stomper
Guest
My local turkey trot 4-miler at the Oregon Zoo was slightly more challenging than I expected.
34 degrees F made it seem like a day for ZEMs. These were the coldest conditions I had ever considered running BF in. But I have become very intolerant of shoes while running, and I've done about 40F. Could 34F be so different? My step is so much lighter while actually going barefoot, I'd rather take some chances with conditions. I put the ZEMs on my hands and set out with the other "late starters" at 8:30AM.
Turned out that road that seemed so smooth while driving was nasty nasty chipseal with icy patches, mostly about pancake size. 1.75 miles major downhill on it, then I had to turn around and got 1.75 miles uphill on it, feeling all the pointy bits from the OTHER direction.
All the same, I felt good. All that pointy stuff was definitely keeping my step light, and I wasn't suffering any punishment from the downhill at all. Uphill, I wasn't huffing and puffing like the shod runners. I was wasting a lot of time and energy weaving through the crowds of walkers, though. Doing the late start had been a bad strategic decision, in terms of setting a good time.
Not too much reaction to my bare feet, which was a bit disappointing, because I knew how much harder these conditions were than in other races on flat warm concrete. Instead of the loud "you're crazy, man!!" (the kind of thing that is clearly asking for a friendly retort) there was just the occasional hushed "he's barefoot," like I actually was insane. As in disturbed.
The best reactions were one simple, but alarmed "WHAT???????!!!" from a walker lady and a nice high-five from this dude:
(image by WazMix)
The real craziness came in the last half mile, when the course threaded through the grounds of the Oregon Zoo, which was open for business and full of people. There were race volunteers there, trying to help direct racers through the course, but the crowds were overwhelming, and it was so cold I think their ability to talk and point may have been impeded. I got off track twice and ended up in a desperate sprint through waves of walkers to beat some shod dude with a step as heavy as an elephant's.
Which is kind of my final thought about the race. This was really a day when I felt just how different barefoot running is from shod running... so different I feel like a different species. I am not making a claim to superiority or speed. I'm sure whoever won the race wore shoes. But my steps and my breath are quiet now, while the shod runners and walkers seem to be laboring away, like getting fit is an ugly job their doctor has told them to do and get done with, the bodily equivalent of cleaning the gutters.
Well, all except the Gumby guy. It wasn't a chore for him. He has nothing to prove.
34 degrees F made it seem like a day for ZEMs. These were the coldest conditions I had ever considered running BF in. But I have become very intolerant of shoes while running, and I've done about 40F. Could 34F be so different? My step is so much lighter while actually going barefoot, I'd rather take some chances with conditions. I put the ZEMs on my hands and set out with the other "late starters" at 8:30AM.
Turned out that road that seemed so smooth while driving was nasty nasty chipseal with icy patches, mostly about pancake size. 1.75 miles major downhill on it, then I had to turn around and got 1.75 miles uphill on it, feeling all the pointy bits from the OTHER direction.
All the same, I felt good. All that pointy stuff was definitely keeping my step light, and I wasn't suffering any punishment from the downhill at all. Uphill, I wasn't huffing and puffing like the shod runners. I was wasting a lot of time and energy weaving through the crowds of walkers, though. Doing the late start had been a bad strategic decision, in terms of setting a good time.
Not too much reaction to my bare feet, which was a bit disappointing, because I knew how much harder these conditions were than in other races on flat warm concrete. Instead of the loud "you're crazy, man!!" (the kind of thing that is clearly asking for a friendly retort) there was just the occasional hushed "he's barefoot," like I actually was insane. As in disturbed.
The best reactions were one simple, but alarmed "WHAT???????!!!" from a walker lady and a nice high-five from this dude:
(image by WazMix)
The real craziness came in the last half mile, when the course threaded through the grounds of the Oregon Zoo, which was open for business and full of people. There were race volunteers there, trying to help direct racers through the course, but the crowds were overwhelming, and it was so cold I think their ability to talk and point may have been impeded. I got off track twice and ended up in a desperate sprint through waves of walkers to beat some shod dude with a step as heavy as an elephant's.
Which is kind of my final thought about the race. This was really a day when I felt just how different barefoot running is from shod running... so different I feel like a different species. I am not making a claim to superiority or speed. I'm sure whoever won the race wore shoes. But my steps and my breath are quiet now, while the shod runners and walkers seem to be laboring away, like getting fit is an ugly job their doctor has told them to do and get done with, the bodily equivalent of cleaning the gutters.
Well, all except the Gumby guy. It wasn't a chore for him. He has nothing to prove.
