200 miles barefoot in August (Read 1121 times)

Ed has a video of the type of surface he can run on here

Gravel, broken asphalt - no problem for Ed.

How long did it take before you could run on gravel or extend your miles above 3?

Did you run only barefoot every day at the start, or did you mix it up?

How long did it take before you could run on gravel or extend your miles above 3?

 

Did you run only barefoot every day at the start, or did you mix it up?

It took almost two years before I could run on gravel. This summer is really the first time I can do it, and my first barefoot runs were in August 2007.

Miles beyond 3 happened much earlier, mostly because I was running only on really smooth paths, and I was going really slow.  I started in August, and before winter shut me down I was up to 5 miles at a stretch. 

The best way to see what I was running in at the beginning is to set your display preferences to include the Equipment column in the workout summary, and then scrolll through my workouts beginning in August 07.  You'll see that I did mix it up, but I phased out normal running shoes within a month or two, and most of the time between then and this spring has been a mix between barefoot and minimalist shoes, with an increasing fraction of time spent barefoot.

I would summarize by saying that time spent barefoot is the most positive for making progress, time spent in FiveFingers (or other minimalist shoes) is neutral, and time spent in normal running shoes is negative. 

Ed, do you think you're as fast (or faster?) racing barefoot as you are with say racing flats?  Just curious.

I haven't raced in flats or any normal shoes for quite a while, so I don't have recent comparison data.  I'm definitely faster than I was back when I was still racing in shoes, but of course that has a lot to do with all the training I've done since then.

I do have comparisons between races I ran in FiveFingers last year vs barefoot this year, and I'm marginally faster.  For example, I did a 5k in FiveFingers last November at 5:57 pace, and a 3.5 miler this June barefoot at 5:52 pace.  I don't think being barefoot is any hindrance.

I have a 4k trail race coming up (Thompson Island -- my employer sponsors a team), where being barefoot may indeed make things interesting.  We'll see how that goes.

Surry.  I was staying near Toddy Pond.

Ed, very inspirational. I've been reading a lot about barefoot running and saw some of them on marathons and ultras too. I started to run barefeet on the beach in the sand but there's no way I could do it on pavement.

I do plan to purchase a pair of vibram five fingers. I run 100 milers and do not have any problems doing that in running shoes -- no injuries at all. Just want to experiment with them and see what all the buzz is about.