I didn’t run last week, so when I went out for a run last night, it had been nearly two weeks since my last run. This is not ideal, but was unavoidable due to an unrelated health concern last week that put me off running. However last night I went out for the usual 6k route around Clapham Common and all was well.
The thing I’ve been worrying about since I took my shoes off for running is that I don’t want my soles to have too much time off as I want them to be expecting un-shod running and continue to thicken up the skin. Too much time not running I figure could encourage this growth to recede. So it was with a little trepidation last night that I took to the streets.
In fact, if anything my soles were better last night than ever. I had a couple of dry blisters (layer of old skin rubbing off) by the end of the run, nothing to worry about and to be expected as my new toughened skin grows. Aside from that it was the best run yet in terms of how sore my soles where after the run – they weren’t that sore at all. The main sore-ish area seems to be below my second metatarsal head. I think this is where the main weight of my stride is encountered, so it’s no wonder that this area is a little sore after 6k.
One thing that did notice the two week gap were my calves. They were a little sore this morning. I think a few short runs between the long runs could be good for this, or maybe I just needed to have used the sponge roller before and after. Either way I can still walk on my calves and tomorrow they will be fine. So it’s nothing like the calf pain experienced at the start of this process. That time, even a week later I still couldn’t walk properly. I can’t believe that was 18 months ago. How time flies.