Week 28

• Total weekly miles

27.6 miles.

• Number of running sessions

4 (3×60 minutes, 1×120 minutes)

• Total weekly barefoot mile

8 miles.

• Number of barefoot running sessions

1.

• Running terrain

Mostly flat, on a mixture of pavement, dirt tracks and road.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

Mixture of pavement, grass and dirt tracks, but I tried to stay on pavement as much as possible.  Need to keep this up to try and toughen my soles.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

Lunas when not barefoot.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

All three runs in my Lunas were in gale force winds.  My barefoot run mixed heavy rain (for the whole 2 hours) with the wind.  I’m quite surprised how much the wind can affect the speed at which you can run at a constant heart rate.  I constantly had to slow down when going into the wind and rain.  Very annoying, and resulted in a lower mileage than I expected for the time I was running.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Still fine!

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

A couple of nods from other runners.  Lots of comments from people who thought I wasn’t looking at them while I ran past, in the “look at him!” sense.  But as always, I just kept running.

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any

None this week.

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

Very difficult to keep a steady cadance or pace this week while keeping my heart rate steady at 144bpm.  My diet’s been a bit rubbish this week, far too many crisps and sandwiches, so that might have played a part.  But I think the weather didn’t help.  So generally I felt much less smooth in my running style than normal.

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

None from running!  I tweaked a calf on a bike ride over the bank holiday weekend, but this went away with a couple of days of rest.  No running-related injuries.

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

I planned to do my whole 2 hour run barefoot, but it was a bit chilly and wet out when I started.  So rather than start barefoot, I started in my Lunas to give my feet a chance to warm up.  About 2 or 3 miles into the run, I took them off, and was able to complete the rest of my run barefoot.  So giving yourself 10-15 minutes at the start of the run with some kind of footwear on can help you deal with cooler temperatures.