Weekly Mileage 9th week of 2012

5t3ph4n13

Barefooters
Jan 29, 2012
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I hope it's Ok that I started this thread!

Sunday- 6 miles barefoot on a trail. The surface was harsh, I think they call it a fire road? Super rough chip/seal type material with lots of little pebbles along the way. I did get to see deer, though! Four fawns, they let me walk right up to them. It was a nice run because of that but the surface of the trail made the actual running part not that enjoyable. I either need to run on it a lot more often and get used to it or go buy some new VFFs. Still undecided on if I will be trying to do my July marathon barefoot or in VFFs.
 
Stephanie - I don't post much in the mileage threads much, but I would like to comment on your post. I was in the same situation last year. Loved my barefoot runs, but switched to minshoes for the longer runs and races. I was in a constant state of shoe confusion and what to wear for each run and race. I have ditched all minshoes and huaraches for running right now and my feet have made more progress in 2 weeks than in months before. Your feet will get used to the different surfaces and you might even find out that you will seek out rougher terrain to condition your feet and add variety to your runs. July is going to come up soon. I hope I didn't confuse you more. I ran my first marathon last year in VFFs and had a great time. I have until October for my first barefoot marathon.
Rick

Since it is a mileage thread: Sunday-3 mile hike (sand and rocks) Monday-4 miles (dirt and gravel)
 
Thanks for the input, Rick. So far I have done 6-8 mile long runs on concrete sidewalks with occasional chip and seal crossing streets and in my 10k road race the other day. I will do some more runs on this trail and see if things improve. It wasn't anything really beyond my physical capabilities- my soles and legs are fine today- it just wasn't fun.
 
My usual 2 mile course today. Last week I tried to go every week day, and managed M-Th. Friday I was too swamped at work. However last week I did step up the frequency of my runs. Instead of running for 1/4 mile on each 1-mile lap, instead I have been running about 1/8 mile per 1/4 mile section after about ~3/8 mile warmup. So I've been running a total of 3/4 mile during my 2-mile course. I feel like I'm getting there!

Here's a question, though. After months of walking and running the same course of 3/4 mile asphalt and 1/4 mile of concrete sidewalk, my feet still seem to get a little raw after just 2 miles, particularly the ball of my foot and below the pinky toe. Is it because of the walking? Is there more pushing off that happens when walking that maybe doesn't happen when running when it's easier to just lift the feet instead of pushing off? It seems like you can't really "walk" without some amount of pushing off.
 
My Sunday: 11 miles. My focus right now is to survive my 100 miler. Chances aren't looking too good right now to be honest.

Stephanie: It gets better with time as you learn to let your feet guide you. I intentionally seek out the roughest surfaces I can find for practice. At least when there isn't a few feet of snow covering everything...
 
Sunday - did 1 at the Austin Barefoot Running Clinic, was gonna do 10 but the 15 Saturday had a wonderful guest named ITBS. Monday was a rest day. Today I did 7 - 1 mile to get to the track from work and back at lunch in VFFs, and then 6.2 on the track barefoot. 39:12 was my time. Fastest I have done 10K yet! No knee pain!
 
Sunday 10 miles
Monday XT
Tuesday 6 miles
 
10.xx km in huaraches this evening. Set out in the twighlight, came home in the dark. Head torch came in handy. I'm planning on doing more of this as I'm certain to be doing night running on my ultra in July
 
Another six tonight bringing my total up to 17.something so far this week. Will try to do a long run this weekend but I might have to settle for strength workouts instead. I've got family coming over tomorrow and they'll stay at my place over the weekend.
 
Forgot to mention yesterday I got in a little over 7. Ran from the Capitol to LadyBird Lake, around the lake on the trail and back.
 
So did 31.26 miles barefoot and 20.77 in min shoes for a total of 52.03 miles for February. That's up from January's 28.9 miles. Hoping it keeps going up little by little.

**Edit** Oh and I did a quick little .6 mile test run this morning testing out a new lacing method I am developing for my huaraches and then will do a run at Jason's clinic this evening.
 
Had a really crappy run. 5 crappy miles. Then I got back to work and was going to shower and realized I forgot my soap. So I headed home. I was in a hurry so I got Taco Bell. I planned on getting food from the Fresca Menu but got a beefy crunch burrito and cheesy gordita crunch instead, which is causing me to sit here and fart all afternoon. More than usual. Put my wrinkled khakis in the dryer to de-wrinkle while I showered and the button broke off of them.
Meh.
But I am moving to Kyle for sure now, so I am happy.