my new shoes by giveawayboy, on Flickr

Some of the oldest posts on this blog are about running. I have such a love-hate relationship with that activity. I no longer aspire to any kind of distance running (my Primal sources say that’s not healthy anyway), but I’m going to run a 5K today.

In this blog post from August 2011 I talked about training with Couch to 5K podcasts. Those were great, but now that I have an iPhone I’m using apps – in particular, 10K Runner, although I don’t really expect ever to make it to 10K, and MapMyRun. This means I can use my own music or podcasts, while following a very similar program to the one I was doing before. I’m really enjoying the mapping using GPS, even though it is a serious drain on the iPhone’s battery. So much fun to see that little blue line follow the river.

An important difference is that I have not yet actually run a complete 5K in training this year, and yet I’m going to run one today. The reason I am confident that it is going to be fine is that I’ve been doing kettlebell consistently all winter, and I’m really strong now for my size. I haven’t measured my fat content but my body just feels like I’ve been dropping fat and making muscle. But that’s another blog post (and brag).

The picture is of a pair of Vibram Fivefingers shoes. I have a pair like that, but I am not planning to run in them today as they are indoor shoes. I do have a pair of more conventional-looking runners, with the same Vibram sole. I really think those fingers are just a conversation piece. Everyone comments on them in the gym, but never on the other ones with the identical sole!

Running with a thin barefoot sole is a different experience – I’ve had to change my gait, to make sure I am landing on the front of my foot instead of thumping down on my heels. I used to get the most awful shin splits, but now I don’t. Just wishing I hadn’t spent all those years and all that money buying padded shoes that were supposed to protect my feet, but instead just messed up my gait.

This run is called Women Running For Women, and is in support of cervical cancer research. I decided not to fundraise for it, as I will be bothering you soon enough for my annual Run for the Cure fundraising. Not that I actually think breast cancer is a worthier cause than cervical cancer – I’ve read all the pinkwashing stuff so I’m aware there are issues there. Maybe some year I’ll switch. But not this year.

So, if I’m not running for my health, and I’m not running to raise money for a good cause, why am I running? Good question, I’m so glad you asked.

I’m running because I can, because it makes me feel good and accomplished, just like swinging a 60 lb kettlebell 100 times, which I did last week. Also because my Lizard Brain tells me I haven’t trained, I can’t do it, blah blah blah. All the more reason to do it.

How about you, what are you planning to do that your Lizard Brain says you can’t? This week’s newsletter is going to be about more Lizardly things. I’m not going to post it in its entirety, though, at least not for a while. If you want to know, subscribe.

Happy Mother’s Day to all my fellow moms out there!