Day 32 - Mrs Payne joins the barefoot revolution!

I like to think she was inspired by my by my witty and insightful blogging style. Or my air of running wisdom. Whatever the reason, Rhiannon has gone and got herself a pair of barefoot shoes! They're the same model as mine - Merrell Vapor Glove - but the ladies version. Tiny and pink.

Having not done a lot of running for a while, and with some persistent injuries for the past year, it seemed well worth her having a go at this different style. Certainly nothing to lose. And the possibility that using her body differently might move the stress off the problem areas - hips, knee and pelvis - is an appealing one.

As you can see, they are a vibrant pink, far more exciting than my black ones. Rhiannon looks delighted with them! Similar to my men's version, they are a bit on the long side. Rhiannon's big toe just about reaches the rubber on the toe-end of the shoe. This seems to be quite typical for this model.

 

We ordered them from Feetus.co.uk who deserve an honourable mention at this point for excellent service. Lee Firman responded to my email asking about the shoes with a thorough, friendly and thoughtful reply. They were already at an excellent price, but I was able to use an additional discount code (given during earlier correspondence) to go with the free delivery. And when they arrived we discoverd a bag of Haribo and a free Buff-style hood/scarf/thing slipped inside the box. Very impressive service. 

I was on a rest day, so we nipped off down to the village field where I - the experienced barefoot running coach that I am - could put Rhiannon through her paces. I have found that the single biggest factor in changing my style, shoes aside, is the cadence. Upping it to 180bpm means it's next to impossible to run as I did before. So I asked Rhiannon to do the first of three 400m laps, concentrating on this cadence. The easiest way we found was for me to sing the first few lines of Take That's Shine before she set off and hummed it to herself all the way round. I don't really know the words, so I had to make them up, but it did the trick.

Off she went and... my goodness, what a difference! Rhiannon had been progressing really well in the club up to a year ago, moving up through the groups with apparent ease (and some considerableeffort) but one thing that was always obvious when watching her was that she didn't bend her knees anywhere near enough This lack of efficiency in form was going to hold her back from really stretching out and running quickly. But give her a pair of barefoot shoes, sing a bit of Take That to her... and something happens. I tried to take a slightly arty shot with the moody sky and verdant foreground, which means Rhiannon is a small yellow shape in the bottom right corner, but you can see enough.

Look closely and you'll see that her back leg is bent perfectly at the knee, the lower half coming up sweetly to just above the horizontal. The front leg is in contact with the ground directly under her head - no reaching, just glancing and gliding. This is a snapshot of beautiful running form. What a transformation!

Either I am the world's best coach, transforming a runner's style in one session... or there is something in this barefoot running.