Running to defeat MS (symptoms)

I was feeling good on my short run on Saturday so I took off my shoes and ran the last .5 miles home. Apparently my foot parasthesia prevented me from receiving good feedback on my form during the last 1/2... My feet ended up with huge blisters and I have been out of commission since. Today, I can walk with barely any pain, so that is nice. Perhaps it will not give me feeling back in my feet after all :). But. I am not ready to give up yet. Next time I will try to focus more on the feedback from my soles and work on being lighter on my feet. One week until 10k at Gillette! I should be well rested if anything!

All was going well until I sliced my right middle toe open! Noticed my toe hurting right at the end after running across 6 lanes barefoot :( I guess that was a bad idea... Looked at the bottom of my foot and a dime size flap of skin was ripped off the bottom of my toe. Under it, a nice jagged rock! Felt better after removing the rock. But, I guess I need some minimalist footwear.. or to be careful where I am putting my feet, or not cross those wide main streets in Sunnyvale... My legs feel BETTER after getting out of my hiking boots. I am going to get a pair of trail minimalist shoes. I tried on some Merrell Trail Glove shoes at some big sports store in San Jose. Almost bought them, but they were $110 and I'm still not sure where I am going with my barefoot quest...

Almost bought a pair of Merrel Trail Gloves today because I want to be able to run further in barefoot mode, you know, with a forefoot strike and curling up my toes to absorb the impact. But, I decided I would just work on a month or so of just adding in a barefoot run into my normal run routine. This should help me slowly build up strength in my crammed dead toes. I just can't see being able to run except if I take it slow. And  though I want to improve my form, I just can't do it in my Brooks Adrenalines. I have to lean too far forward to forefoot strike with these things on. But I don't want to start over because I am aiming for my first 10k on July 3rd. So I have two weeks to keep going, then a few weeks before half-marathon preparation time. The previous two days I wore my Merrel light hikers and have been suffering from lower back pain until taking two blue Alleve's earlier. I noticed some knee pain as well. I just decided to wear my running shoes into the off...

I was thinking about how I could log my experience as I enter into a new era of my own physical well-being and remembered I already have a blog!! So, I want to set this up to tell the story as it happens. I need to fill in some background so that my quest is understood - continue to run, bike and be active while reducing pain and hopefully eliminating pain from MS symptoms. The big adventure is to try to incorporate barefoot running into my routine and see if it is able to reduce or eliminate the pain in my feet that I have had since months before my final diagnosis. Feet: they are in a constant state of mild pain, burning sensation, it seems like sitting, tight shoes or just going through a day make them worse. Culminates in me lying in bed with a couple degrees more discomfort in my feet and looking forward to falling asleep. They feel better in the morning, or else I just am not thinking about it as much and barely notice. Clearly I am able to block out the ongoing pain for shor...