The Big Shoe Debate

Got my workout in today. I did about 35 minutes of strength training, and 45 minutes on the elliptical. I'm glad it's Friday, because my arms feel like Jell-O. I have Saturday and Sunday off from strength training, but I intend to do my elliptical on those days. I took yesterday off since my body felt tired from Wednesday's mile. I was still a bit tired today on the elliptical, but I finished the 45 minutes. It was a slow 1.3 miles, but I finished it.

The Big Shoe Dilemma

I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers shoes to exercise in, but for the last month I've switched back to my tennis shoes. For now anyway. Back in the beginning of August, I experienced severe ankle pain. I'm not sure if that was from the Five Fingers shoes, or if it was because I was on my elliptical for one hour. My ankle was very swollen for about a week, and it hurt like a son of a gun to walk on it. I did not go to the doctor, as I knew I'd just be told to stay off it and take a pill. So I stayed off it, iced it, and took Aleve every day. Eventually it got better. I was tempted to see a doctor after a week and a half, and almost made an appointment, but the swelling went down finally, and it got a bit better to walk on. Just need to be patient.

So for now I'm using my tennis shoes on the elliptical. The problem I have with tennis shoes is that I end up with muscle knots in the lower portion of the right leg. Very large muscle knots that go all the way from my ankle to my knee on the outer portion of my leg.

I intend to get to one hour with my tennis shoes, and see if I have any problems with my ankle. If I don't have any issues, I will try my of Five Fingers shoes again. An additional problem I had with the Five Fingers shoes is that my toes on my left foot felt like they were cramping up after 20 minutes. I think that's because I put too much pressure on my toes when I push, as well as the shoes don't have much cushion. So I will have to experiment.

Here are today's elliptical stats.

Distance-1.3 miles
Revolutions-2288
Resistance level-1
Endurance-Good
Injury-Muscle knots in my lower right leg.
Time-45:12
1 mile time-34:22

Virtual walk website stats.

1.3 miles today
186.2 miles since April 28, 2008
1.74 miles to Charlottesville, VA, Charlottesville City county

Here is the picture for today.

I'm seeing a lot more activity on the road the closer I get to Charlottesville. More cars and buildings on the side of the road. I will most likely get into Charlottesville on Sunday. Until then, have a good day and keep moving.