Hello everyone...I missed you haha.
Been to busy balancing running and working and family life to visit the forums :-/
Running is going well...I get in about 2 hours everyday of the week except an occasional day off.
On the weekends I do a long run of between 18 and 22 miles, and a second run of about 3 hours....all at a very slow Mafatone heart rate pace of about 12:30 mm and 127 heart rate.
I recently started doing a lunchtime treadmill run to mimic some hills, I go for about 30 minutes on a 15 degree incline at about 155 heart rate.
In ran 22 miles yesterday and 22 miles again today...needed the miles in my muscle memory for the 50 miler in January.
Over the Christmas 4 day weekend I want to run two marathons back to back as my final hard-ish weekend before the Ultra on January 10th.
I say Hard-ish, because at Mafatone pace it's not that hard to cover distance lol. Just slow.
Rick sorry for taking so long to answer your questions from several weeks ago...I actually typed a long response but the battery died on my phone and I lost it :-/
All running except the recent treadmill runs are skin to ground...though occassionally I will throw on some sandles if I am running through an area where they are doing road construction. (I keep my xero shoes with me in my pack).
I have not had any injuries or significant pain...though I was running with my Correct Toes on for every run, and if I took them off I would get a little niggle in the sesamoids in the ball of my foot...my toes seem to have spaced themselves apart better now though, cause I don't get that little niggle if I run without the Correct Toes anymore.
I don't walk much, as it's actually more tiring for me than a light trot over distances.
When I walk it's usually only for about 20 to 30 yards just to move the muscles in a different way occasionally...I have gotten pretty good at keeping a 182 bpm foot cadence whether I am doing 10 mm pace or a 14 mm pace...When I need to rest I just shorten the stride but keep the same cadence.
It works better for me, I think I am probably an awkward walker, but I can keep a 182 bpm cadence smoothly and lightly for a long time....that cadence is kinda hypnotic or trancelike for me in a way. Seems like walking long distances without shoes is not how we are designed...walking is for short distances becuase of the heel striking, but to cover distance skin-to-ground it seems like a nice paced run or trot is more efficient and comfortable....at least for me...if I walk for any great distance it's much more comfortable with a heel padded shoe, but running or trotting is much more comfortable with no shoes at all.
My pace is very slow, that, the lack of shoes, and staying focussed on running 'light' seems to have kept me out of trouble so far.
From a Barefoot perspective, it seems like my feet have gotten to the point where distance is not an issue for them, or at least there are other weaker links in the chain than my feet with regard to distance anyway.
My feet get sore on the really long runs, but it's foot weary kind of soreness, a kind of ache in the bones that I think is normal for such distances...the soles of my feet don't seem to be an issue anymore....before, with enough distance, they would start to get very sensitive, even hot, but not so much anymore...though as temps drop here the cold ground in the morning can be a bit sensitive in the beggining of the run.
Rough patches of road actually feel good now, like a foot message