Running in Joy

I want to explore the ergonomics of running.

I have always enjoyed running: sprinting for a short distance and then being done. Last fall, I vowed to learn to run long distances. So I downloaded a training program which involved gradually increasing effort. For months I followed the program meticulously, torturing myself to add a little bit of distance or time to my runs. It was working out fine for me, I was mostly keeping up with the schedule, and it allowed me to repeat days for as long as I wanted to be able to do the next level. I was mostly enjoying the runs, except occasionally when they were too hard.

Then the day arrived when the next bump up in intensity was too big for me. I did that level as specified, but I hated it!!! My inner animal cringed away from ever running again. It was a nasty anal thing to subject myself to. I know myself well enough to know that I am not going to do things that I hate doing, so I had to figure out a different way to run. So I went back to basics, and spent a couple days reading about "How to learn to run". Eventually I encountered the idea of "running in your body", in other words, paying attention to what's going on with your body, and modifying the intensity to match the body's current level of fitness. So I tried it out. My runs currently consist of alternating walking and running. Previously they were linked to a stop watch or an odometer, to specify the lengths of runs and walks. Running in my body involves paying attention to my breathing, and muscles, and letting that determine whether I'm running or walking and how far. I tried it, and really enjoyed it. Another thing I noticed, is that if I am running to my body, I am paying much more attention to the aches and pains in my body, and am less likely to run myself into an injury than if I am running to a clock.

It only took me a few runs to determine that there is an even better way for me: "Running in Joy". What I mean by that, is that I run as long as it is joyful to me. And the second that it stops being joyful, then I stop running and walk for a while. Then, in a little bit, when I feel joyful about running I run for a while again. By adopting the strategy of running in joy, every stride I ever take while running will be done in joy. If running is always a joyful activity for me, I'm likely to continue doing it. By making my runs about the joy of running, I'm paying closer attention to my gait, posture, breathing, etc. The physical motions of running became easier when I got rid of the timer. My workouts end up being more intense, even though I can't graph the intensity on a chart. So for me, the most ergonomic method of running has ended up being "Running in Joy".

Wow Joseph, I do much the same when it comes to working around my farm! I've heard others say how much they hate digging, weeding, raking, ...whatever. But I actually enjoy doing these things. But when I work, I normally work while singing a song in my head or listening to music. It becomes a joy to work with the rhythm and tempo of a song. Plus I tend to try to stay aware of how my body is moving, my posture, my balance. Thus I can get an amazing amount of work done without being as muscle sore afterward as one would expect.

I've never been a good runner and can't say I enjoy it, but I do enjoy working hard on my farm. I'm actually HAPPY when I'm working!

That's a great technique Joseph. I read a few days ago that being overweight can change the dopamine receptors in the brain in a way that means those people don't experience the same reward for physical activity that others do. This could be a great way to help those people starting out. I've also read that the opposite may be true for those with anorexia nervosa that exercise excessively.

I do something somewhat similar on my exercise bike, but instead of joy, my gauge is how much I sweat! That way I can get off before I'm dripping with sweat, cool down and go again. It made starting back on the bike after a break much more pleasant.

A couple of years ago, I adopted the philosophy of working in joy on the farm. As an example, weeding became "pole dancing". I stopped doing any activity if it was causing stress to me. "Work" became play, and I started flowing from activity to activity to stay in the joy instead of slaving away at the same thing for hours on end. I feel chagrined that I didn't adopt that same sort of attitude when I started running.

Joseph,

Don't know if you've ever come across this book which was a best-seller and an interesting read:  https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307279189/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1483664149&sr=1-1

A section in the book covers some of the work of Scott Carrier who wrote a smaller work pondering the human ability to run down certain types of game:   https://www.amazon.com/Running-After-Antelope-Scott-Carrier/dp/1582431795/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483663919&sr=1-1&keywords=running+after+antelope

Carrier lived in a house in "the Avenues" of Salt Lake City next to a rental I lived in and at the time, this work only seemed like a remote idea to him.  But he tapped the expertise of a professor at the University there whose name escapes me but who was knowledgeable about the mechanics and energetics of locomotion in humans and other mammals.  As with you and Sue Ba, I agree that there is just as much to be obtained from joyful exercise than the blood, sweat, and tears version.  No doubt the latter is often needed for competitive athletics, but for most other healthy endeavors what you describe is more than adequate and more often better for the attitude.

