Brains plus Brawn, or is it?

Yes, I know, long time no news. I have been taking it easy those last days, I had this Achileas tendon pain plus a small one on the knee. I run twice a week, only on flat. It is fine now, the tendon feeling is gone and the knee is only weakly present. Will start running hills again soon.

I wanted to attract your attention to the following conversation with Daniel Lieberman Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University. Prof. Lieberman is the one that did those studies about impact forces while running with shoes or barefoot, very interesting studies that I intended to comment on here, but never found the time. Now, in this conversation, he summarizes and adds his personal view on those analysis and others, and what it means to be a running human. Very very interesting and provides the basis for why we love barefoot running.

I can't resist to give you a few quotes from this very interesting discussion:

"We didn't evolve to wear high-heeled cushioned shoes and crash into the ground. We actually evolved to run lightly and gently, because it hurts to land on the ground the way people do in shoes."

or,

"Our lives are filled with problems like insomnia and constipation that are extremely recent. They're novel, and they're caused by the way in which we misuse our bodies."

or again,

"I would argue that a lot of shoes actually cause people to become injured because they're comfortable."

and eventually, my favorite

"We love comfort, and people make a lot of money selling us comfort, but I would challenge the notion that comfort is usually good for us."

Eventually, he finishes with a conclusion from his recent study that barefoot/forefoot runners have less injury that shod ones. Of course, the running shoe industry would like you to doubt that.

Back to 5Fs

That's it, went back to barefoot. Very easy pace, 41' only. I turned around as soon as I felt something on the Achilles tendon. It is fine, doesn't hurt, but I didn't want to take any risk and have done so. Tendons are fine now, although I have some sensations in both, giving myself some preventive massages though. It is weird, I have a friend having had the same thing or may be worst but he was running with shoes, never ran barefoot. On the other side, we use to do a lot of uphill running too, so this is most likely the reason.

Let's see how it evolves while cooling down. Will now intend to increase the pace and the distance, no hills before a while though.

Anyone out there having had the same experience in the Achilles tendon with hills or barefoot, or both? Leave a message.

Have just been running again 3 days later with shoes, Wednesday. Increased the pace, 67' on flat. Absolutely no pain in the tendons, but weak feelings. I am also giving me preventive massage once or twice a day. Feeling good now, ready to go back barefoot and slowly increase the pace and distance. That was just a test run to see if shoes are OK. There is thus definitively something between shoes and hills that act similarly on the Achilles tendon. Take it easy on the hills if you are starting to run barefoot.

Went again 3 days later, Saturday, not long, not strong, 47' only but with 5Fs. Felt very good, nothing at all in the tendons, looks like I am well on my way to recovery. No hills, or shoes on hills. Didn't want to overdone it because tomorrow Monday, I am going back up the hill to a classical run with my ex-colleagues. Will go up the hills again, so will do it with shoes. I don't feel like I am ready to do hills without shoes just yet. I will keep you informed on Monday.

That is it, have ran back with my ex-colleagues up the hills. The Monday recovery tract. Did it in just below one hour, 59'30'', not the best time, but it was good to see that I don't have Achilles tendon problem anymore, with shoes though. Felt fine yesterday and fine today. Discussing with them it seems that this is a fairly common problem with runners, kind of blood cloth accumulating in the tendon. Mine seems fine now. Still giving me some weak and sparse massage though. Anyway, running back up the hill was good.  I confirm, hills with shoes, barefoot on flat, that seems to be the trick, at least for the first year of 5Fs running.

Shoes and flat

Just ran 45' with shoes on flat, very easy pace. No sensations at the Achilles tendon during the run. Now that it is cooling down, I begin to feel a very light sensation, nothing worth worrying. But still something. However, as expected, much better on flat. Will keep running with shoes on flat for a while. Then introduce some 5Fs, slowly, easy. Indeed, confirmed, went again 4 days later, 60' with shoes on totally flat track. No problem at all, absolutely no feelings in the Achilles tendon. Thus it was clearly due to the combination of barefoot and hills. I was extremely tired while running, went slow, but the important bit is that I had no feelings at all in the tendon. Next, I will slowly go back to 5Fs, first on flat and introduce hills very very slowly. Important lesson here, barefoot + hills is not good, you have to take it easy on this too. Went again 3 days later, slowly increasing the pace and the length, introducing some hills. 66', first half with my daughter following on bike, easy pace with some sprint between us. Second half alone and faster pace. No problem on the Achilles tendon. It was thus indeed the hills the problem. Next time, will go barefoot, easy and flat. Keep on running.

Got it now

Went back to run this morning. It wasn't so great, I slightly feel something in the Achilles tendons again, in both. Nothing painful, but worrying.

