Tri-ing to stay young!

Attached is a copy of a letter to a barefoot runner who had asked about my feet:

Hi;

I’m the idiot that ran the 1/2 marathon barefoot without proper preparation. My name is Bill Brooks and I run in Calgary, Canada (Until 11/2007 when my wife and I semi retire to Victoria.) I ran the Harvest Half in Calgary. My total foot preparation was 3/4 hours on pavement and about 20 to 30 miles on a treadmill. The race was great and other than the nick on my toe, I felt no discomfort during the race. I even managed to hold off an idiot that tried to pass me in the last 200 yards or so. It was when I was in the gym getting food when someone mentioned that my feet were bleeding. One hour at the St Johns Ambulance Van and 2 hours at Hospital Emergency and my feet were back in working condition (sort of?!). My 2:09 time was my best by about 10 minutes in the last 7 or 8 years. If it were not for the 6 or 7 kilometers (3 to 4 miles) of gravel and shale, I know that I would have completed it in under 2 hours which is a very good time for me. (My long runs for this race were a half Ironman on August 1 and 2  2hour sessions on the treadmill) I am convinced that I can do a 1:45 half with proper training and foot preparation and probably get back to my 10 year old marathon times of 4h to 4h10m. My primary race for next year will be the Penticton Ironman where I hope to run the marathon portion barefoot. In preparation, I will be doing several 1/2 Ironman and Olympic Distance Races and hopefully 1 or 2 marathons.

Fortunately I’m a good healer!! After 2 days of crawling around the house on all 4’s I managed to walk upright again. It has been 9 days since the race and I’m off to the gym today to do some treadmill walking and will hopefully be back running (temporarily in shoes) by next Monday.

I started barefoot running in August after taking a Chi Running class where my coach had mentioned it. I have to say that running barefoot is absolutely exhilarating! I have never felt better while running. At my normal pace I find that my heart rate is about 10 beats per minute slower. I am also able to maintain a higher heart rate during the longer runs. As well, my quads don’t tire, my right knee, on which I have had 4 operations, is absolutely painless and my posture is easily the best that it has ever been! I’m convinced that the barefoot style is at least 20% more efficient. I didn’t realize how spongy a push off that you get in a runner until trying barefoot. Since Aug I have tried Nike Free, Brooks T5 Trainers and Aqua Socks as an alterative to shoes or barefoot. None have measured up to barefoot although the Aqua Socks were close once I removed the insole. A friend mentioned that there is a site that sells foot “gloves”. I would like to try them as winter running can get chilly. Do I sound like I’m sold on the barefoot experience?

Stay in touch. It will be nice to chat with someone who doesn’t think that I’m a little odd!

Talk to you soon;

Bill