John: Wow! I can't imagine ever wanting to run a marathon, but I could aspire to running down an antelope. I was wondering if I should have put this in the "Ancestral Skills" forum...

Craig Overend wrote:I read a few days ago that being overweight can change the dopamine receptors in the brain in a way that means those people don't experience the same reward for physical activity that others do. This could be a great way to help those people starting out.

Hmmm, yes and ... maybe ... no?

I've been overweight my whole life and I once wrote a long rant at someone on another forum who was smugly posting the whole propaganda of "vigorous exercise is wonderful and feels so good, all you fat people should just try it one time and you'll get hooked like me" as if exercise was obviously something we'd been too stupid to ever try.  Despite that being a touchy point for me, this was clearly not that, and so I was reading Joseph's post with interest because it's philosophically appealing to me.  But I was wondering "how does he ever feel any joy through the pain?"  Because I experience any hard exercise as pain, pretty much from the first moment that I begin it.  Walking or any light work at my own pace is fine, but about the time I start breathing harder than is comfortable my muscles begin to hurt in a deeply aversive way.  No matter how much I do, the pain only gets worse; and there's never an "endorphin high" nor any relief until the activity stops, my breathing regulates, and my muscles have five or ten minutes to recover.  At no time does it ever feel remotely "good".

At times in my life I've done entire structured exercise programs over periods of months, designed to promote weight loss or general health.  Walking works, and weight lifting at fairly low intensities, but anything much more vigorous was unremitting misery until I said fuckit. As Joseph put it, "It was a nasty anal thing to subject myself to." And I actually gained weight, because sustained misery makes my mental food issues (a major factor in my obesity) worse and much harder to manage.  (The ugly truth about obesity is that many well-meaning suggestions for making it better actually make it worse, because of complicated multi-factor feedback loops of that sort.)

All that said, I wonder if there's a way to adapt Joseph's "running in joy" scheme somehow.  I pretty much lose all joy when my stride breaks out of a walk, but there may be another activity that I could do in joy at high intensity for short intervals that could lengthen as I build stamina.  Machete work is the first thing that comes to mind, but I'm not sure deliberately increasing pace/intensity of that makes proper safety sense.  I've got to think about this!

Dan: My first run in recent years was 100 feet. Then I was done for a week. That was probably too long...

A few days ago, I dropped a blender on my foot. I knew I had hurt my shin, because there was a huge gouge out of my skin. When I started running today, I didn't get 3 steps before my foot was complaining in pain. So I stopped running and walked about 100 feet. Then I ran another 3 steps, and quit because of pain. It took about six repetitions of that before the pain went away and I could start running normally. If it had continued to pain me, I would have walked a couple miles instead of running.

I'm sure enjoying "runner's high". I don't get more runner's high by running longer distances. At least for me at this time I get the endorphin high with not much effort.

I could imagine "Chopping Wood In Joy".

I was a long distance runner from the time I was a kid until my arthritis got to bad in my back just before I retired from the Marines. The only time running sucked for me was usually the morning after a wee bit too much indulgence in "adult beverages". I never did feel pain when I ran, it was always, as Joseph has called it here, "running with Joy". That always made it a fun thing for me to do. I was told once that I had a natural runner's posture, guess that helped, but I think it had more to do with the "running with Joy" than anything else. Nowadays, my knees and back are completely unappreciative of any efforts to run, but I think "walking with Joy" could be a good thing.

Good for you all who can feel joy when running. I'm walking with Dan and working with Su Ba. I've never gotten an ounce of joy from running.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Dan: My first run in recent years was 100 feet. Then I was done for a week. That was probably too long...

