But I shudder at the thought of what would occur if the small legion of parents at Mineola high school caught wind of the words and pictures I intended to publish exclusively for my blog fans--my flog bans.
One day in high school, perhaps sophomore year, I decided to open an umbrella indoors. It's funny to me how that sounds like a figure of speech but it's not. That very day, I was called into the principle's office to discuss pictures I had uploaded onto Yahoo of a recent party. Granted, these pictures featured under-aged debauchery in many forms, but I was still very surprised to hear that my pictures had been viewed by the majority of the PTA and that I had no choice but to remove them immediately.
So not only was I made to cower before the superstition of umbrellas ever-since, but I've also had to learn how to censor myself over the years, which I believe this blog to be an excellent practice of. When you write for a faceless and numberless crowd, since the crowd is formidable in size, your voice really changes.
But I came here today to once again review Vibram's Five Finger KSO model since after a bit of research, and a bit more usage, my feelings towards them have changed.
I seem to have overlooked the website: "Motion studies demonstrate that when running barefoot, one naturally lands on the forefoot, directly below your center of gravity. This results in optimum balance, increased stability, less impact, and greater propulsion. According to Dr. Ivo Waerlop of the Vibram Biomechanics Advisory Board, 'Running in FiveFingers improves agility, strength, and equilibrium, plus it delivers sensory feedback that allows runners to make immediate corrections in their form. This greatly improves running efficiency.'"
The "forefoot" is key here. The "balls" of your feet. Having lived twenty-three years, I've just come to realize, yesterday, that I've been running "improperly". I suppose I considered breathlessly clomping around in my running shoes to be the proper method, and shoes such as in the Nike "Shox" line only helped to reinforce this conception.
I talked to a friend who has participated in numerous marathons about this and he seemed ambivalent about proper-foot striking. It's a personal preference, I'm certain, but there is some science to this.
Turns out, those Five-Finger shoes I purchased are just fine for the pavement. It's when you strike with your entire foot that it becomes a painful experience. The first time I jogged three miles with the KSO model, I remember every muscle below my knee throbbing, as if I had never worked them out before.
But now, after having jogged using only the forefoot strike, I'm dealing with incredibly sore calf muscles since I didn't stop jogging when they felt uncomfortable. If you're considering jogging as a hobby, which I recommend, I'd look into the nuances of pronation before selecting appropriate footwear. Pronation is the rotational movement of your foot.
There's a lot more to this running thing than I thought.
