Hello all - just a brief report on my barefoot 5K run here in northeast Ohio. It was a beautiful morning, about 70 degrees and sunny. I was the only bf runner in the pack, but my friend and BF enthusiast Chris ran his first 5K in his VFF's also.
The course was road for the first 2 miles and a red walking path/tennis court material for the third mile. I took Ken Bob's SAGE advice, and started back in the pack, and this seemed to be really helpful. I took the first mile, which was pretty much all uphill, at 7:22, and the second mile in 7:07. The third mile we hit the red walking path, and I think did it in about 7:15. The track was wet, and felt like I was running on carpet. The problem is that track can give you serious blisters because it is not, in fact, a carpet, but a material treated with sharp little bits that give traction to the shod so they don't slip and slide around.
I was kind of thrilled by the lack of questions. It wasn't nearly as big a deal to everyone as when I ran a bf 5K last year. Just a few nice comments of concern, like "don't your feet hurt"?, or "you must have super tough soles!". No on both counts, but that is okay, the questions come from a good place.
So, finished in 22:30, 25th out of 129 runners. Last year I ran a race with very bad form, and was quite injured and unable to walk for a couple weeks. So, this was a slower time but a much bigger victory, finishing nice and uninjured.
Any advice for new race runners would be to start slow, and start with a warm summertime race. My race last year was 32 degrees, and the numbness made for a disaster. Thanks for reading, run softly and have fun!
The course was road for the first 2 miles and a red walking path/tennis court material for the third mile. I took Ken Bob's SAGE advice, and started back in the pack, and this seemed to be really helpful. I took the first mile, which was pretty much all uphill, at 7:22, and the second mile in 7:07. The third mile we hit the red walking path, and I think did it in about 7:15. The track was wet, and felt like I was running on carpet. The problem is that track can give you serious blisters because it is not, in fact, a carpet, but a material treated with sharp little bits that give traction to the shod so they don't slip and slide around.
I was kind of thrilled by the lack of questions. It wasn't nearly as big a deal to everyone as when I ran a bf 5K last year. Just a few nice comments of concern, like "don't your feet hurt"?, or "you must have super tough soles!". No on both counts, but that is okay, the questions come from a good place.
So, finished in 22:30, 25th out of 129 runners. Last year I ran a race with very bad form, and was quite injured and unable to walk for a couple weeks. So, this was a slower time but a much bigger victory, finishing nice and uninjured.
Any advice for new race runners would be to start slow, and start with a warm summertime race. My race last year was 32 degrees, and the numbness made for a disaster. Thanks for reading, run softly and have fun!