The Good, The Bad and The Ugly an Update on my Barefoot journey

So it’s been a while since my last post and in a short month it’s been a roller coaster ride of up’s and down’s.

The Good

So come the turn of the year my running was going great. Felt fantastic and also seemed i could run for ever. I was still keeping to my ground rules of running only a maximum of 5 miles in my barefoot shoes and switching to my Saucony Kinvara’s for anything longer. It was around this time i decided i wanted to do the GA Half Marathon in March. So i stepped up the training over night. Instead of doing just the one lap of my course i would double the distance too two laps and a 9+ mile run. After 3 of these in quick succession my knee really started to hurt.

The Bad

Thinking i could run it off i gave it another go with my knee in pain from the get go, Bad move. I hobbled around the 5 miles and went off to see my friendly neighborhood orthopedic Dr. Here my naivety showed through, Where i was being “careful-ish” with my barefoot running transition, i gave my knees and legs no such benefit. I may well be able to run a half marathon from a cardio stand point, but that does not mean my legs can, right off the bat. This was a big set back and took me out of the running for a good few weeks, while the anti-infamatories worked on my knee.

On top of that, I was rock climbing with Sophie and Ian. After watching Sophie performing all kinds of awesomeness on the rock wall at Stone Summit, i decided I’d give it a go, and try a move that was in retrospect way out of my league. Without stretching and warming up first. The outcome of this fiasco was me falling off the wall and pulling my groin in the process. Thus my extended break from running. Still I’m back now and pushing to get back to my beginning of the year pace, and slowly this time build up my distance, to run a half a little later in the year.

The Ugly

Just in time really as i have two ugly / messy races this weekend and next. This weekend I’ll be being chased by the undead. A small Zombie army will be trying to eat me, as i fly through the 5k obstacle course http://runforyourlives.com/

The second which will be much harder is the GA Spartan race. 4 miles and genuinely tough obstacles await me there. http://www.spartanrace.com Wish me luck for that one.

I did however have a warm up race back on the 18th of Feb, far from race fitness I finished the Run The Reagan 10k road race in 56:37 which all things considered I’m pretty happy with. My goal was to beat an hour and i easily did that.

Barefoot and Shod Running Concurrently

Readers of this blog will be well aware that my minimalist running progress is going very well. I am enjoying it, maybe a little too much and in real danger of moving into the TMTS (Too Much Too Soon) category.

I have been lucky enough to find my mid-foot strike form quite easily and now that i’m 50+ miles into the barefoot running i naturally fall into and out of the mid-foot form  depending on the shoe. It is with this in mind i decided over Christmas i would try to run parallel training patterns that will allow me to build my foot strength and elongate my barefoot runs while also running greater distances over all.

I want to be able to run my first marathon the end of this year or the beginning of next year. I have just signed up for the ING NYC Marathon in November. I will have to wait until April however to see if i have a number. So i want to get some distance running in, something i don’t dare do yet in my minimalist shoes. I have decided the best course of action is to continue to run my 5-6 mile routs in my Merrell‘s and Vibram‘s  and build foot strength. A pace that some already consider to be TMTS, but i am happy with.

I have got what i consider to be intermediate shoes, like the Nike Free that will allow me to run with a mid-foot strike or heel strike and give me some padded protection for the distance. I decided on a pair of Saucony Kinvara

Saucony KINVARA

I felt this to be a good intermediate shoe, Limited support for the foot, a slight heel to toe drop and enough cushioning for me to get some distance in. I have done a few runs in the shoe so far and have been able to hold my mid-foot strike form in them. My last run in them is here. A nice 9 miles.

http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/64273287

So going forward my plan is to run my 5k and 10k races in minimalist shoes and my half and marathon training and running will be done in the Saucony’s. I will be sure to label runs and posts correctly so it’s clear what i’m doing. To be honest it’s also nice to be able to wear some warm socks in this cold weather right now!

So lets see how this concurrent training goes and how easy i’ll be able to switch shoes and on occasion running form.

Related articles

• Barefoot Running: Is it Better? (runningshoes.org)
• Barefoot! (netniewoo.wordpress.com)
• Born to Run? (christostriathlon1.wordpress.com)

Barefoot Running Stress Fractures. A theory from @joemaller

Here is a great theory from Joe Maller (@joemaller) on the stress fractures that some barefoot runners or should i say minimalist shoe wearing runners are seeing when they try too much too soon. I had always thought that it was the impact that was causing the fractures in our feet. Due to not allowing out bones to strengthen properly.

Joe however put forward the theory that its the increased frictional forces that the minimalist shoes allow us to produce while running that are causing these. He specifically mentions that the injuries tend to happen several months into training as speed increases.

