[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

On the other hand, my neighbor started running on Vibram 5 fingers, trained for a couple of weeks and then had such tremendous pain that he couldn't run again. Moved to stability shoes and guess he has improved on his distances.

I'm not against barefeet running, but I can see it more of a fad that everyone wants to jump on. It may be the best option for running, but not for everyone

Moving to barefeet is not a change that can be done in weeks or months. It takes time and lot of training. You need to start off the training by learning how to walk bare feet before starting to run. It will take more effort to do the same thing with barefeet than with shoes/soles/shoes that mimic barefeet running. Man was designed to just run on his feet. Running with shoes causes damage in the long run as it does not conform to the ergonomics of the human body.
Its something like this -
To achieve endurance you can consume natural foods or food supplements. Consuming food supplements is easier and takes you to your goal faster. However, eating natural foods will keep you healthier.

I see that you agree to the fact that running barefeet is better, but are bothered about performance. Thats one aspect to it. The other aspect is how much damage do you want to cause to your feet.
If you ask any doctor whether running marathons is healthy for you feet he will say not. Human body was not designed to run such distances and running marathons amounts to abuse of human body. ( It is done just to push your own boundaries and give you the confidence and happiness that you can do what you can put your mind and body into).

BTW, the fastest recorded barefeet marathon is by an Indian .

Shivnath Singh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by zoombiee

Moving to barefeet is not a change that can be done in weeks or months. It takes time and lot of training. You need to start off the training by learning how to walk bare feet before starting to run. It will take more effort to do the same thing with barefeet than with shoes/soles/shoes that mimic barefeet running. Man was designed to just run on his feet. Running with shoes causes damage in the long run as it does not conform to the ergonomics of the human body.

Also before jumping into barefoot running, one needs to strengthen their muscles, lose any excess weight so that excess pressure doesn't come to any joint.

Also as per a few Doctors who are athletes/marathon runners themselves, human body is not designed to run more than 30Kms (or thereabout). That is why the energy stores get depleted. And to an extent, running a full marathon especially a fast one does tantamount to abusing the body.

Cheers

P.S: Did my first official full at Airtel Hyderabad Marathon with a timing of 4:59:41. Mumbai here I come

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Also before jumping into barefoot running, one needs to strengthen their muscles, lose any excess weight so that excess pressure doesn't come to any joint.

Exactly. Nature has made sure your body will let u know when you are ready to use it to what exchange. Masking these messages using shoes/suppliments etc will push your body to limits when it's not ready.

The challenge in any endurance event is not to complete it, but to complete it without causing any damage.

I can relate this to cycling. Doing a century in one day is easy, doing it on 2 or 3 consecutive days is the challenge.

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

I'm not against barefeet running, but I can see it more of a fad that everyone wants to jump on. It may be the best option for running, but not for everyone

After those pearls of wisdom that I dished out earlier this year, I am currently on the transition phase towards barefeet running. No, not as a fad, but to improve the running form.

I ran on the Brooks GTS with insoles and completed a first full marathon early Dec. (Lets not even disclose the finish timings lol). And since then, the itch is on to improve the pace, for the Los Angeles Marathon scheduled in March.

I have since moved onto Minimalist Shoes - Saucony Fastwitch 5. These are the stability version of the extremely popular Saucony Kinvara 3 series. They have just a 4mm drop and pretty lightweight. Plan to run around in these for the next 6-8 months before taking up to 0mm drop - Either the 5 fingers or something like the New Balance Minimus.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

After those pearls of wisdom that I dished out earlier this year, I am currently on the transition phase towards barefeet running. No, not as a fad, but to improve the running form.

That was my interest as well, having used insoles etc for a long time.

Now that I've had my Skeletoes for a couple of days (shopping not running so far ), I can definitely say that they encourage midfoot strike, as opposed to the regular heel strike which is SO common.

Here is a set of photos from a recent gurgaon run - the vast majority are landing on their heels.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...5287870&type=1

[phamilyman]

Here you go - shoe folks:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23007933

[Prawaal]

Folks any updates from SCMM 2013.
I completed mine with 4:13 timing. Awesome weather and awesome crowd for support.

[rajcs]

Originally Posted by Prawaal

Folks any updates from SCMM 2013.
I completed mine with 4:13 timing. Awesome weather and awesome crowd for support.

Congratulations, its a massive acheivement.

A colleague ran and did in 5:08. He said race started off in cold dark morning but got a bit warm towards the end with runners looking for shade from sun. Uneven cobbled roads and the 'massive hill' on Peddar road made his progress slow. So overall a difficult course.

