Barefoot Running - Bloomsday Test

I originally planned to this on Friday, but the weather today was nice and the forecast for Friday is not promising. I took some comp time and ran the Bloomsday course during lunch. My intent was to run as much of the course barefoot as possible. I focused on landing softly and lifting my feet quickly and got through five miles before my feet started complaining about the rough and uneven surfaces. I brought my aqua sox along just in case so I put them on at the top of Doomsday Hill and finished the last 2.5 miles. I didn't push myself, but ran at a comfortable pace and still finished in about 1:03, about what I did in last year's run. I'm pretty pleased with that. My fastest time, 1:01:45, is two years ago when I was training for a marathon. I think getting in under an hour is quite likely.

I have some soft tissue soreness under the front pads of my feet. That's where all the complaints were coming from at the five-mile mark. Hopefully those areas will toughen up some more. I'll keep working on the light landing.

As long as it's dry and not too cold or too hot, I'm pretty sure I can do the race barefoot. But I'll be carrying my aqua sox hand weights just in case.