Sunday, May 13, 2012

Blisters and Personal Bests

Yesterday I really felt like running and managed to find a spare 50 minutes in my day when I could get out to a local trail.

This was going to be my first 3 mile run completely barefoot. One thing to note is that the trail I was running is flat, and it's surface is ash/gravel.

I won't lie, and this run was hard on my feet but I was able to find some grass and sandy areas to give my feet some relief.

My lap times for the first two miles were just over 8 minutes each which meant I could beat my 5k personal best of over 24 minutes. Feeling good I tried to pick up the pace for the last mile and felt really good.

The result ? Well I ran 5k in 23 minutes 38 seconds .... barefoot. What was more impressive, for me at least was that I ran the last mile in 7 minutes 11 seconds. Not only was I happy that I had completed the 3.5 miles barefoot, but I had set some personal bests, so going barefoot did not necessarily mean me running slower.

Legs (hamstrings, IT band, knees etc.) felt really good, although I don't normally have any tightness until about mile 5, and my feet felt fine. On getting home I was able to take a closer look at my feet and everything looked fine except for dirt and a single blood blister about the size of a dime on my left foot.

Overall, I am happy with my first "distance" barefoot run ... I have a 5k in 3 days, do I dare do it barefoot ?

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