Returning to Running

I'm back. It feels good, but boy, what a rude awakening it is when you're able to pretty easily run for an hour or so barefoot or minimally shod and then stop running for three months, then the first time back I started to feel that telltale foot-slap after about 10 minutes or so. By foot-slap, I mean when my shock absorbers seem to fail and my feet slap down onto the ground - not a great thing to do when you're barefoot on concrete!

I've been taking it slow and gentle, resting whenever necessary and keeping it short. I actually started the week before I went to the doctor's, (yeah, I know-but I was tired of chewing the furniture,) so i've run about three times since then. My first run was about 5 minutes. For my last run I cut myself off at 30 minutes, still focusing on form and footfall, barely challenging my lungs. It's a bit frustrating, but I'll be much better off later. At least on that last run I felt a little more elastic. 

All in all, though, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It took me about a year to get the conditioning in my legs and feet just to BE barefoot, then to walk and run. That didn't actually go away. I'm still able to run without pain, but I can sense that the strength in my legs is just not what it was. My center is stronger now that the umbilical hernia is repaired, even after only 3 months, so in some ways running is actually easier. 

Here's a picture from September 26th, pausing on one of those crosswalk inclines to get a little SFMTA-sourced reflexology. :) I love those things.