After a mile or so in my Vivos yesterday, I came across a flood, going across the whole of the country lane I was running down. I was at the point of taking off my shoes near there anyway, so it seemed as good a point as any.
It felt quite liberating to splash through the water - though I was quite wary of the fact that I had no idea what was under there, so my tread was very light. The water was probably a couple of inches deep in places, and it felt very cold.
The remainder of the lane was quite difficult to negotiate. As there had been water running across it, it was covered in debris - small stones, gravel, twigs, leaves, mud and even small branches. It meant I needed to slow down the pace (even more than usual), but it certainly helped me concentrate on form. Once out of the lane, I ran along a tarmac road, which I always find tougher if it's wet, but I continued on to the main road.
I considered putting my shoes back on, but with a bit of encouragement from my other half to just keep going, I did exactly that. It wasn't that my feet hurt, just a mental barrier of running barefoot along a trunk route from the M4 into town.
The M4 rounadabout was a challenge. It was made more pedestrian friendly just before the Ryder Cup in 2010, with the addition of small, firm gravel walkways between the numerous sets of lights. In the past, I would not have even attempted these sections bare foot, but the stationary onlooking traffic is a great motivator, so I padded along and crossed over the roundabout in 3 places, avoiding looking directly at any of the drivers and passengers.
All in all, 2.2 miles in bare feet. A triumph for me, not just because of the challenges of the terrain, but also overcoming the mental barrier of running in such close proximity to busy traffic and the public glare.
And my feet... well, here they are: A little muddy round the edges, but not a single scrape or cut. Aren't feet brilliant??
It felt quite liberating to splash through the water - though I was quite wary of the fact that I had no idea what was under there, so my tread was very light. The water was probably a couple of inches deep in places, and it felt very cold.
The remainder of the lane was quite difficult to negotiate. As there had been water running across it, it was covered in debris - small stones, gravel, twigs, leaves, mud and even small branches. It meant I needed to slow down the pace (even more than usual), but it certainly helped me concentrate on form. Once out of the lane, I ran along a tarmac road, which I always find tougher if it's wet, but I continued on to the main road.
I considered putting my shoes back on, but with a bit of encouragement from my other half to just keep going, I did exactly that. It wasn't that my feet hurt, just a mental barrier of running barefoot along a trunk route from the M4 into town.
The M4 rounadabout was a challenge. It was made more pedestrian friendly just before the Ryder Cup in 2010, with the addition of small, firm gravel walkways between the numerous sets of lights. In the past, I would not have even attempted these sections bare foot, but the stationary onlooking traffic is a great motivator, so I padded along and crossed over the roundabout in 3 places, avoiding looking directly at any of the drivers and passengers.
All in all, 2.2 miles in bare feet. A triumph for me, not just because of the challenges of the terrain, but also overcoming the mental barrier of running in such close proximity to busy traffic and the public glare.
And my feet... well, here they are: A little muddy round the edges, but not a single scrape or cut. Aren't feet brilliant??
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