Thoughts about running

another disjointed, possibly rambling post...

My youngest brother will be in California the last weekend of July to run the San Francisco Marathon. He's been running off and on for probably 20 years. I last ran on a concrete gym floor at the local Y about 20 years ago and hurt so bad, I didn't think I would ever walk for exercise again.

Forward about 20 years and several cycles of weight gain/loss, and I discussed briefly with my brother the idea of walking a 5K next spring and he mentioned that with proper training (read slow training) I could possibly run (read this also as slow) a 5K.

Yesterday, I heard a discussion on public radio about barefoot running and the benefits of it and the drawbacks of "shod running." I spent some time this evening reading some websites about barefoot running and running in some shoes called Vibram Five Fingers. Interesting. I think I'll look into this kind of shoe and experiment with running short-really short--distances in my house on the nice smooth wood floor.

One of the differences in barefoot running is the runner doesn't necessarily land on his heel; but he might land on his forefoot or midfoot. I found this particularly interesting as I have looked at runners on the treadmills at the gym and see most of them running and landing on their heels. I've never been able to do this. It feels most awkward for me.

More things for me to think about.

Weight Watchers info for this week: Still have about 17 pounds to goal.