September 13, 2010

Naked Foot 5k Race Report

Naked Foot 5K
The race wasn't scheduled to start until 9AM, so we were able to get up at our regular time, which is always nicer than having to get up at the butt crack of dawn!  I had my normal pre-race breakfast, a bagel with peanut butter and honey, then we loaded up the boys in the car and headed to the race site.  There was a 1K kids fun run at 8:30, and my oldest was really excited about doing it, but he wanted one of us to run with him.  My youngest has been really sick this past week, hence the lack of blogging, so he couldn't really run.  The plan was to have my husband run with my oldest while I hung out with our youngest.  Well, we had never been to the park where the race was before, so it took us a little longer to get there then expected.  We pulled up as all the kids were getting lined up for the race.  I really didn't want my son to miss it, so as soon as we parked, I grabbed his hand and ran to the start just as they blew the whistle.  There were only about 4 other kids running, so it was pretty fun.  My son loved it and towards the end, I asked him if he wanted to sprint to the finish by himself and he said yes!  So, I stopped and watched him finish strong!  It was awesome!  He ran the entire way and I am so proud of him!
I know he looks a little grumpy in this picture, but he was pretty much laughing the entire time!


Rehydrating after his race! :)









As soon as the kid's race was done, I went to the packet pick-up table to get my stuff.  They informed me that they no longer had my size small shirt (why does this always happen??), so once again, my husband got a new shirt.
There were no numbered bibs or timing chips.  In fact, they wrote our race number on our calf.  The race director made a statement about how he wanted the majority of the money to go to Soles4Souls, so he skipped the frills that other races have.  It was actually really nice to race at such a small venue.  I think there were maybe a total of 50 people running, and I am pretty sure I was the only one with a Garmin.  Ha ha!  It was so laid back, and just a nice change from the bigger 5Ks that we usually do.  I was also surprised at just how many people were barefoot.  If I had to guess, I would say 85% of the racers were barefoot, while the others had some type of Vibram Five Fingers on.  Several people came up to me and asked me about my Bikilas and how I liked them.  Everyone chatted with each other and talked about how long they had been running "barefoot."  The race just had a really cool vibe to it.


Before the race.  Notice the guys behind me without any shoes on?













Pretty soon it was time to line up.  I was going to give my long sleeve shirt to my husband, but I forgot, so I ended up wearing it during the race.  Ugh!  The director counted down and we were off.  I don't know if any of you have ever ran in a small race before, but it was awesome!  There was so much room to run!  The coolest thing about the race though was how quiet it was.  Because everyone was either barefoot or running with VFFs, the only sound you could hear were people breathing.  It was kind of surreal.  It really is just you and the ground beneath your feet.

The course was a mixture of grass and paved trails.  At one point, we ran across a soccer field while the sprinklers were going.  Running through the water was fun and made me think about how much my boys love to run in the grass, barefoot, through the sprinklers. :)
I was surprised at how effortless my running felt.  It felt awesome to run in my Bikilas and I found myself running a sub 8 pace pretty comfortably.  Before I knew it, I was almost to the finish.  The last 1/4M was a straight paved trail right to the finish.  I decided to kick it in and finish strong!  I saw my husband and boys on the side cheering me on and I waved to them as I passed.  It was great!  My husband took this action shot of my heading to the finish.
I crossed the finish line and stopped my Garmin and was completely shocked to see the time!  I ran the 5k in 22:40, which was a 7:27min/mile pace.  This time is 1 second slower than my 5k PR (22:39)!  I couldn't believe it!  But, truthfully, I think I could have gone faster.  I ran this race for fun, and for an opportunity to be part of the first "barefoot" running race in CO.  As strange as this may sound, when I was running, I was seriously not even thinking about "racing."  I didn't feel like I pushed myself, which I wasn't really trying to do anyways.  But, now my mind is spinning wondering just how fast I could have gone-ya know?  It's exciting for me and I honestly can't wait to do another one!

39 comments:

Emz said...

Could you be any awesome-R?! AMAZING!!!

You rock woman!!

BTW - love the " butt crack of dawn " comment. That's what we say around my place too. ;)

Jill said...

You look great in your pictures and so fast in that last one! That's great you ran so well just using the race as a test run :).

And your son is just super adorable!!

Barbie said...

That is a whopping fast time. Congrats. Your next 5k will be at warp speed.

Running and living said...

My husband always gets my shirts, they are mostly men sizes and so they never fit right:)
Congrats on the race! maybe do another 5K for the PR?

Patrick Mahoney said...

That's pretty cool on the time. Funny how pro-barefoot seemed to have meant anti satellite triangulation.

KovasP said...

