I M A Barefoot Runner!

Spring is here!

Did you think I had left you all?

No way!

But I have been on a little break from barefoot running.

Didn't run for several weeks after the Run Disney event.   A couple of weeks ago tried going out a couple of times and felt great both times.  Couple more weeks passed and finally today got back out there again.

From the way it went outside there today, it appears as if it will not be necessary to start from scratch, even after all that down time. Soles of feet, muscles, bones, joints, ligaments all felt great.  It can officially be said that I am not longer a complete beginner.

Last season's blog was all about becoming a barefoot runner.  The format was that after I came home from each run I gave reports about the experience.  I ran on the same path over and over again, mostly, and blogged immediately after running while all my thoughts were fresh in my head.  Running along outside, thoughts of all of you barefoot readers were with me and so many posts were composed to you in my head as I ran along.

During this down time I have been thinking about what direction Barefoot Fresca blog should take this year.  Will I continue going round and round my same running path reporting each little stone that got stuck on the bottom of my feet, and each little toe that I stubbed?

No, that doesn't seem to be right any more.

This next season should be about how I got stronger, faster, ran farther, went new places, met more new people, ran bigger races, etc ... right?

But that is not what this season will probably be about.

Some explorers explore by going out further and further.  This type might even end up signing up with NASA and flying to the moon, or studying far away galaxies with a giant telescope in an observatory.  But other explorers stay right at home, take out a microscope and start studying the dirt in their own backyard.  They find their own "galaxies" as they break down the ordinary experiences within the self-imposed limits of their own lives.  This is another valid job of the explorer.

Perhaps I shall run faster and further this year and shall meet more and more barefoot runners, and shall venture to new barefoot places.  But, on the other hand, perhaps I shall not, and I shall study each barefoot step on the same path over and over again, and just get to know the barefoot people I have already met a little better.  Each experience would be something to learn from

My main interest in focus in my barefoot running right now is in the experience of each single barefoot step.  I am interested in the way it feels.  I am interested in the principles that surround the act of managing gravitational forces, body weight, sensory feedback, balance, strength, speed.  I am interested in learning about all the factors that effect the act of flying through the air for a moment and landing on one foot and managing those forces within the intricate coordination of joints, muscles, tendons, bones.  I am interested in the way it feels, and I am interested in getting to what feels right and good as I go along.

For a long time, there has been something in me that has been intensely interested in athletics and I haven't known why, exactly.  I'm not an athlete, exactly, and yet I felt that I was, in some way.  I think I have finally discovered why this is.  I have a deep interest in human movement in general.  Almost a kind of scientific fascination.  I was very excited recently to find that there is a word that puts a name to this interest. It is the word "Kinesiology."

Whatever the activity engaged in over the years, I have always wanted to understand that activity this way -- in a kinesthetic way.  Singing.  Kung Fu. Running.  Dance.  Golf. Or even just everyday Bending and Lifting.  It is not enough for me to just experience the activities themselves.  I must, it seems, understand which muscles are working, how the body is functioning while engaged in the activity, what the most efficient and optimal position is in which to perform the activity -- in a sense, getting to the heart of the nature of the activity, it's essence.  In fact, there has always been a little something in me that couldn't quite grasp and perform the activity -- even while everyone around me found it simple to pick up -- without studying the mechanization and understanding exactly what I was doing.

But now I have found a name for this orientation of mine -- it is an interest in kinesiology, the science of human movement.  I used to call it an interest in "athleticism," which was kind of close, but not exactly right.

So, don't be surprised if you read me musing, reflecting, exploring, studying and learning about the kinesiology of my experience of barefoot running and other physical pursuits in the coming months in this blog.

Season II -- Barefoot Mile Number 3 -- Calculations!

Got the e-mail from my barefoot buddy today,

"Barefoot Running at the Indoor Track:  Tonight or Tomorrow"

It was written to three of us and said she might be there tonight.

I showed up, but there was no one there.  Kiddies were having their free karate class in the gym below, just like last week.

On the walk over, it didn't feel so bad out.  I thought, why am I going to this indoor track?  I should just run outside. Then I remembered I was going because my friend might be there. And besides, it was dark.

