We ran 21 miles with my daughter, she is training for her first marathon San Antonio November 15th. She is having problems with IT band, So I am hopping we will finish the marathon!

Did my usually 6 mile loop at lunch with a 7.38 pace.  Still having a hard time slowing down my pace.  I keep racing my watch, darn you Garmin.

5 miles this morning as I taper toward Richmond next Saturday.  Last week I was cheated out of my last interval session by the good 'ol Swine Flu, so this morning I ran miles 2 and 4 real hard, if nothing else but to see if I'm fully recovered.  Mile 2 was one second slower than the fastest mile I've ever timed.  I'll take that as a yes!  Now I'm not so worried about the training I missed last week, which is good since it's a little late to make it up anyway.

getting back into the swing before it gets cold around so I did 6 1/2 miles this morning under clear skies.....

have a Great night eveyone.

Dennis

I did about 5 miles, including 6 hill repeats.  And 3 of those miles were barefoot, including the hill repeats.

I have to preface this by saying I have been very skeptical of the value of barefoot running.  I continue to be skeptical of many of the claims made by proponents. 

I started doing the hill repeats barefoot, figuring I could put the shoes on again at the end of any hill if it got uncomfortable.  I ended up doing all the hills, then running the mile and a half home carrying the shoes.  Very interesting.  It's not anywhere near the cure-all the barefoot proponents say it is.  I'm still a heel striker while barefoot.  More of a heel striker, if anything.  Downhills were particularly hard on the heels.  My aches and pains didn't disappear.  Actually, a couple new ones showed up - very mild, nothing to worry about.  It certainly seems to work on strengthening your feet.  It feels like you use your toes more to stabilize your stride.  Road surface made a noticable difference, the smoother the better, though even the rougher sections weren't bad.  Small stones were not a problem - that surprised me.  Worthwhile, all-in-all, though I don't know if I would do very many miles barefoot at this point.  It would be interesting to see if it makes a long-term difference in foot, and possibly leg, strength.

Len

Karl,

Your problems trying to go to a forefoot strike are documented in at least one article: http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/09/running-technique-part-ii-scientific.html.  I hesitate to call it a study, though part of the results were published.  You have to read down to "What the published study didn't tell you..."

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I weigh 190 also.  BUT - I'm not a proponent of barefoot running.  I just found it was easier than I expected, didn't seem to have any deleterious effects, and might have a place as an occasional workout.  I have been very skeptical of barefoot running, and, at this point, would much rather run in shoes.

Just as I was leaving Crystal City a week ago Sunday, I found myself next to a younger fellow running barefoot.  I really wanted to ask him about it but I think I lost him at a water stop.