February 14, 2011
Valentine Racing
Posted in Life tagged barefoot, execute, goal, long view, perseverance, running at 10:41 am by lindaslongview
In Blue Feet, I declared my goal to run barefoot/minimalist! This weekend, I ran a local Valentine’s Day 10k in my Vibram Five Finger (VFF) shoes. It was a triumph of training and perseverance.
Even though I pulled up my mileage a bit faster than I probably should have (from a training perspective) – my feet are still a little stiff today – I am thrilled with the how I felt running. I was relaxed and comfortable for the entire race AND I turned in a faster time this year (48:05) than last (49:35)!
The efficiency in my stride manifests itself in reduced heart-rate – my average 144 bpm enabled me to be extremely relaxed and comfortable. See inset chart of heart-rate/pace. (Note: I briefly forgot to stop recording data at race end…and the distance on the heart-rate monitor chip is improperly calibrated for the VFFs…)
The hardest part of the race was the ½-mile section of sharp gravel that forced me to focus on every foot placement to avoid pain/injury to my feet. I successfully negotiated that section at what seemed like a slightly slower pace than the other sections, but the GPS trace suggests that I maintained pace through the entire section!
My long-view perspective on all of this: goal → execute (perseverance) → enjoy!
It is about how you feel!
Perhaps I should have titled this post, Red Feet?
Happy Valentines Day! 🙂 Especially to my friends and family who ran with me and took pictures…
Lyndsay said,
February 28, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Why is the Vibram Five Finger ‘shoe’ not the Five Toe shoe?
And, that guy on the end (#96) looks kinda familiar!
lindaslongview said,
February 28, 2011 at 11:10 pm
I have wondered the same thing. Perhaps it’s the same reason that we drive on the parkway and park on the driveway, what do you think?
I’ll introduce you to #96! 😉
Linda