First Milage report

[Neil_D]

Hi folks,

I'll have to do a conversion to the 'old' units of measurement as I've been living in Australia for 20 years now and everything is in kilometres.

I have been running barefoot now for about 13 months on and off, averaging around 20km per week. Some weeks I would be running 30km+ others less than 20km.

The majority of my running is along the beach in metropolitan Adelaide, but I always like to put in some running along the pavements as well, it's good to see how quickly you can change your form to cope with the changed surface.

So I estimate I would have covered around 800-900km in the period since I gave up the shoes, that would be around 500 miles.

I could not go back to wearing running shoes again but I do occasionally wear the Vibrams on the days when the temperature gets above 35C (pretty much from dec through feb) and I'm running on the road. The road temperature gets up to 50C and that is pretty tough on the feet.

My running blog is at http://minimalistrunning.blogspot.com/

Great website and it comforting to know that I am not crazy and there are other people out there that have found out the benefits of getting back to basics.



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Welcome, Neil!  So glad

Welcome, Neil! So glad you're here.

 

[Neil_D]

A bit of a chilly weekend in

A bit of a chilly weekend in Adelaide, usually November temperatures are in the high 20's (Celsius) but this weekend we had rain and cool southerly winds.

I stayed off the beach today and ran along the River Torrens pathway and covered 8km. The pathway is nice and smooth in some places then rough in others.

My feet were a bit sore at the end, but are fine now, I'll give them a rest for a few days now, maybe just running on the beach.

At the moment I would say that I was faster when running in shoes, due to taking longer strides but I think barefoot running doesn't tire me out to the same extent and I definitely don't get shin pain any more.

Cheers

Neil

 

[Neil_D]

A week of up and down

A week of up and down temeratures again, hot earlier in the week then down to below 20C by the end of the week.

I did a short 5km beach run on the Monday when the temperature was very tropical, got up to 32C the rained. As I set off from work the car park was inches deep in water (but nicely warm). By the time I got to the beach it was dry, hot and sticky. I've been trying to modify my style as I had a bit of tendon pain which I think was caused by a bit too much push off rather than pulling the foot from the ground. It worked, a great run and not any stiffness in the ankles.

Thursday: Much cooler and blowy out by the beach today. I put in a good 8km mainly on the beach with the last kilometre along the road. Felt good all the way.

Saturday: Another 8km, this time along the River Torrens linear park. I park around 4km from the river outlet to the sea the run out on one side and back on the other. It would have been too blowy to go to the beach today and I also need to toughen the feet up a bit more.

There were many seeds from trees on the path, these seeds are hard cased and so concentration is neeeded to avoid a direct landing on one. I rubbed up a couple of small blisters at the end of run, again an indication that I need to look at my running form a bit. The path along the river is a bitumen but pretty rough over about 70% of the distance, some of the new blacktop is heaven to run on. Took around 55 minutes to cover the distance, not exactly any world records broken there!



Neil

 

[Neil_D]

Yipee, holiday is here at

Yipee, holiday is here at last and Christmas looks like it is set for perfect weather. 34C for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

I had a great run this morning of 8km half beach half road. At just after 9am the temperature was a perfect 21C, sun was shining and not a cloud in sight.

I got a great rhythm going on the road, very relaxed and no complaints from the calves, after 3km I switch to the beach and run 4km north along the beach and finish off with one more kilometre along the road.

Hardly any glass to contend with, this usually gets worse though when it gets warmer and all the hoons start hanging around the beach.

Less than 2 days to my Christmas morning social race, looking at the results from last year most people run in the 21km, about 40 people, I'll stick to the shortest distance of 8km where about 15 people run.

It will be a great start to a day that is usually associated with over eating and not doing much at all.



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Sounds like a fun race.

Sounds like a fun race.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

Welcome, and enjoy your

Welcome, and enjoy your Christmas run.

 

[Neil_D]

Since the New Year I have

Since the New Year I have managed 39.5km of barfoot running, on beach, road and rocky trail and nothing has dropped off, no aches or pains.

The feet are a little tender today after my run as it was 33C outside and the pavements and roads were pretty hot, I was a bit worried that I may have blistered my feet but no, all is good

I know a lot of people on the forum are having problems transitioning to barefoot running and the only advice I can really give is persevere as it will get easier.

After all if it was easy everybody would do it, like everything else in life a little dedication is required.

Cheers from a hot Adelaide



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

So Down Under is darn hot

So Down Under is darn hot right now, huh? ;-)

 

[Neil_D]

Darn hot and no doubt will

Darn hot and no doubt will get hotter as we head into February.

I'm just hoping I'm spared the any 45C (113F) days this year, they are the worst especially when you don't have air conditioning!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Yikes!  No AC?!  Yikes again!

Yikes! No AC?! Yikes again!

 

[Neil_D]

Considering that this is a

Considering that this is a milage report, I'm going to report in Kilometres as I'm in a metric country ;-)

I am just shy of breaking the 1000km barefoot mark and I think that is significant since I changed over.

It's probably taken around 15 months to accumulate that amount and that was all in the learning process.

I hope the next 1000km only takes a year to rack up.



Neil

 

[Neil_D]

Kilometre-age update as we

Kilometre-age update as we pass the winter solstace!

I've just passed the 1,500km barefoot point (1532km to be exact) with another meagre 132km of VFF. I think in the Adelaide climate I can be barefoot all year around. The next target will be 2,000km by the end of the year.

I think by now I can confidently call myself a barefoot runner

I've paid my dues.



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Yes, sir, you can!  Welcome

Yes, sir, you can! Welcome barefoot runner!

 

[Neil_D]

Broken the 1000 mile

Broken the 1000 mile mark.

Yeehaw, Tonight I put in a 10km along the road by the beach, just before sunset at 5.25pm and I believe that will take me just past the 1000 miles of bare skin on the road and one thing I can say is my feet look a damn sight better than a pair of running shoes would look after that distance.



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!That's a

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

That's a huge mile stone! We will have a bright and shiny certificate for you at the end of the year. Keep counting those miles!