First attempts - at blogging and minimalist running

Ok, so this is my first attempt at blogging...
I have never been very good at expressing myself and bearing in mind that English is not my native tongue I might sometimes struggle to find the right or appropriate words.

First of all I'll share a bit more about myself. I'm a German living in Ireland for over 10 years now. I live out in the country with my boyfriend (he's a little crazy at times) and my mad dog Cara. I'm working in corporate banking but due to a fortunate event (ok, I don't know if I should call redundancy fortunate or not...) to happen in the not so far future I am currently training to be a massage therapist (and loving it!).

I have a bad knee from an old badminton injury, which has prevented me from doing much exercise for a long time. Against my doctor's advice I continued to play badminton, and so far I seem to get on ok. (I guess an All-Ireland title isn't so bad ;o))  The one big issue I always had was running though. I couldn't run for more than a few hundred meters without any pain or swelling. Until I discovered - tadaaa - minimalist running. It was a mix of research on the internet and Chris McDougall's book "Born To Run" (Thanks Paul!) that made me order my first pair of VFF's. I was amazed at the difference between these and the "normal" running shoes I used to wear. I think I might have had a light case of TMTS (too much too soon) because I was so delighted with my knee pain virtually disappearing straight away. My calf muscles were in bits and my achilles tendons were screaming, but there was no knee pain. :) Ever since then I have been a total convert to minimalist running. I have since completed a 10k race in my Bikilas and wouldn't go back to conventional running shoes.

I have also made some attempt at barefoot running, starting with just walking outside in my bare feet. As I have quite sensitive soles I think it will take me a while to get my feet accustomed to running barefoot. I did a 2k run around our garden once, and my boyfriend calls me "crazy barefoot runner" ever since. If any neighbors have seen me (good thing is there aren't too many around out here) they probably think I'm completely nuts. But hey, who cares...

So that's it really for now. I will continue to pursue proper barefoot running and may post my progress here. If anybody has any tips on how to best condition my feet let me know!