2022-08-16 - Recovering ------------------------------------------------------------------- Still recovering from a small running injury in my heel (which i suspect is something like plantar fasciitis) At the moment i am doing only small runs. And since i'm recovering, i am experimenting to transition towards running on my bare feet or with very minimal footwear. Apparently there's a whole thing going on with people growing more sceptical towards the current state of 'cushioned' footwear. And the whole idea is that shoes with extra cushioning and padding around the heel are not nescessarily preventing injury or making the feet stronger. And i kinda like the idea of this. The modern shoe is like the modern internet; Nice and comfy, but also bloated and not particularly good for me... So instead, i experiment walking around barefoot. To get away from the extra comfort of padding, and get away from the extra bloat. It's like going on the gopher! :) Meh, maybe the comparison is a bit far fetched, but i'm sure you'll get the gist of it. Going on the barefoot is a whole new experience though; I really have to start training from zero, and the muscles in my legs apparently have to do something entirely different than what they're used to do. So currently i'm doing rounds of 2.5km (1.5 mile), in four sections, running only small bits of <500m of it, and walking the rest. And the day after, my legs hurt on all kinds of different places than i was used to. (Calves mostly) And this is after building up already for a couple of weeks. The first time, i couldn't even run 500m in one go... Amazing! It's interesting how my feet land entirely different when running barefoot than on running shoes. For me the experience of this (reduced comfort) barefoot running is quite interesting. It's really taking away all the bells and whistles, and focusing on letting your body do what it's been designed to do. Let's see how it goes though... Maybe in a few weeks i'm back in my bloated cushiony shoes with layers upon layers of abstration, framework built on framework... Hmmm... Anyway; Hurray Gopher!!