The good news is that I know what is the problem now.

The problems are the hills, at least the up part. Going down is fine. And it make sense. Because of the inclinations, the Achilles tendons are slightly more stretched than normal. In addition, you are going up, so you pull more on an already overstretched tendons. The results is slight deterioration of your tendons. So, a new recommendation, don't go up hill at the beginning. Down hill is file, if you can do only that.

I will try this new trick next week, choosing another path to go same length but only on flat.

Now that I realized this, it all start to make sense. Actually, I started having this problem when I thought I had done it and was ready. I then started on my usual but demanding hilly path, and that's when the Achilles tendons started to complain. Did I mention already that I completely tore apart my right Achilles tendon some five years ago. Interestingly, the right is not worst than the left now. I have the same issue on both sides. But make sense, I though I was ready, started on hills, putting more pressure on already overstretched tendons. They didn't like it. I had similar issues when I started too early to put more pressure on my legs by starting too early to make fast sessions. Again, tendons complained.

It looks like I am having a lot of problems with my 5Fs shoes, but in fact, we are making a lot of progress. And all the problems I have had in the past are slowly getting solved. So I am confident that I should soon be able to enjoy long injury-free barefoot runs. It feels so much better with my 5Fs.

Interesting, since I went back to shoes, lower back pain while sitting at my desk have come back. This was one of the reasons, probably the main, for my willingness to go barefoot. Clearly shod running is not good for the back and the joints. So I really want to be able to go back to barefoot since it clearly improves a lot my daily condition, specially with work. However, you have to be careful during the transition to barefoot.

Stay tuned for more advices.

Back to shoes

Haaiie! Achilles tendon hurt!

Last week before taking the plane to go on holidays, I ran 1h08 at a good pace to relax the legs before a short flight. The day after, both Achilles tendons did hurt. Not much but enough to be disturbing. I was giving myself massages of the tendons for two days. After a week of rest, it is ok, but there is clearly something there that I don't like. And it is related to barefoot running. I went running again today, 58' with shoes. No pain at all, even after cooling down. So there is definitively linked to barefoot running. I might not be as ready as I expected to be.

The running was great. I love to run, with or without shoes. But it is nicer, more enjoyable without.

What I will do now is to go back to shoes, and only run barefoot every other time. We will see how it develop and if I start again dropping the shoes more often.

Seems like going barefoot is not so easy eventually. Well, that's the point of this blog. If it was easy, it won't be needed.

Keep tuned.

Another recovery?

Recovery almost completed, I ran 65' completely barefoot at a normal pace, followed 2 days after by a short easy pace run of 30'. No feelings in the ankle. Happy to be back on 5Fs.
Will attempt a classical run tomorrow Saturday followed by a run in the woods, in my old work place two days after on Monday. Let's see how what happens. I hope to be able to run Craichgau in a bit more than a month. Training won't have been optimal, so I don't expect to finish it below the 90' mark this time, but let's see if I can finish it on 5Fs.

Saturday morning, just ran my classical 13km at a good pace, in 60'. Happy. And running feels good again. I am back on track.
Monday, back to my old working place, up the hill, ran the classical Monday track in a good time, just 59', when the usual challenge is to do it below the hour, usually around 58' with a best time of 56'. So 59' is ok, not excellent, but good enough. All 5Fs, of course. And now, 4 hours after it, it feels good, so I think I am completely recovered now.

On Thursday, I went back again to my ex-working place. I ran the classical most difficult track, the famous Koenigsthul. 15Km going up and down the hill above the city. Difficult, long, high climb. I almost hit my personal best, and certainly a very good mark in 66'45''. Just below 67'. We use to consider normal to do it below 70', and a good time below 68. But 66'45 is certainly very good. Meaning I indeed recovered. Now I need to increase the weekly mileage.

Back to training then.

Back to big cushion shoes

I know, long time not written. This was due to two main points. First I was extremely frustrated not to have taken part to the HD half-marathon due to injury. Second, I hurt myself again. Well, not exactly hurt, didn't hurt, feeling in the back of the Achileas' tendon. Probably due to the fact that I was so excited that I overdid it when not totally recovered from the injury. At some point, I was running 3 to 4 times a week more than 1 hour each sometimes, 2 days in a row.

So I stopped completely running for two weeks, and now back to big cushion shoes. I don't know if my feeling in the tendon is due to the barefoot running, but it is clear that barefoot, your tendon is more solicited which is why in recovery mode, I went back to running shoes. 

This is the occasion to be back to the old 'shoe feeling and compare the two.