So, I started round the track.  It was fun, I'll admit, but I was going to run further tonight so I wasn't sure how many times around the track would be about a mile.

I tried to eyeball the track and figure out how far around it was.  Was it half the size of a regular track?  I'm not very good at eyeballing, but I thought it looked half the size of a regular track.  (You will find out later that I was very very wrong about this estimation.)

I decided to run around in sets of 10x around.  I ran round and round.  It was really hot.  There were these old radiators in there and wow could they make it hot.  Plus I was in the upper part of the room above the gym so the hot air had risen.  But they had the windows open on the wall by the radiators so there was a cold breeze when I ran by the hot radiators.  That was a weird sensation.

I started to get bored going round and round without my friend to talk to.  This is not much better than a treadmill, I thought.  Although it is slightly better because I don't have to change my form to pawback or anything.  And I can count the laps.  Only I kept losing track of how many, so I think I "cheated" myself by counting some of them twice.

I also started feeling a little tilted from running round the edges in the same direction.  After 10 laps, I switched direction.

I had thought that 10 laps might be about a mile, but after 10 laps it definitely had not felt like a mile.  Maybe 20 laps is a mile, I thought.  I decided to do 40 laps (remember: I'm still getting back into it after a month off, plus I have Kung Fu tomorrow).

I decided to concentrate on breathing quietly and running softly and quietly without losing my composure.  That was interesting enough to get me around all the laps.

After finishing the 40 laps -- uggh! -- I tried to figure out how far around this track was.  I walked with baby steps around the track.  It was about 140 baby steps.  My baby steps might be a foot long and they might not.

When I got downstairs, I asked one of the kids taking the karate class if they knew how many times around the track was a mile.   "24, I think."

Wow, I sure did not eyeball that track well if I thought it might be half the size of a regular track!

So, I got home and tried to do some math.  First, I tried to see how many inches my "baby step" was.

I guessed it was about 20 inches.

I multiplied 20 inches by 140 steps around the track: 2800 inches.

Then divided by 12 to get feet:  233 feet around.

Then I divided the feet in a mile (5280) by 233 which came to roughly between 22 and 23 times around the track for a mile.

Considering how inexactly I had taken the baby steps and how inexactly I had measured my step when I got home, and also considering how I felt after running 20 times around the track, I guess the kid is probably right that 24 times round that track is probably a mile.

Now, why did I bother to try to roughly calculate that?  Why do I need to know how far I went?  Why do I need a measurement?

While I was going around it was really bothering me that I didn't know how far I was going or how long I was running.  So, I had this thought that maybe I could just listen to my body.  Maybe I could just run until it seemed like fatigue would no longer let me keep my form well.  I thought of non-dieting approaches to manage food that recommend paying close attention to body signals: eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full.  Maybe the same approach is good for running too. Let the body's wisdom determine the distance and speed.

But it was hard to listen to the body's wisdom.  I needed to have an idea when it was time to stop.  I needed some predetermined amount to run.  I decided on 40 times around the track ahead of time.

I mean, what would happen if I listened to my body?  What if it never wanted to stop and I was stuck there running round that track forever?  Or, what if it told me to stop before I had run enough to benefit me? (Whatever that amount is?)  What if endorphins kick in and I don't notice I'm overdoing it and end up with a repetitive stress injury?  What if I give up and don't push myself beyond?  (Beyond what?) What if there was no such thing as training for a race?  A tempo run?  A long run?  What if I just ran for fun and did what felt good and exhilarating?

No, I have to go around 40 times.  I'm sure at least 40 times ought to be enough.  (Enough for what?)

And counting the times around will give me something to do.

Season II -- Barefoot Mile Number 2 - Back Out There Barefoot!

Forty-one degrees!

Just heaven.

I remember the first few times I ran out there barefoot in the 40s and it seemed quite cold.  But after those few sub-40 degree barefoot runs I had back in December, and after those few tentative little walks out in the snow, this 41-degree-day today seemed so warm and comfortable.

This was my first time running outside since I got back from the Run Disney Buzz and Woody's Best Friends 5K early in January.

