Saturday, February 20, 2010

Barefoot Running - Lookin' Good

Barefoot miles this week: Monday - 2.5, Wednesday - 3.5, Friday - 4.5.

Tuesday and Thursday I did 4.5 miles with shoes on. So 10.5 of 19.5 miles were barefoot.

During yesterday's out-and-back run I did the first half at a leisurely 8:50 mile pace. Coming back I picked it up to just under an eight minute mile pace. That was a bit of a mistake because I lost focus on my form. I'm setting my feet down properly, but when I run too fast I tend to let each foot stay on the ground longer. Instead of picking them straight off, I'm letting the foot bend while it's still in contact with the ground. When the heel lifts the front pad behind the toes slides just a bit on the pavement as the foot bends. The friction makes the foot tender and can cause blisters if I keep it up for too long. No blisters yesterday but it felt "tenderized". So I need to curb my enthusiasm and keep it slow while I try to set good habits in my running form.

Since Kathy hates to see photos of my feet, I thought I'd post before and after shots of them.

After my first week of barefoot running last May

Today

By the way, Kathy doesn't post comments here since she can go directly to me. This ought to keep her busy.

3 comments:

Sherry said...

I'm with Kathy. :-<

Jason Gilman said...

I'm all for the pictures of your feet, especially before and after ones that clearly show the benefits of what you've been doing. Your arches look much more pronounced now after looking kind of flat when you started.

Hank Greer said...

THE PICTURE IS BY STEPH!!

ily dad!!

<3~
Stephanie Jo