As Rick said, there is a learning curve to go through when you start
running barefoot or pose, or Chi-Running, or whatever.

My first barefoot marathon was 11 years after my first and only shod
marathon, on a fast flat course (Long Beach Marathon). So I guess I
had plenty of time to relearn how to run, without posting any race
times for comparison during my learning period. I came back, as I
said, 11 years later, 11 years older, but improved my marathon time
by half an hour, on a mountainous, trail course!

Though the sampling of one marathon may not be significant, I did run
several 10K races with shoes during that same period. In barefeet, 11
years later, my 10K times were usually about 5 minutes faster than my
best shod 10K in my early 30s.

Like Rick, I too am slowing down with age, and partly because I'm
running a marathon a month. I'm also not really getting in the
running I should in between the marathons. I just turned 49 in July.
Nonetheless, my times are still significantly faster barefoot, than
they were with shoes in my early 30s.

-barefoot ken bob

--- In barefootrick@yahoogroups.com, "Jerry Griffin" <jerryg@c...>
wrote:
>
> Hey Rick,
>
> I'm running Pose -- a newbie, but I love it. Obviously, barefoot
> running came up, I tried it, and am almost hooked. My whole
running
> style barefoot is better than shod. So are my times (on grass). I
> am in "contemplation" about switching to barefoot only.
>
> Meanwhile: it looks to me as if your marathon times dropped off
> quite a bit around the time you made the shift. What, if any,
> connection was there between your beginning to run barefoot, and
> your weaker times? Long Beach example: still in the 9's -- not
the
> speed you used to have. Do you conclude that barefoot running will
> generally be slower than shod for the longer distances?