The Difficulties some Children Face

We all have difficulties to face.  I often find it helps me to look at people who have much worse troubles than I do.  Then my own challenges do not seem hard to face at all.  One of the children from St. Charles taught me that lesson recently.  For the sake of her privacy, I will call her Amy.  Amy has lived at St. Charles for more than 4 years.  She received a brain injury early in life, and as a result has some developmental delays.  Her behaviors are very difficult to manage, to say the least.  But like many difficult children, Amy has a loving side.  What she has wanted, more than anything else in the world, is a family.  Over the years she has watched friends come and go at St. Charles.  No other child living at the Home right now has lived there as long as Amy has.

The good news finally came about a month ago:  The perfect family had been found!  They had adopted kids with disabilities in the past, and had the skill to work with Amy and  her disabilities.  Amy was on the top of the world.  Whenever she would meet anyone, the first thing she would say was, "I have a family!"  The sisters and staff shared her excitement, because this family really was a perfect match for Amy.

Then the family experienced an unexpected and shocking tragedy and the situation obliged them to have to move far away.  They could not continue in the process of adopting Amy.  This was not the family's fault:  no one could have foreseen the events that forced them to change their plans.  Since saying goodbye to that family, Amy now says, "Maybe some day some family will take me."  She still has some hope.

Since coming to St. Charles 21 years ago, I have seen situations like this over and over.  I can say with confidence that some day I will be writing another blog post about Amy, talking about the new family that the state found for her.  I am sure in the end the sisters will be able to look back on this interrupted placement and recognize good that came out of the fact that Amy had to wait longer for a family.  But try to explain that to a child.  Amy's is  a story in progress.  Her story reminded me this week to be deeply grateful for my own family, and for the stability I had as a child. So many children have no idea what it is like to live in a loving family.

5 Mile Walk around Lake Miramar in Vibram Fivefingers

I decided to take my Vibrams on a longer walk today.  I chose Lake Miramar because it is a paved trail, but also has a dirt trail closer to the water that walkers may choose to use.  The loop around the lake is 5 miles.  I was going to bring a backpack with an alternative pair of shoes if things were to get rough with the Vibrams, but then I decided I would tough it out . . . I am glad I did.  The walk went well, but I did learn a few things.

1.  I was concerned about the blisters I got on the back of each foot from my first walk earlier in the week.  I did some internet searching and found someone who used duct tape to protect his feet from blisters in the Vibrams.  This idea is right up my alley:  much cheaper than band aids.  So I tried it today.  I cut the tape about 3 inches long, and then put a rectangle of paper towel in the middle so the adhesive would not stick to the sensitive part of my foot where the blisters are.  This worked like a charm!  The tape stuck fine, and gave real protection from the chafing from the shoes.  After the walk, it came off easily.  The blisters did not get aggravated at all in the 5 mile walk.  I am hoping I can build my feet up not to need this kind of intervention, but for now this is great.  I am also resisting the idea of wearing Injinji socks for the time being.  I really want to see if I can manage the blisters and become able to wear these without socks.  We'll see.

2.  So I conquered the blister problem, but by the end of 5 miles I found my heels were chaffed.  They actually were burning at the end of my walk!  I don't know what to make of that yet.  As this week proceeds I will come back and add comments to this post to report on how long the chafing lasted.  Hmmm.  I hope I don't wake up tomorrow walking on two blisters on the bottom of each heel!  The article I cited in my last post says "Let your skin be your guide" because when you protect your skin, you protect everything underneath. My chaffed heels give me a sense of that today.

3. Lake Miramar has a dirt trail closer to the water.  I walked about a mile on the dirt trail today.  It is pretty rocky in places, so this gave me a good idea of what trail hiking in my Vibrams will be like.  I was amazed at how much more taxing this was for my legs.  When I take these on my first real mountain trail, I will definitely be taking an alternative pair of shoes and will not attempt more than a mile on the trail to start.  I have to build myself up to this!

In conclusion, I got the Vibrams as part of my long term program to become a runner once again.  Since I cannot do any aerobic exercise at this point, I am working on building my strength.  I love walking and hiking anyway, and the Vibrams seem like a great way to get more out of my walks and hikes.  I am not disappointed, even with the blisters and chafing.  After all, if I had attempted to walk this 5 miles in literal bare feet today, I probably would not have made it more than 100 yards.

First Impressions of Vibram Fivefingers

When my Vibram Fivefingers arrived in the mail on Monday, I was eager to put them on.  I have read, however, that wearing them too much too soon can cause muscle pain, etc., because our feet become weak from years of wearing shoes.  So, I have used a lot of restraint this first week with the Vibrams.  There is a good article about getting started in Vibrams here.

First of all, they are fun!  My first walk was for 45 minutes on a flat, paved surface.  My feet felt nice and snug and warm.  When I ordered, I opted for the KSOs because they cover the top of the foot.  I will be using these for hiking on trails and in the woods, so I wanted a way to keep pine needles, twigs and pebbles out.  Also, even though I am living in San Diego for another year to study, my real home is in New Hampshire and I wanted them to be reasonably warm.  I looked at the Flows for warmth, but decided that since I am in San Diego right now the KSOs were the best choice for me.

