Last night was the night of my running club's monthly 5K time trial. I've run a
grand total of 25 miles barefoot since I started on this lark so probably
*way* too soon to be thinking about racing but what the heck. ;-)
Right from the outset I knew that I was probably running too fast but the
sensation of running shoeless is new to me and I had trouble trying to keep
up with my feet! The absence of shoes means that you can easily maintain a
very high leg speed but my heart & lungs just ain't up to it yet. ;-)
The first km came up in 3:53. Okay back in the days when I was lighter &
fitter but it's a long time since I've seen that speed. The second Km was
4:00 dead. By the third Km I was struggling and dropped to 4:14 and the
fourth was even slower (4:21). All pretty much what you'd expect for
setting out too fast. The roads had been pretty mixed in terms of texture
and at times I'd had to take small detours onto grass verges as the tarmac
was just too rough.
In the last Km was into the wind but I managed to speed up a little (4:16)
and finished in 20:47. I was well pleased as my last 5K time trial in March
of this year was 23:36 so considering that this was my first barefoot race,
I'm very happy.
Undoubtedly though, my feet aren't quite ready for barefoot racing and I've
suffered my first blisters since starting BF running. My form still has a
long way to go to avoid unnecessary scuffing & rotation on the balls of my
feet but I feel it's a positive start.
My goal this year is to build up my racing mileage tolerance to the level of
being able to complete a 15K race this autumn in France. A lot will depend
on road conditions though but I'm hopeful that I'll at least be able to
complete it, if not compete it.
Wednesday 3 June 2009
First barefoot 5K
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10 comments:
You're mad!
Not called a "Running fool" for nothing you know. ;-)
Don't knock it until you've tried it though.
Firstly running a 5k barefoot is certainly not half as mad as running the whole WHW (even with shoes).
Secondly, to be honest my feet are sore if I only think about running barefooted.
But I am very impressed! Well done!
Thomas
It's honestly not as hard as you think Thomas. I'm sure you could do it but I'd be the first to admit that this isn't a good time for you to experiment.
Tim,
I'm impressed with your progress. Your Vibrams will soon be redundant at this rate!
I've now finished the Born to Run book - it's a great read. Have you considered Huarache sandals? BF Ted shows how to make them HERE
Tim,
great job, huge improvement. I am running on Sunday but too sore this week to run fast I think. Good luck at your next race!
Tim, very well done on the 5k. Having read Born to Run I'm really convinced of the theory of barefoot but the areas I train are just too rough. The only place I think it would be of use to me is a 24 hour race, thats where I get the most foot probs too, coincidentally.... hmmm!
Cheers Ben, Richie,
I have to admit to having "overcooked" my feet a tad on Tuesday. Clearly they're not quite ready for road racing. Did an easy 6 miler today but it was a lot less fun than some of my previous BF runs.
Clearly "all things in moderation" is a rule that I'm not very good at following. ;-)
Now who is the "crazy" one?
I am following this with interest... But I would be too worried I stepped into something that could cause an injury or infection or got my toes bruised all the time knocking them on uneven asphalt etc.
Many happy, healthy and fast hours of BFR! Silke
I find it uncanny that there are two Americans named Ben who run barefoot and comment on this blog.
Though I'm not sure my grass surface running grants me the proper authenticity.
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