Barefoot March Madness with Merrell’s and Mud!

Run for your Lives GA March 3 2012

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

2012 Race Calendar

So here is my 2012 race calendar. Not complete but certainly something to work on and start booking dates and times. So i’d love to see you out there running with me, so let me know who is in and when?

Warrior Dash Central FL – Jan 21st (Register here) 5k

Run Road Atlanta – Jan 21st (Register here) 10k

Run the Reagan – Feb 18th (Register here) 5k & 10k +Kids

Run for Your Lives, Zombie Run – March 3rd (Register here) 5k

Spartan Race GA – March 10th (Register here) 5k +Kids

Publix GA Marathon – March 18th (Register here) Half Marathon

Spartan Race NC – March 24th (Register here) 5k +kids

Warrior Dash Kansas – May 5th (Register here) 5k

Warrior Dash GA – May 19th (Register here) 5k

Muddy Buddy – June 11th (Register here)

Ultimate Mud Run – Aug (Register here)

Down & Dirty Mud Run – Oct (Register here) 10k

Rock n Roll Marathon – Nov 3rd (Register here)

Bold are confirmed runs

March is going to be a crazy month and add to that my first half marathon into the mix. I’ll keep adding to the list as additional runs come available.

Note: The Warrior Dash for NC is on the same weekend as the GA one this year.

Related articles

• Filthy fitness: ‘Mud runs’ soar in popularity (today.msnbc.msn.com)
• Filthy fitness: ‘Mud runs’ soar in popularity (today.msnbc.msn.com)

Barefeat a Father and Daughter Journey into Barefoot Running

Welcome to Bearfeat. This blog is about the running journey my daughter and i will be taking as i transition to barefoot running. The “Feats” we will achieve and races we will run.

For reasons of heart health i needed to up my exercise and so i started running to add to the soccer i played each week. To be honest i don’t really enjoy pounding out mile after mile on the blacktop so i needed to find some motivation to keep me going. I found this inspiration in the  form of the Warrior Dash (www.warriordash.com) A fun weekend in the north GA mountains with a muddy 5k in the middle of it all. I loved it running and jumping through the mud and obstacles took me back to being a kid again. I was hooked and mud runs we clearly the way to keep me motivated.

Since then i competed in the North Carolina Warrior Dash and the Merrell Down and Dirty Mud Run (www.downanddirtymudrun.com) The later being a 10k which i came in 27th on my age bracket with a time of 1 hour 10 mins.

It was around my training for the Merrell Mud Run that i started to get into the concept of barefoot running. I have been a heel strike walker / runner all my life. A look at my shoes wear patterns will show that straight away. Looking at my running calendar i have a break of about 2 or 3 months before my next mud run over the holiday period. I have decided to use this time to start all over and correct my running technique. So my 9-year-old daughter and i will be starting out our barefoot running journey together . We have both got a pair Merrell Trail gloves’ and are raring to go and learn to run all over again!

Sophie and Simon's new barefoot Merrell Trail Gloves

Related articles

• Merrell Trail Glove Review (moaimartialarts.com)
• Warrior Dash: My Couch to 5k Success Story (kdstern.wordpress.com)
• BLOG POST: Barefoot Running (totalrunningperformance.com)
• Don’t transition with an ankle injury (runbarefootrunhealthy.com)