The running path looked mostly dry today:

There were patches where there was some slushy snow in the way but I just ran through it.  It didn't feel that cold.

I ran an introductory "back out there" barefoot mile today.

I didn't know before I went out how it might feel.  After a month off would I have to start all the way at the beginning doing a quarter of a mile?  Would it take a long time to work my way back?

Well, that mile felt so good, and my feet feel so good now, that it is clear to me that the gains I made over the past season are with me, and that I will not have to start at the very beginning again.

I have spent a few weeks just thinking about barefoot running, what my "goals" might/should be for my second "season" and exactly what it means in my fitness life.

I have been influenced by a book I've been reading:  Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning by Vern Gambetta.

Today, as I ran along in my barefoot mile I had these passage from the book in my mind:

"Effective movement, especially high-level athletic performance, is the result of the interplay of the three movement constants; the body, gravity, and the ground.  Understanding each of the movement constants independently is one thing, but the real key is to understand how they interact."

and

"A better understanding of muscle function will allow training to be more focused, logical, and exact ... The focus shifts from "feel the burn" and "no pain, no gain" to an understanding and feeling of flow and rhythm in the movements."

and 

"Movement is gravity driven.  Movement is a delicate balance yielding to gravity or being able to overcome it."

and

"The interplay between force reduction, force production, and proprioception will produce the highest quality of movement."

So, what does this mean?  It means that as I ran along today I was more interested in the really sensing the relationship between gravity, my connection to the ground, the fluidity of my movements in relationship to the ground and gravity.  It means that I was interested -- throughout the course of one barefoot mile -- in really experiencing what the movement was all about as I ran barefoot along.  It means that I was focused more on the quality of my movement and how my relationship to gravity felt while moving than how far or fast I was running.

If Year One of my barefoot running was about being a beginner and just learning how to get out there and get my feet and body conditioned for some barefoot running, then I think Year Two is going to be, for me about the quality of the movements.

Will my blog be slow-moving and boring because of this focus?  I mean, if I don't run faster than I did last year, or if I don't run farther than I did last year, will it all fall into "the same ole, same ole" category?  Perhaps.

I am not planning to try to out-do myself this year.  I am not planning any personal records.  I am not planning to run farther and farther and faster and faster.  I am merely trying to run better.  I want to really understand what running movement actually is.  I really want to try to feel and experience what my body is actually doing, how all the systems are working together with the ground and gravity.

So, I hope it doesn't get boring, because since a lot of what I'm going for is a feel and experience, it might be hard to write about.

Let's just say for now that I'm off to a good start with it.
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Disclaimer:  I think by law I'm supposed to tell you that the link to the book above is part of Amazon Associates. If anyone clicked on that link and bought the book I would get some money.  I am not writing my blog for money. (If I ever do, I will tell you).  I would read this book anyway, and I would link to it anyway, so since they have this gadget, I figure, why not just use it since I'm going to link to the book anyway.  I am not trying to sell books though.  I am really trying to share stuff I find interesting and inspiring. (If that ever changed I would tell you.)

Season II -- Barefoot Mile Number 1 - First Time on An Indoor Track!

Well, bless my little barefoot heart, didn't I just have the answer to my barefoot winter prayers tonight!

An indoor track.

Free.

Just a couple of blocks away.

How cool is that?!?

You haven't heard much from me this January.  As soon as I got back from the Buzz and Woody's Best Friends 5K down at Walt Disney World, two things happened to affect my running.  First of all I got invited to black sash training at my Kung Fu school and have to be working out Kung Fu more frequently, and also going once a week to this very brutal black sash cycle training class.  That threw off the balance of my workouts.

In addition, before going down to the Disney 5K I had been motivated to train in the cold because I wanted to run that race barefoot.  But once I got back, I couldn't face the cold again.  I decided that January was a good month to step back, think about things, get used to the stepped-up Kung Fu training and just decide what I was going to do with this barefoot thing in the middle of winter.

I want to tell you something.  I have a treadmill.  In the basement. A really nice one that we got about 8 years ago.  A True treadmill.

