There's an interesting series of articles in Science in Sport covering the pros, cons and history of barefoot running, running shoes, biomechanics -- the whole deal.  In particular: barefootin' keeps the foot arch active, which is good for keeping arches archy; different running shoes for, eg, pronators have no effect on injury rates (voodoo science ftw!); barefootin' is over-reported because it's all cheerleaders and none of the people who mullered their calves and then gave up (as I did on my first pass: second time around, more methodical, and it's taking).  Also this, which is very relevant to the 'jogging explosion' , my personal running history and mass-participation sport in general: a 200lb+ non-runner just wouldn't have started to run at all before the modern cushioned shoe, so even if he ends up on minimal shoes, the journey would have warranted some nice plush stuff initially.

Well, I made 20 miles before all the wheels fell off my wagon.

( Wot happened )

This one is not 'unfinished business'

( What went wrong? )

Photos are here! 

I don't usually do the charity fundraiser thing - I'm awfully shy about asking people for cash and it seems rude and slightly weird when I'm having fun.  But this Druid Challenge muddy marathon is different - it's keeping me awake with good old existential dread. 

So the charity thing is a hook.  It's the big ol' "you can't back down now, boy" that's going to keep me going at mile seventeen when the end is still out of sight and the sleet is coming down.  Yes, I'm exploiting cute little orphan children to push me to the finish.  No, of course I have no morals.

What charity?  Red Cross - "unconditional care in a crisis" is as close to universal good guys as you're going to find.  www.justgiving.com/andygates. 

After falling on my head, I've signed up to race the Druid Challenge.  Not all of it - it's an 85 mile ultramarathon - but the last day, along the Ridgeway from Wantage to Avebury.  Near as dammit a marathon.  In seven weeks' time. 

I think "WTF" covers everything.

So, training plan.   I love me some plans.  Looking around, all marathon plans have a taper between 2 and 3 weeks, and most don't go up to race distance for noobs like me.  Runners World's Basic Marathon Plan peaks at 16-18 miles; the alternative FIRST Plan peaks at 20 miles and tapers longer.  The rest of the week is variously structured, so the traditional "long run at the weekend, couple of short runs in the week" rough outline ought to do.  Build up the distance to a peak leaving 2 weeks to taper down. 

Now, where the hell can I find long offroad tracks to train on? 

Took the FiveFingers out for a proper run (albeit a short one) for the first time just now, on mixed surfaces, mostly pavement.

They're really going to beast / build my soleus and tibialis - the columnar muscles in the calf.  After two miles / 15 minutes I have the most preposterous lower-leg pump and not much else, so further results will come when the lower legs are up to spec!  I'll definitely be feeling that tomorrow.

I can feel my toes trying to grip the road and, unlike when that happens inside a shoe, they're actually getting purchase and data.  A bit too grippy, I think, but give me time to acclimatize.  Running on grass is a childish delight; sprinting on grass is silly-grin stuff.  Running on dirt is interesting.  Running on pavement isn't as bad as you might think - there's some skill in getting the heel dab right (not too much or you jar, not too little or you're on tip-toes all the way round). 

The feeling of "foot euphoria" was back, and I was scampering across surfaces just to see how they felt.  Yes, scampering, it's that kind of vibe.

There's this notion I have for gear, a sort of "enhanced nakedness" - gear that powers you up but doesn't take away from the essential human animal making it all work; the power-ups can be trivial or paradigm-changing, but they're all forgettable to the user, blending in.  Or something.  There's a riff on superhero outfits and bicycles here, but it needs refining.  Anyway, the fivefingers fit into this class of kit: they're just a buff for bare feet.  Compare to the Nike Rift, which is all split and clever, but still boingy. 

Bloody hell, I aten't dead.  Despite the illness, injury, turned ankle, storms, utter lack of training, the Somme theme park and plagues of locusts, I somehow managed to pull in a 2:22 finish.  It's a par with my personal-worst, but this time I was 'training through'.


Time for a nice glass of red.

Where's the daftest place to run a marathon?  Antarctica, that's where: Eighty degrees south and minus ten on the start line, and Tri-Talk nutter EZ Duzzet completed the Antarctic Ice Marathon in a time of 7:02.  His full race report is here. 

It's just gratuitously bonkers.  In a good way.