A few days ago, I dropped a blender on my foot. I knew I had hurt my shin, because there was a huge gouge out of my skin. When I started running today, I didn't get 3 steps before my foot was complaining in pain. So I stopped running and walked about 100 feet. Then I ran another 3 steps, and quit because of pain. It took about six repetitions of that before the pain went away and I could start running normally. If it had continued to pain me, I would have walked a couple miles instead of running.

Thanks for the data.  It helps; I had gathered/assumed you were running joyfully a bit more from the get-go.  

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:I'm sure enjoying "runner's high". I don't get more runner's high by running longer distances. At least for me at this time I get the endorphin high with not much effort.

This is the part that makes me wonder about differing human physiologies.  In my life I've done a whole lot of different high-intensity exercises at different durations, from running to shlepping moose meat up a mountain to placer mining with pick and shovel.  And I've never experienced the faintest hint of anything like what is described as an endorphin high under any circumstances.  I'm 98% certain that it's not a thing that happens in my body.

My first dog inspired me to start running for fun, or for joy.  To begin with, walking her was a chore.  Eventually I learned some dog training techniques that made her more receptive to me--and less annoying--and walking gradually became something I looked forward to as much as she did.  Over time, I realized that she didn't just love to walk, she loved to run!  And she could just do it nearly constantly, with no seeming effort.  I decided that if she could do it, there was no reason I couldn't.

I began running with her, rather than just walking.  I was doing it for fun, so I didn't push myself.  To begin with, I'd run for about 30 seconds and then walk for about five minutes to catch my breath.  I didn't run every day.  I would run maybe twice a week, and walk the other times.  My dog ran the whole time--really showed me up!  Eventually, over the course of a few months I got to the point where I would run the whole way.  If it was painful, I'd slow to a walk;  I was really proud of myself when I got to the point where I could just slow my running to catch my breath.  I didn't need to stop or walk--it was great!

I started running as my dog was getting older;  she gradually got slower and there came a day when she couldn't keep up with me.  Without my running partner, I stopped running.  She died not long after, and I haven't run for fun since, sadly.

Dan Boone wrote:
This is the part that makes me wonder about differing human physiologies.  In my life I've done a whole lot of different high-intensity exercises at different durations, from running to shlepping moose meat up a mountain to placer mining with pick and shovel.  And I've never experienced the faintest hint of anything like what is described as an endorphin high under any circumstances.  I'm 98% certain that it's not a thing that happens in my body.

Dan, I hear ya.  I've been a competitive athlete and have never experienced anything at all pleasant when running or doing endurance type activities,  I did that sort of training purely because I had to.  I can't really give you a very helpful answer, but I have found that I really like just walking in the woods.  Maybe you could try that, whether you have land or on trails in a park or somewhere.  I think Joseph is right on with his idea of doing it as long as you are enjoying it, and I would slow down or take a break as soon as it became "work".  I know there are runners that really turn inwards and get in touch with running itself, but for me, I would rather walk somewhere that I could watch the birds and smell the plants and breath the fresh air.  A dog is the perfect companion for this because they don't care how fast or how slow you go, if you take breaks, if you stop to look at something, whatever.  I'm at a point in my life now where I simply won't do something if I hate it.

Galadriel, I'm sorry you lost your friend.  

I love this thread.  

I've really been enjoying reading about ancestral skills as it relates to running and speculations about human history and anatomy in regards to long-distance running. So I've been fantasizing about running barefoot. The last few times I ran temperatures were around the negative teens, so I kept my shoes on. Today however it was a rain/snow mix, so I took my shoes off and ran barefoot. Oh my heck! That added a whole new dimension of joy to running.

A few years ago when I started running as an adult, I was doing it while walking the dog. After a couple months, I became disappointed when she couldn't keep up with me any longer. I always thought that dogs were supposed to be able to outrun people.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
I've really been enjoying reading about ancestral skills as it relates to running and speculations about human history and anatomy in regards to long-distance running. So I've been fantasizing about running barefoot. The last few times I ran temperatures were around the negative teens, so I kept my shoes on. Today however it was a rain/snow mix, so I took my shoes off and ran barefoot. Oh my heck! That added a whole new dimension of joy to running.