I have not experienced cramps or leg pains since wearing the Vibrams.  I think that is because I am starting slowly and because I have been doing long barefoot walks indoors to prepare for these.  My muscles went through the initial cramps a few weeks ago when I started walking barefoot.  I have had the Vibrams since Monday, but have only walked in them twice.  I am taking seriously the advice on different websites to start slowly!  My only trouble so far has been a small blister on the back of each heel.  That seems to be because I had the strap too tight the first day.  The second day I kept the strap a lot looser and fared better with the blisters.  I am looking forward to my first walk on a trail with these.  Flat pavement is one thing, but rocky trails are another.  I will be sure to report on how it goes!

A bit more on barefoot running

We may become barefoot running nuns yet!  My Vibram Fivefingers are on their way, and next week I hope to start short outdoor walks in them.  Meanwhile I have been doing indoor walking barefoot, some days up to three miles in one workout.  So, I am on my way to being a barefoot "walking nun."  My plan is to be used to barefoot  already as I ease back into running over the next several months.  (I am still waiting for the doc's approval to start running again, but he was very enthusiastic about my barefoot hiking plan.)

Sister Maximilan is also interested.  Since she runs eight miles a day right now (she runs two groups of kids, 4 miles each group) barefoot will be a slow, careful transition for her.  She's waiting for my reports on the Vibram Fivefingers before she makes her decision.

To learn more about barefoot running I have embedded Bordon Pirie's book at the bottom of this blog.  The book apparently never went to print, but I have found it to be highly recommended to understand how the body was made to run.  Unfortunately I have not had time yet to read it myself, but I will definitely post on it when I have read it.  

The link to the book is here.

Tweeting Nun

I have been in New Hampshire the past 2 1/2 weeks and am ashamed that I have not written a blog post.  There is so much I have to accomplish in my short weeks here, and so little time . . . Well, since someone else wrote up this nice article I thought I would share it here.  It tells the story of how I got started in Social Media.  Enjoy!
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=35978

A Roman Catholic Sister on Daily Mile

I kept hearing Dailymile come up in the running blogosphere, and so I finally joined the network.  Dailymile has some similarities to Facebook, but it is geared particularly for active people.  When I first heard about it, I figured that excluded me, since at the time I was still trying to struggle out of the sedentary state.  However, when I got on Dailymile I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is easy to post workouts, no matter how small.  Similar to what our road race tried to be, Dailymile is equally attractive to fast, experienced runners and slow, inexperienced beginners.

For example, my profile from last week above logs the miles even though I am a walker and not a runner.  The green bar on the end without a number is a workout.  You still get the green bar, just no miles recorded.  I like clean, clear visuals, to this does the trick to motivate me to post workouts or walks.

Here are some reasons I like Dailymile:

1. It is fun.  Even if my morning fitness routine is a mere 10 minutes, I can post it, and it appears in the timeline alongside the posts from marathon runners who are sharing their training.  I can also share pictures and videos. 
2. It is easy.  There is even a pedometer powered by Google Maps to trace where you have been.  It calculates the miles you covered and your pace.  The only drawback to the pedometer is that routes are public, either to friends only or to the general public.  I think it would be safer, particularly for women who run alone, to have a private routes option.  One workaround I found is to use the map to calculate, but then don't save it if it is a route I don't want public.
3. It is social.  You can tie in and publish all of your workouts simultaneously to Facebook and Twitter if you want.  I always liked the upbeat attitude of the running community when I was doing races in NH in the late 90s.  That same positive energy is present on Dailymile on a much wider scale.  
4. It is motivating.  I was in a real slump about 3 weeks ago when I started.  Yet there is something really gratifying about posting a workout and having the data show up in an appealing visual format.  Between the encouragement of new friends I have met on Dailymile and the nice interface, I have managed to log 26 miles total in the past 3 weeks!

If you would like to check out my profile on Dailymile, this is the link:  http://www.dailymile.com/people/SisterMaryAgnes#ref=tophd

To check out the site and sign up (yes, it's free) here is the link:

http://www.dailymile.com/

Will the Runningnuns Ever Run Barefoot?

The short answer is, I don't know yet.  Sister Maximilian brought up the topic about a year ago.  At the time I had never heard of barefoot running and thought she was joking.  Never wanting to miss an opportunity, I teased her about the running barefoot idea before I returned to Southern California to continue my studies.  

Now Sister Maximilian can tell me, "I told you so."  I have come across many good articles about running barefoot and now I know the idea is worth further investigation.  What intrigues me is the fact that apparently the human foot was made for running long before all kinds of cushioned running shoes were invented.  If I understand the theory correctly, running shoes with a heel cushion actually cause the foot to strike heel first, and that can cause injuries.  Left to itself, the front of the foot hits the ground first and absorbs the shock of the foot strike.  I have only just begun to learn about this but plan to research more.  One blog post that particularly intrigued me was by Peter Larson when he took videos of a runner on a treadmill with different shoes & barefoot.  It was very interesting: check it out here.

So, back to the original question:  will the sisters ever run barefoot?  We will continue to do the research.  If we are on a beach, you might just catch us running barefoot.  If we adopt the practice at other times, however, you will probably see us in minimalist shoes or Vibram Five Fingers.  One thing I have heard is that the transition is hard for experienced runners:  they need to break into barefoot mode slowly, because all kinds of different muscles are used.  This is where I might just have an edge.  Since I am not able to run yet and will have to start from scratch when I do begin running, I might just be able to escape the re-training woes.  Who knows?  I will probably never beat Sister Maximilian in a race, but I might just be able to beat her to barefoot.