2.5k fully barefoot

Barefoot 25 05 2010

Out for a wee run since calves were still tender, the swimming and fysio really finnished me off begining of the week, but i really felt like sneaking a wee one in, so a bit of a stretch and off, using the metranome on177 is now quite comfortable, foot fall did not feel great, little to heavy, tiered legs i guess, i reached the nice smoothcycle path took the vffs off, this felt much lighter i concentrated on a smoot run trying to avoid waring the skin off so quickly, checking my feet now and the i managed 2.5 km barefoot. Felt good! I came across some uneven tile stones ect, tried to relax the foot like Barefoot Ted recomends in born to run, went fine. Now my feet are somewhat tender, but i am sure they are getting tougher.

faster than you may think

barefoot. 23052010
Went for a run, lovley sunny day, at the end of the afternoon when it is cooler, went out with the intention to really enjoy the run, as they say in born to run fun is a bog part of the secret of staying healthy, i belive this though it may just be about relaxing but it definatley feel extra good if you realy absorb the surroundings now and then and savour it.
scerena williams interval session:)
I ended up choosing an mp3 interval session 30 min run with 3 pickups of 4 min.
Felt good, no metronome but i tried to keep the turnover high, with the pickups i tried to lenghten my stride to the back allowing my hips to turn (they dont turn much but more of a losening up) these are all tips from chi- running, which i find that some things are worth transfering to barefoot but not all, for example the forward lean they go on about seems unatural when barefoot, i am ok whith consious effort but it should feel right.
full Barefoot
Jyst like last 2 runs i took the vibrams off for 500meters choosing some smooth road, feels great, so free and the road is not as hard aspeople would think, people iften say yeah but we are not meant to run on hard surface, but i think trails rocks and compacted dry earth is also dam hard, the world was not all soft springy fairway grass:)

Anyways yet again wore the skin off on my little toe, even though i made an effort to not movw my foot on the ground no push off just place it move your weight forward and peel it of the ground as the other gets placed, there should be no friction hmm. The best runner leaves no trace ( exersice from chi running, run in the sand and check your footprints for a good flat even print, not deep heel or push off toes)
As for the pick ups, they felt smooth and good, thought after my calves were stiff as hell, needed some serious stretching and massage to soften up
surprising Pace
My pace on my nike plus i qas astounded to see my avarage pace was 4m14sec per km. Didnt belive it so i checked the distance with map my run.com and it was dead on the money, cool, i am getting faster again, just hope my knee stay incheck with my new running form. it feels right

wear and tear

Barefoot, 20,052010

Ran 5 k in my vffs went real easy, still feels alittle heavy footed, not that light flying footed, but i ran 5km
+ 600 m fully barefoot, felt much lighter, i did choose the smoothest part of the route and ran it twice, and ofcourse i did wear of the skin on my little toe, stings some but i gueuss its part of it, just have to let them slowly adjust.
Had to check feet to find out it was already skined, otherwise i would not have noticed

going smooth

barefoot log. 14 -may 2010. i think my 6th run on the vibrams,
i took a short 25 min
Using metronemme 177, which went surprisingly ok, not focusing on the rythm as that makes me slap my feet, but just let it guide my natural beat
the quick turnover makes the running quite effortless, though still wonder about the lean forward, i tend to be quite straight (i think) i find the chi form dificult and unnatural in the v5's
tried going full barefoot for 300m or so on smooth bike path, which feelt good, surprisingly diferent to v5's (and i already though they were very naked after my asics) but it felt good, though more warryly watching the ground, and got more stares from passers by. reached a surface change in the path where it changes to road and a very rough tared stone, hurt to much ( like a stoney beach) so i bput my blessed vf's back on. i feel the foot muscles straining so i think this distance is ok for now, just need to build up the frequencey.

had no new or distinctive knee pain (just the same nagging, changable ache i have had the last week or so since comming home from holidays. ??? getting bit mad of it.

my first run barefoot

Ok i decided not to go all out barefoot, but to use my newly aquired vibram five fingers, they felt quite strange to put on, they are not a great fit for me, my toes do not even come close to filling those  little fidley bits, which made me worry about blisters ect. but to my surprise it all went swimmingly well.
ok i am writing this in retrospect, as i am several runs further bofore deciding to document but bare with me :)

the first steps
the first steps were very strange, and kind of cold it being march, i aimed for a 25min run, seemed a good start. Now the first steps hurt, bangf bang on the heel, but i shifted my wieght forward to what io later learned to be a forefoot strike. this all went fairly automatically. after a few minutes of this i got used to the new posture, but now i could feel the road! not painfull but liberating, feeling my toes spread as i place my foot feeling the changing in angle of the pavement, and most of all an extreem awareness of my body position, like oh i am starting to lean back to much, or forward to much and slapping my feet. This was a true awakening for me a real experience of running (after years in very expesive soft  cushiony shoes)

the burn
after 10min or so i started to feel the burn in my calf muscles and my lower abdomen (new to me during running) so this is a really diffirent way of moving. the next day i had real muscle ache in my calves an the day after even more, i later read somewhere that you should start with 5 to 10 min  as you feet and legs need to strenghten up, i found this too much of a step back from the 1.5 hours i can run.

transtion
as fo the transition i choose to switch to vibrams and just do it! since then i have not used my asicis at all, but i have put my milage back to scratch (which is not so bad since i am in physio and need to get rid of my knee injury)

Tips
Just do it
dont over do it the first few times
start to build your feet  muscles by going barefoot (or vibram) as much as possible, around the house or what ever

Why?

background

i ve been running quite alot fot the last 3 years, since i quit my expensive gym and needeed a new outlet. i always found running dull but i bought enough gadgets to get me into it, including the nike + which i found really motivating, (and even works with the vibram shoes, in a plastic laces holder)

injury

Only problem is i kept almost reaching 1/2 marathon level and the my KNEE would say it's enough, no specific complaint pain point shift and Physio has had no lasting effect so far. very frustrating!since i am now hooked and seem unable to go back to my sloth life!

barefoot

after reading born to run, and hearing their theory about correct posture, and that modern shoes ruin our intended running posture, numbing our body sense ect i though why not try it.

step 1

desperate to be injury free i bough a book on Chi-running ( i must admit i am kind of addicted tt buying books, and trying new stuff out). further more i ordered a pair of vibramfivefingers KSO as talked about in born to run.

ready to go!

after sending back my vibrams and getting a smaller size (shoe online is just very tricky, but in this case worht it)