But I just won't go near the thing.  Just won't.  Before we got it, I thought it would be a really amazing thing to own, but I found that I hated it.  When I heard that people called it "the Dreadmill" -- a term I heard for the first time in the past couple of months -- I nodded my head in complete agreement.

So, I have been in a state of paralysis about my barefoot running during this month of January.  I simple won't use the treadmill, even though many times I tried to talk myself into it.  And yet I just couldn't bring myself to run outside with shoes either!

I toyed with just going out in the very snowy streets and just running barefoot.

Here's some pictures of me doing that:

In fact, I took a movie just for you all of me walking a block and back.

What you see by this is a girl who very much wants to keep running barefoot, but is dismayed by the weather.  Like the last person who won't go home from the party -- doesn't want it to be over yet.

So, rather than give in and go out there in my shoes, I decided to take a little break and see if the weather got any better and I could just continue barefoot. But the weather didn't get better, and we just kept getting dumped on and dumped on with snow.

You've seen all the photos I've posted over the past Summer and Fall of the view I have of the City Skyline while running and how it's changed with the seasons?  Well, one day, during a snow storm the view completely disappeared.

And my running path got buried:

And I started wearing my boots all the time:

So this barefoot girl was very bummed out.  Very very bummed out and was just waiting to see what was going to happen.  Would she run in her Vibrams again?  Would she try the treadmill?  Would she try to go out in all that snow barefoot?  Would she wait until spring?

Then, a few days ago, I got this happy e-mail from my barefoot running buddy (Remember I met the barefoot running buddy and I wrote about it and she ran with me a few weeks and even came to the First Annual NYC Barefoot Run with me?  Well, she had decided to run on the outdoor track in our town because the streets and sidewalks were a bit rough for her.  So we had temporarily parted ways as far as our barefoot running was concerned.)

Well, this is what the e-mail from my barefoot running buddy said.  It was an e-mail from our town's recreation department and it said:

Alternatives to Cabin Fever

Our town's recreation reminds you that it offers
adult residents 18 and over
"alternatives to cabin fever"
during these long winter months

Had enough of the snow?
Tired of winter?
Not getting enough exercise?
We have indoor activities to keep you fit and healthy


At the local school gym, take a brisk walk or a light run
around the newly refurbished 2-lane indoor track!

And my barefoot running buddy had written:

"let's get together and do a barefoot run sometime."

So that's what we did tonight.

We were the only ones who showed up to run, and my barefoot running buddy had on her winter boots, and I had on my Vivo Barefoot Kalis and when we asked about the track (you had to go upstairs because it was above the gym, as you can see in my first picture at the top of this blog) the lady looked at our boots/shoes and said, "you've got sneakers, right?"  My friend answered really quickly, without batting an eye, "yeah, yeah, yeah."  I figured the lady meant that we couldn't run on the track in our boots, and I didn't think it was necessary to get into the whole barefoot thing, right?

The track was small.  We probably had to run around it 10 times to make a barefoot mile.  But it had a really cool kind of rubber, not too cushion-y, but soft enough to be a little bit of a treat surface.  It was nubby and textured enough to make sure the skin got enough to keep it conditioned, but in no way felt uncomfortable or painful.  It was really great.  I had a really great time and I'm so glad we went.

One of the recreation ladies did come up and take a glance at us running round and round on the track.  She did notice us barefoot but just went downstairs.  Later, when we were leaving, she said something like, "that track is not very soft," which I guess was referring to the fact that we had been barefoot.  Inside, I couldn't help but smile.  "Lady," I thought, "you have no idea how heavenly that surface is after running on the sidewalk all summer."  But I did not voice that thought aloud.

The only bad thing about it -- and it is a really bad thing -- is that I am completely busy with choir and Kung Fu every time the track is available.  There is only one night a week that I can avail myself of it.  But that's okay.  I feel so happy I could burst, to just have had this little answer to getting me out of my barefoot paralysis.

Kung Fu -- Barefoot or Minimalist Shoe?

Well, folks, it's still on my mind.  What does a new barefoot running adherent do about shoes for Kung Fu training?