First, I don't enjoy it. I feel the difference. Much more traumatic, more difficult and less enjoyable. I really don't like anymore to run with shoes. Running barefoot is so different. So much more sensation, just this sensation of lightness at your feet instead of having to drag to big heavy shoes. Then the sensation of the ground, and all its irregularities. And then the impact, or the lack of, the absorption of the impact by your feet. Amazing.

Second, I feel the difference in the posture too. It is clear that with shoes, my strike has the tendency to be heel first, my shoulders moving backwards, if I don't pay attention to it. May be that is my default running posture that I learned by all those years with shoes. I have to pay attention to push my shoulders forwards and lend on the middle of the foot. I know some runners that are just natural middle or even front foot runners. May be the related injuries are different too.

Anyway, this problem is getting better, I am resting, running less, only once a week, now back to one hour, but I was down of that before.  I will take it easy with shoes until it disappear but I really hope to very soon, I'll be able to go back barefoot. The difference is so amazing. And if everything goes well, I hope to be able to run the craichgau half marathon. Of course, the real challenge would be to do it below 90'. Cheers

And running feels good again.

Whaouw, went for a classical run this Sunday. Felt very nice. I felt in excellent shape, actually ran 5 minutes faster than Thursday, 58' vs 63. I was listening to the Foo Fighters all along. It was great. I really felt at some point that running was good again, great in fact.
As I already mentioned, I was about to drop running, just because of the structural charges, skeletal trouble. Never really had any major problem, but always felt quite stressed in the bones. So much in fact that at some point, the trouble was worst than the pleasure of running and I was actually thinking about dropping it.
This was one of the reasons behind switching to barefoot, and I have to say that this was a great success. No more trouble at all, which make sense since there is no more shocks directly transmitted to the bones, it is absorbed by the naturally encoded shock absorbance of the feet. And it makes all the difference. An incredible feeling. One of the points of this blog was to transmit my switching experience and help others make the transition. I already know 3 colleagues or friends that have bought 5Fs, and at least that many that are considering it.

Hope it helps.

Previous post

Third motivation.

It is about time for me to reveal my third motivation, no?
Well, I am an evolutionary cell biologist. Yes, the focus of my research is evolution. I know that might sound horrible if you read this from the states, but evolution is a fact, not a theory, unlike other elucubrations and there is no doubt that our body is the reflect of a very long evolutionary history. And our foot is one of them, just like the rest of our body. Our body and our feet have actually evolved to stand, walk and run barefooted. It is only very recently in our history that we have began to wear shoes. And actually a large proportion of humanity still spend most of its time, if not all his time, barefoot. The feet is actually a very impressive device developed to absorb the chocks caused by moving around. And it is only recently that we have put that aside to 'protect' it. The initial idea might have been good, but it has mislead us for too long.

Previous post Next post

False 5F's on the market?

All potential buyers of 5Fs, be aware of counterfeits, as seen on the BBC website. Previous post Next post Next post

Start running barefoot?

I was recently asked by a friend if I would advice him to start running barefoot, meaning for someone that has (almost) no running experience and that wants to start running, "would it be better, or worst, to start 5F's?" I didn't really know what to answer, but now that I have given it some thought, I would say 'yes'. If you wanna start running, and are considering, are interested by the barefoot feeling, yes, get started 5F's.
You anyway have to start slowly and take it easy, taking short runs to get your legs used to it, build a constitution. Why not then start directly barefoot? Instead of getting into the habit and then having to go back to short and slow once you switch to barefoot, to get you feet used once you get your legs up and running. No! I would say that it is probably best to start with the barefoot and get both your legs and feet into the running at the same time. If you have to build muscles, ligaments, and a condition to run, you might as well develop your feet and free them from the closed space of your shoes. You will realize how atrophied are your feet and how good it feel to be directly in contact with the ground. Of course, I would only say that if you are seriously interested into running and into running barefoot. Because it would be too easy to blame your laziness in the fact that your feet hurts, are not used to, and it is too difficult. If you know that you will be looking for excuses then better get some good shoes that will get rid at least of that excuse. Obviously, I would strongly suggest at least 7 mm sole shoe, see this post

But if you are seriously motivated to get started running, I would strongly advice to start barefoot. And I promise, you won't go back.

Previous post Next post

Who's your dady now?