[Prawaal]

Running in Mumbai is a different experience altogether, and what makes it more difficult is when you do not train in such a humid climate. We can add 10 mins for full marathon while running in Mumbai. However having said that, what makes it special is the support/enthuiasm from local crowd. I have not seen such strong involvement of local people anywhere (including outside Inadia). In fact a saw a gentleman on peder road distributing GU Gels to runners. As a runner, you cannot miss participation in SCMM.

[Animesh]

I have uploaded some pictures I took at the event (Link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...3289820&type=1).

[MileCruncher]

Ran the FM at SCMM and completed in 4:31:59. This was my #2 FM of 12 Months 13 Marathons .

Having run a FM 20 days earlier, I went in with minimal expectations but still had 2 small targets. #1 Beat my previous best of 4:58 #2 Beat a friend's timing of 4:39:29 so that I could win a wager. And for that I had only 1 strategy. Run 30K in 3 Hrs and the remaining 12 in 1:30.

To my surprise started quite strong and decided to hold on the pace. 10K came in 57Mins, 20K in 1:55, 21K in 2:01 and 30K in 3:01. Pace went to dogs after 29K after which I felt very tired with no intention to run. It was the crowd support and pepping from fellow runners that pulled the day for me finally.



Mumbai crowd deserves a special mention for coming out of their home early and then staying late for the Full Marathoners. They ensured that every 100mts of the FM route had Aid Station. Mumbai Police also needs to be commended for turning up in huge numbers and doing an awesome job of keeping the streets clear for runners either from vehicles or pedestrians.



Post run went to Leopold's for lunch wearing our medals and everyone enroute including the cab drivers gave us a special welcome. Overall it was a festival wherein almost all the stakeholders of a city came together and I'm proud to have taken part in it!


Details of the run here http://connect.garmin.com/player/264275798

[rajcs]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Ran the FM at SCMM and completed in 4:31:59. This was my #2 FM of 12 Months 13 Marathons .

Having run a FM 20 days earlier, I went in with minimal expectations but still had 2 small targets. #1 Beat my previous best of 4:58 #2 Beat a friend's timing of 4:39:29 so that I could win a wager. And for that I had only 1 strategy. Run 30K in 3 Hrs and the remaining 12 in 1:30.

To my surprise started quite strong and decided to hold on the pace. 10K came in 57Mins, 20K in 1:55, 21K in 2:01 and 30K in 3:01.

WoW, That's Fantastic. Congratulations. Running two Full Marathons within 20 days is awesome. Or may be I should say amazing feet

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by rajcs

WoW, That's Fantastic. Congratulations. Running two Full Marathons within 20 days is awesome. Or may be I should say amazing feet

Thanks.

I ran the Auroville FM too on 10th Feb. So that takes the count to 3 within 40 days.

I'm presently on rest but will do one this month too. Have planned a 12 months 12 Marathons for this calendar year. Let's see how it goes

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Thanks.

I ran the Auroville FM too on 10th Feb. So that takes the count to 3 within 40 days.

I'm presently on rest but will do one this month too. Have planned a 12 months 12 Marathons for this calendar year. Let's see how it goes

Wow! That is amazing. No plans for BQ etc ?

What training regime do you follow ? Or are you currently at that stage where Recovery and Tapering are not that relevant ?

I have the LA Marathon coming up on 17th, followed by SF and Chicago in June & October. I'm pretty sure I am not in a shape to do marathons so frequently.

Though I did run 4 Half Marathons in 5 weeks in Jan/Feb with the last race fetching me a PR of 1:52.06

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

Wow! That is amazing. No plans for BQ etc ?

Are you kidding me ! I would be happy to do a sub-4 in the next 1 year. And may be try the Comrades! However, I'm starting swimming as I would like to do a Half Ironman in the next 2 years.

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

What training regime do you follow ? Or are you currently at that stage where Recovery and Tapering are not that relevant ?

Recovery and tapering are very important. What I did was a 18 week training plan for SCMM and did my first marathon of the year as the last long run before SCMM. Then 3 weeks tapering and SCMM. then again 3 weeks tapering and Auroville. Generally the previous marathon served as the last long run for the next. Planning the events for the next few months. Hopefully will do Istanbul in November.

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

I have the LA Marathon coming up on 17th, followed by SF and Chicago in June & October. I'm pretty sure I am not in a shape to do marathons so frequently.

Though I did run 4 Half Marathons in 5 weeks in Jan/Feb with the last race fetching me a PR of 1:52.06

Half Marathon can be done every week. FM just takes a little more effort .

All the best for your next events. However if you are in India around the August time, I would suggest you try the http://www.marathonhyderabad.com/ . We organise it and is known one of the toughest city marathons in the country.

Cheers