Responding to my last post, Barefoot Josh asked in the comment section, "Do you have to wear shoes for Kung Fu?"

This is a very good question.  Don't think that after all this barefoot running I haven't had the notion to train barefoot in Kung Fu.

I have already mentioned that I asked my sifu about it and he said that he was of the opinion that shoes were better for Kung Fu training.  He is an expert with a lifetime's worth of martial arts experience and has tried many things, including training barefoot, so I respect his opinion.

And I have already mentioned that Kung Fu is traditionally trained in shoes but I didn't know why.

So, I went out a-Googling to try to glean some insight from what's published out there on the Internet about it, which isn't too much, but there is some.

First I'll show you the information I found and comment on it, and in the end I'll tell you what I've concluded.

(Disclaimer -- My writings and thoughts on this topic are horribly unscientific and incomplete, and I am a know-nothing, so all this is just my personal musings and brain-ramblings and ought to be taken as completely non-expert opinion in the matter.)

Why Do We Train Kung Fu in Shoes?
There are two main answers I have got for this question so far.  One is that martial arts such as karate and tai kwan do, which historically had been trained and practiced in a dojo indoors, developed a custom of practicing barefoot because of the Japanese and Korean custom of not wearing shoes in the house, and to keep the mats clean.

Kung Fu, on the other hand, was a martial art of the street.  It was martial arts for the people and it was practiced outside where it was dirty and cold and shoes were worn for that reason.

The other reason put forth for training in shoes that I've been able to find in my Internet-surfing is that because of the fighting and self-defense nature of Kung Fu, it's practical application is likely to occur on the street if one was being attacked and got in a fight.  Usually in that circumstance a person would be wearing shoes, and if you had been training in bare feet at your school on the one hand, you might get thrown off balance by the fact you were wearing shoes at the time you got attacked on the other.

One of the more interesting and cute articles I found about the custom of wearing shoes for Kung Fu practice was on Kung Fu magazine's site in an article called "Monk Takes Off His She: My Life as a Shaolin Shoe Salesman," by Gene Ching.

The information I was looking for, however, was more along the lines of how shoes were part of or were necessary to form optimal technique.  I didn't find anything like that, really.  The answer to wearing the shoes just seemed to sum up as, "because that's how it traditionally was practiced," but did not ever really specify if the shoes were intrinsic to the art itself or added to the functional aspects of training and development of the form in the sport.  So, I decided to dig a little deeper.

Pros and Cons of Barefoot vs. Shoes in Martial Arts Training
In my continued readings of forums and articles on the subject, I did pick up a sense that there is a continuing dialogue going on within the martial arts community over the benefits/drawbacks of wearing shoes vs. going barefoot for martial arts training in general.

The people who prefer training barefoot value it for many of the same reasons barefoot runners value it -- because of greater foot strength and conditioning, more subtlety, greater balance, less equipment, better understanding of the body, room for adaptability, feedback from the environment. (For more, see "Barefoot Training in the Martial Arts: No Shoes is Good News!" by Rick Tew.)

Likewise the people who prefer training with mat shoes value it for many of the same reasons runners who like to train in shoes value it -- protection of the foot from diseases, cuts and abrasions (one of the biggest complaints about barefoot training is that foot cuts and mat burns are common in beginners), greater stability, shock absorption from training on hard surfaces like wooden floors. (For more, see "Martial Arts Training Shoes: Four Compelling Reasons to Wear Them," by Ed Sadler.)

In this one article I found, "Mat Shoes vs. Barefoot Training," by J.P. Alvarez, over at Suite 101.com I learned that martial arts which have traditionally trained barefoot are being replaced by using shoes to train.  Little by little the shoe companies are designing martial arts shoes.  It sounds like right now this martial art shoe category tends to be minimalist and light, but I fear the shoe industry grabbing on to this trend and starting to develop shoes that spring-load your kicks and give you greater stability, etc..., just like the shoe companies did for the runners.

In fact one of the sensei's quoted in the "Mat Shoes vs. Barefoot Training" article even said that he thinks there will be a new era of mat shoes as men and women look to be more hygienic and avoid the spread of disease and frequent toe injuries.  He also predicts that athletic companies will probably start designing shoes tailored to the needs of martial arts students because of this new trend.