That's it, have done it. I ran my barefoot half marathon this weekend in 88 minutes. Well, of course, it was approximately, I ran from home to home, passing most of the time on the exact path of the HD half (I live in the Weststadt). So it might not have been exactly 21 km, but it is as close as I could estimate. And honestly, it can't have been far from it. I went at a pretty good pace, even at close to my maximum sustainable for a while. It felt good. And my 5F's feet are feeling real good now. early Sunday morning, Listening in this order to The Vasco ear, Louis XIV, MIA, and finishing with Rammstein. The title of this post is from one of the Louis XIV song, that I really enjoyed at that time, while running. I thought it would be appropriated. Thus, all in all, I believe that I have now completely switched to barefoot running, I don't run with shoes since a few months, I have run more than 1 hour and a half 5F's, and a half marathon (even if unofficial and approximate distance). Given that I received my first 5F's shoes the 11th of November, we are the 20th of May, and considering ski season, and the traveling, it means that it took me 6 months to make the transition from shod to barefoot running. The motivation behind this blog was only to document this transition. I will keep you posted on the evolution though. And this is related to another post where I was asked if I would advice to begin running directly barefoot.

Obviously I need to make this official in a regular race now. So I will be looking for the next half marathon close to HD next month. But as I already mentioned, I will be traveling a lot the coming weeks. We will see.

In summary, after 6 months, I can say that switching to barefoot running was
not painless or even injury free but probably I was too ambitious, too naive, and not patient enough, a new discovery, not so difficult, changes a lot your running posture and style, a lot of fun. Now, I completely switched to barefoot and running is a pleasure again, I am always looking forward to the next run.

Previous post Next post

Uccle, dis!

So, this is it, I was in Belgium last week for work and ran twice. First time was with my friend and colleague. We ran 66' in the beautiful Forest de Soignes. It was very nice, perfect weather, not too cold, not too warm. The forest was beautiful and a very nice run all together. And so close from the city. We just left from my friend's house, ran 5 minutes through town and were immediately in the forest. Nice to evacuate all the beers we had the previous days.
Flamoutch, thank you for bringing me there and keep on running.

That was on Friday. On Sunday, I took another 'clean up run' to discard the beers I had in Tournai, my home town. Again, slightly above the hour, 64', a not too tough pace. My feet were feeling good after that. However, it is very interesting to feel how much more flexible are your feet specially after running. You can feel all small bones in the feet and how independent they are from each other. Anyway, I believe I am cured from the twisted ankle by now. I will do this weekend the 21 km that I couldn't do for the HD half and this week, I should register for a half marathon soon.

Wednesday, I have just run 42', easy and short. In preparation for the 21km this weekend. Nothing to declare, feet are fine. Will be ok.

Previous post Next post

Recovery post HD/2

Ok, almost totally cured now. I ran 32' last Wednesday, 58' this Sunday and 40' today, Monday. I can still notice a very slight feel at the ankle, but nothing while running, just after, when it cools down. No pain, just a feeling of being there. So I have to plan for another half marathon. It is a pity to have missed the HD/2 but let's look at the future. I should run a race soon. Problem is I have lots of traveling in the coming months.
Previous post Next post

Post HD/2

So, that is it, I did not run the famous Heidelberg half marathon. It is really a pity, I am so disappointed. The HD/2 is really a nice course, a tough one, with two famous hills that are really hard, but the people, the atmosphere around it is so beautiful, so cheerful, that you feel really good when you finish it, whatever your time. It is a pity because I had prepared very well, I think. I felt like I could run below 90 minutes.
Anyway, useless to keep self-pitying. Let's look at the future. And there are many many race around Heidelberg, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find one in the next future. I went running yesterday, Wednesday, for only 25' at a low pace and my ankle seemed to be fine. I will go again this weekend for an hour. If my legs and feet are fine after that, I will pick my next race that will be the first one I will run 5Fs. I am looking forward to it.
Previous post Next post

Heidelberg half dropping out

Friday morning, my left ankle slightly hurt. That is exactly why I went running short and slow yesterday, just to see how my feet will react. Well, it reacted fine, but not fine enough. This morning I can feel that it is not ready. No pain, but a faint feeling that it is just not there yet. I just went for half an hour very easy pace yesterday. So unfortunately, it is clear that I won't be able to run on Sunday. I am very disappointed but it would be too risky.
It is important to state here that I don't think this is related at all to the 5Fs. It is just bad luck to have slipped like that 2 weeks before the race and could have happened with normal shoes. I think so.
Previous post Next post

4 days to HD/2

Quick update at 4 days of the HD half. It is getting better. It is still slightly swollen, but almost nothing, and it feels like I could run, I want to run. I will thus take my place at the start line and then we will see how it goes. Initially, I would like to take it easy, not to take the risk of injury, but you know how it goes. I know myself and will probably try it anyway, because I will feel good. We will see.

On the other side, after a couple of weeks of slowing down and a week of complete rest, my legs are feeling full. You known this feeling, when you body is asking you to go out.  I feel like I could run a full marathon now. So, the HD half is not turning out too bad, the next step will probably be a full marathon.

See you on Sunday on the starting line.

