Author Archives: colinkeb

this is my second week of running in “barefoot” shoes made by terra plana, I was training for a half marathon aiming for a new pb of sub 1.35 and started to develop pains in my left foot under the arch and my achillies of my right foot, once I crossed the finish line of the half in 1.34.50 I decided that something had to change to make things more enjoyable and less injury prone.

I had been reading “born to run” purely by coincidence and hit the part about running barefoot in the next couple of days – this gave me the idea.  I managed to get a cheap pair of Evo’s off ebay and once they arrived I started.  run 1 was only 3.5 miles very easy , no problems.  the next day I did 5 miles and then had a rest the following day as my calves were aching a bit but nothing too bad, I just didnt want to push things too soon.

The day after this I felt fine so tried a 10 mile hilly run (about 800ft of ascent and descent) all on tarmac. This went very well and I was actually a good few minutes faster than normal despite treating it as an easy run. the calves were a bit sore again but in a good way.

On the sunday I ran a very hilly 6 miles off road but in my trail shoes- it was a very rough path and I knew my Evos would get shredded. I didnt realy notice any change in anything like stride etc but missed the sensation of being in contact with the ground.

I had a few cross country races coming up and was a little anxious that I would find my speed lacking unless I mixed in the odd hard run in shoes. next week I hoped to turn the wick up a bit and increase my speed in the Evo’s.

After a tempo run in my Evo’s on the wednesday ,where I finished the 6 miles 6 seconds a mile faster than I was aiming for without realising, I started thursday intending to complete an easy run of about 6 miles again. after 5 miles I started to get a blister on my second toe which became quite painful casuing me to stop and remove the shoes to have a look.

I then had the idea of taking both shoes off and finishing the run barefoot. I maintained the same speed but hell it hurt! where the tarmac was smooth it was fine , but every now and again the surface would be rough and the sensation was exactly like someone rubbing a cheese grater across the soles of my feet. it wasnt at all enjoyable and I hobbled down the last street to my house convinced my soles were bleeding.

they werent of course, but the pain didnt go until mid morning at work. the road surfaces near me are just too rough to go completely barefoot, I have a good forefoot strike but the grip driving me forward just shreds my forefoot as I run. Smooth tarmac is fine , almost luxurious , but those rough areas as just too much. Ive noticed the drives that are covered in chippings spew their contents across the pavement as well although I managed to skip most of this.

I like my Evo’s but its not true barefoot and I need to feel freer.I tried a pair of five fingers on and they were horrible! the sole was way too thick and stiff and my toes bore no resemblance in length to the ones on the shoes. I may try them again but I wasnt impressed at all. They just seem a bit of a gimick to me. I scoured the internet for some vibram cherry material to make some Huaraches according to the instructions on invisibleshoe.com but no joy in england. In the end I ordered a kit from them in America , this worked out at around £23 so if they work it will be well worth it. they seem the closest I can get to true barefoot without losing my skin, if the Tarahumara wear them there must be a reason. I am worreid about the day I line up at a half marathon wearing them , I will look a bit of a freak I spose but that might motivate me to beat those that snigger.

meanwhile I wil stick with the Evo’s and try taking the inner out to increase feel and reduce blisters. My legs feel fine, sore but in the way that makes me feel like Ive worked them hard.

10 mile run in VVF’s 8.11 min mile pace.

Today I thought “what the hell” and put on my horrible feeling VFF KSO’s for their first run. No gentle breaking in though a 10 mile run at around 8 min mile pace , it would either work or not, i put acouple of compeed plasters in my key pocket. Once I started running I suddenly lost the feeling of stiffness and restriction. At mile 1 I was at 7.30 min/mile pace so tried to hold back a bit, mile 2 again at 7.30! it felt too easy !

I passed a bus queue and an old man exclaimed “he’s got no shoes on!” the whole queue turned round to stare at me as I charged past grinning my head off. Any self conciousness I had felt had evaporated a couple of miles ago when I passed a man dressed as a clown (!)

By mile 7 I was at the right pace and felt great. no hint of blisters or rubbing despite the VVF’s being brand new. I could feel the sole where they have tried to emulate a sole shape which was annoying, it would have felt better just to have a uniform thickness across the sole. At around mile 8 I was flying and the endorphins came in, the high you get is magnified in barefeet ten times. I felt amazing. i finished the run buzzing , no blisters , no chafes or complaints about them at all. I have noticed that my whole body gets a work out rather than just my legs now, my shoulders, back and abs all seem just as tired as the legs. I think the movement is more of a natural whole body effort rater than slapping along in some bouncy shoes.

I still think the Huaraches will feel better but I now have no complaints about the VVF’s, they arent as comfy as the vivo’s but they can give you blisters due to the extra flex you achieve (im sure that will fade as they wear in) . Im looking forward to tomorows run already.

the alarm went off at 6am and it was black outside, I could hear the rain hammering against the window and the wind slamming the side of the house and really really did not want to go out for a run……I went.

