December 22, 2009

Barefoot Running Observations

While running barefoot at the track today, I observed a number of new things about barefoot running that had not occurred to me before:

1) Running barefoot REALLY fast is REALLY FUN! (This is of course relative, my fast is not what others might consider fast.)

2) Running with a smile (the reason being the previous observation) is a lot easier than running without a smile.

3) Running really fast is MUCH harder on the calves (go figure, but seeing as I hadn't run fast without shoes on before today, it's a new observation).

4) Pain-free running makes one think they can go farther than maybe they should (I skipped ahead in my intervals today because running was feeling really good. I wonder if I'll really feel it tomorrow); I guess that's why Ken Bob Saxton calls it Running Barefoot Exuberance Syndrome (RBES).

In short, my barefoot run today was fantastic. Hopefully my skipping ahead in intervals and my short interval of barefoot speed doesn't hurt too much tomorrow. However, I don't think self-induced pain feels as bad as the other kind of pain.