Thursday, Day - 3, I went for a short and easy run this morning, just to check my feet. I think it will be alright. You can barely make out the swollen now and it felt good running. So I guess Sunday will be ok. See you there.

Previous post Next post

40th birthday 16k practice race and twisted ankle

That is it, I just turned 40. And the day after ran a 16 km race to celebrate it.
Everything went fine, total barefoot again, no problem at all.

The following day, I just ran an easy 13 km with colleagues. It felt good, but towards the end of the path, I slept and slightly twisted my left ankle. Shit, just two weeks before the half marathon. How will I cope with that? Will I heal? I do hope so.

So far, I am with a support band, I will go buy some anti-inflammatory cream. I am supposed to run a 24 km race this weekend with a friend. I don't know, may be I skip it to be safe for the half. Shit.

That is it, I put a lot of anti-inflammatory cream on the inner part of my left ankle. I do have a slight stretched ligament there, slightly swollen. I will not do anything at all until the half and see how it goes. Anyway, I am supposed to be tapering now.

Here is the chart of my training then:

Next stop: Heidelberg half

Previous post Next post

HD/2: Second training run

Done, was good, enjoyed it. I did it barefoot. Have run the 16 km, in 1h15', up and down hills, partly in the woods, including the famous Phylosophenweg opposite the Heidelberg castle. First time the complete path 5Fs, so I didn't push it. Next time, I will try to push it a bit to lower the time in preparation for the 5 extra kms on the complete one. Seems possible to do the complete HD half-marathon below 1h30 this time.

The day after, Monday, just did the Monday run, 13 km, on a normal 58', not best time, but satisfying one. I felt really good all along. That is probably one of the biggest discovery for me running barefoot. I clearly enjoy more the running and the post-running. It feels good all along and even after.
Clearly because there is more less shocks or much more absorption of them. I could feel my calves being tired. Calves are clearly more important barefoot than shod. And to answer one recent comment I received, one of the reasons I am probably not too injury prone is that I have pretty good calves. I used to play a lot of ice hockey when I was young. For skating, you need good abdominal and calves. My early skating might be associated to a smooth transition to barefoot running.

Previous post Next post

I feel good (HD/2 - 5 weeks)

Feeling very good. I just completed another Wednesday run with 5Fs, 15 km in just 67'. That was good and feet are feeling really well. I still have to learn to relax and worry less on the downhill parts. It is looking good, I am already much faster than initially, but I am still careful with stones, and not relaxed. I also feel that I am pulling on my back to slow down, thing that I clearly shouldn't do. I need a couple more practice run and I should be OK. The problem is that the HD half marathon has lots of hills, including the last one, from the castle to the old town, really step and fast. I need to learn to speed it up if I don't want to loose much time there. Anyway, my feet and legs are feeling good. One point that I feel important to mention is that previously, with shoes, I always felt completely worn out. My joints ached, my legs and back felt bad ... I was happy, feeling good about running, but could felt the impact on my body. Definitively NOT what I am feeling with barefoot. On the contrary, it feels good all over my body. The feet, which have receive directly plenty of impacts are just feeling wonderful. I feel like an animal that was hold in a cage and could only move in a limited space to which you suddenly open the door and can now run without limit on huge space. I know that's a little excessive but that is the image I use to represent what I feel. In short, I feel really good after running barefoot, unlike what I use to feel with shoes. Until the race, in five weeks, I will try to run only barefoot, including two practice run, one this weekend, one two weeks before it, and including 24 km in Belgium one week before HD. Should be nice. Let's see how it goes.
But definitively, for the new comers, the sole of 7mm makes a big difference. The Bikila LS are very very nice, very comfortable and just enough protection below the feet. See a new beginning post I also think that starting to run barefoot in the woods, with lots of branches, small stones, irregular path is not ideal, but well, too late, I have done it. New barefoot runners should definitively start with enough sole, 7 mm and ideally on concrete.
Here is my practice log.

As I said, the following bars should all be green.


Previous post Next post

Wednesday run PB

Today was a good day, I just did my own personal best on the difficult Wednesday run. 64'34, a time to remember, to run a difficult course, 15 km up- and downhill in the woods. The conditions were ideal, not too warm, not too cold. I was running by myself. The two monsters in our group were recovering from running injuries, I started to go ahead of the pack after around 15' when we reach the real start of the uphill part. And I just kept ahead all along. I just wanted to say that I felt really good all along the run. Don't know why.
I did not run it barefoot though. I still have some very slight inflammation feeling below the left foot and want to be sure before slipping into my 5Fs once again. However, as you can see, it hasn't been a problem with the shoes on. It is slowly disappearing so that I know next week, I will do all the runs barefoot.
Anyway, that is looking good for the half-M in a bit more than 6 weeks.

