Friday 14 September 2012

Sore Points...

Sore Points...

Yesterday look another step toward full barefoot conversion when I did another long run home from work in the afternoon wearing the Luna's.

I've run to work a number of times and it's not a real issue. It's just under 12 miles with most of the route on pavements / off-road. It can be a little poor in low light but it's ok.

The main reason running to work isn't bad is because it's mostly down hill! Well I've also run home before but usually fully off road which can take 3 hours of hard running.

Yesterday I decided to wear the Luna's and run exactly the same route home as I do to work. I average a reasonable pace in the mornings and can 9 minute mile which I'm happy with for that distance (I'm not fast).

Well I start quite fast but soon I hit the first long hill and I look at the watch and I'm 9.30 miling which is frustrating. I get to the top of that climb and I'm still at a slow pace and realise it's because I'm actually being lazy!

My minds completely off running and I've fallen into the trap where I'm coasting along. Well I've had a word with myself and started to push again. Soon the times are dropping and I'm back to 9.20 then 9.15 BETTER.

After about 5 miles I can start to feel certain areas on the Luna's rubbing again. Not bad just a little annoying. The toe strap on the left foot seemed a little tight and I was getting the uaual pain at the base of my big toes on the right.

Again, I just pushed on as I guessed they didn't get any worst. I've now decided that things will hurt and rub.... get used to it! It's your bodies way of telling you which parts are weak and need to "man up".

Anyway, I kept pushing and got faster finishing with 9 min miles which matched the "to work" times previously ran during marathon training. Most pleased.

The Luna's again performed well.

Monday 10 September 2012

In for the long run

In for the long run


Well post Thursday run, the big toe still had the remnants of the old dried skin attached (nice) and was still a little tender so I wondered what Sunday’s long run would result in?

I woke Sunday and started my long run ritual of porridge and iso drink breakfast. I taped the nipples (top tip!) and checked the blister one last time. I decided to plan for the worst by carrying some plasters and some heavy duty tape to secure them. The plasters were stored in my new ultra running shorts but I kept the spare tape stuck to my chest!

It was a beautiful clear sunny morning and I set off to meet some people from our running club. The Luna’s felt fine so I relaxed and concentrated on my running style trying to keep as light on my feet as I could.

Just under 5 miles later I met up with some friends and after the usual comments on my footwear we went off. Again there were lots of comments on the Luna’s on the run but it was nice to have some comments from people who had read Born to Run etc. Lots more people know about barefoot running it seems.

Well the miles kept coming and we were switching from roads, paths to trails, grass etc. and even when wet the Luna’s were ok. The only real time they caused any issues was over a heavily ploughed hard mud dry field and even then if you were careful, you could still run over it! I was really pleased.

Towards 14 miles, I could start to feel it as I’d not ran that far for a while and as a result I think my form started the wane. Even then I was ok and kept pressing. I could feel a slight pain on the outside of my heel but nothing that was going to stop me and I knew it was just a pressure blister that I could have had from that distance in any footwear due to lack of miles.

Just under 16 miles and we got to the finish. I thought about running the extra distance home and could have but I planned to do 15 and decided to call it a day and get a lift.

Mission accomplished! I think I can say now that I’m converted fully to barefoot running. I’m also happy to do my longest run in the Luna’s and will stick to these for now.

Finally, today I’m doing a photo shoot at work around the site promoting running at work. I’ll be wearing the Luna’s so will post some pics next time!

Friday 7 September 2012

Building up the miles....

Building up the miles....

I’ve been trying to slowly build up the miles in the barefoot footwear recently with 14 miles in the Merrell’s and 8 miles in the Luna’s as the max. The Merrell’s have been packed away as I’m going away soon on “manoeuvres” so I’ve been using the Luna’s more.

I’ve also used the non-barefoot Hi-Tec Trail shoes I have and now noticed that I’m getting pains in my lower legs when I use these! I’m starting to think that I might have reached the point where I run “barefoot” more than normal….  This has got me thinking again and I’m tempted to invest in a pair of road running bare foot shoes? Not sure if I need these? But will push on with the flip flops and see how I go? I did 5 miles with the club last night and they felt ok but was left with the large blister under my right toe. This wasn’t painful and I think this was the result of an old blister “giving up”. I’ve trimmed this up and will now take it easy before a 15 miler planned for Sunday. I’m tempted to tape this if it’s an issue in the short term but want to harden this area in the long term so we’ll see.

People in the U.S. are running 100m trail races in Luna’s so I should be able to run 20 miler’s in these? As stated the only issue so far being this toe blister. I need to draw the line somewhere though as I’ll have more shoes than Imelda Marcus soon.

I did something this week at work I promised I’d never do! No not work! I started a 3 mile jog around the site and at 2 miles decided to detour around the test track here and ran the last mile without the flip flops completely barefoot! I have to admit it felt amazing! I did hit the occasionally stone/twig which was eye watering but I even did a few 100 metres of the car park on tarmac. I’ve always said I would NEVER run barefoot totally but this might have to change.

One last update…. As recently described, I’ve been spreading the word re. barefoot running and another person in the club has picked up a pair of Merrell’s…. I should be on commission!