Not quite a 2 miler!

Last Sunday would have been my mum's 70th birthday.  We had a family get together planned to mark the event, but early in the morning I decided to get out for a run.  The weather was beautiful, and whilst I had only planned to go a couple of miles, I felt good, my Vivos felt comfortable and the dog was running well too, so I decided to head for a slightly longer route which took me away from the main road and up into the countryside. 

When I got to the lanes, I took off my Vivos and ran barefoot.  Instead of thinking about sad things, I relished the feel of the road on my feet, and the peace of running without the slap, slap of trainers, and things felt good.  I did just over a mile in bare feet, then put the Vivos back on to reach a total of 3.5 miles in all.

Yesterday I took the same route, this time setting off in my VFF classics, which I haven't worn for a while.  They felt incredibly comfortable, and I enjoyed the greater degree of feedback from the pavements, even in comparison to the Vivos.  I took them off earlier in this run, and my feet felt so comfortable that I didn't put them back on all the way home, clocking up a total of 3.52 miles, with 1.99 in bare feet.  In fact, I reckon I could do that whole circuit barefoot, just with a slight caveat that there tends to be a lot of broken glass along the main road on the second half a mile out (which I can avoid on the return journey).

What I really enjoyed from this second run was a surprise moment:  we overtook an old lady walking along the road, my husband and the dog first, and then me, silently padding past.  As we ran past, I felt incredibly light footed, as if everything had fallen into place and I could run forever.  It was really quite an exhilarating moment.  I hope that if I can continue to improve my distances in bare feet I will get that feeling more and more.

My feet were not at all sore when I got home.  The soles were warm and tingly (and remained so for most of the day), but as usual, I was amazed to look at them and see no visible signs of wear and tear, even though in places I knew I had stepped on some sharp stones.  My next run?  Well, I'm going to have to hit that 2 miles in bare feet, and then I'll be almost at the point I was before Christmas when everything else in my life went a bit pear shaped.

Running further

Well I've been keeping up with the short barefoot runs at the end of my other runs, and I can feel my soles getting stronger each time.  My feet are starting to look much nicer - instead of dry and picky skin after months of wearing fluffy socks, the pavements are working like a pumice stone and my feet are starting to become presentable!

After a 5k last weekend, I dropped my shoes (Vivos) at the house, and then did 0.6 miles in bare feet around the block.

Yesterday, we did just over 6 miles.  I wore my Vivos most of the time, but in the middle, I took them off and ran shoeless for just under a mile.  My feet felt great, really strong.  There were some very tough gravelly areas to get through, where the pavements had deteriorated badly.  These were made up of hard packed gravel with lots of loose stones, and I found these really hard going, but it made the 'normal' bits of pavement seem easy in comparison.  I put my shoes back on a bit earlier than I would have liked because of these sections.

One thing I notice is that when I run with shoes, I survey the ground to see if it would be good barefoot running, and my estimation of how difficult a particular bit of ground might be is often more cautious than the reality - i.e. I think it looks rough, but when I'm actually in bare feet on it, it's not as bad as I anticipated.  Pavements with small bits of strewn gravel are much less of a problem to run on that you might think, as my feet seem to curve around small stones.  The most difficult ground I've done so far is the hard packed gravel, as it can have some very sharp stones in and there is no respite.

A few weeks ago I did a bit of grass running, which I've never done before.  That was quite good fun too, but slower than I expected - it's actually quite demanding to run on uneven soft ground.

Anyway, I've really fallen for my Vivobarefoot shoes.  They are a tiny bit on the small side (my left big toe just clips the end of the shoe from time to time), but the toe box is really roomy, the sole is much the same as my Vibrams, and they are brilliantly light to wear.

Gravel, twigs, stones and floods

After a mile or so in my Vivos yesterday, I came across a flood, going across the whole of the country lane I was running down.  I was at the point of taking off my shoes near there anyway, so it seemed as good a point as any.

It felt quite liberating to splash through the water - though I was quite wary of the fact that I had no idea what was under there, so my tread was very light.  The water was probably a couple of inches deep in places, and it felt very cold.

The remainder of the lane was quite difficult to negotiate.  As there had been water running across it, it was covered in debris - small stones, gravel, twigs, leaves, mud and even small branches.  It meant I needed to slow down the pace (even more than usual), but it certainly helped me concentrate on form.  Once out of the lane, I ran along a tarmac road, which I always find tougher if it's wet, but I continued on to the main road.

I considered putting my shoes back on, but with a bit of encouragement from my other half to just keep going, I did exactly that.  It wasn't that my feet hurt, just a mental barrier of running barefoot along a trunk route from the M4 into town.

The M4 rounadabout was a challenge.  It was made more pedestrian friendly just before the Ryder Cup in 2010, with the addition of small, firm gravel walkways between the numerous sets of lights.  In the past, I would not have even attempted these sections bare foot, but the stationary onlooking traffic is a great motivator, so I padded along and crossed over the roundabout in 3 places, avoiding looking directly at any of the drivers and passengers.

All in all, 2.2 miles in bare feet.  A triumph for me, not just because of the challenges of the terrain, but also overcoming the mental barrier of running in such close proximity to busy traffic and the public glare.

And my feet...  well, here they are:  A little muddy round the edges, but not a single scrape or cut.  Aren't feet brilliant??

"I've found a new bit of my foot"

This is what I said to my daugher a few nights ago.  She looked at me as if I was behaving slightly more oddly than usual.

Credit: http://vanessaruns.com/2011/07/05

What I mean is that since I've been running barefoot, I've noticed a new bit of my foot developing and toughening up.

I already have tougher skin around the balls of my feet, the outer edge and the heel - it's not calloused, just a bit thicker and stronger than other areas (see the grey lines on the pic). Since I've been barefoot running, I've noticed that a new area is beginning to toughen up - the area inside the dark circles.  It's as though being barefoot now allows this area to contact the ground, because my feet can spread out much more than when they're inside shoes.

After a longer run in FiveFingers (around the 2 mile mark), and then a short stretch of barefoot (0.3 miles), I began to notice last week that I'd developed a sore spot in this area, not quite a blister, but nearly.  So I've been very sensible, exercised restraint, and that area is now thickening up - not just the skin, but in fleshiness too, as if my feet are learning to develop in areas that they've never needed to before.

It's interesting looking at my feet and seeing how they are changing.  It's subtle, but definitely happening.

Today I ran a mile and a half, the last 0.6 miles in bare feet.  The skin is now happy and not at all sore.  Progess :)