Previous post Next post

HD half registration

HD1/2 practice run

Did the first practice run for the HD half marathon last weekend. We go the full path, apart for the first 5 km, in the aldstat and Neuerheimsfields. Total of 16km. Did it in 1h10. With shoes. Will do the next one without shoes.

The day after, Monday, I did the classical monday run at an easy pace, 1h for 13km. I did that one without shoes. Early on, I steeped on a small pointy stone and my feet hurt. It still does now, the day after. Nothing important, but just once again be careful even 7mm of plastic won't protect from everything. (hurt scale of 2, then down to 1)

And wednesday, I ran our classical 15km in 66'33 with shoes. I can still feel the small patch where I hurt myself on Monday, but with the shoes it is OK, no problem, but I don't think I could have done it 5Fsed.

That is it, this Satruday morning, at 08h00, I registered for the Heidelberg half marathon. The event fills up quite quickly so registering is always a race before the race. On Sunday, I did a small 50', 9 k, with some speed tracking on tracks. And Monday, I did the classical Monday run, in the woods, with a personal best of 56' for 13k.

It is now less than two months 'till the race. Here is the training log so far.

There will be two other training runs in HD before the half, one of the 25th or March, one on the 15th of April. Anyone wants to join? We leave at 8h30 from below the Bismarck platz bridge. See you there?

Previous post Next post

First king's chair barefoot

That is it, I have done it. I just ran our famous Wednesday track completely barefoot in a normal time. 1h10 for 15km, in the woods, with up- and down-hills. Very nice feeling. I am still a bit prudent when going downhills, but that is just a question of practice. I am very happy. And those new shoes with 7mm sole are clearly an enormous difference. Who would believe that a few millimeters could make such difference. Not a man, of course.

A now, a couple of hours after that, with the feet rested, it feels good. I can feel that the feet have worked, they are slightly itchy, but nothing bad. Far away from painful, just as after a long training session when the muscles are recovering.

Nice, can't wait to go again barefoot. It is just so nice. I love it. I think I will be ok for the half marathon in 2 months.

Previous post Next post

A new beginning

What a change! The difference is impressive, I have to say. I just ran with my new shoes. Impressive. Much more comfortable, no pain at all. The difference is only due to a couple millimeters more at the sole. My 'old' Sprint had a 3.5 mm sole and I could feel every thing on the ground. My new Bikila LS have a 3mm sole plus 4mm additional cushions. The total sole is thus 7mm, just twice the one of the Sprint. And this makes a big difference. I could run anywhere, on every surface without any problem. I can still feel if I step on a stone, a branch or whatever. But now it is not painful anymore. It was clearly a mistake to get started with the finest sole possible. I was clearly overconfident. But I thought 'If I am going out with minimalistic shoes, I take the thinnest ones'. That was too much, too soon. As I said in a previous post "Too much, too young, too fast". Clearly, if you are considering going barefoot, or 5Fs, out there, go for at least 6 mm of sole. The feelings are the same, but you don't hurt yourself anymore on each stone or small piece of wood. I clearly enjoy the barefoot sensations but have no fear of stepping on something anymore. Great, it is a new beginning.
I went for only 47' at a pretty good pace, including one km on the track at a 3'50 pace. Pretty good for a first time since 10 days.

Next step, in april, I will run 24 km in belgium, La Bouillonnante, a beautiful race in the Belgian Ardennes, full of hills and beautiful views. One week after that, will be the Heidelberg 1/2 marathon.

Keep running minimalistic... but with enough sole.

Previous post Next post

La Grande Motte

No running for me this week, it is skiing season. However, I did something pretty nice. A big ski tour. I was in Tignes, France and went up to La Grande Motte. We went up more than 1K, starting from 2110 to 3456, in just about 3 hours. It is not running, but with the skiing before and after, it is worth a pretty tough training session. Tough, but very nice. Apparently, the way you are running is related to your injury likelihood.
In an analysis of running frequency amongst a representative group, it was found that heel strikers were much more prone to injury, with a twofold greater risk than the forefoot strikers.
On another note, I just received today my Bikila LS, thicker sole indeed and can't wait to try them on.

Previous post Next post

Cold wave in Europe (M+3)

Really cold here. Although It is probably around 0 degree, I still went out. Just 40' at a pace of around 4'20/km. An interesting note is that the pavement on the street was really cold. I could feel my toes getting numb and I thought that I would have to stop. But after 6', I reached the running tracks and there it was fine. The cover there is made of some kind of rubber. So it doesn't get cold at all. I guess that as long as it isn't covered by snow, the tracks are a nice alternative to keep your feet from freezing. 40' is also good for me at this moment. I felt the place where the calf was torn. I felt I shouldn't try to go faster. That was probably one of the reasons for tearing my calf last month, too fast too early. 40' not too fast is just the right pace and length for me so far. After three months of barefooting, I am slowly learning.

