Thursday, January 07, 2010
An unplanned but pleasant barefoot run
Just as I started my run at the Tau Devi Lal Biodiversity Park in Gurgaon today morning, I felt a slight pain from my left knee down to the foot. It got worse as the run continued. After 2 kms, I was putting a lot more pressure on my right foot than my left. By the time I completed the 3rd km, there was a good bit of limping in my running.
That's when I decided to call off the run (was planning to do 8K today). Before leaving though, I thought I would go around the park's 1K loop once more -- and this time just walk and not run. A few metres of walking, and I got a silly idea -- why not walk barefoot?
I had been thinking about trying out barefoot/minimalist footwear running for sometime now. Christopher McDougall more or less indicts Nike and their heel-cushioning shoes in his book Born to Run for the injuries that plague long distance runners today. Plus, recent studies seem to suggest that our bodies are designed to run (with natural cushioning provided by the balls of the feet -- and they don't need any shoes for help). Only, I hadn't planned on doing this before the Mumbai marathon.
Still, here I was, unable to run, and with an inkling to walk barefoot. So, I removed my shoes and socks, held them in my hands, and started walking. And the ground was... ouch! Those damn pebbles on the track were hurting the delicate soles of my feet. I moved on to the grass to save myself from this pain. A few hundred metres later, another idea -- run! But what about those damn pebbles? And what about the pain that made me abort the original run?
I was near a part of the track where pebbles were not any problem. And I decided to take a risk with the run -- but with the running shoes in my hands instead of over my feet! I completed the loop, felt good. Completed another, and another. There was just a hint of the pain I was feeling earlier, but it wasn't even annoying anymore. I didn't have such high hopes, but this was turning out better than expected. I couldn't run barefoot all this time though, because, well, there were spots where there were just too many pebbles and not much grass to run on. And damn they do hurt the feet!
Still, in the end, I ended up doing a total of 3K with this mixture of barefoot run/walk [wanted to do more, but it was getting a little late for office ;-)]. It felt good. So what's next? As far as the Mumbai marathon goes -- take a bit of rest to nurture my aching (while running with shoes) left leg, and do some light training next week before D-Day on 17th. Once that is done with, I will dump my Adidas running shoes (for sometime atleast) and buy a pair of Nike Free's, or, maybe buy those thin green-soled sneakers we used to wear on Saturdays (white-uniform mornings, if you went to that sort of school). Going completely barefoot on the roads is not a very exciting prospect -- just think about the pebbles!
It will be interesting to see how that experience turns out to be -- if the advocates of barefoot running (and detractors of modern running shoes) are right, most of the pains or injuries I've had in the last one year are because of my shoes. If they are right, I will be seeing even more exciting running times ahead!
That's when I decided to call off the run (was planning to do 8K today). Before leaving though, I thought I would go around the park's 1K loop once more -- and this time just walk and not run. A few metres of walking, and I got a silly idea -- why not walk barefoot?
I had been thinking about trying out barefoot/minimalist footwear running for sometime now. Christopher McDougall more or less indicts Nike and their heel-cushioning shoes in his book Born to Run for the injuries that plague long distance runners today. Plus, recent studies seem to suggest that our bodies are designed to run (with natural cushioning provided by the balls of the feet -- and they don't need any shoes for help). Only, I hadn't planned on doing this before the Mumbai marathon.
Still, here I was, unable to run, and with an inkling to walk barefoot. So, I removed my shoes and socks, held them in my hands, and started walking. And the ground was... ouch! Those damn pebbles on the track were hurting the delicate soles of my feet. I moved on to the grass to save myself from this pain. A few hundred metres later, another idea -- run! But what about those damn pebbles? And what about the pain that made me abort the original run?
I was near a part of the track where pebbles were not any problem. And I decided to take a risk with the run -- but with the running shoes in my hands instead of over my feet! I completed the loop, felt good. Completed another, and another. There was just a hint of the pain I was feeling earlier, but it wasn't even annoying anymore. I didn't have such high hopes, but this was turning out better than expected. I couldn't run barefoot all this time though, because, well, there were spots where there were just too many pebbles and not much grass to run on. And damn they do hurt the feet!