By far, the most thorough article I was able to find was from an April 2000 issue of Black Belt Magazine which was on Google Books, "With or Without Shoes: 9 Experts Debate the Pros and Cons of Barefoot Martial Arts Training" by Adrienne Lee Bell.  That article quoted experts from the various disciplines in the martial arts.  It seems like a barefoot runner taking up one of the disciplines that trains barefoot would be right at home and something of a traditionalist.  But a barefoot runner who took up Kung Fu, where the training has been done in shoes, would be breaking with tradition.

In the end, it seems like cross-training in both shoes and barefoot might be a good choice.  That way the student could get the foot conditioning and strengthening and other benefits of barefoot, while getting the practical knowledge of training in shoes.

What Shall I Do?
Well, after all my research, and all my experience learning how to barefoot run this past summer, I have a great desire to train my Kung Fu barefoot.  I believe there will be great benefits to my Kung Fu form by including barefoot training, just like I believed my running form would improve if I tried barefoot running. But since the tradition is to train in shoes -- I shall also need to conform to that tradition in order respect my Kung Fu school and sifu's protocol.

I have been thinking that one thing that is putting me off from barefoot Kung Fu training is similar to something that puts established runners off from trying barefoot running.  Because of the principle that one must develop the foot strength gradually and not do too much too soon, the established runner is often not inclined to try it because he/she would have to cut back on mileage and temporarily "lose" what they have gained in their training thus far.

I feel the same way about my Kung Fu training.  Perhaps I could not get through a full class barefoot at this point.  In that case, the same principles that govern learning to barefoot run might also apply in learning to train barefoot Kung Fu.  In the article above, the beginners complain of foot cuts and mat burns and that is why they run out and get mat shoes for their martial arts training.  But from what the more advanced practitioners say, this is less of a problem when the feet have been conditioned for it.  I think that, just like with barefoot running, one should transition by incorporating just a little bit of barefoot Kung Fu at first to allow the feet to adjust to the new task.

So, I will find a more suitable training shoe than an old running shoe for my Kung Fu classes, and I shall begin to add some barefoot Kung Fu practice at home.  In the beginning, I might do as little as ten minutes of practice barefoot and gradually build to longer and longer amounts of time.  In the meantime, I will train in a minimal shoe while in my classes at the Kung Fu school, which will allow me some of the flexibility and benefits of barefoot, if not all of them.  A cross-training approach.

I feel very strongly that I must get out of the shoes I've been wearing ASAP.  In that case, I am leaning toward the Feiyu martial art shoe.  They are inexpensive, generally praised in the reviews (although I have heard complaints about lack of arch support, which for me would be a good thing), and have the right kind of grip for the mats.

Ouch! On Being a Barefoot Princess and Needing Minimalist Shoes for Kung Fu

It's been snowy wet and cold here and I have not gone out to run since the Buzz and Woody Best Friends 5K a couple of weeks ago.  Don't worry -- (were you worried?) -- I've got plans and I shall be getting back out there.  I'm just re-grouping.

But I did tell you that I at long last started black sash training for Kung Fu.

Now that I have graduated to being mainly minimalist, barefoot, or in socks almost all the time, it felt really really weird to put on the old pair of running shoes that I had been using for Kung Fu.

Not only did it feel weird, but I was finding that I could not stand them.  It seemed like the outsides of my feet were raised up on some kind of platform and this was pushing my feet inward, but then there was this bump in my arch that was digging in when my feet were inward.  I could feel my toes cramming in to the front of the shoe and pressing up against it. I felt so-o-o-o uncomfortable and I knew that I needed to be doing this in a much more minimal shoe.  As I went uncomfortably through my workout, I made a firm decision to get a different pair of shoes for Kung Fu.

The experience for me was like that old story about the Princess and the Pea.  The real princess would feel the pea under all those stacked-up mattresses because she was so sensitive.  Well, I felt like I have become a real Barefoot Princess, and that my feet have developed into these sensitive soles that can feel every lump in her shoe, just like the princess could feel every lump from the pea under the mattresses.

