Project Barefoot update

A year ago, I bought a pair of Nike Free 5.0s with the intent of transitioning toward barefoot, or at least minimalist, running.  To date, I have put more than 600 miles on the Nikes, including training for and running the 2009 Chicago Marathon.  They've been great shoes, and I still like them.  They still have miles left in them, in fact.  But at some point I knew I would need to bite the bullet and take the next step.  Since Nike discontinued the 3.0 model for a while, I decided if I wasn't ready to go the Full Monty [literally, barefoot], I was ready to run in a thong [literally, minimal shoes.]

Enter the huaraches, which I made myself out of nylon cord and rubber.  I ran in them a couple times this spring.  Apart from the cord rubbing holes in my instep and feeling like it was going to unwind with every footfall, the sandals worked well in the sense they protected my feet.  However, they catastrophically failed the Wife test.  I tried hiding them as long as I could, but inevitably, she saw the horrid things.  Wifey took one look and ... well, ... she employed her excellent command of English and rhetoric to make it clear how ridiculous I looked. 

Serendipitously, our local trail store had a sale around this time, so I bought a pair of Vibram FiveFinger Sprints.  Since acquiring them, I have slowly incorporated them into my weekly miles, being careful to not to run too much too soon in order to get accustomed to them.  Each week, I had this mental spreadsheet of how many miles I ran in them last week, and how much more I ought to run in them this week.  10%?  Ten percent of 18 is one point eight, round up to two.  Mustn't over do it.  Then, I'd skip a week of using them for whatever reason, and what did that mean?  Should I back off to the number of miles I ran previously or run what I forecast I ought to be running now?

In short, this gradual approach was too much for me to handle.  Therefore, this week, I have been running exclusively in the Vibrams.  On Monday, I ran three miles on a treadmill.  Today, I ran three on the street.  Right now, my calves are tight and sore, and I have a blister on the ball of my right foot.  [My first running blister ever.  No shit.]  Obviously, there has been some discomfort.  But I am not discouraged.  Tomorrow, I will do another three in them unless it's too painful to do so.  If it is, I will revert to shoes.  I still have the Nikes.

That's going to be my approach from now on.  Running in Vibrams will be the default.  Running in shoes will be for when it's too painful to do otherwise or the course too treacherous. I'll let you know how it goes.