I read someone's blog the other day about training barefoot on the treadmill. The fact that I don't have Vibrams and that I am too much of a wuss to try running the trails with naked feet, I thought I would at least try the treadmill approach.
It seems to be a good way to expose the feet and body to the running change and work up from there. Of course I can't see myself running Bradbury but perhaps a course like Pineland would be OK.
Last year when I was on vacation, I did try running barefoot on the beach and experienced some pretty tight and sore archilles. The soft sand might have ben part of the problem, but also I think that is a weak spot for me as I had some severe problems with the right one a few years back when I was concentrating on speed and ran a lot of 5ks.
I would like to gain the benefit of running more on my toes and changing my natural posture to run better with or without shoes. After running a couple miles on the treadmill, it felt similar to the look of the Pose style of running except my stride was longer.
By two miles I started noticing hot spots on the balls of my feet and decided that was probably enough for the first time. As I was putting on my socks, I noticed how dirty the treadmill made my feet.....I guess I will have to wash the belt. I put on the running shoes and finished my workout with a one mile fast walk on 10% grade.
I guess I will continue this training one day a week and see how things go. I suppose this will fit in well with the times it is severely cold, a heavy blizzard or I just don't feel like running outside.
I finally pulled out my head lamp and ran Tuesday night. It was a great run as the air was fresh, crisp and the moon was still almost full. The only thing I struggled with was the extra heavy traffic which I contributed to the voting.
11/03/09
Tuesday
4.03 miles @34:49 (8:39pace)
splits:
9:10...148-165
8:35...147-152
8:33...148-157
8:20...153-157
6:27...158-165 (kick)
.4 mile cooldown jog
11:04/09
Wednesday
Naked feet treadmill run
2 miles @ 18:59 (9:30pace)
1 mile hill (fast) walk 12:28
2 comments:
I'm far from an expert on such matters, but your plan to ease into the barefoot thing is a good one. Once your feet adapt, you should definitely reap the benefits! Nice work!
I run once a week in a pair of Viabram Fivefinger KSO's that feel great on the trails as long as there are not crushed rocks. I have only done max 5 miles in them and mostly trails but I did do 3.5 all open roads.
Hey I will be in Maine over Thanksgiving, are you around Friday or Saturday for a trail run (if you promise to keep it mellow for this slow poke?)
Tim
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