In fact, at one point during the class I was taken by surprise by this very painful foot cramp in the arch of my foot.  It felt like I was getting a Charlie Horse in the arch of my foot and I couldn't believe what was happening.

We had just finished our third set of jumping jacks and push-ups and were about to go into the third round of crunches, when the charlie horse cramp hit the arch of my left foot.

I was in so much pain that I couldn't start my crunches and I just lay there.

I had to focus and try to relax the muscle cramp.  But I knew that it was because of the shock my feet were having from being in the supported and bolstered running shoes.

When I first joined Kung Fu over 4 years ago, I was of the mindset that I would need a lot of support in my shoes because of my weight.  I tried using my then-current running shoes, but they provided too much traction.  We do Kung Fu on this foamy kind of exercise mats and my feet were literally sticking to the mat and when I would switch stances, my feet would not follow that easily, putting a lot of pressure on my twisted-up joints.

So, I took an old pair of Brooks running shoes that were smoother on the bottom because they had worn down and they had seemed so perfect, just like my running shoes for running had always seemed and felt.

(Ran out of my alloted free space on Google Blogger's Picasa.  Rather than purchase more photo space, I'm trying out this photobucket thing until I figure out how I'm going to manage.)

So, I will be looking in to what shoes I shall use for Kung Fu from now on.  I did a little research tonight, but I can see that it might take me more time to decide. I'll write another post with some of what I'm finding out about minimalist shoes for Kung Fu.

A few months back I had tried to use my Vibrams for Kung Fu class, but the Vibrams had a little bit too much grip on the mat and I believe it caused me to get a strain in the area where a person gets a toe turf injury.  I wrote about that here:  "No Run for Me Today: Minor Surgery Instead"

Traditional cotton Kung Fu shoes like the ones you can see here --  Cotton Sole Kung Fu Shoes -- may be my very first option.  They only cost about $10.00 and reading the reviews makes me think they will be just the thing.

The funny thing is that way back when I first started Kung Fu and I thought I needed support, I saw a picture of these shoes and thought, "Those look way too flimsy.  For sure I will need more cushioning and arch support, etc.... blah, blah blah."  Now, I'm looking at the same shoe and thinking, "This looks perfect!"  It's amazing how much I've changed without really realizing I was changing.

Something Different -- How About a Little Kung Fu?

This is horse stance.

Horse stance is one of the basics of the foundation of learning Shaolin Kung Fu.

When you first start in Kung Fu, they make you hold that stance for about a minute.  By the time you get to the Intermediate/Advanced level, they make you hold it about 3 minutes.  But the people in black sash training have to hold it for 5 minutes.

This morning I held it for 5 minutes for the first time.

I took the self-portrait above before I met all of you on Barefoot Fresca blog.  Two years ago, actually.  Around the same time I decided I was going to run a half marathon.  Around the same time I decided to build a base by walking for 8 weeks or so and then walking a 5K as a preliminary to starting to run again.

This was before I knew that my plans to start training for the 2010 Disney 1/2, despite how carefully crafted they had been, were going to end with a bad case of plantar fasciitis.  Before I knew that I was going to have to quit my training the following Thanksgiving.  Before I knew that I was going to adopt a what's-the-use attitude and eat my way through the holidays and gain about 25 pounds.  Before I knew that I was going to get my can-do spirit back and begin again.  Before I knew that when I began again I was going to end up trying barefoot running.  Before I knew I was going to start another blog ...

That was then.

But this is now:  One of the reasons (amongst many others which I've iterated on this blog) I wanted to train for the 1/2 marathon was that I was slowly working my way towards getting into the black sash training at my Kung Fu school.  I had heard that the black sash training was tough, and I thought that some aerobic exercise would help my stamina.

Well, the time has come.  After four years of working to build my Kung Fu base, I have been invited to black sash training.  And the first class was this morning.  It was hard, and I'm very glad that I have been barefoot running because it helped me so much to get through that very tough class this morning.

I've come a long way with this Kung Fu stuff.  About five years ago I was looking for a mother/daughter athletic activity we could do together.  I was worried that I was not a good role mother as a mom.  My children never saw me participating in any physical activities.

