Barefoot Runner

Woohooo!!!! I'm running again folks and boy does it feel good to be back out there running.

It's been just over 6 weeks since I hurt my foot and I decided yesterday was the day to finally head out and test how my foot has recovered. I can say it was a great success. I took a gentle 1 mile out-and-back run and all felt good. I could feel a slight niggle on the top of my left foot during the early stages but this soon disappeared as my muscles relaxed and I adjusted my form. As I was feeling so good, I threw in 4 sets of 10 burpees with each set immediately followed by a fast 50m run. Wow these felt good. It was tough towards the end but quite exciting to feel what it feels like to run on legs that feel like jelly again.

Surprisingly, my legs and feet all feel tip-top this morning, so 6 weeks off hasn't de-conditioned me much. That said, my feet are a bit more sensitive now.

The time not running wasn't all lost time. During this time I have discovered quite a bit about my stride, feet and legs.

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I know this is a bit short notice, but I've been a tad on the excessively busy side of things are work and really haven't wanted to touch a computer when I got home.

If you're interested in taking the plunge into barefoot running, but want to be sure you're doing it right or with a bit of guidance, why not take advantage of the Barefoot Experience Workshops Terra Plana are hosting next week...

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A couple of weeks ago, I received the following query in a comment...

Hi,
I'm a Physio based in Guildford. I've been looking into barefoot running for the last 6 months having had repetitive shin splints from running in expensive shoes-and finally found some fivefingers on sale. So I've taken the plunge and ordered some kso's to test the whole barefoot running out of both personal and professional interest. Can I ask, how did you start out? What sort of training plan would you advise?
Thanks,
Joe

I started to write a response to the comment in the comments section of that post and realised it was becoming a rather long response and should probably warrant it's own post so others can find it too. So here it is and sorry about the delay in writing it Joe, it's been a crazy few weeks.

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Wednesday evening saw the running of the second of the three Yateley 10k races in the series, and like the first one, I ran it barefoot.

I'd had a bit of a sedentary two weeks building up to the race following the onset of the early signs of the dreaded top of foot pain (ToFP) that cropped up during my piggies hill training session on 22 June. With only a single tabata rowing session done between then and the race I went in the race very relaxed and rested with my foot feeling good too.

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Better late than never. Last Wednesday saw me take on my first imperial distance race (we only do metric distances in South Africa): The Forest Five (mile) at The Look Out in Bracknell and what a fantastic evening and offroad race it was.

Following the test run I did on the Monday, I had intended on running in my huaraches, but then common sense prevailed and I opted to run in my Vibrams instead. I decided not to run in the huaraches as I've not done much running in them yet and the last thing I wanted were blisters from the different style of footwear, especially likely as I'm not too sure I've got them properly adjusted yet.

My wife very generously offered to drive me to the race and we arrived with about half an hour to spare. As I pre-registered online I already had my number so had plenty time to locate the race start - it's a little walk into the forest - and warm up. It was a very pleasant evening, so getting warm wasn't a problem.

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Following on from my first 10k road race in over 11 years, I've gone ahead and registered for my first offroad race in just as many years. Tomorrow I will be running the Forest Five. It's "5 miles along forest tracks of grass and gravel through the scenic Windsor Forest". Sounds good, but can I run it barefoot?

Not being one to be beaten by a bit of dirt, I headed out yesterday for a very gentle barefoot run over the course, or at least what I think is the course - with the aid of my Garmin Forerunner 405CX I followed this route - to see if I can actually run it barefoot. If I could, I'd run the race barefoot too, but until I'd covered the whole route, I couldn't be sure.

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Headed out for my third Reading Parkrun on my own this morning. My wife hasn't been sleeping too well, so I left her in bed this morning whilst I went off on another of my barefoot adventures.

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For the second week in a row that crazy nutter was there at the Reading Parkrun running without any shoes. Don't believe me? Well check out the photos (more here):

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Check it out, some crazy nutter did the Reading Parkrun yesterday morning completely barefoot...

And that nutter was ME . Yes folks, I have now technically done my first race in over 10 years and I did it barefoot. I opted for a mostly grassy 5k and it was fantastic.

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Once again long-distance running fans will be able to watch coverage of South Africa's world-famous Comrades Marathon live on the internet this year. It's being run a week Sunday (30 May 2010) so start planning your lives now.

Last year was the first time it was done and it was a resounding success and this year the organisers plan on building on that by offering online coverage again, and constant Twitter updates at http://twitter.com/comradesm2010 along with the usual TV and radio coverage.

The race is a bit of a tradition in South Africa and my family. Even if you're not competing, you're almost certain to know someone who is, so almost everyone spends the day following the events on TV or the radio. Not being in South Africa anymore, this was a tradition I've had to miss out on, but not anymore.

This year's down run (from Pietermaritzburg to Durban) is sure to be a bumper one. It's the 85th running of the race and it's drawn a whopping 23565 entries of which about 92% are expected to make it to the start line. If the past is anything to go by, we can expect well over 17500 finishers (about 75%). That is just phenomenal and you can certainly understand why Comrades is the world's largest ultra-marathon.

Comrades is now back on my list of to-dos, though not sure I'll do it barefoot. My cousin, Simon, and two of my uncles (Dave and Mark) have run it several times each and it's about time another member of the Seymour family ran it.