I ordered a pair of Kigo Flits. They are minimalist Mary Janes. I hope they fit! My true size is 8.5, so it’s always frustrating when a company says a shoe runs “true to size,” but only offers whole sizes. I ordered 9s, so I hope they’re not too big. They look very promising. Reading alignment and foot health information over the past few days has made me even happier that I hate shoes. I have a long way to go to stretch everything out and get it all aligned, but not as far as people who wear heels or wear shoes all the time have.

My hooping challenge is going great. 30 minutes in the hoop every day. I’ve done 15 so far today, and will do another 15 after I post this. I also did five minutes of Xbox Kinect Zumba. I would have done more, but I didn’t know the steps! Need to take some time to learn the steps. I’ve also practiced squatting for at least 15 minutes today.

I’m doing a 30 minutes of hooping for 30 days challenge. Technically, it’s with the website hooping.org, but the website is way too slow so I’m not actually socializing. I’ve been doing pretty well with setting up a 30-min playlist on iTunes and just hooping until it’s done. Trying to master chest hooping and thigh hooping right now. I switch back and forth between them.

I’m also working on the exercises on Katy Bowman’s “You Don’t Know Squat” page. Since living in Korea, one of my goals (on and off) has been to be able to squat comfortably for long periods of time like it seems every Korean can do. I just can’t get my heels on the ground! The squatting page helps explain what I need to work on to be able to squat like a Korean. I worked on it for 15 minutes already today and I can feel it in my lower back! (I have uneven flexibility and I think learning and practicing the squat will help a LOT.) Her page is full of other great info, too.

Running is on hold right now for various reasons. I miss it, but I’m a mess right now. I’ve been having digestive issues that have been extremely painful. I’m not going to blame it on the fruit diet I was trying for about two months (which also made me gain 5 pounds), but the timing seems suspicious. I’m temporarily doing a juice fast with veggie juices, while cutting way back on coffee (trying to limit it to two cups a day, with chamomile tea as my hot drink for the rest of the day.) I’m also trying to cut back on white sugar without replacing it with an equal amount of agave nectar.

I’m still walking every day with my dogs. I’ve been wearing my Invisible Shoes, which are great except the knot under the toes is driving me crazy. I have to get a rotary hole punch so I can move the knot away. Once I get that sorted and my body feels better, I’m going to start running short distances in them. I think they’ll work, even for my extremely sensitive skin. I was skeptical, but they’re very comfortable.

I’m hoping next time I post will be even better! I’m off to Orlando next week for a work trip. Going to try to bring a travel hoop so I can keep hooping.

The diet is going great. As usual, I struggle to get enough calories, but thank goodness for bananas and dates! The proponents of the diet suggest 2500-3000 calories a day for women, and I’m still closer to about 1500. But I’m learning.

I’m going to do things differently this year. This year, I’m going to put actual thought and effort into getting in a proper base of slow miles. I’m going to do heart rate training at about 140 bpm (can’t find the link, but that was the suggested bpm for a woman my age) for about three months. (I’ll have to work out the time/ distance, but I know I’m starting out at about half an hour this coming week, probably every other day.)

On the days I’m not running (during the base time,) I’ll be working on foundational strength and flexibility.

I plan to hoop a half an hour every day.

Food wise, I’m testing out a transition to a mostly raw fruitarian diet. I’m going to see how it makes me feel and whether it helps my running.

I’m not prepared for my half in February. I had to stop running because of my sore hips. The good thing about the half is that I can walk as much of it as I need to. I think I’m going to do a 9/1 run/ walk. I’m also going to do most of my training on the treadmill up until then because of the brutal hills where I am. No time to both adjust to the hills and adjust to running again! I’m just going to do one or two runs a week outside.

Diet-wise, I’m doing very well with the no pop and kind of well with the no potato chips/ French fries. I’m going to extend that until after the half. I wouldn’t mind losing five pounds, but I’m not expecting it. Because of my issues getting enough calories when I’m not eating junk, I’m going to make a special effort to do one or two juices a day plus a green smoothie on days when I don’t have Chipotle.

