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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.


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