As I was spending my time contemplating what athletic activity we could pursue -- run together?  take ice-skating together? roller blade? ride bikes? swim? -- my kid surprised me by coming up with something of her own.  How about we take Kung Fu?

Kung Fu?

What?

Well, I knew it was a martial art at least.  Was it like karate?  It wasn't exactly what I had been thinking of, but why not?  Let's check it out.

I thought the forms were pretty.  I had liked taking dance and gymnastics when I was young, and it kind of fit in to that concept.  I didn't think there was any way at my age and level of conditioning that I'd achieve anything in it.  I figured it could be as good an exercise class as any I might go to and give me a nice workout and improve me somewhat.  So, we joined the school.

The first classes were agonizing and difficult.  I felt a knot of fear in my stomach each time I headed over to Kung Fu class in anticipation of the pain I'd be in, and the how much effort I would have to exert.  I also did not enjoy being the slowest and least member of the class.  It was a humbling experience. My face would go beet red and I'd be huffing and puffing during the sets of conditioning exercises -- jumping jacks, crunches, push-ups -- that occurred at the start of each class.  The instructors would look nervously over at me, "Mrs. Barefoot Fresca!  Are you okay?" and "Breathe, Mrs. Barefoot Fresca, breathe!!" (Of course I was not known to them as Barefoot Fresca then.  In fact, I wasn't even Barefoot Fresca then, but I'm using my stage name here to tell the story).

Well, I bet you can guess what happened.  That's right.  Little by little the body responded, as the body is wont to do with physical activity, and as the law of accommodation kicked in and my physical conditioning improved -- lo and behold -- I found myself actually really loving it and becoming interested in really learning how to do it, not just showing up for an exercise session.

And after a bit, I even began to believe that maybe I, too,  could proceed to black sash training

Well, the time has come.  I was so ready for it this past Fall, but something unanticipated happened.  I got a little Kung-Fu-de-conditioned in the past couple of months.  It's kind of a long story, but my schedule got pretty full and trying to juggle and balance everything resulted in my Kung Fu suffering a bit in the process.

So, my first day back after a little Kung Fu hiatus was this stepped up, incredibly intense Kung Fu workout.  Boy oh boy was I glad that I was in condition for it aerobically.  That helped a lot.  Mostly all I had to do was contend with a drop in my level of muscular strength.  I know that will come back in about 3 weeks.

It was a tremendously positive experience.  This school is very special and the black sash class is very encouraging.  We're all in it together.

There was a bit of pressure on because if someone "messes up" the whole class has to begin all over again.  I was the cause of everyone having to begin again a couple of times, but there were others there who caused it too, so it wasn't too bad.

At one point, we had to do these battle-line kicks across the floor, which entailed hopping on one foot.  Hopping across the floor when you weigh what I weigh is no easy feat.  I had been practicing them in the regular Kung Fu classes, but had not been able to make it across the floor. I would hop about 6-10 times and then step and then hop 6-10 times, then step.

But that wouldn't do today.  As soon as I took that step, he called everyone back to begin again.  Oh no! They'll all be mad at me for making them begin again!

But they weren't.  Everyone started cheering for me.  Sifu said, "yes, you can," and I made this act of the will, contracted my abs, focused on making sure I landed squarely centered beneath me each time, did not get my foot ahead of me or behind -- hey, kind of like running barefoot! -- and to my great surprise I made it across.  Not only once, but several times on each leg.

So, as you can imagine, I'm feeling pretty good (but a little stiff and sore).

I don't have as great a motivation to run barefoot in the cold as I did before.  Before, I was doing it to keep my feet conditioned for Disney.  I will try to run barefoot when it's favorable conditions out there, but I may be wearing my Vibrams more often for the winter months now. Monday will be my first run since Buzz and Woody's 5K last week, so we'll see what happens.

But I think for the winter months I may be writing a bit about Kung Fu on this blog, since my workouts for that have now stepped up in frequency and intensity and I'll be working for that black sash test in June.  I hope you will follow along as I write now about both barefoot running and Kung Fu black sash training.