My First Barefoot Run

 
Yes, yes you are all probably tired of reading running posts but I can't help myself. Stop here if you don't want to hear anything else about running =)

So let's start by saying that my typical shoe wearing habits include none any time they aren't required, when I have to leave the house flip flops or crocs are often my shoe of choice, and when I can't wear those because I am going to work I am usually wearing some kind of flip flopish or strappy heel with no support that puts me on the balls of my feet anyways. Also my other activities of choice in the past have been ballet and yoga which are both very foot and lower leg intensive (so what I am getting at is my experience may not be typical).

My first barefoot run (well in Vibrams) was AWESOME! I ran 1.25 miles so a very short run and I ran at a 12 minute mile pace so about a minute per mile slower then my typical pace (I felt really good and probably could have kept going but everything I read said to start slow). You really can tell when you are running barefoot correctly, your heel never really touches the ground and you kind of bounce/glide run on the balls of your feet. If you happen to take a step incorrectly (heel strike) you can feel the impact change in your leg immediately so you really never take more then one incorrect step. I probably took a handful of them the first block or so I ran while I got used to the new motion and after that the barefoot stride felt very natural and smooth. I did notice that you have to take shorter steps (or at least I did).

Since I didn't want to risk injury I stopped after 1.25 miles and put on my running shoes to finish my hill training. Seriously after about 2 minutes my knee and hip started to tweak which had started happening during my last run (did not experience this while running barefoot). You have to take all of this with a grain of salt since it is my first run and who knows what my feet / calves will feel like tomorrow or how longer / faster runs will go but I am very optimistic that this could help keep my knees and shins and hips safe. If possible I would like to run my August 5K barefoot (someday I would like to run really barefoot - not in Vibrams - but that is months down the line). More to come...