Winter Cross Training in Vibrams -- Part I -- The Preliminaries

A simple little tale of going out running the day after a giant blizzard ending up having to be told in three parts, it seems.  Part I will be the "The Preliminaries."  Part II will be "Running in Vibrams."  And Part III will be "The Barefoot Part."

A subtitle for the series could be, "Who says it has to be all or nothing?"

So, here we go with Part I -- The Preliminaries

This was going to be my first day out in my Vibrams.  Some of you may remember I mentioned that I started in Vibrams last spring, ran a few times, then decided to try barefoot to learn proper form.  My intention back then had been to go back to Vibrams once I had the barefoot form down correctly, but after experiencing barefoot running I never put them back on.

So, today was going to be the day I put them back on.  Had them all ready on the chair, along with a pair of Injinji toe socks.

When I checked the temperature, I saw that it was 35 degrees.  Well, that's pretty warm, I thought.  Maybe the streets are clear enough that I could do it barefoot after all.. Let me go see.

So, I headed outside to take a little walk around and scope the situation out -- in my bare feet of course.

Parts of the sidewalks seemed fine, very well-shoveled.

However there were sections like the one below which did not look like they were going to be good at all.

Well, I thought, it must be clear out on the Boulevard.  Maybe I can start out in the Vibrams and take them off when I'm on the runway, then put them back on again to come home. Yes, that's what I can do and what I shall do.

I went back in to put my Vibrams on.  This was the first time I was using the socks with them and it was really tough getting them on with the socks.  I thought to myself, "I don't know how I'll get these back on when it's time to come home.  This is really tough."  I thought about how my feet would be wet when it came time to put them back on.  I decided to bring a little towel with me.

Then I realized something!  I don't have to wear these socks!  It's 35 degrees out there.  I've run barefoot in 35 degrees so why would I need these socks?  I decided to ditch the socks.

Now it was time to step out the door:

Definitely did not feel good about having them on. :-(

Here is a video of my first steps down the snowy path in my Vibrams:

When I got to the corner, something completely unanticipated happened.  I looked across to the other side and saw that the way to my running path was blocked by snow:

How am I going to get up there?

I could clearly see there was a little path carved out up there, but couldn't see how to get to it.

 So, I went back across to the other side of the street and started jogging along.  Maybe I'll just have to run along these paths:

As I jogged along, I was beginning to think my plan to take off my Vibrams at some point was starting to fall through.  When I got to the corners, I was especially sure it would not be a good idea because I would encounter puddles of slush like this:

All the while I was on the lookout for a place across the street where I might cross over on to the path by the river.  Finally I found a spot that looked like it might work.  Daffodil and I stepped through it to get to the Boulevard path.

We took a look back to see where we had come from.

Now we were up on the path at last.
We scoped it out.   First we looked North:

And then we looked South:

And everything looked "good to go."

Notes to self after "The Preliminaries:

• Scoping out the scene in bare feet before heading out by walking up and down a few blocks to see how it feels not only gives a good idea about whether to use shoes or not, but also gives the feet a little touch of cold weather conditioning.  Who says it has to be all or nothing?
• Climbing through snow and slushing through slush in the kind of Vibrams I have is pretty wet, so it's not like Vibrams are going to keep my feet dry.
• I don't need socks when it's 35 degrees.
• No matter how hard I try to think things through and anticipate everything, there's always going to be something I didn't think of
• Sometimes I have to just get out there and see what it's like to know how it's going to go.  Experience is the best teacher.
• Don't like my Vibrams any more.  The first time I ran in them, back in the spring, I thought they were amazing.  But after running barefoot all summer, I don't like them any more.

I'll continue in Part II -- Running in Vibrams