I just figured out you use the word "joy" the way I use the word "agony"  

Todd: Hee, hee. I really like disintermediation, so whenever I can engage in an activity that eliminates a middle-man then that tends towards joy for me. So in this case, I have figured out that it's possible to eliminate the shoe-maker. Running without shoes is quieter, and easier on my body. Takes less effort to run without having weights attached to my legs. After all, I am well adapted to going barefoot.

A number of the members of my local tribe go barefoot most of the year, even running barefooted. I've been admiring them from afar. Now I am becoming fully integrated into the clan that runs without shoes.

Yep,....as you noted, Joseph, barefoot is the ancestral condition and tends to keep posture for all activities in a better position.  Don't know if you've ever come across these shoes below, but they may be of interest if you want to run when the soles of your feet would be compromised.  They are a bit hard to get into in my opinion, but feel awfully nice once they are on.  Good soles for more ugly terrain.  It's a techno-fix that is needed only if you begin to find true barefoot running/living to be problematic.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
A few years ago when I started running as an adult, I was doing it while walking the dog. After a couple months, I became disappointed when she couldn't keep up with me any longer. I always thought that dogs were supposed to be able to outrun people.

It turns out there's a huge diversity by breed in canine distance endurance.  

We have a rescue dog we suspect may be part Rhodesian Ridgeback.  So I paused the other day to watch a segment about that breed on a silly "Dogs 101" TV show that was running through basic info on popular breeds.  Ridgebacks were bred to hunt lions and they apparently have really tough feet and astonishing endurance.  The show segment featured a marathon runner who runs with her Ridgebacks; she says one of them gives her a dirty look when she stops after 26 miles because the dog wants to keep going.  

I can't say if it's true because our rescue dog got run over as a pup and has a busted-up hip that's getting arthritic at age six, so she prefers marathon sleeping sessions on a comfy bed.  Plus she's not more than half Ridgeback at best, with the rest being the usual local mixed up pitbull and hunting dog genes.

I have accumulated  20 miles running since I started running after Thanksgiving, and 43 miles walking. I have only ran in joy since I decided that every step would be done in joy. Running barefoot sometimes has really helped with my gait, and with paying attention to my body. It has really improved the ergonomics of running, and brings me closer to an ancestral way of being. I am far ahead of where I would have been if I was following the training program that I was using. I'm paying close attention to my body, and if something hurts, I stop. No sense running myself into an injury.

Fantastic thread.
I was morbidly obese most of my adult life. Its only been the last five years that I have been able to experience life at normal weight. I was probably more fit at 300 lbs than I am now, because I was Always working my ass off trying to lose weight.  And it was NOT a joyful experience... Running 5k at 300 pounds with a medical condition that causes chronic pain.  And I definitely never got any positive "runner high". I got shin splints and pain in my jaw and teeth because I clenched my teeth everytime i ran. Fun times.

I love this philosophy of doing everything in joy.  I have been feeling really burned out after five years of working the farm alone.  I used to love it. Lately its feeling like drudgery and I am having a hard time getting myself out there. Maybe if I can wrap my mind around making it fun again, things will improve.

Becoming a runner has sure helped me with my spring planting!!! My fields are large. The smallest rows I plant are 50 feet, the longest rows are 350 feet. To plant, I walk up and down the rows over and over again: Weeding before planting, pulling a string, digging furrows, planting, covering furrows, stomping furrows a few times, repeating over and over again.  It's typically been a trudge for me. Plodding along one foot after the other. This spring, my planting is a joy! Since Thanksgiving, when I started running, I've ran 38 miles, and walked more than 63. So moving in the garden has become easy for me.

And, I've really been enjoying the costumes that I wear for running. They are so easy to move in that I've even been wearing easy-motion clothing while working in the garden. They make moving much easier than the jeans I wore last year for planting. Sure, if I'm pruning trees, I still put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved canvas work-shirt. Besides, I love showing off my calf and leg muscles!

