fallen down into his seat.

Anyway, I'll have to start running earlier -- and more often to get used to the heat.

Time: 10:45 a.m.
Temp: 70 degrees
Gear: SST (Va-Hi 5K 2010), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+/29.

Day 2,279: I've registered for the Atlanta 10 Mile!

After participating twice in the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in Washington, D.C., I always thought it would be great for Atlanta to have a 10-Mile race.

Actually this year there are two new 10-mile races. There's the Historic Roswell 10-Miler on April 13 and on Oct. 27, the Atlanta Track Club will host the Atlanta 10 Mile run in conjunction with its marathon and a 5K race.

I've always thought the 10 mile distance was a good one. Especially if you're someone like me who has not done a bunch of long runs.

Back in 1999, I ran the Centralia (Washington) Half Marathon with my longest run being 4 miles at the time. I got to mile 10 and then really hit the wall.

See what I'm getting at? Now I can run to my heart's delight without paying the consequences!

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Recently, with our move putting us even closer to Piedmont Park, I've been doing the bulk of my running that way. It doesn't have the distance as say running the length of the nearby Eastside Beltline trail, but still fun to do nonetheless.

Day 2,256: I've registered for the Peachtree 10K!

I was in a tizzy last night. I saw on the Atlanta Track Club's information site for the Peachtree 10K road race that we were supposed to have been mailed information related to ATC members' early registration for the July 4th race.

I couldn't find mine. I received membership information but no registration information. Thankfully after an e-mail, the ATC sent me my registration info.

This year they have add-on options for a technical T-shirt (which I wish they would just provide for all finishers since in July in Atlanta, it's a better option to wear than a cotton T-shirt that gets soaked immediately in the humidity) and a commemorative medal.

Call me a sucker -- I ponied up for both ($27.50 for the T-shirt) and $10 for the medal. The T-shirt because it's practical -- I'll wear it all the time. The medal, only because it's the first year they are doing so.

This will be my 9th running of the race. After you run in it 10 times I think you get special consideration if you try to register in the lottery but don't get in.

It also may be my last running in Group A. My eligibility under my PR race that I ran in the 2011 Charles Harris 10K ends this year, forcing me to start looking up races if I want to get a sub-48:00 time. (Laziness prompted me to not run in this year's Charles Harris, even though I'd already signed up for it. It was for a good cause, anyway).

I've already qualified for Group B with a 52-minute race in the Eastside Beltline 10K in October. I don't know if it matters that much to me, it's better to be in B than to start in the back.

Day 2,229: A new ANT+ stick!

A few months ago, my Garmin ANT+ stick broke. Well the cover on it broke, exposing the circuit board beneath.

I ordered a new one but discovered that just plugging in the circuit board was good enough to download my Forerunner 405 files.

Well, the circuit board finally crashed the other day. I had no idea where the spare ANT+ stick was, it got lost in the move.

So I ordered a new one. It came today. I thought I'd have to pair it with my watch but when I plugged it into my laptop, it found the watch, transferred the data and downloaded it to the Internet.

So now I have a few days worth of logging to do, adding titles to the downloaded courses.

Day 2,225: I've signed up for the Charles Harris 10K!

DECATUR, Ga. -- Today I had to check on a cache in town, so I packed up the kurokitten and we went on a stroll along the PATH trail.
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 On the way back, I stopped into the Big Peach store and signed up for the Charles Harris 10K. This will be the fourth year I have run in it. It's very popular with people trying to get a fast qualification time for the July 4th Peachtree Road Race.

I have one more year before my Group A qualification expires. To get it, I had to run a PR in the 2010 Charles Harris race.

This year I am not sure I can do it. I ran a 52-minute 10K in the Eastside Beltline race. After being outkicked near the end of the race, I added a 5.4-mile route as my main training route, eclipsing my older 4-mile routes that used to be a staple of my weekly miles.

So we will see. In any event, it should be a fun race to do!