Sunday, September 27, 2009

Longest Barefoot Run to Date

Upon waking up, I felt pleasantly sore from yesterday's little mountain run, but not overly so. Just a bit creaky. The planned recovery run would no doubt do some good, and I wanted to do it barefoot, so I headed to the athletic fields at the local high school.

I did a little more than planned, which was fine since I was feeling better as the run was going along. The pace picked up gradually throughout, but not by anything drastic. Shin splints were not an issue, confirming yesterday's run cured them. Second time it's done that for me. Whenever I get splints again, rest assured I'll just find a big mountain and charge up it.

Felt great overall. Only sorta-kinda obstacle was a cold rain falling. I was well dressed though, and the bare feet didn't mind the 50 degree temperatures. However, another five degrees cooler might be pushing it.

Ran 5.3 miles @ 9:00/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 142/153
Grassy fields.
Very flat.
Around 50 degrees, overcast, light rain.
Barefeet, shorts, short sleeved shirt, windbreaker (shed after two miles).

2 comments:

Love2Run said...

yeah, you don't want to get frostbite on those toes. Do you think the shin splints are coming from the forefoot running and resulting stresses on the front of the lower legs?

Jamie Anderson said...

Mike, yeah, I do think so. I get shin splints whenever I come back after an injury layoff, but i think the altered gait from the barefoot and altered shoes helped bring on the shin splints sooner. However, they've also left quicker this time around.