While I'm updating, I'm still running barefoot sometimes.

Additionally, I found a pair of shoes that mimics barefoot running really well. A plain old pair of canvas sneakers. The sole is thin. They don't have a raised heel. I feel the pebbles underfoot, and the shoes are extremely flexible, so that my feet feel the unevenness of the trail and adjust accordingly.

Lucky you can run. I've never been a runner, just can't for any distance. I can walk. Boy can I walk. I can even powerwalk. I can 'walk' a mile faster than I can run it. The doctor hung a fitbit on me as part of managing my health and I have to walk at least five miles and climb 10 flights of stairs (it only counts UP not down) a day. I usually do six and 15. My records of the last three years are 25.76 miles in one day and 177 flights of stairs. I've done over 100 about 40 times.

If I had to hunt I'd be the one that walked to the site, settled in brush/blind, and shoot or surprise my dinner. Or if in a group, would be a beater (flush or chase/herd stuff) to the hunters. My hips, knees, ankles and feet just won't take the running. Love your gear, Joseph, you look pinup. The other alternative is taught to troops to cover ground without tiring yourself horrendously. It's walk 100 paces, then run 100 paces, then repeat. It keeps you moving, lets you 'rest' between runs, and lets you cover a lot of ground. Now that I'm fully into spring work my fitbit totals are not hard at all to exceed.

My ankles are the reason I have had to wear FLATS and I do mean flat shoes, my whole life. I get a bare minimum slipon to wear outside and in public and usually they are thin sole and let me feel the terrain, and I am a toe-deployer, they do get used to help me balance and walk. I used to go barefoot everywhere and had titanium callouses that could survive small amounts of broken glass, or stickers or afternoon asphalt (for short distances). I am barefoot yet any place I can be, but outside because of caltrop thorns (goatshead) and cockleburs, I am shod.

Running helps your wind, being able to breathe well, too. If you can run, great. I have the 'Russian ballerina' legs. Furry (I do NOT mow, it's mosquito early detection radar), fairly sturdy, and will go for hours.

It is great Joseph that you are running and running in a joyful manner seems like a great idea! I completed a marathon a couple years ago (even came in first in my age group) but I have struggled to keep running as a consistent part of my life. I'm now trying to get back into running and currently running 2 or 3 days a week and trying to bike a couple other days. I find I like my runs fine once I'm out and moving but don't often feel motivated to get out the door. The marathon was a pain to train for and it took a lot of time but in the end I was done after 3 or 4 months of running consistently and following a training schedule. But once I finished it I lost the motivation to keep running and it just went downhill from there. I'm now trying to focus on building the habit of running so that I will eventually look forward to it! My parents are big runners and have each run multiple marathons and my Dad even did a 100 mile race! They told me that it took a full year of running consistently (5 days running, 2 rest days) before they were in the habit of it and actually started to miss it when they did not go for a run. They are both in their mid to upper 60s (been running since they were in their 30s) and both run a fair bit and my Dad is talking about doing another 100 mile run! So despite being twice my age they can out run me in terms of distance - I hope to change that this year! So keep up with it and try to not take long breaks since it can be difficult to build a good habit. That is my goal for the year - run consistently for a whole year and then start thinking about building distance, etc.

Anyways, I wish you luck with your running and I hope that you keep finding joy in it!

I teach a point that I picked up from the CHEK Institute. The first 3 letters of functional are FUN. If an activity is not fun it is probably not being done in a functional way.
Forcing yourself to continue doing it the same way usually means you are strengthening a disfunction.
I strongly disagree with other health care professionals that instruct their clients to do a certain number of repetitions or do an activity for a set time.
Joseph's thread is an excellent example of listening to your body and letting it teach you to find joy in your work.
Discussing this forum I wrote:

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
Seems to me like having a forum called "ergonomics" encourages people to think about the topic. I suppose that merging it's threads into another forum would make the topic of ergonomics pretty much disappear from permies.

