First BF 10k und new goal for 2010

[BFwillie_g]

hey there

I ran a little over 10k in straight-up barefeet yesterday and the feedback from my puppies was so positive that I felt the need to mention it here!

Barefoot for me means pavement and pavement is something I've avoided like leprocy for quite a few years now, so this is a transition in more than one way.

Started out easy, 3.5 miles at a 10:20 pace, loose knees, high turnover, images of KenBob's beard swimming before my inner eye...

Then I decided to fool around with the pace a little and did roughly the last mile in 7:48, the fastest I've run BF by far (with Huaraches in the woods, I've done a few 6:45-ish intervals already).

Like I said, it just felt fantactic, positive feedback all around, and no trace of pain anywhere this morning. Which got me to thinking during my run today (Huaraches, back to the forest) that I'll do Berlin this September. Barefoot. 42.195km

I finished last year already planning to either run Berlin for time or my first real Ultra in the Fall this year. My BF/MF transition has had me thinking of dropping both goals, though. However, I do think it's realistic that I could do the city race BF, just not anywhere near the pace I'd be looking at with shoes.

That's my one real concern - it's not the distance, it's the time out there, BF on pavement. If I hadn't picked up the BF/MF habit, I would start a training plan for a 3:15 (with the goal of breaking 3:30, that's just how my mind works), but that kind of work isn't realistic without shoes, not for me, not yet.

So... Maybe looking at a four hour BF run? On pavement. In the expected heat. With a LLLLOOOOOOT of spectators...

Sounds like a challenge!



PS - the 10k from yesterday at Garmin Connect:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36141487

 

[NakedSoleNate]

 You know Willie,even though

You know Willie,

even though I'm pretty new at all of this, I'm finding that even though I'm slow as hell on trails, the more I do, and the more hills on trails I do, when I come back off the mountain and do a street run, my speed is that much faster....so if you want to do the street races barefoot, why not also do the trails without the huaraches?

 

[BFwillie_g]

NakedSoleNate wrote:why not

why not also do the trails without the huaraches?

I hear ya, NSN, but, short answer: I'm just not "there" yet. I've bruised my feet a number of times already on stones.

Also, I don't generally want to run city races, I'm only talking about this one in particular...

 

[HalfofJess]

Awesome job BFWillie!My goal

Awesome job BFWillie!

My goal by the end of summer is to run a 5K race fully barefoot. Definitely will motivate me to ditch my VFFs too.

 

[NakedSoleNate]

 do you know about "rubbing"

do you know about "rubbing" bruises out? It's a painful process, but heals much quicker...you litterally "rub" out the bruises, it might "look" worse, because you spread that sub-cuteanous blood around, but it will disperse it more quickly...if I get a stone bruise, I rub it out, and I'm good to go the next day.

I prefer trail running as well....feel more in tune to nature and myself....

 

[BFWendyBird]

Great job!  It is such a

Great job! It is such a wonderful feeling when it all comes together.

Berlin would be awesome. I wish I had gotten into running when we lived in Germany. I missed out on a lot of cool running opportunities

 

[BFwillie_g]

NakedSoleNate wrote: do you

do you know about "rubbing" bruises out? It's a painful process,

lol, well... I do know a little about painful processes and deep self-massage (and Iron Shirt), but I hadn't considered rubbing on those welts I had under my left arch, no.

Actually, it isn't so much the "danger" of bruising my foot that stops me from BFing on trails, it's the difficulty I have holding my form due to the stones and pine cones and whatnot. When I don't hold clean form, old issues start to creep in, and that's a bad thing in my case.

You see, NSN, I've been doing this for like 32 years now and about 27 of those years were more destructive constructive. I have all kinds of problems under the surface which stay at bay so long as run clean and balanced.

And that's the prob. I am working on it and I will be running trails BF someday, but I'm patient and having fun and just about smart enough not to really damage myself badly anymore.

I mean, here I am contemplating seriously runnning the Berlin Marathon barefoot in September. That's nuts enough, isn't it? :davie:

 

[BFwillie_g]

HalfofJess wrote:Awesome job

Awesome job BFWillie!My goal by the end of summer is to run a 5K race fully barefoot. Definitely will motivate me to ditch my VFFs too.

Hey, thanks HOJ

Be sure and do a write-up on your 5k!

 

[NakedSoleNate]

 LOL I hear ya Willie .

LOL I hear ya Willie . It'll all come together! Most people I meet have no idea about rubbing out bruises, so I just thought I'd mention it :-D...and I hope to someday, in the near future, do an "organized" marathon...it's one of the reasons I started running, it's one of my goals for my 5th decade, I thought I'd get a two year head start ;-). I don't think you're nuts, I think it's completely awesome!

 

[BFWendyBird]

I've never heard of rubbing

I've never heard of rubbing out bruises, but it makes perfect sense. I'll have to try it since I constantly have bruises from running into furniture, walls, car doors, displays, myself........

 

[barefoot.zumba.runner]

Wow Willie Awesome job!

Wow Willie Awesome job! That's a tough call, I think that if you train and prepare your feet to withstand the heated pavement for 4hrs...you'll be good. Esp since, the race will likely start in the morning when the streets are cooler and they'll warm up as you go.

You can always goal yourself with a first marathon barefoot and work on speed next year, I should have stuck to my game plan...look where blind ambition got me lol Doesn't work so well when you're only half listening to your body, I guess.

Working on distance first seems to be the way to go when building mileage, then adding speed once you are "comfortable with added mileage".



Go get 'em WillieG

 

[Barefoot TJ]

What you can do, Willie, is

What you can do, Willie, is train for Berlin in bare feet, but carry a pair of socks or VFFs just in case it becomes too much. If you wear a fanny pack, you can roll them into a ball and place them there, and that way your hands will be free.

Congrats on an awesome 10K!

Nate, one of the ways the PTs and I are approaching my recovery from nerve surgery (cryosurgery) for Morton's Neuroma is by rubbing intensely on the balls of my feet (where the dreaded nerves reside dying a slow and horrible death). (I have four neuromas, 2 in each foot; hopefully no more). It is quite intense. It is believed that working the sensitivity out of the nerve will push the pain threshold and help me to feel well sooner. I think that doing this rubbing and incorporating small barefoot (of course) runs over this past few days are what is helping to decrease the pain I have in the ball of my feet from the cryo. I really believe that the barefoot running is helping the most. Other than the intense rubbing on the balls of my feet, I don't believe any other techniques the PTs are doing on me are working though. An example, I ran 4.7 miles last night in 90 degree, humid weather. The first 3ish miles were fine; the last 1.7ish miles were not. It hurt pretty badly, and when I got home they still hurt to walk around. Some of this pain was from reconditioning my soles; I got that, so I told myself to be patient. This morning, as with all the runs I have done over these past few days, the pain was just slightly less upon touching or rubbing the balls of my feet. So, Morton's Neuroma brought me to barefoot running, and it's possible that running barefoot will allow me to run again. We'll see how far I progress with this. It's too soon to tell if I will be better than I was before I had the surgery. Only time (and patience) will tell.

And yes, I hate pain...but...I'm a tuff chick, and I've learned to handle it well.