When I arrived to register there was a guy with a camera came up to me and asked if I was the guy he'd seen running BF last summer. Said I must have the toughest feet. I said well you have to let them gradually adapt. His name is Don and he lives farther down the road from me.
After registering, I still had some time before noon when the race starts so I took a warmup run to the house and back, stopping to get a few tissues for nose runs. I had earlier thought about changing my hoodie sweatshirt for something a little lighter but forgot all about that. It was in the low 40s and windy and most of the run would be with some tree shade so it didn't matter too much. Plus I wasn't going to really push myself much with the ankle possibly not all better. I was running in my new Stems and a few weeks ago had found them to be a little warm with socks at this temp, but I totally forgot about that too so I was wearing what I had on, which was some heavy hiking socks. It turned out there was no problem at all; with Reynaud's, some of my toes can go from numb cold to tingly hot in a few minutes.
Back at the center of town I was milling about until someone called out 10 minutes to race time and everybody started walking toward the starting line, which was about 100 feet around the corner. That was to get the finish line in a common area (parking lot) off the main road. Most everybody was wearing the modern conventional running shoes--not so many of the super thick, high heeled ones some call boat anchors, although I did see some of those too. I also saw two guys with VFFs and one guy with some orange, fairly thin Merrills--trail gloves? The guy with the air horn turned out to be Don, who spoke to me earlier. He announced the 5 or 6 minute mark and the 1 minute mark. When the horn sounded the fast runners took off up over the first hill and I didn't see them again until much later.
There was a good sized crowd. I was about 20-30 feet back from the start and after we were all running I guessed there was about 50 people ahead of me. It stayed about like that all the way through but maybe ending with 60 ahead of me. I really didn't keep track of how many I passed and how many passed me, though both happened. I expected I would run it in about 25 minutes. I haven't actually done that short of a run recently but my 6 mile run was in 58 minutes. I figured I'd be going a little faster in the race, what with other people to keep up with. This is all very new to me, running with other people. I haven't done that since basic training, which I totally forgot about until just now.
The first part of the course, maybe a 1 1/4 miles is mostly uphill. Short hill then level, repeat 4 or 5 times. At about a mile in people had settled into their positions. I had a guy behind me huffing and stomping and it sounded like he was really killing himself with this run. The second leg was gradual downhill but I didn't take off right away, I was recovering from all the uphill. After about 1/2 mile I took off and left the huffer stomper behind. The bottom of the second leg turns onto a dirt road with 3 small rolling hills. It was a little muddy from some recent rains but not really deep mud as the ground underneath was still frozen somewhat. Somewhere along this part a young girl about 10-12 years old said I was doing good--I forget the exact words. I think I remember that she was passing me. It was also somewhere along here that we started seeing some of the winners, who had finished and were running the course in reverse, giving encouraging words to those of us still plugging along. All this time I can tell my ankle is going to hurt a bit afterwards, although it never hurts much during a run.
The elevation graph from MapMyRun
The third leg is about 1/2 mile and back on paved road--gradual uphill, then a short steeper hill with about a 25 foot rise, then it levels off. This hill is also the sunniest, with the sun on your back. This is the first time I regretted wearing the hoodie. Near the top of the hill I walked for maybe 100 feet until I heard the huffer stomper approaching so I took off again. Sorry dude, I couldn't let you beat me.
The finish line was a little corral of sorts that starts with someone typing your number in as you cross and ends with someone ripping a tag off your "bib." The tags are then all scanned in I guess and they match up names, numbers and times. I crossed the line at about 24:55, right on time. I milled about for a bit, picked up a water bottle and clapped for some runners just coming in before heading to the town hall where there was soup, orange slices and cookies. I had some cookies and orange slices and overheard someone say 180 people ran. It was another 30-40 minutes before everybody finished--there were some walkers--and they started announcing the awards. The overall winner's time was under 17 minutes. Many categories: fastest male and female overall and runners up; fastest male and female in several age groups and runners up--the young girl who spoke to me was tops in hers; fastest Temple resident; best costume. My time was about 4-5 minutes from any medalling. The lead walker came in just under 4 minutes after me.
In my training runs, I had been breathing only through the nose, so I knew I would have to do some mouth breathing eventually if I wanted to hit my target time. I was just surprised how fast that point came up--probably at about 1/4 -1/3 mile in. I will have to rest my ankle for sure now, the walk back home after standing around for an hour was a bit awkward. Something in the peroneal tendon area, and the outside of my right hip was a little sore (fine now as I write this). But ice after showering seemed to help so I'll be doing more of that and rolling the calf and some massage. I'm not sure if it comes from running in minshoes or if it's just that I hit the 4 mile mark in my runs about the same time or if there's some "muscle imbalance." I do seem to land harder wearing the shoes. I catch myself doing it often and so keep trying to run lightly. It is my left leg again, which seems to have taken the brunt of the transition to BF issues. I do wonder what's up with that.
Overall, it was a good new experience for me and I'm glad I did it.
Good job! I read your post over on Barefoot Runners Society. I, too, live in the cold north: Upstate NY. I just did a winter walk the other day: 2 miles in 38 degree wet, rainy weather on sidewalks. I applaud your efforts to toughen up. That's my goal, too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck reaching you goals!
Regards, Chris
Thanks, Chris! After the warmup run it was only slightly tempting to take my shoes off--I know my feet wouldn't last on the cold pavement. Do you try to keep BF in the winter like others I've read about?
ReplyDeleteHi, Randy! I hear you. My feet didn't last through my two mile walk! I had blisters on the heels and the balls of my feet. They have since healed. (Don't pop any blister. Let it re-absorb!)
ReplyDeleteI have postponed another barefoot run in favor of a long run. I've NEVER run more than 2 miles in my life, but after re-reading "Born To Run", I had to go out for a long one: I plotted a loop of 7.7 miles including the biggest hills around. I walked/jogged/sprinted it in 90 minutes! I wore my sneakers this time. I'm waiting for some real snow to cover the ground before I go barefoot again; which sounds pretty strange now that I write it! Anyway, I think the extreme wetness of my barefoot walk led me to a false sense that I was OK. I couldn't feel my feet enough to know I was getting blisters... I'll have to pay better attention next time.
So, to answer your question, yes, my goal is to go barefoot in the winter. I feel that my body should be able to do anything I ask of it. The best way to do that is to not do the same thing over and over, but to do different things. That’s why on my last run I made sure to walk fast, jog as much as I could and throw in sprints after the imaginary deer I was hunting! I had always finished my runs with a sprint and now I know why: it’s to catch that deer! I really got him, too, this time! At the end of 90 minutes, I sprinted about 80 yards and caught him as he was giving up. When I got to my target (a fire hydrant), I yelled out “Got you!” The lady on the other side of the street probably thought I was nuts! But in my mind, I had hunted this deer for almost eight miles and now my family had dinner! I was ready to celebrate with a huge feast! That’s the other reason I always go before a meal: in my mind, I’m chasing a deer and when I’m done I want to eat it!
I think you can see that for me running is very primordial. What’s it like for you?
I'm sure I think about things sometimes while running but usually it's like I'm transported to some other place. Midmorning, at work after a run I have to think a minute, Did I run this morning? Did that really happen? Often I just hear my footfalls and breathing--four steps breathing in, four steps out--like it's a mantra.
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