Five Mile Fail!

I've run a lot of miles barefoot since last July. Some of it has been on the treadmill and some has been on varying road surfaces. None of those attempts was more than 3 mi at any one time. Today, I went 5 miles with no shoes on. I ran my usual 5 mi loop which is really not a problem in shoes. Most of the road and sidewalk is nice and smooth but there are sections with broken pavement and sand/gravel. Neither of those are particularly fun but they are not unbearable.

One reason I run without shoes is because it provides instant feedback and really allows you to get to a very efficient running style very quickly. Your feet are your best coach. If you have bad form while running barefoot, you get hot spots and eventually blisters. Apparently, my form fell apart somewhere along the way.

I've never gotten a blister on my prior runs of up to 3 mi. That all changed today.

I felt ok for most of the run and I was able to maintain what I thought was good form for most of it. I knew my feet were getting hot but it wasn't too bad.

When I got home, I got a little surprise.






My foot actually looks pretty good considering it just propelled my for 5miles. After I cleaned up, I noticed a bit more.





OUCH! Guess I'm taking a day or two off. I'm hoping to be able to run the 5k barefoot with Pam next weekend. Without the blister, I would have no problem with 5k barefoot. Might have to carry some bale out shoes for the race.

By the way, I still enjoy barefoot running and recommend that every runner try it. Maybe not 5 miles. Maybe you should start with few hundred yards. If you want some pointers are want to lose the shoes with me, just give me a call.

Cheers!