PureCadence Run #3- Also, Barefootin'

Pemberton on Wednesday (artist's rendition)

It was about 40 degrees on Wednesday, and a strange mix of snow, rain, sleet, hail, and what I can only assume was a new form of frozen precipitation. Slain, maybe. Rail. Sleow.

It was cold, is what I'm saying.

Man's Man Wil Dirkin headed out into the elements for a 7-mile run. I cowered inside with my tender feet and my treadmill. 

I decided to try to run 5 minutes barefoot to begin the workout. My reasoning was that most of this transition from regular shoes to the PureCadences is a matter of muscle memory. I have to re-train my stride so that I land on the midfoot without having to think about it. To that end, I thought some barefoot running on the treadmill would be a good way to retrain my feet. Since you instinctively avoid heel striking when barefoot, I thought that, in theory, I would be running with correct midfoot form without a lot of mental effort. 

I don't know if that was true. What I do know was that the 5:00 was painful. I started out okay, but by the end of the third minute or so I was hurting. The treadmill was set between a 10:00 to 12:00 pace, but I'm pretty sure that was a little slow. It felt closer to an 8:00 mile, even accounting for the fact that I might have perceived the run to be more intense without shoes on. 

My feet after the barefoot running

I got through my five minutes and then put the PureCadences on. That stabilized the pain level, but it didn't make it go away. Interestingly, I felt like my form was much improved with the shoes on. I was experiencing a lot of knee pain by that point in my right knee. Not pleasant, and with my knees, any new pain in there worries me. I finished up 10 minutes with the shoes on, for a total of 15 minutes running. 

I'm not sure exactly what caused all the pain with the barefoot part. It could have been too fast of a pace. It may have been too long of a duration. It might have been the treadmill; I don't know much about barefoot running at this point*, but I don't think they spend a great deal of time on treadmills. 

In any case, a few days off should fix the pain, and then it's back to the Great Stride Adjustment of 2013. With shoes on, this time.

* Which is going to change! I intend to be something of an expert on the subject of running physiology. Plenty of reviews, research, and video to come.