Previous post Next post

Too much, too young, too fast (M+3)

Very cold today in Germany, but I felt good as they say here: "Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur schlechte Kleidung". So I was more than ready hat, gloves, scarf and even a training hose on top of my running one. Took me 1h10 to do the classical 15 km. But it felt really good. So feet, calves, everything back to normal. I realize that I was probably too excited, to happy with my 5Fs. I should certainly take it easier. A simple look at the graph shows you that there is much more green than blue, and most of the time red after a green strecht without blue. It even seems that the red bars appear after three green bar. Definitively the proof that I was overdoing it too early.

As Airbourne puts it: "Too much, too young too fast".


Airbourne Too Much Too Young Too Fast
(I am beginning to like this idea to have videos in the blog)
So, I will definitively keep alternating shoes and barefoot. That is exactly how I intended this blog, a live record of what happens, as it happens. I am learning while doing it, as you read it. So, if you are switching to barefoot too, look at my graph, and don't do the same. Take it slower.


Previous post Next post

Barefoot uber alles! (M+3)

It has been 10 days since my last barefoot run. I went back out there today. It felt really good. Calf pain is just gone now. I took it easy anyway, 8-9 km in 49'. While writing, I am listening to a band that I just discovered recently. It is called Justin(e) and I strongly recommend it to you. You could also load it on your mp3 player to enjoy it while running. Here is the fed for the first song. However, avoid it if you don't like punk rock.
But listen to the rest of the album and the others, available on the page of the group.

On the other side, looking at my graph recently, I realized that there is plenty of red (pain) below the graph. Roughly half of it has some red. I have to insist that I just write everything for the sake of completeness. The real important pain (that reached a score of -3 in the graph) was the calf torn. The rest were not so important. But most of all, I am still able to run my usual shod runs in between the barefoot ones.
So, back to normal, no pain, calves are feeling good.

However, now that I feel about it, I can clearly feel that the sole of my feet has been smashed for almost 50 minutes and I can feel it. It is not a pain, more like a ache, but I can clearly distinguish something there. May be that indicates that I have been doing it too much too soon previously and I shouldn't. So I will try to keep it around 45' for the next couple of weeks and see how that improves.

Previous post Next post

Torn calf still not good (M+2)

Saturday, after a quite but good Wednesday shod run, I thought that I would be OK today to retake my barefoot runs. I was wrong. It went fine up to 20 minutes, after which I began to feel again the tore in my calf (score of 2 in my scale). I ran one more kilometer just to be sure, but clearly it was coming back. Not very intense but i preferred to take it easy and came back at a slow pace. After a total of 35', I even stopped running and walked, just to avoid tearing it again (so I raised to pain score to 3 because I had to stop running). It doesn't hurt now, neither did it during the run, but it was there. So, 6 days after it, I still didn't recover completely just yet, despite the OK run on Wednesday, 3 days after. It seems that it is not that straightforward to switch to barefoot running. Take it easy, don't overdo it too fast. Despite this, I still enjoy it, it is very nice, I would recommend it to any one that want to give it a try. But you clearly need time to adapt.

I will do just that, not run until the Wednesday shod run.

Previous post Next post

Self eating is key to exercise benefit

We all know that exercise is good for us. It strengthens muscles, keeps weight down, and appears to protect against diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. The question is how? A series of recent articles commented in Science confirms earlier suggestion that autophagy, the process by which a cell eats itself, is triggered by exercise.

Cellular "self-eating," which helps cells meet their energy demands, may account for some of the benefits of exercise. It seems that the benefit comes from the recycling of our own components triggered by the energy requirement of exercising. Exercise training leads to more autophagy, which basically means cleaning up your cell and recycling its constituents.

Using different types of mice mutant in some autophagy pathway, it has been shown that autophagy is key to both short and long-terms effects of exercising. On the short term, autophagy-impaired mice couldn't lowers glucose and insulin in the bloodstream, as normal mice do. They showed that this is linked to the relocation of a glucose transporter to the cell membrane, and doesn't happen in autophagy deficient mice. On the long term, fattened mice were put through 2 months of daily treadmill workouts. Unlike the normal mice, the autophagy deficient ones were unable to reverse their diabetes through physical training. Exercise also brought down elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels in these normal mice, but not in the autophagy-impaired mice.
One proposed mechanism links exercise to the induction of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an enzyme that reprograms cells to boost energy production. Exercise training also causes lasting adaptations in muscle, including the replacement of old mitochondria, organelles where cellular energy is generated, with new, fuel-efficient ones.
This reminds me of the old prank that alcohool drinking cleans up your brain by getting rid of the old neurons. So keep running and drinking, it's good for you!