I find this a compelling argument as i am finding my overall pace increasing and i am running a full min/mi faster than i was prior to wearing the Merrell’s. It’s a great piece and well worth the read.

http://joemaller.com/2861/barefoot-running-stress-fractures-a-theory/

A split weekend on the feet. Barefoot and Shod.

After running my fastest ever 4.5 miles on thursday i put in another good 4.5 run on saturday. Form felt great and i was only 6 seconds a mile slower in pace than Thursdays effort. The only thing was i was left with a dull pain in my left foot. right in the center of my mid foot landing area. Im hoping that this is a case of tenderness after cranking out 9 miles in two days.

http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/61885503

With my left foot still a little sore on sunday i did not want to make it worse, so i pulled out the old traditional running shoes and decided to try to clock up a bit more mileage. Overall my run went well. I have found that i can switch between running styles quite easily now. I recall reading in a Barefoot test on minimal shoes that half the people in the test switched to a mid foot strike within the two weeks, while the other half stayed with the heel striking form. It seems luckily that i would be in the first group as i can, and do switch automatically depending on what shoes i am wearing.

For my run today in my traditional running shoes, i fell straight back into my old form. Heel planted into the ground. well in front of my body, and a slower stride rate even though i was running about the same speed. I can still run like this as i clocked in 7 miles, But i don’t like it any more. All the pains i used to feel running come back. Specifically in my knees as i’m far more aware of my body feedback now, and i know how painless running can be.

http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/61994230

This run was 2 miles further in distance yet a full 50 seconds a mile slower in pace. I might run  a 5k next week end, The Jingle Jog (http://www.jinglejog.com/) so lets hope the foots tenderness is all cleared up by then.

How much is too much too fast? (TMTF)

So you’re looking to get into barefoot running. You go out and pick up a new pair of Merrell’s or Vibram’s and ready and raring to go. But how much should you do. There is a huge amount of data on the web about running form and listening to your body. There is also considerable information including warning labels on the boxes of those shoes to slow down and take it easy. All great information and excellent advice.

I am new to barefoot (read minimalist shoe) running only about a month into it now. I realize that i have to strengthen my feet, Achilles and calf muscles and i am taking it steady. I am only running 5 miles at a time and probably running half that on grass. The running is great. I feel fantastic. My form is really coming along, my foot strikes are light, frequent and midfoot. I am working on my arm movements (thanks Verity), My energy and efficiency in running coming along nicely as I could go on further if I were not “taking it steady”

I’m not suffering any aches or pains that would worry me so my body i feel is telling me all the right things, so should i press on? This thread on Runners World (http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/runner-communities/barefoot-running/please-slow-down) has me already well over doing things, as they are taking 6 or more months to build up to 2 miles in some cases which seems incredibly slow to me.

The thing that scares me most is a stress fracture. Common with “too much too fast (TMTF)” syndrome  and barefoot running. BLAM! 6 to 8 weeks out, putting a major halt to my running, races and screwing up my soccer as well. But when your body is loving what it is doing and all the feed back is positive what is a man to do? Do i push on?

As a follow-up i did my best ever run today. I finally broke into the 8 min/mile pace over 4.6 miles 30+ seconds per mile faster than i have ever run in running shoes with a heel strike.

http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/61715470?channel=web.activity.shared.facebook.auto&utm_campaign=SharedActivity&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=Ref

So do i push on? How much is too much too fast?

Merrell Down and Dirty Mud Run 10K

Running Form and Efficiency with your Stride

It came to me this morning during my run, Somewhat of an epiphany. After my rather heavy and laborious run of two days ago ( blogged about here in my “back to sneakers ohhh dear” post) in sneakers and then cruising through the exact same run barely out of breath and feeling no tiredness in the legs, running in my Merrell Trail Gloves. It came to me. It’s all about EFFICIENCY!

I have been really focusing on my barefoot running form and that’s going pretty well. It occurred to me when i am wearing my Merrell’s, several things happen. My stride shortens as i concentrate on landing on the mid-foot and in doing so find my stride landing below my body. Now I am no expert and as you can see from the video below i may still be slightly over stepping. I welcome your opinion on this. I have read that ideally I should be trying to land “behind” me.

This shortening of my stride must in turn be allowing me to better use the natural elasticity in my ligaments, in an overall more efficient running form. Noticeably so. I don’t know but i need to pick up a pedometer so i can check my stride timing. I must be closer to the optimal 180bpm running barefoot. Two days ago for the same run my legs felt tired and heavy, it was not an enjoyable run. Today felt fantastic as i cruised home effortlessly and could have gone on much further had my Achilles and calves been stronger.

