I ran my first barefoot 5k today in Port St Joe, Fl. It was on a brand new trail of smooth asphalt, so perfect conditions for my first one.
Last night, just before falling asleep, I realized with a jolt that we'd be going from central time zone to eastern, since we live about 30 minutes west of the time zone. So I had to reset my alarm clock so that I got there on time, not an hour late. We got to the race about 15 minutes before start time, and there were probably 40-50 runners. I heard two girls whisper behind me, "is he going to run barefoot?", then a few minutes later a couple of guys noticed as well and began to discuss the merits and limitations, such as, "It's only 3 miles" and "Yeah that guy on Discovery does it but that's in nature". So, at the start a little bit of skepticism, but not too bad. As the run began, I started from the back so I didn't get in the way, and also so I didn't let my adrenaline kick in and start me off to fast and with bad form. After a quarter mile or so I began to pass the slower folks, and continued to pass people for the rest of the race, never getting passed myself. So that's one benefit of starting slow, since it's way more fun to pass people (especially barefoot) than to get passed. One guy said, as I pulled even with him, "How do you do that barefoot?" to which I replied that I started slow and toughened up my soles. He said his feet were too tender for that, and I laughed and said everyone's are at first. Then I continued past him. One kid about 10 asked why I was running without shoes. I told him I liked it better than running with shoes, and he said, "Hmm, that sounds pretty smart"! Probably my favorite moment. One guy said as he passed me going the other way "Way to go barefoot", so that was cool, since he was a superior runner. In the last mile or so I passed about half a dozen more runners, and I felt good feet/muscle wise. I finished in 24:58, which I was completely surprised and happy about. I told my wife I was shooting for under 30:00 (maybe to keep myself from pushing too hard and hurting my feet), so I'm happy with my time. I didn't really feel like I pushed myself either, since I haven't been running fast during my transition, and my wife thought I looked far better at the end of the run than I used to in shoes. In April I ran my best 5k time (in shoes) at 23:09, so this was not far off at all given the heat index factor. Anyway, here's some pictures, and I'm very happy about my first race. In the pic below I'm in the black shorts and gray shirt on the far right.
Dodging the cone I didn't see until that moment.
In the distance near the finish.
Finishing!
Post Run Feet.
Last night, just before falling asleep, I realized with a jolt that we'd be going from central time zone to eastern, since we live about 30 minutes west of the time zone. So I had to reset my alarm clock so that I got there on time, not an hour late. We got to the race about 15 minutes before start time, and there were probably 40-50 runners. I heard two girls whisper behind me, "is he going to run barefoot?", then a few minutes later a couple of guys noticed as well and began to discuss the merits and limitations, such as, "It's only 3 miles" and "Yeah that guy on Discovery does it but that's in nature". So, at the start a little bit of skepticism, but not too bad. As the run began, I started from the back so I didn't get in the way, and also so I didn't let my adrenaline kick in and start me off to fast and with bad form. After a quarter mile or so I began to pass the slower folks, and continued to pass people for the rest of the race, never getting passed myself. So that's one benefit of starting slow, since it's way more fun to pass people (especially barefoot) than to get passed. One guy said, as I pulled even with him, "How do you do that barefoot?" to which I replied that I started slow and toughened up my soles. He said his feet were too tender for that, and I laughed and said everyone's are at first. Then I continued past him. One kid about 10 asked why I was running without shoes. I told him I liked it better than running with shoes, and he said, "Hmm, that sounds pretty smart"! Probably my favorite moment. One guy said as he passed me going the other way "Way to go barefoot", so that was cool, since he was a superior runner. In the last mile or so I passed about half a dozen more runners, and I felt good feet/muscle wise. I finished in 24:58, which I was completely surprised and happy about. I told my wife I was shooting for under 30:00 (maybe to keep myself from pushing too hard and hurting my feet), so I'm happy with my time. I didn't really feel like I pushed myself either, since I haven't been running fast during my transition, and my wife thought I looked far better at the end of the run than I used to in shoes. In April I ran my best 5k time (in shoes) at 23:09, so this was not far off at all given the heat index factor. Anyway, here's some pictures, and I'm very happy about my first race. In the pic below I'm in the black shorts and gray shirt on the far right.
