TMTS and landscaping

I am barefoot most of the time, both inside and outside of the house.  I have taken the dogs for walks barefoot (1.25 miles. 2 km).  The soles of my feet are quite ready for running.  As I posted earlier, I was very enthusiastic about running my intervals in the driveway.  Excited to be rebuilding.  Then it happened, and I should have known better, did know better but thought I was immune to it, Too Much Too Soon (TMTS).

You see, the soles of my feet are well conditioned for running barefoot.  I am right about that.  I wear pretty much only "zero-drop" footwear (my Xero sandals are my favorite).  I have moccasins for working in the yard which have leather soles -- not the rubber soles.  Even when I am not barefoot, my feet function as though they are bare -- from a function perspective they are unhindered.  The TMTS?  Oh, well, hmmm, that has to do with STRESS LOADING.  Despite all the time I spend in bare feet, the stress load of running is at least 2.5 times that of walking (up to 4X at higher paces), and there is really no way to condition for that kind of loading except by doing so GRADUALLY.  Going from zero to a half-a-mile (0.8 km) of sprint intervals is TMTS, apparently.  I really kind of knew that, but I was hoping I'd get a pass on this one.  I did not.  My feet complained very loudly about it.

I have not spent the time since my last post being idle.  I finished our primary landscaping around our house which involved moving six cubic yards of mulch (4.6 m^3), planting almost 30 plants, trenching drainage, overseeding grass areas, distributing pre-emergent, and leveling places in this new lawn with topsoil.  Physically demanding labor, spending hours per day for a week.  At my age, every one of those days was counted as a workout.  We have the grandchildren this weekend, and all my energy and time will be spent on them.

Next week I will begin anew.  This time, I will slow my pace (reduces the loading) and continue the intervals.  I will listen more closely to my body as well.  I now know that I get ZERO passes on being foolhardy.  OTOH, with my formerly torn left bicep ready for regular workouts, and my hamstring recovered, I will revamp my exercise routines to be more rounded and complete.

Keep moving!  (just do so, wisely) 😁