I shot a short video of my form running in traditional running shoes as a comparison below.

My run today is here http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/60972499

Related articles

• Back to sneakers today, ohh dear (barefeat.wordpress.com)
• Why you should run barefoot (gazaliahmad.com)
• Barefoot running: an overview of the science | Guardian Sport Network (guardian.co.uk)
• Running Barefoot: The First Steps (onlineshoes.com)

The science behind my decision to run barefoot

Those that know me, know that my “faith” in life is science . It is because of my faith in science that i decided to change my ill ways and try to run “correctly” barefooted.

Vivo Barefoot has put together a great mini e-book on the science of barefoot running with Harvard professor Dan Lieberman and “Born to Run” author and ultra runner Chris McDougall.

Jogging and Running foot feedback points

 

You can download the whole 20 page document here for free:

You will just need to sign up to download it.

From my stand point it makes a lot of sense. Most of what is described in the book rings true for me. I can already feel my posture change and my form take a lighter and bouncier form. As i mentioned in my Treadmill post my running form was considerably lighter than the man on the treadmill next to me.

My big challenge is to perfect the form and get the ligaments and muscles in my feet and lower leg strengthened and in shape to run the distances I have been used to running in my old sneakers. Without smashing my feet to pieces in the process!!

 

http://trainingclinic.vivobarefoot.com/

 

Related articles

• Barefoot running: an overview of the science | Guardian Sport Network (guardian.co.uk)
• Barefoot running: An overview (sportsscientists.com)
• BLOG POST: Barefoot Running (totalrunningperformance.com)

Back to sneakers today, ohh dear

Image via Wikipedia

I thought i would give my feet a break after reading a bunch of posts on taking it really slowly moving into barefeet running over at Runners World. Using the opportunity to have plenty of sponge under my feet i was planning on putting in some serious mileage, that did not go to plan.

http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/60769403

After the 4th mile i was not feeling it. I don’t know why exactly but my legs were heavy and tired and i never really got into my groove. Not sure if it was the heavy sneakers compared to my Merrell Trail Gloves, my lack of eating this morning beforehand or trying to run in a correct form in sneakers, maybe some of all the above. Either way it was not a good run.

I’ll be back to the Merrell’s tomorrow or Thursday.

Related articles

• RW Holiday Running Streak: FAQs (trainingdaily.runnersworld.com)
• Cold barefeet? (ask.metafilter.com)

Putting a few miles in, with a barefoot run

So as usual my lack of patience got the better of me, i was itching to get a decent length of run in and wary of using the old running shoes that will encourage bring the heel strike back.

So i went for it in the Merrell trail gloves. Slightly shorter than usual but still a healthy 4.5 miles outside on varied terrain. Details can be found here at runkeeper.

Overall it felt pretty good. I feel i managed to control my running form throughout the run maintaining the mid foot strike. It is much easier to keep track of the form running on concrete than over grassy surfaces that are not flat.

I am actually pretty delighted with my progress. This is really only my 3rd real run in the shoes trying to adept to the barefoot mid foot strike and it seems to be going well. My calves are taking a beating from the change in foot posture but really other than that nothing serious to report.

The Merrell Trail Gloves feel fantastic with no blisters or rubbing problems to report. Which i am very impressed with as I don’t wear socks with them. I will write a full review post of the shoes shortly.

Happy running!

 

 

Run #3 5k on the Treadmill & a couple of observations

So this morning i had to have my work out on a treadmill. As it happens this worked out quite well. I  decided i would go for 5k and see how it went. It turned out within the controlled environment and static terrain of the treadmill  surface it was quite easy to concentrate on my foot landing and get into a rhythm. So i feel i hit my mid foot landing the entire time. Great practice and it felt much easier and more natural.

It also made a couple of observations. The treadmill had 3 default settings, walk, jog and run, It looked like the guy next to me had also set his to the “run” setting which was 6mph. With us both running, myself trying the mid-foot strike  and he was firmly a heel striker i noticed a couple of key differences.

• Firstly the sound. His was a clear “clomp, clomp, clomp” as his heel struck the matt and plastic frame of the treadmill, where my steps were clearly quieter and more of a “tap, tap, tap” sound. I am assuming this must be from the fact that my feet are now hitting the surface far more gently?
• Secondly and granted he was taller than i am which I’m sure accounted for a large part of this, my stride was much quicker / shorter than his even though i think we were running the same speed (6mph)

So overall i felt really good about this run, lets see how the calves hold up later today. Then hit the treadmill again tomorrow morning.