Run #3 in the Vibrams

I have decided on a good interim race to try out the Vibram 5 Fingers. I am going to try them on the Milliken 5K Earth Run cross country race. The race is on March 20th giving me about 1 month to prepare. My goal is to run this at an 8:00 min/mile pace.

I jogged over two miles today in the Vibrams. I ran on both asphalt and concrete the entire time. I took one small break in the middle of the run to relax my feet. I ran a 10 minute per mile pace and tried to soften my ground strikes. To be honest it really felt great. My patellar tendonitis did not bother me at all. I believe doing the Milliken 5K in the Vibrams should be easy. Another big advantage is the Vibrams are very light and make you feel like you can bound along easily, especially in the grass. When I run in the grass in my Nikes I feel weighted down and slow. Running in the Vibrams (in the grass) gives you a springy feeling.

Now the bad news (for me at least). They are closing the showers where I work. Doing these slower runs does not cause me to sweat much and I could potentially just dry off and go back to work without being to odorous. However, come spring and summer that will be impossible. After a hard run it takes a good 10 minutes just to stop sweating. I will need to come up with some other location to shower. I am bummed as it was really convenient having the showers at work. That is going to throw a wrench in my training routine. I might have to get up early and jog before work.

Have a great day.

Gary