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.
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.
Had my first barefoot race today. The 5k Jingle Jog in the perimeter area of Atlanta. All in all it was a bit of a mare. Both Sophie and Ian were also running in the 1k version of the race. Noah my nephew was going to help out and run with them. In all the muddle getting to different starts etc I ended up have no warm up time and it was freezing.
The race was starting as i approached the line. So i took off in the Merrell’s with very cold legs and feet. Far from ideal and to top it off i’m starting from the back of the pack and the GPS would not start up.
My overall race time was 28:15, so my pace i think was pretty good. I started toward the back and so it took me a couple of mins to reach the start line as everyone shuffled off, The section missing from the runkeeper above was also down hill. So i would hazard a guess that my overall time was probably in the 8:40 mi/min range.
Finishing up though the i might have hurt my left foot. Running off when it was cold and not warmed up, it does not feel good at the moment. Lets see how its doing tomorrow morning for my run then.
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
So day 2 on the barefoot journey. Really tried hard to focus on the mid foot strike and avoiding the heel strike. This was very hard and really had to focus on every step. I’m still not really sure if i am correcting my form to a correct variation.
Still i have started to try to lean forward and flatten my foot when its pushing forward, I think you will see from the video this is giving me somewhat of a mid foot strike or at least a flat foot.
I found this to be very hard work on the calves though with the overall feeling that i was trying to run on tip toe. It seems so sad I have got so far away from natural form that when i try it, it feels totally unnatural!
After going on a brief run with Sophie i went out on my own for a quick 2.2 mile run. (http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/59775754) I started well but could feel the heel strikes coming back as i started to tire. I hope my feet don’t hurt too much tomorrow. I did however hit a good pace. It screwed up on runkeeper but the pace was a 9:02 / mi
My name is Sophie Cole.And I just got some shoes from Merrell. Before I tell you about how to get these shoes let me tell you about them in general.
OK so their very comfortable, they allow you to run freely also they allow you to run correctly because they let you run on the ball of your feet. Now let me tell you some ways to buy these shoes while your at home.
Now about my life. I have an awesome dad named Simon, it was his idea that we do this blog thing. My mom is really awesome to, she’s the only one that cleans the house. Well, most of the time.
My favorite sports hobby is CLIMBING!!!!! I am even on a climbing team.
barefeat 