Still, in the end, I ended up doing a total of 3K with this mixture of barefoot run/walk [wanted to do more, but it was getting a little late for office ;-)]. It felt good. So what's next? As far as the Mumbai marathon goes -- take a bit of rest to nurture my aching (while running with shoes) left leg, and do some light training next week before D-Day on 17th. Once that is done with, I will dump my Adidas running shoes (for sometime atleast) and buy a pair of Nike Free's, or, maybe buy those thin green-soled sneakers we used to wear on Saturdays (white-uniform mornings, if you went to that sort of school). Going completely barefoot on the roads is not a very exciting prospect -- just think about the pebbles!
It will be interesting to see how that experience turns out to be -- if the advocates of barefoot running (and detractors of modern running shoes) are right, most of the pains or injuries I've had in the last one year are because of my shoes. If they are right, I will be seeing even more exciting running times ahead!
Labels: running
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Delhi half-marathon: 2:19:02
Its been a few days since the race, and I have been procrastinating over writing about it ever since. Here it is finally -- I finished the 21K in 2:19:02, nearly 10 minutes faster than what I did in Mumbai earlier in the year, something I had not at all expected before the start -- I was only hoping to finish it under 2:30 hours, just as I had done in Mumbai!
As it turned out, I had a pretty terrific start by my standards. And the morning weather was perfect for running. Saw the frontrunners (Merga et al) coming back as I was nearing the 6K mark -- and those folks were on their 14th K! 10K was done in 1:03:05 -- the fastest 10K I've done till date. Once I realized that, I knew that a sub-2:20 was always on the cards. Who knew, maybe even a 2:15! (but that was not to be this time) Reckon I was able to keep up this pace right uptil the 16K mark. I probably did slow down a bit during the next two kms, but then I really hit the wall on 18K. Start feeling very exhausted, and it was tempting to just walk the last 3K. But, thankfully, I was able to give it my all and keep running -- albeit a little slowly -- in the last leg too :) As I neared the finish line, saw the clock ticking at 2:19 and counting -- I had managed to do it! Crossed the finish in just under 2:20 (my gross time was 2:19:56).
Here's a breakdown of my split and total times for the race:
Split@7.5K -- 47:13
Split@10K -- 1:03:05
Split@19.35K -- 2:05:35
Split@20K -- 2:10:47
Net time (21.097K) -- 2:19:02 (individual start till finish time)
Gross time -- 2:19:56 (race start time till finish time)
Overall rank -- 1695
I had never realized I could do this time -- in fact all my training runs were pointing to a 2:30+ 21K run! Felt a bit giddy after the race, but it was only for a few minutes. A nice Iodex massage (that was a great thing to do -- have volunteers massage your feet and legs after the race -- Mumbai are you listening?) and a banana and an apple later, I was feeling as good as ever.
Next up is Running and Living marathon and a half in Gurgaon on December 6th, where I'll be running the 21K again, and then the half in Mumbai in January. Hope that fitness and timings keep improving, over the next couple of months, at least.
Labels: half-marathon, running
Friday, October 30, 2009
#4028
4028 -- that's my running number for the Delhi half-marathon, to be held this Sunday. Second ever half-marathon I'll run in. Due to lack of sufficient training, a sub 2 hour time is not even remotely possible, but I should be able to run within 2 hours 30 minutes again. Weather during mornings is great for running (thanks to the onset of winter), and the route -- through the heart of Delhi -- also seems darn good. Looking forward to a great day of running.
Labels: half-marathon, running
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday Long Run: 14 km, 1 hour 44 minutes
"Well, humour me."
Maybe that's what I would have said six months ago.
Maybe that's what I would have said six months ago.
For me, the hardest part of these long runs is not the pounding that the legs get (my runs are quite slow); rather, its the extreme patience with which the mind is tested. When you are running circles around a 400 metre track1, the mind gets exhausted just waiting for... the run to finish!
So of course I try all sorts of tricks to keep it busy (e.g. conjure up my greatest fantasies and see them waiting at the finish). I guess listening to music would also help, though I have been too lazy to get my iPod fixed (as usual). But whatever, with each passing week, that dream of crossing the finish line in Mumbai this January comes ever closer to reality. Guess I should be booking my ticket soon...
1 A run of 14 km means 35 laps around a 400m track. Such boredom. Fellow Jalandharis, any interesting places you can suggest to me for running? I do it at the Guru Gobind Singh stadium right now.
Labels: half-marathon, running
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