Day 31 - Reflections on 1 month of barefoot running

Today I've reach day 31, the end of my first month of barefoot running. In celebration I headed down to the field and put in a few laps for a 2 mile run. I've been trying to up the pace a bit, to see how that affects my running style, so I hovered around 6:55ish. Having done so little running for the last month, that pace was disturbingly hard work, but at least it felt like work. I've not really been exercising aerobically for a while so it was good to feel my lungs getting involved. And the softer surface was perfect for stretching out that sore muscles and they complained very little, clearly enjoying the exercise.

Having reached the end of my first month, I'll try to look back and reflect a bit. Has it lived up to expectations?

I've run less than I expected
If you break the month down into a run every two days, I should have done 16 by now. As it is I have done 12. This is partly due to a cold later in the month, but also due to several extra rest days to give time for muscle soreness to subside. 12 runs doesn't sound like very many and I suppose I'm a bit worried that I've not done enough. I'm expecting - hoping - that, now my muscles are getting used to this kind of running, I will need fewer extended rests.

Progress is good but it feels slow
My plan - in my head or on paper, I can't remember - was to try to reach 6 miles in 3 months. This might be a bit ambitious, but it's the magic number that means I can start back running with my club. I'm itching to do that. According to that plan, I'm bang on, making good progress. But it does feel very slow indeed.

I'm hankering for a long run
This is increasingly true. I just want to get out there and run. At the moment I'm training, I'm not running. Running is when you throw your shoes on and head off over hills, along woodland tracks and round reservoirs. Running is being out in the pouring rain and freezing wind, watching through windows at others trapped by central heating, while you revel in your freedom. Running is moving from feeling okay to feeling alive. I really want to get out and run 10 miles. I suppose I could - I could put the old shoes back on and run in the old style - but will I then hamper, even undo, any progress I've been making? This is the hardest part.

It's starting to feel right
When I first started trying to keep to a 180pbm cadence it felt hurried and unnatural. I had to concentrate hard on where my feet where landing, the line of my back, and so on. But it's actuall beginning to feel very natural. Where I'd been used to carrying around big clumpy trainers, my feet now are weightless - I actually feel like I'm running in barefeet. Especially on rain-soaked grass where nothing keeps the water out, but nothing keeps it in either, so it's just a cool, natural sensation of empathy with the elements. It feels right, I feel weightless, and I like it.

Summary of the first month:

Day 1: ½ mile, road

Day 2: rest

Day 2: rest

Day 4: 1 mile, grass

Day 5: rest

Day 6: 1 mile, road

Day 7: rest

Day 8: 1 mile, road

Day 9: rest

Day 10: 1.3 miles, road

Day 11: rest

Day 12: rest

Day 13: rest

Day 14: 1.5 miles, road

Day 15: rest

Day 16: 1.7 miles, grass

Day 17: rest

Day 18: 2 miles, grass

Day 19: rest

Day 20: 2 miles, grass

Day 21: rest

Day 22: 1.5 miles, grass

Day 23: rest

Day 24: rest

Day 25: ill (cold)

Day 26: ill (cold)

Day 27: ill (cold)

Day 28: 2 miles, road

Day 29: rest

Day 30: rest

Day 31: 2 miles, grass