0
Five Finger Running week 1
Posted by
mrdreamboat
,
22 May 2012
·
149 views
After my last blog entry where I went out in my running shoes, I have run only in the Five Fingers (Bikala LS). Having received comments advising me to ease into the change to minimise the potential for injury, I have done the following over the last week:
18 May, Travelled 4.4 km, started off with 1.5km of forefoot walking (quite a challenge to move this way, but I can feel it in my calf muscles), followed by around 1km of running (not much faster than the pace I was walking) and then more forefoot walking to finish the trip.
19 May, travelled 4.4 km, 0.5km forefoot walking, 2km running, then forefoot walking home.
20 May, 9.1km bushwalk with my son, regular walking in regular shoes.
22 May, travelled 4.6km, 0.9km forefoot walking, 2.5km running, then forefoot walking home.
A late start to the programme this week as my calf muscles were still sore after last weeks run for a few days. I am still getting some minor calf pain, but it is very muscular and I am confident that it is due to using the muscles more than I have previously. Also worth noting is that the speed which I ran on the 22nd was around the same speed I was achieving when I was heel striking in cushioned shoes, and I felt like I could have gone further, but I don't want to push it.
Hopefully this week I can get in a total of 5 or 6 short trips of similar duration to this morning.
18 May, Travelled 4.4 km, started off with 1.5km of forefoot walking (quite a challenge to move this way, but I can feel it in my calf muscles), followed by around 1km of running (not much faster than the pace I was walking) and then more forefoot walking to finish the trip.
19 May, travelled 4.4 km, 0.5km forefoot walking, 2km running, then forefoot walking home.
20 May, 9.1km bushwalk with my son, regular walking in regular shoes.
22 May, travelled 4.6km, 0.9km forefoot walking, 2.5km running, then forefoot walking home.
A late start to the programme this week as my calf muscles were still sore after last weeks run for a few days. I am still getting some minor calf pain, but it is very muscular and I am confident that it is due to using the muscles more than I have previously. Also worth noting is that the speed which I ran on the 22nd was around the same speed I was achieving when I was heel striking in cushioned shoes, and I felt like I could have gone further, but I don't want to push it.
Hopefully this week I can get in a total of 5 or 6 short trips of similar duration to this morning.
I've just gone from highly supportive shoes with orthotics to Brooks Cadence, which i suppose are minimal as opposed to barefoot, but with similar issues.
I was firstly amazed how i just naturally seemed to go from my old heel strike form into a neutral strike - i'm pretty sure the old shoes made it virtually impossible not to heel strike.
My week has been similar:
19May 1km.
20May 1.6km.
21May 2.6km.
22May 4.0km.
Although i've been trying to stay slow (5-5:30min/km), i put in about 500m of high knee lift and back lift, and increased my pace to about 4:15. I was pleased with how easy the faster pace felt.
I haven't had any of the calf soreness i was supposed to get - maybe because i'm conscious of my calves and have been doing squats, lunges, calf raises for the last year or so as part of my knee and achillies rehab. Might also be the compression socks to some extent.
Now i just have to remember to lean forward from the hips going downhill and all will be sweet!
Apologies for my reply being longer than your original comment - just thought it all seemed relevant...
Happy trails, Tim.