Erg is a measure of work onomics would indicate conservation of that energy so the topic is about working efficiently.  In health care it means efficiently using your body to  avoid injury.
In the scythe forum I have tried to cover both aspects' getting more done with less work or injury.
So it fits under both self care and getting more done.

Hans Quistorff wrote:I teach a point that I picked up from the CHEK Institute. The first 3 letters of functional are FUN. If an activity is not fun it is probably not being done in a functional way.
Forcing yourself to continue doing it the same way usually means you are strengthening a disfunction.

When I started getting better at running, I was running myself toward an injury... Over-strengthening the piriformis muscle relative to other hip muscles... So when it started paining me, I stopped running for about 10 days, to let it heal, and to do the research necessary to figure out how to avoid it in the future. The cure was easy enough, I started mixing things up... Running on sloped and uneven ground, twirling during the walking portions of my runs, walking backwards, walking sideways, crossing over my feet while walking, walking pigeon toed and bow-legged, walking in ditches to traverse super uneven terrain, yoga, stretches, crawling on the floor or up stairs, standing on one leg while putting on my shoes, etc... Not by any formula, but just adding a lot of different types of motions to my daily life, to generally strengthen all my muscles... Running barefoot helped. I am getting way flexible. Feet, ankle, and pelvis joints really move these days. It's weird sometimes when a joint starts moving again that has been mostly immobilized for decades.

One of the favorite parts of my running is along a ditchbank. There is a ledge half way down to the water that is just wider than my feet. I run pell-mell along that ledge with arms flailing for balance. Maybe one of these days, I'll end up in the drink, but not yet!!!

Joseph, one stretch I still do:

Sit on a stool, bar height. Hook your heels on the foot rail. Sit in front of a flat surface. Put your heels together, swing your knees out and try to become one with that flat surface.

I had done this for about a year at a place I worked at, so several times, equaling an about a hour per shift. It hurt a first but after a few months I could sit literally flat to that cabinet or wall. A few months later I quit that job but slipped and fell at a fast food job. Holding a full sheet cake pan of 15# of baked sausage. I did the full splits. Right leg forward left leg backwards. Perfect split to floor. NO icy cold/hot streaks that indicated that I had exceeded what my body could do and rip up something in my groin. First time I've ever done splits to the floor. Someone looked at me and asked what they could do for me, and I said 'take the sausage pan'. Which was 15# plus the heavy business grade. I did then roll to the right, fold up legs, get up, and be alright without the sharp stabbing pain  Good Luck.

Sit on a stool, bar height. Hook your heels on the foot rail. Sit in front of a flat surface. Put your heels together, swing your knees out and try to become one with that flat surface.

Because of the difference between male and female pelvis it may not be good to swing the knees out as much.  If it is tight below the buttocks gradually try to get the knees closer together 2 seconds at a time. This allows a longer forward stride without a bowlegged appearance.
The muscle that properly lifts the leg when running or walking is attache to the front of the low back spine.  If it is too short from sitting the low back arches too much when standing. if it is not used enough to be strong the low back will tend to be too flat.

I have now accumulated more than 50 miles running, and 80 miles walking. The running has become easy. Legs work great. Breathing  is easy. I'm running about 1.2 miles when I go running. That's much easier on me than the first hundred yards. I have transitioned over about 4 months to doing all of my running barefoot.

I was a hardcore runner in high school. When I was 17, I used to run 10 to 12 miles most nights. I didn't reach a point of exhaustion or anything unpleasant. Then right around the time I turned 18,  I got thinking about it and decided that I will need my hips, ankles and knees for a long time. I stopped running and haven't returned to it.

I'm still an athlete, but a much more mixed athlete. Demolishing houses and doing tree work gives me plenty of opportunity to exercise. I still run for short bursts, if I need to get over a small body of water or heave something heavy and have it land in the desired location. My daughter who is pushing 30 noted that I am still quite a bit faster than her. She was wondering when she might catch up. I told her that this seems to be my speed, not fast enough to win at the Olympics but fast enough to beat her for the next 20 years at least.

