Hello Barefooters, today was my first ever 6 mile barefoot run and it went really well. I came back from my Californina/Mexico business trip late yesterday so this morning I kind of slept in a little. I had my signed copy of Barefoot Rick's book waiting for me so I read the first chapter before going out on my run. It's really a great read and just what I needed to get me out the door and moving. The run was absolutely effortless and I really enjoyed the great Fall weather. I went on my normal 6 mile loop which was a first since switching over to barefoot. I found out some of the pavement wasn't as smooth as I previously thought running it shod, but no problems, the feet held up just fine. At about the 4 mile point, I had another runner come up behind be and say "Wow, I don't see how you do it barefoot!" and I just smiled. What I was really thinking was "How do you do it in shoes!" because wow, you're really pounding...and I could hear him coming up behind me WAY before he caught me. He was a bigger guy, with the IPOD in the ears and was heel striking, overstriding, and sweating his was along and my first thought after he passed me, was of how uncomfortable that looked, even though he was pulling away from me! That is actually one of the great "secrets" of barefoot running is how quiet the foot landing is. I nice way to think about it is to pretentd like your sneaking up behind somebody and you don't want them to hear you coming...and in a race, thats good.
I hope to keep working on distance until the cold weather sets in, and then shorten it up and work on the speed. This 6 miler was respectable however, since I finished in 59:02 with a nice comfortable 9:50 pace. I did an ice bath on the feet for a full 5 minutes after and then to the hot tub for some relaxation...I added another 2 min foot bath at the end. I only have one more week before leaving on my Honduras mission trip. Not sure how much (if any) barefoot running I'll get in on this two week trip but hopefully a little, and I hope it's not too cold when I get back to Indiana to keep working on increasing my barefoot mileage. I also appreciated the fact that the calves are beginning to feel better both during and after the runs which seems to make it feel more natural. I'm hoping that soon, I'll be able to go back to running every day but for now I definitely need the day off in between to get over the previous run. Happy Barefooting Everyone! BF Dan -- Barefoot miles for the week = 14 miles
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