Great Reverse Split

Hit the road this morning. Started in the dark and watched the sun rise as I finished a 6.2 mile run; first half at 8.46 pace and the second half at 6.57 pace. Felt great. Nothing like running and watching the sun rise. Very spiritual and uplifting.

HHH

8 Miles Yesterday; Rest Today

Knocked off 8 miles at 8,000 - 9,000 ft., on rough terrain. I'm resting today but I'll be back at it tomorrow. Still experimenting with this whole footwear stuff. I'm currently running barefoot, in VFFs and in my racing flats. Maybe I'll keep this combination as it feels pretty good.

HHHH

Back to the Barefoot World

Finished 4 miles barefoot. Felt awesome. Short n' sweet. Not sure where this is taking me but the fun is in the journey not the destination.

HHH

Great early morning run

Knocked off 8.19 miles this morning. Nice good tempo run. Used by racing flats. It's all VFF tomorrow. On track for a 50+ mile week; let's see if I keep it up though.

HHH

Nice Morning Reverse Split

Nice easy run this morning. 5.39 miles doing a reverse split. 9.30 pace for the 1st half and 7:30 pace for the second half. One of those good wake me up runs . . . now I'm ready to tackle the work day.

HHH

Fast run in shods after boycott

after boycotting my running shoes for 4 weeks (me and my shoes decided to seperate and live apart for awhile until we could resolve our differences, otherwise, we might be headed for divorce), i put on the asics hyperspeed 3 racing flats and knocked off a 10k in 40 minutes. pretty good pace and i also concentrated on bringing the ankles toward my butt (some call it butt kicking). it's the first time i actively tried it and it felt weird at first but then i settled in and my legs were in constant motion, then i learned forward with the hips and took off. i'm not sure how long i can maintain that but it felt awesome to get my form down even if just for 6 miles.

so, tonight i'll take another run in my ascis to see what happens. i'm not leaving my VFFs (no, i'm not a 2 timer) but i need to decide whether the asics and VFFs can co-exist or if i must divorce one of them (right now we have an open relationship).

HHH

Nice after work run yesterday

Knocked off a nice 7.5 mile run as I ran from the office to my home. I now see why, for the wrong reasons I may mention, that folks run in the evening. With an evening run, I noticed that I really didn't have much of an appetite for dinner (great weight control approach although probably not healthy at all).

Something to think about. Something that bothers me is it appears the professional ultra runners seem to look unhealthy, just too thin for me.

HHH

VFF miles increasing

Just finished my longest VFF run. 11 miles. I just started BF and VFF running 6 4 weeks ago so I'm pleased with the increase. I'm up to 30-35 mile weeks. Once I return to 40-45 mile weeks, I'll be back to what my running schedule was in shods (of course, I'll never return to shods). I just need to add a few more miles and I will be ready for a half marathon in the VFFs (that's my goal). I'm probably 2-3 months away . . . I need to feel comfortable at about 15 miles in the VFFs for a half but I'll get there.

2 months ago I would have called this crazy and anyone doing it . . . I never would have thought I would ever switch to BF and VFF. But, I'm a convert not b/c the "personal" data is indisputable. I was told to take 2-3 months off. I immediately threw away the shoes and started BF . . . I've never stopped running; BF and VFF is why I could continue to run. I'll just continue to "rebuild" my body. I'm 40 yrs. old and I LOVE the idea of rebuilding my muscles and reverting my running form back to how I ran as a child. This is what makes life fun!!!!

It's never too late to accomplish anything in life!!

HHH

VFFs for Life???

I just ran 6.5 miles at a 7:30 pace without pushing it. This is a faster cruise pace than when I use to run in shoes. Sure begs the question, actually many questions. Why am faster almost barefoot? I tried to put shoes back on and I can't do it. My feet have adapted back to their natural state of running without the confinement of modern running shoes. VFFs are as close as you can get to barefoot with just a think layer of rubber under the sole of the foot and toes that allow the foot and all its 26 bones and 100+ muscles and tendons to function naturally.

What a journey.

HHH

Another Good VFF Day

5.67 miles in my VFFs. Felt pretty good. I'm still going back and forth between VFFs and barefoot running. I suspect I'll continue doing both going forward but it looks like my life with running shoes is over!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to get my moccasins and try them out. It would be nice if they replaced or at least supplemented my VFFs.

HHH

BF/VFF/Sockwa Run

I did a tri run today. 1.5 miles barefoot. 1.5 miles in Sockwa socks. 3.5 miles in VFF/KSOs. I really enjoyed the barefoot warmdown.

HHH

Trying some Sockwa socks

Just received my Sockwa socks which I will try as a running tool. It is a sock with a 2mm thin sole to provide some minimal protection for the bottom of the foot while providing a barefoot like running experience.

I'll report back after trying them for my run tomorrow.

HHH

All VFF run

Just finished 5.64 miles in my VFFs. I did some trail running so the minimal protection of VFFs was great. I'm currently switching back and forth between barefoot and VFFs. I'm pretty sure I'll mix both but not sure whether I'll run more BF or VFF. I'm also waiting for my moccasins to try them out; maybe they will be the best; worked for the great Indigenous tribes on all terrain.

HHH

What a Great Day, and it just started . . .

Here's the definition of a great day and this was only this morning:

1. 6.5 mile run with 2.5 miles barefoot and 4 miles in VFFs

2. walk on wet grass barefoot after the run; it feels sooooooooooo good

3. listening to the iPOD while walking on the grass barefoot listening to a song that reminds you of your baby (my incredible wife, that is).

This is why you MUST run and especially in the morning. It is practically impossible to have a bad day when you start the day with a good hard run. You've already accomplished so much before the day even begins. Trust me, get up early, get off your ass, walk out the door, and just start placing one foot in front of the other . . .

HHH

My Moccs are in the mail

Now that I'm only barefoot (BF) and Vibram Five Fingers KSO (VFF) running, I have to think about the cold, snowy and slushy winters. Hopefully I have the solution. The Navajo, Utes, Apache, Comanche, Blackfoot (that's me), Pueblos and many of the other great Indigenous tribes made it through very cold winters in moccasins and continued to roam, hunt and run the plains.

So, why do I need Nike for a solution the Indigenous peoples solved centuries ago? Exactly, I don't need Nike or any other shoe company. I'm already running the same pace as I did in shoes with my barefeet (or the thin leave sole of my Vibrams).

Harry