Barefoot running from half marathon to 29km’s – simple yes?

A good example of the different impact of each foot during my run. Note I have referred a number of times to nursing an injured left leg, and see the resulting pad connection of my left foot to the road.

When I ran 29km it was not so simple.  

• That is only 8km longer than the half marathons I have already run barefoot in recent months.  
• But as far as my bare feet were concerned, that extra distance was another milestone altogether.

Due to the winter weather here at the moment, most of my training/running has been in the evening.  You see I am a bit of a wimp in getting out of a warm snuggly bed and going out in the dark, cold wet winter mornings.  I prefer to pound it out after work and run out my stress and frustrations of the day.

I needed to run the 29km in the morning (acclimatising for the marathon).  The roads and pathways were wet.  My feet were cold.  Cold wet feet and hard rough surfaces do not go together so much.  Also my left leg hurts, from my hip down to my foot. (another blog post refers).  So I tend to overcompensate on my foot placement.

1. I was placing my left foot slightly off to avoid the pain in my arch
2. I was shifting more of my weight to my right foot in compensation.  

• The first 5km were not pleasant, as my feet were freezing cold (and I do not like cold) and the road and grass were wet.
• The gum nuts were dispersed all over the pavements, and twigs and loose gravel settled along the roads.  
• I was cold, and not warmed up.  
• Because my feet were soft from a cuddly night sleep and went straight into wet, the skin did not get a chance to harden up.   

Although I was prancing around the run, dodging onto grass, onto smooth pavement, onto white painted road lines, onto roads – anywhere I thought was smoother, it hurt.  

Fortunately by the time I got to about the 6km mark my foot skin started warming up and getting a better grip.  The next 15km or so was alright.  Then the last 9 km seemed to wear on my feet.  Not too bad, but I really could feel my soles every time I put my feet down.  One learns the value of l.i.g.h.t.l.y stepping in your form.  Finally my run ended.  Now aside from feeling rather tired, weary and wondering if I can do a marathon at all, my feet were tender.  

So taking a look at my feet they were a tad dirty.  The skin on the foot sole was a bit roughened. No grazing.  No bleeding.  No blisters.  No holes (refer another blog post).  And after about 15 minutes recovery my feet were fine.  The next day the ball of my right foot felt slightly bruised – I would presume from my over compensation for my sore left leg.