Vibrams/Barfootish Running Update and Uphill Running per Dr. Tom Cowan, MD

I last blogged about my running injury here: Another Attempt to Run and a Barefoot Update. It has been almost four months since I tried again.

Two days ago a loved one experienced some pretty significant health complications. It is so maddening to not be in the same place to offer comfort! I reached my max and had to do something, so I was off and running. I ran for about 20 minutes on pavement only, because it was dark and I didn’t want to leave my neighborhood. My adrenaline was pumping so hard and I knew my cortisol levels were high. I have learned that I need to get that stress out of me ASAP, so I ran up as many hills as I could find. Due to the stress, I was running very hard and I began to wonder what was happening to my ankles. Near the end, my left foot began to protest, but I ran through it.

What would tomorrow bring? Some soreness, but not injury soreness. Just achy, you haven’t used me in awhile, muscle soreness. By day two it was gone in the ankles, but the calves are still protesting.

I know that I couldn’t have run much farther because injury was sure to come, but 20 minutes is pretty darn good. I’ll take it. My hypothesis for this success is that my ankles have strengthened because Ryan and I have started running up the hill in front of our house, per the recommendation of Dr. Tom Cowan, whom I heard speak at the Weston A. Price conference: WAP Conference – Heart Health with Dr. Tom Cowan, MD. It isn’t a long hill, but it is fairly steep and running all out on the hill four times in a row winds us pretty well. Ryan, who dusts me every time, is noticing improvements. It is amazing how fast he gets up that hill! I am not seeing improvements in myself, although I am very happy with how fast my recovery time is. Overall it is a good activity. We haven’t worked out together since Colson was born almost eight years ago, so this has been especially fun.