Now, too, the home workouts I’ve been following have taken an unfortunate turn. They used to be about striving to be your best, but lately, they’ve become focused on disordered eating and criticizing those who are less fit or those who have fallen off the new year’s fitness bandwagon. I feel like this is the wrong message to send. I don’t do this so I can feel superior to other people. I also don’t want to be extremely skinny or have a very low body fat percentage. I also don’t want to look at peanut butter as a once-a-week splurge. That’s not a path to health or a healthy relationship with food.

There is a need for a kinder, gentler movement and I would like to be part of it. I want to be part of a movement for everyone to enjoy exercise. I want to be part of a movement that says exercise is for everyone, not just those currently considered aesthetically pleasing (which, as we all know changes…)

I have a new project. A project and a goal. My project is to document my learning journey with my hula hoop. I just cleared and cleaned an area of my living room (which has awesome high ceilings) for the taping space. My goal is to decide which certification to take and become a certified hooping instructor. Everyone needs a hoop in his or her life! I probably wouldn’t have time to teach on an ongoing basis, but I would love to get good enough to do weekend hoop-ins or workshops. One of the reasons I’m documenting is so that I don’t forget what it’s like to be a beginner, so I can help figure out why people can’t get the hoop going. (I also want to make my very own montage. Everyone needs a montage!)

Right now I’m working on chest hooping. I hope to have chest and shoulder hooping mastered before I get my LED hoop from Astral Hoops (link opens in this window.) It should be another three weeks.

Tomorrow, I’m running the 5K associated with the Houston Marathon, and then I’m cheering Terzah on as she BQs! And I’m bringing hula hoops!

As I said before, I’m avoiding French fries, potato chips, and cola this month and it’s turning out to be a little harder than I expected. Especially potato chips. I really was eating them every day. Now I have to find real food to replace them! I’m about to run out of my frozen vegan gluten-free mac and cheeze, so I have to start making food! I need to just plan a boring breakfast, boring lunch, and boring dinner, just so I have SOMETHING available, since I don’t normally plan for food until I’m STARVING.

I still haven’t run this year, which means Sunday’s 5K will be interesting. I am doing Bodyrock, dancing, and hula hooping, so I’m not completely unfit. Should probably plan to train for next month’s half, though.

I’m very happy about how I felt for the first two miles, but I’m not sure what happened on the third. I’m not sure if I lost my energy or lost my concentration, or what. I guess I was scared that I would get nauseated again (I didn’t.) The next 5K is a fun run on the same course as the September fun run I did. I’ll be able to see what improvements come from my half-marathon training and diet changes.

I’m also wrestling with the realization that I really am allergic to wheat. This weekend was a veg fest (all the food was vegan) and I had cupcakes and donuts and corn dogs and a meatball sub and now I have itchies and my rosacea is angry. I will also have the digestive issues. I hate this. I’ve been debating with myself over whether I am actually allergic or whether I’m one of those bandwagon-jumpers. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bandwagon, but this is real.

I think instead of going the wheat substitute route, I’m going to try to work up to a 60-70% raw diet (with room for beans and occasional wheat-free baked goods, of course.) I do actually really like fruit, so that should satisfy my taste buds. I should also give up sugar, but I think I will see if that evolves naturally as I go more raw with my eating.

Note that while I am an ethical vegan and don’t compromise on that, I am going more raw for health reasons and don’t plan to be all evangelical about it. Unless, of course, it truly makes me feel as awesome as people claim it will.

For my birthday, I’m getting a bike as my big gift from my husband. The big issue is I have to pick it out! I have a cute purple Ragazzi (the European version of a low-end Murray or Huffy) but it’s just too heavy and unreliable for me to commute with here with all the hills. I’m looking at urban/city bikes and some crosses, but I think I’ll be shopping for a few days at least before I pick the right bike.

I’m “tapering” right now for my 5K. Trying to get enough water and prepare myself mentally to run as hard as I can on Saturday. I know it starts on a hill (and probably ends on a hill. And is pretty much uphill the whole way) so I’m trying to prepare mentally for it. My weakest running muscle is definitely my brain.