My wife said “be carefull” as i opened the front door and was instantly sucked out into ice cold jets of water and buffeting winds. 6 miles at easy pace in VFF’s. my legs ached a little from yesterday but I got round in 8.30 min miles easy enough. most of the time i was being blasted across the road and I stopped a couple of times to try and sort out a worsening blister caused by the VFF’s on the side of my foot where the sole comes up around the foot a little. after a while the cold stoped the pain and I just carried on. One thing I did notice is how much the cold strikes up through your feet. not sure how things are going to run in the winter proper. I imagine ice is going to make things really nice! I toyed with the idea of using sealskin socks with my vivos when it gets really cold.

i have to say though that the thought of putting a pair of trainers on just doesnt enter my head now, I would hate to run like that now.

I had a little pain in my right foot yesterday which seemed to have been caused by a bit of compression across the mid foot by my VVF’s, or possibly just a slight overuse strain. Today it was better but I didnt want to risk it so wore trail shoes to do 6.5 miles of cross country hills.

When I got back my Huaraches kit had arrived from america so i spent about an hour making them. After all the anxieties about “have i  put the holes in the right place?” and “have i cut them too small?” I found that tying them a little loose made them much more comfortable. Im presently strolling round the house in them while my wife rolls her eyes and wonders what the hell she married.

Tomorow morning I might try them out for a few miles, its forecast for heavy rain and 70mph winds so I shall poke my head out of the duvet at 6am tomorow and if i can hear the weather I might just do a hard 6 miles in my Vivo’s instead, or even just go back to sleep like a sane person would.

the pain has totaly gone in my foot so the run must have massaged it out or something.

well it was 6 am , black and raining outside but i tied my new huaraches on and stepped outside. I did one mile a bit stiffly then stopped to retie my shoe, another mile more relaxed then stopped to retie my shoe …you get the drift. these things need to be on tight, they may feel uncomfortable when standing still but once you are running it all loosens up trust me. finaly got into a reasonable pace, they still felt a little loose but “what the hell” i thought. i passed a female runner and said hi,  i could hear her footsteps fading then suddenly surge as she spotted my feet. she ran behind me for half a mile obvioulsy wondering why some bloke was out running in flip flops then she passed me breifly just as i wondered what these babies could handle and opened things up to sub 6 min mile pace over taking her again.  they held amazingly and they were just like running barefoot but without the pain. there was a feeling of doubt that they were going to come loose at any moment but they held. once home I tried the “proper” way of tying them on and they felt much more secure so possibly thats the way to go. my right foot had swollen up again and i suspect this is an over use injury so I will rest for a few days as i have a race next weekend.

total miles in barefoot shoes 60.5 in 3 weeks

I havent run barefoot for just over a week now as I had a cross country race and thought the rest would do me good.As I ran the race we had to cross a stream , on the third lap I jumped into the stream and heard/felt a crunch in my right foot. after the race it had swollen quite badly so i presume ive strained it. Ive tried the vibration test to rule out a stress fracture and i can weight bear on it so its not broken , looks like at least a week of rest then :-( I’m missing my barefoot fun runs!

after a weeks rest following a pain developing in my right foot around the metatarsal area I felt fine  and went for a 10 miles easy run in my VFF’s. I kept to 9 min miles and was enjoying myself until mile 8 when the pain returned. Im pretty convinced that the barefoot running isnt the cause of this injury as its only in one foot and I’ve had this in the past whilst wearing trainers. My concern now is that I need to start training for a 100 mile race in the spring and cant afford any issues like this.

With regret I’m going to have to try cutting down my barefoot miles to see if I can heal this problem and still maintain my miles. if nothing changes by using trainers more I’ll know for sure that barefoot has nothing to do with it.

My suspicion is that running barefoot is much harder on the muscles and that im overdoing it a bit, so I can either reduce my miles or do some of them in trainers as a form of rest.  hopefully I’m right, if not I’ve got a huge problem ahead of me 

after 2 weeks of the worst flu ever I was back running, I slowly built up my miles then this morning went out in my VVf’s. I was worried that i was too tired but I felt so energised! It’s not the fact that your feet are lighter without shoes, its just the extra feel that gives you a delicate stride and then a more energetic run. I actually feel more lively after Ive run barefoot than before which is weird. Im now frustrated that i cant repat this every morning at the moment, if I do I may tire myself out, so its a rest  tomorow then back out there for another barefoot run, or VVF run at least , cant wait!

did another 6 miles in VVFs yesterday , im still suprised at teh extra energy you get from being barefoot. you can feel quite tired and lethargic but a few strides and youre suddenly dancing unlike wearing trainers. thought about using the VVFs again this morning but my legs are so tired from climbing I thought it best not to just in case.  I had hoped to do the forest of dean half marathon in my VVFs but i think its going to be too rough underfoot, I will definitly do tewkesbury though possibly in hurraches .