My kids never get the right sized tshirts at their races - why would a race director order mostly Youth L or XL for a race for 7-10 year olds? Anyway nice run and a near PR near barefoot!

Unknown said...

nice Iron Girl shirt! I just did the Seattle iron girl yesterday - lots of fun!

Runners Fuel said...

What a great time!!

Soles4Souls Inc. said...

1) Congratulations on such a wonderful time!
2) Thank you for participating in the Naked Foot 5k! We are so grateful that all the participants for partnering with us to change the world one pair at a time!

I'd love if you shared your Naked Foot 5k experience on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/giveshoes

Thanks again, Aimee!

misszippy said...

Very cool that you had that experience! I love a good no frills race myself. Congrats on the time!

Julie said...

You always awe and inspire me with all of that darn speed of yours! You make it look so easy! Congrats on a great race...almost a PR...and feeling like you didn't really push yourself:) Only you Aimee:)

ShutUpandRun said...

Wow a super fast race in the VFFs!! Congrats.

Unknown said...

Sweet!! NIce almost PR w/out even trying!!

Unknown said...

NICE!! Maybe I should try Vibrams! COngrats!

track coach and adorable wife said...

Awesome time! Especially for your first barefoot race! Glad you had fun AND rocked it!

Unknown said...

Now that just looked like you had a wonderful time!

Julie said...

How fun! And fast! Great job and cool to be able to say you ran the first barefoot race in CO!
Love that your son wanted to do the kids race, he is such a cutie!

Oh yea and love the shirt. :)

DRog said...

well good luck there for hubby and the shirt! Id like to try a barefoot run before winter, just for fun...

Anonymous said...

Wow, another fast race! Congrats yet again! :]

Amber Shea

Ironman By Thirty said...

Great job on the PR! Too bad about the shirt :( I don't get it. Aren't most runners/athletes in pretty good shape? Shouldn't XL's be least ordered size and smalls and mediums be the most ordered?

64 CLASSIC said...

Great job on the race. It sucks to not get a shirt. I've been skimming and reading things over pretty briefly but I think you pre-registered so you should have gotten your shirt!!

Would love to try the Fives.... can't barefoot. Just too tender. The Fives look interesting though. Great job again.

Sage said...

You know, now that you mention it, the start of a running race does usually sound like a heard of horses. Hmm...nice change.

Zaneta @ Runner's Luck said...

That race sounds like so much fun! and your son is adorable! how fun that he wanted to run the race and finished so strong! :D

Sherri said...

Great time! That is the best when you run an almost PR and your not even focused!

heather said...

Wow! Awesome job and what a great race. I love that you got to run through the field with the sprinkler action. What a wonderful feeling!

Pahla said...

AWESOME time!! Congrats on such a great race - I totally love that t-shirt!!

Anonymous said...

Awe-soooo cute! Good job on the race.

funderson said...

nice! you gotta love a little race..

Regina said...

Nicely done!! I keep promising I am going to try those things. Clearly I cannot keep my promises, not even to myself!!

congrats to the little man on his race too!!

Alisa said...

That is awesome!

My husband did his first longer run in his Vibrams over the weekend and said they were great but also said his calfs were killing him the next day.

Anne-Marie said...

Sounds like a run race - congrats to you and your son! That's awesome you were able to run together and that he enjoyed the experience.

AM! said...

That does sound like a really interesting experience. with all my recent PF/heel spur issues, i'm just too hesitant to try it out myself...so I'll just live vicariously thru you and the other barefoot runners!;-)

Unknown said...

Sounds like a great race... very peaceful! :) And you did awesome!

I hate when they run out of small shirts... which seems to be all the time! :(

Unknown said...

That's a fabulous picture of your son!

Great race. You are now officially a BF runner - awesome time, girl!

Unknown said...

Aimee,

Thanks for the awesome blog. I am glad you had a good time. We had a blast and learned alot for next year.

It will take me a little while but I can have one more shirt made for ya. Did I hear you wore a small? haha

Send me your address!

Scott

Co Director
www.thenakedfoot5k.com
barefootracing@gmail.com

Kathy said...

I laughed about the shirt. Though maybe you'll get it after all. At my last race when I went to register they didn't have my size any more. When I asked about it, the woman said, "Well, if you had gotten here earlier..." - as if we were late and not there with at least an hour left in registration. We were like, "Isn't that why we give you our sizes when we register?" But you can get DQed for being rude to the volunteers, and it was just a cotton tee, so I kept my mouth shut. I hear you though!

Anonymous said...

A late start in the non-dying-of-heat months is always a nice treat!

Heidi Austin, PT, DPT said...

awesome time and thanx for yet again another awesome recipe :0

Krista said...

Great race! Sounded like a lot of fun and for a great cause too!