One of the best things about running is that you get the heart and lungs going for a long enough period, to have a real conditioning effect on the heart and the rest of the body. When working at something like digging, sledge-hammering or loading a truck with firewood, I try to do it at a pace where I will still experience intensity of that nature.

I don't think it's usually possible to make a good runner out of a bad one. Either you're the right body type or not. Beyond height and weight things there's also lung capacity. I have a high lung capacity and a low diaphragm. I'm a belly breather. I know a Somalian woman who is about five feet six and 95 lb. Long legs, short torso. With no training whatsoever, she could beat the majority of our planet's women and men in a distance race.

Definitely good to do at least 30 minutes of sustained cardio every day, for maximum health andfitness. Running is great. Biking is also great. In addition, bikes are a great tool for basic transportation and hauling things.

I've always found that the most effortless way to get in some fun-running is to chase things.  Soccar/footballs are a worldwide standby to engage that primal pathway.  A partner leading me well with a frisbee puts me into some kind of trance, like I don't notice a thing but the chase until after so many throws I'm gasping as hard as I can for air and I can sense my legs burning so that I'm guessing one more dash for a long bomb will make them give way...time to have a seat and recover for a few minutes.

Some 'runners' would be inclined to say, you're not running, you're playing frisbee.  Or whatever.  You most definitely are running!  I also think that start and stop movement, changing direction for bad passes and whatnot, the varied motion in general is much better for the body in the sense of fatigue injuries that steadily accumulate until you are all but disabled in late middle or older age.  Running so many miles so regularly and pushing it so hard, after a decade of it you've consumed the cartilage in your knees.  Marathoners, I know 2 such people.    Where as if you do it just enough, with that nutrition and rest, the cartilage in your knees is just as thick and more resilient than before you started with the physical activity.  

People tend to set a goal, like, "I'm going to run a marathon"  and then they give themselves a few months to train for it.  I think that unless you already have some past Tarahumara dedication in you, you need about a decade of practice and proper rest, to work your way up to that many miles without also consuming your cartilage.  People also like to talk of how many miles they run, so they try to make it closer to 10 or more, to be more impressive.  Doing 1-2 miles as quickly as you can has a lot of pros as compared to that long distance.  I think most importantly, it takes less than 10 minutes to quickly run yourself to near-collapse (if you don't count the minutes you are going to gasp for air afterwards.)  There's pretty much no excuse not to find that kind of time, especially if you suspect that pulse of inner fire and sweat does as much to maintain the body as clean eating...Quality over quantity.  And the faster the pace, the finer dat

I just went on a roughly 20 minute 'run in joy'. It felt amazing! I'm already fairly in shape, but I also have been having issues with my knees and feet. I really got a workout, but also felt like I was paying more attention to my body. I didn't run barefoot, though. I live in an area that isn't very conducive to bare feet. Maybe next time, though. Thank you, Joseph! Looking forward to my next run.

I continue to run barefoot. It becomes more joyful all the time, as I get better and better at it. I'm running about a mile per day. And walk about a mile per day while warming up and cooling down. My footfalls are light. Breathing is easy.  I learned Pose Method of running. Wow! What a difference. To those of you that run, I highly recommend learning Pose Method.

5 months ago, when I made my last post to this thread, I reported that I was doing all of my running barefooted, and that I had transitioned slowly over 4 months. Ha! Not slowly enough. The skin on my feet adapted quickly, but calves, tendons, and joints were much slower to adapt, and I was running myself towards injury. So I slowed down, took breaks, and backed off on distance.  I changed my gait for the third time since I took up running. My gait today is more like prancing. Feet land approximately under my center of mass, never in front of me. Arms do not swing, except as required to counterbalance sudden shifts in position to avoid hazards. Legs move the bare minimum necessary to make a step.

