Today I ran the same route as last Friday - a 3.5 mile circular route through the lanes of a nearby village.
I set off in Classics. The road was very gritty and muddy after all the rain we've had, with little rivers of water flowing here and there. Once my feet were warmed up, the cool puddles felt lovely seeping through my VFFs.
A little earlier than last week I took off my Classics. My pace slowed, but my soles again felt strong and there was no discomfort from the grit on the roads. I enjoyed listening to the quiet 'slap, slap' of my feet on the wet tarmac.
As the route progressed, the tarmac got rougher, though less covered in debris, and gradually the soles of my feet began to notice the sharpness of the surface. Not that it was painful - I just became aware that I was starting to feel it.
So I pressed the lap button on my Garmin, and saw that I'd done 0.8 miles in bare feet. My furthest to date. No scratches, bruises or other untoward ailments. I put on my Classics and continued home.
Last night I looked at my feet and they seem to be filling out. I've always had very shallow feet, with bony toes where you can easily see the metatarsals stretching out along the top of my foot. Now they seem more solid. At the joints of the second and third toes to the main part of my foot (ie the base of the toe), the flesh is fuller and more muscly looking - this is where my stress fracture occurred, and I think the strength is now building from the training I'm doing. There is definitely more flesh under these two joints on the base of my feet. It amazes me how our bodies can change with practise and repetition. We are lucky beings indeed!
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