Previous post Next post

Torn calf muscle (M+2)

So, all considered, I do think that I did tore my calf last Sunday. Not much, but enough. I could still feel it on Wednesday, three days after that. But I could still run our classical tour that goes up the hill at a slow pace.
So I do think that you better be careful when switching to barefoot running. I really don't know what happened on Sunday, but it is clear that because of its mechanics, barefoot running puts more pressure on the calves. I didn't have the impression to go too fast. May be it is just the accumulation. Anyway, I could still run, it is better now, and let's see how it goes over the weekend.
Here is a link to the pros and cons of barefoot running.
So, not so easy to switch. But I am still very enthusiastic about it. I'll be more careful in the future, although I don't really know what I have done wrong. Brftjsh suggest just to take it easy and relax.

Previous post Next post

I hurt myself today (M+2)

Don't know what happened yesterday, but I did hurt myself. After 20', just reaching the tracks and getting ready for my first km at a sustained speed, I began to develop big pain in my right calf. Now, this is the one that I broke couple of years ago. I actually broke it completely, and twice in 4 days interval (the doctor was very happy). Now yesterday, just when I was starting to increase the speed on the tracks, big pain. I couldn't run fast. I did a couple of turns more around the field just to be sure, but had to turn around and go back home. Probably a bit more than a big cramp, but not a strain yet, I think. I gave it a score of 4 on the pain graph. I guess that barefoot running is putting more demands on the calf muscles and as such, I might need to be more careful. After all, it is only two months since I started barefoot and my body is probably still adapting to it. I managed to put in 48 minutes in total but at an easy pace. I was not limping, which I interpret as still being ok. Let's see if I am OK for our classical Wednesday shod run.

Previous post Next post

Too thin soles? (M+2)

Went back Monday on the tracks, for 63' fully 5Fs. I timed myself again running 6x1 km at a pace between 4'55 and 3'35.

...

Still some swelling feeling below the feet, mostly the right one, 2 days after my over one hour barefoot run on Monday. It is ok, I barely feel it, I walk and move around normally, but still this feeling there. I hope that will stop. I am beginning to think that may be i choose too thin a sole. That has came to me because, I have made another adept, two in fact, two colleagues that also bought their own 5Fs. One of them choose another model with thicker sole and said that it is ok for him in the woods. May be I have been overconfident when I choose mine and I should buy myself a pair with a thicker sole for running on stony grounds. I'll get myself a thicker pair.

Went again today shod for our classical Wednesday run, 17 km in 76'.

Previous post Next post

Short Saturday run (M+1)

Went back on the track again. It was good. I still had this small inflammation, little feeling below the feet, mostly on the right one, at the edge between the toes and the sole, but not a real pain anymore, just a feeling (1 on the scale). Could only go for 35 minutes, on the track so I could pace me. Started at a peace of 4'/km, followed by one km at 4'38 and finishing with a last one at 3'36. With the time to go and come back, it was all together 35'. I really like this barefoot running feeling. Interestingly, the feet feel better after, like if the inflammation diminished due to the stamping. Whatever it is, it feels better now. I reiterate the fact that it feels really good to step in puddles of cold water along the way. It is one of the many advantages of barefoot running, it has a really refreshing feeling. When you wonder about cold feet in the winter in Germany, I tell you, 'It is really nice to step in cold water to refresh you feet". I have to admit that the first 3-4 minutes of the run, I had the impression that it was a bit cold below the feet, but after 5 minutes this feeling was gone and as I said, I was even happy to refresh them in cold water.

Previous post Next post

Back after skiing week I (M+1)

Back from one week of skiing in the Italian Alps. Skiing season has always been bad for my running schedule, but skiing is also a very good training for the legs.
I have been able to fill in a couple of miles in one of those afternoons where I wasn't skiing for family reasons. I went out on the street with minimal clothing. It was actually quite warm, but people being in the mountain think that you have to dress as in the mountain. So I had a lot of looks on my short, bare legs and 5fs. Only went for around 20 minutes.
But I am back on the tracks and went running barefoot for 50 minutes yesterday. I had a weak pain (scale of 2 on the graph) that actually started while skiing. I am not sure if it is due to the skiing or to the barefoot. Most likely a combination of both. My feet were probably weakened by the barefooting, and being on the skis all day must have done something to it.

Anyway, back on the barefoot tracks. Happy new year.

Previous post Next post