Since my last post, joints in my feet and ankles that were previously somewhat immobile have become more flexible. My calves and Achilles tendon lengthened. I slowed down in order to give them time to adjust and loosen up.  Running in joy means that I pay close attention to my body, and don't try to force myself to go longer/faster/more until I can do it easily and joyfully. I love how my toes continue to spread apart since they have been freed from shoes. A couple of hammer toes that I had are straightening out and restoring themselves to proper alignment. I'm not dragging them on the ground any more and wearing the skin off them. I am very graceful these days, and have great balance. I used to think I was clumsy. I'm not, it was just shoes interfering with my ability to know where I am in relation to the ground.

My feet didn't get calluses on them and lose sensitivity. The calluses that I had from wearing shoes disappeared. Thick, lumpy cracked areas on my heels and balls of feet are gone. The skin on the bottom of my feet became soft, and more sensitive. So I still feel the sharpness of walking on chip-n-seal asphalt. I just don't care, cause I know it won't hurt me.

The weather turned cold 3 months ago. I continue to traipse barefoot around town and farm. I'm planning my days so that I do outside activities during the afternoon, when it's warmer.

I pick up a thistle spine from time to time, and this time of year the goathead caltrops seed pods are a daily hazard. Once in a while I step on other plant parts that poke me.

These days I live to run. Perhaps I also run to live. Last time my blood pressure was measured, it was 100/58. That's the best it has been in decades. My resting pulse rate is around 50 bpm. I love the definition in my legs. It's nice to have a prominent butt for the first time in my life.

Running brings me a tremendous amount of joy. I am flooded with feel-good endorphins every time I run, no matter how short the distance.

The day after Thanksgiving marks the one year anniversary of my first run. So it seems like as good a time as any to give a progress report. My recorded mileage to date is 99.4 miles. I ran more than that, but for the purposes of this post, if it wasn't recorded, it didn't happen. The next time I go running, I'll have documented 100 miles!!!

About 2/3 of that was done barefoot, and all of my running and walking since about May has been done barefoot. I documented 133 miles walking as warm up and cool down.

Things I've learned? Transition slowly. No, I mean even slower than that. My soles adjusted quickly to barefoot walking and running on rough surfaces. It was the tendons, and calf muscles that took a long time to adjust. I had to pay close attention to my body to minimize injury. I flirted plenty of times with over-training, and over-doing it. I threw away the training schedules. These days I run "in my body", and only when it feels great to run. I could run much further than I do, but I choose to stop running while it is still joyful.

I basically learned to run three times during the past year. Once in shoes. Once barefoot. Then finally barefoot with easy to maintain gait and pace. These days footfalls are light, and breathing is calm and gentle.

I love the time that has been freed up because I don't have to put shoes on or wash and sort socks. I love the stamina and endurance I now have when working on the farm. I really really love the endorphins that flood my body with even the shortest run -- best psychotherapy I ever experienced.

I am not attempting to "push" myself in any way regarding running. I only run in joy. The instant a run becomes non-joyful due to pains, or attitude, or whatever, is the instant that I stop running. Since I adopted that attitude last winter, every step I have taken while running has been joyful.

I am the same weight as I was when I started running. I lost pant sizes, and gained muscle in calves, thighs, and butt. I received a couple of "best legs" awards during my acting days. It would be well earned now if I were to receive another. I love how my legs look!

My blood pressure is the lowest it has been in my memory: 100/58 with a resting pulse rate around 50.

I'm currently running about a mile per day, and walking a mile per day. I love, love, love to run. Words barely touch at the joy that fills my soul while running.

Congratulations to you, Joseph!  I'm one of those idiots that ran 100-mile races - usually the back of the pack - but that is where the fun is!  Love stopping to talk with folks, aid station helpers, explore new trails, test my limits, learn more about myself each time.  Sometimes the joy does leave, but it always returns, especially when you finish, it returns in multitudes!  I started off as you did and just gradually went farther and farther.  I'm slowing and going shorter distances now that I am almost sixty, but still love the thrill of going places few others have seen, heard, or smelled.  And I bet your barefoot running has made your balance much better than anyone else your age.  It's great feeling the stones and roots massaging your feet - like free reflexology therapy! Enjoy!!