June 27th, 2010 - Training - Cohasset, MA - 3.1

Day 178 - I am not giving up my Five Fingers just yet. Let's just say that I will not run completely bare feet ever again. Some people were just not Born To Run without something in between their feet and the ground. I am that someone.

I headed up to Cohasset to time a triathlon for Baystate. My brother was also working the race and he of course had on his Five Fingers. I think that they are permanently sewn onto his feet by this point, even though he's not a "runner".

One of my goals this year is to run the run course at the tri's (not named Iron Man) that I time. This was going to be my 3rd of the year, and it proved to be the most difficult because of my own doing.

The race was over and we were packed up by 12PM, so I asked my brother if he was still up for a run. The last time that he and I ran together was over 10 years ago for Lowell Catholic. He's been getting back into running, but still not in the best shape.

In fairness, I told him that I would run barefoot over the 5K course while he used his Five Fingers. I figure that the area was pretty well groomed and clean enough for barefoot running, considering that it's Cohasset, one of the ritziest towns in Mass.

Driving in, I remember seeing a lot of newly paved roads and a lot of McMansions. This is a town where residents buy property, demolish the current home on said property, and build their own dream home....over and over again.

The temps were in the low 80's by the time I slipped on my shorts and birthday suit.

We headed out on the course and I felt great!...until mile 1. Damn! The ground was f'n hot! There was hardly any shade and it was even worse on the newly paved roads that I was looking forward to. I ended up looking for shade anywhere I could find it, running along the shadows of power lines and overhanging trees. My brother was right behind me as we were cruising at about 8's. I was quite impressed with his level of fitness.

By Mile 2, my feet were raw and I could feel heat blisters forming on the bottom of my feet. It was definitely a lot harder to pick up speed on the uphills and downhills without shoes on.

I was ahead by about 2 minutes when we got to Mile 3, and I just wanted to get the run over with. I actually almost stepped on some glass near the end.

Took me a little more than 25 minutes to complete the run, with a lot of limping afterwards. I quickly slipped on my slippers and spent the next 2 days popping blisters on my feet.

Never again.

(This is the Before Pic!)