Progressing from 29km barefoot to 32km barefoot.. another milestone.

Assessing the impact on the feet – this is taken at the 22km mark. Used plaster as a method of showing the effect of wear and tear on the skin – my foot soles are to tough so not an effective marker.

Once again these slight increments do make a difference.

• Now running 5km barefoot – no problem for me.
• Running 10km barefoot – no problem for me. After a number of 5km runs building up my strength and stamina over a month.
• Running 15km barefoot – no problem – to date my most comfortable distance and attempted over gradual increment increases.
• Running 20km barefoot – will be inclined to assess the route first before heading out, or choosing a route I know will be kind to my feet.  Once on such route – no problem for me.
• Running 25km barefoot – have done this on idyllic weather days with preplanned assessed routes and was good for me.  First time my feet felt a little sensitive from the 20km mark.
• Running 29km barefoot – Owie.  Combination of not good factors
  • I am running with some form of injury
  • Sheer stubborness
  • I was not able to preview the route
  • It was a cold early morning run (starting in the dark)
  • the road, and grass were wet, puddles every where
  • The surfaces were littered with loose gravel, gum nuts, twigs and general storm debris.

Okay next gradual increment was 32km.. Only a 3km increment.

That is 3km increment in distance running for me, AND barefoot running for me.  Double whammy.

Having learnt some valuable lessons from my infamous 29km route I prepared myself a little better.   This training run would have similar challenges to my 29km run.

• Early morning 
• Cold
• Wet
• Natures left overs

Also by now with all the various questions etc I get about running barefoot, the outright disapproval from my friends and family (none of whom have ever run barefoot I might add) the inquisitive responses from other runners, I am thinking more about what I do and why.  I have surfed the web for information on what happens –

• Is my sons adamant outrage at my barefoot running warranted?  
• My family’s statement to “put some bladdy shoes on!”
• My friends saying it is an “attention seeking” move?
• What actually happens to your feet?
• How do you manage it?
• At the end of the race people politely asking if they can see the soles of my feet.

Yet, I was surprised that I cannot seem to find the answers to the above questions/statements.  Every thing I do find mostly actually refers to running WITH minimalist shoes of a form, and refers to various technical running information and various scientific and medical research papers.  The real barefoot running information is over relatively short distances, with the exception of Abebe Bikila as referenced at

• http://www.olympic.org/videos/abebe-bikila-barefoot-to-olympic-gold
• “In 1960, 28 year-old Abebe Bikila amazed the world when, unknown and unheralded, he won the Olympic marathon. He attracted the world’s attention not only by being the first East African to win a medal, but also because he ran the event barefoot. Four years later, in Tokyo, he won again – this time with shoes.
• 8/25/1960 12:00:00 AM“

http://www.olympic.org/videos/abebe-bikila-barefoot-to-olympic-gold

And so the idea for my blog was born.  To track my personal experience of running barefoot, and track what actually happens to my feet.