Burn BaBy Burn..

Oh dear. Might have overdone things a tad during yesterdays run. Woke up this morning and both feet were burning. My right foot had a massive blister on the ball of the foot and a crazy shaped blister over the big toe. My left foot just burns. Going to try padding around the area to relieve the pressure on the sore bits as advised by the guys/girls from the barefoot forum. I am posting a picture up to show what happens when you rush instead of letting your body adapt slowly to barefoot running.

So it begins..

Hello all. I've been busy as of late training for events and chasing after my kids etc. So the blog has kind of been left in a state of limbo. I have had a few runs in my Vibram Fivefinger classics and although they take a bit of getting used to (the bruising aches a tad, I find them an enjoyable way to travel.

On my first run I covered 6 miles over tarmac and loose stone. By halfway I had bad blistering on my forefoot (I put this down to the injinja socks) so I stopped mid-run and pulled the socks off, then carried on to finish my route. Turned out I had gone through a good few layers of skin which nipped a bit.

Second run went better and only lost a couple of layers.

Third came back in one piece. Skin must be toughening up.

I started using Surgical Spirit on my feet to help harden the skin and it seems to be helping. Not sure what the other Barefooters make of this.
___________________________________________________________________
** Just back from another run and I've managed to create the mother of all blisters on both balls of the feet. Might have jumped the gun a little with regards to skin toughening. Will have to lay off a couple of days and try again.

Oh Well. No Pain, No Gain as they say. (whimper!!)

Why Run Barefoot

Look at his video and you can easily see the difference between your natural running stride, and the stride you are forced to adopt by wearing so called running shoes.

(ps. this was borrowed from Barefoot Ted's blog so thanks Ted).

">

Another Day, Another.......Well!.......Day!

Kids at School, wife at work, so Joe and I headed out for a run. Only 4 miles on road. Not the best weather as we're back to rain again (yippee!). Joe's a bit tired from yesterday so I'll head out later for a longer run. Was wearing shadows again as FF's hadn't showed up..... However, arrived back from run and the postman arrived with my new FF's, a set of Nike Free's that I had ordered off of Ebay for the wife, and 2 pairs of sneakers for the kids. It was like christmas for the "sad and happily misguided" here.

FF's fit fine although a little room at the heel. I believe this is normal and I could always stuff the area with something if it becomes a problem. Will wait till it dries up outside (stop laughing! It does happen now and again) before taking them for a wee run.

ps. Calves a little sore today but nothing to worry about.

A picture of Joe the Dog

Joe taking a well earned rest from chasing a tennis ball around the garden. (Yes I know I need to cut the grass).

Me and my shadows

Just back from an 8 mile run in the countryside with Joe (my springer spaniel). Decided to wear my old favourites "Hi Tek Silver Shadow".
I first had a pair of these 24 years ago when I was 12 years old, in fact they were the very first pair of "proper" running shoes I ever owned. Prior to owning these I ran everywhere in plimsolls (sandshoes) so putting these on was like wrapping my feet in the most luxuriously soft material known to man. Over the years nothing has changed with the styling of the shoes. No airbags, torsion beams, gel pouches, stability strips...nothing!! and thats my reason for wearing them.

My Fivefingers still have not turned up (Boo!!) so I decided to go minimal with what I had lying around. Great run, cracking weather believe it or not (yes the sun does come out now and again in Scotland). Focussing on correct technique and enjoying the scenery more than putting the head down and "gunning it", was a terrific way to get the miles in.

Joe's now having a nap while I relax and update my blog.

Setting a target

I find that the best way to motovate yourself is to set targets or deadlines. My target is to run the Edinburgh marathon "barefoot" . The marathon takes place next may so I have a full year to toughen up my feet before the event where I will be running to raise funds for a local childrens charity.