Too Far?

Last weekend my wife and I were part of a crew for a 48 hour film project that took up every waking minute of my life from the time I got done with work Friday until the movie was finished on Sunday night. So, needless to say, I didn't have a chance to run BUT this did allow me to rest my calf muscles a bit. Even though the recovery time has been getting much shorter lately, I've been so excited to go running lately that I haven't given them the proper time to recover between runs.

On Monday (July 19th) I went out for my first run since last Thursday. I decided to go fully barefoot for this one, which started out great. A few minutes in I was completely booking. Passing everyone in sight. I was running pretty close to my old 6-minute mile pace and it felt awesome! But, after only about 7/8th of a mile my feet started to feel hot! I slowed the pace for a minute and realized it wasn't helping. I finally stopped to look and lo and behold. BLISTERS!



I've read stories about people getting blisters when they start barefoot running but in two months of running on crazy rough asphalt I've never even seen a hint of a blister. This was a first....

I think, besides giving my form less attention than it deserved that day, the sidewalk was a much smoother surface than I had been running on which I believe caused me to let down my guard and not pay as much attention to my stride. So, the run was cut short and I headed home, mad at myself for ignoring all the little signs.


So, fast forward to this evening (Thursday July 22)

Clean!DIRTY!


one blister popped and looks pretty gross but doesn't hurt anymore at all, and the other two (the matching blisters on each foot, right below my big toe) are almost gone.

SO, I decided I NEEDED to run tonight!!!!
I popped on my Vibram KSOs for a little added protection and took off for a 4.25 miler..

what I've been wearing when I do where shoes

When the end of my loop was nearing, I still felt great, so I decided to add another mile. which turned into two, which turned into just over three extra miles. By the end I logged 7.35 miles, which is finally getting back into my old average running range.

Around the 6.5-mile mark my feet, where the blisters were, started getting tender and I figured I better listen up this time.

The rest of me still felt great and if the 3-day old blisters hadn't started hurting I believe I could have easily run 3 or more miles on top of that distance.

It's taken 2 months but I finally feel like I'm getting back to comfortably running the distances my body was used to. My legs feel worked out but not painful. Actually I noticed that with fancy running shoes after a 7-mile run my knees would be killing me, my body would feel beat up and my shins would be achy, but after finishing today's run, I felt more like I just finished a long bike ride. I had a good muscle work out but no "structural" issues. I could push the clutch down in my car without my knee giving the old twinge I expected after a run. This is good stuff!