Barefoot March Madness with Merrell’s and Mud!

Run for your Lives GA March 3 2012

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/

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

1st Barefoot Run

Sophie and i went on our first barefoot run this afternoon. In the spirit of starting slowly it was a brief 1.3 mile run around the neighborhood. http://runkeeper.com/user/simonjcole/activity/59648825

The run went well but i could tell that i was not landing correctly, so i had Kris take some video and pics of Sophie and I running and the results were not good.

I have a real heel strike problem that i need to correct. Any helpful advice would very welcome. Sophie fared much better, in fact her right foot always seemed to land correctly, but the left would sometimes get lazy and heel strike

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Here is the video of the runs in slow motion. Overall i really liked the feel of the Merrell Trail Gloves.

Related articles

• Slow Motion Video: Barefoot and Shod Running Form from the NYC Barefoot Run (runblogger.com)
• Barefoot Shoes More Effective When Running Style Is Correct (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Well Blog: Running in Vibram FiveFingers (well.blogs.nytimes.com)