50 Mile Week with some Barefootin'

I had this past week off for spring break and was able to run every day, sometime even twice. I got a couple of nice runs in with Alex being home from CU for the week. His conditioning certainly improved between Monday and Friday. I left him on the hills on Monday and he left me yesterday on the hills. On our return on yesterday's outing I mentioned feeling like my energy was kicking in so he picked up the pace and we did the last three miles around 7:45 pace.

I had a total of 50.1 miles for the week broken down as follows.

31.6 traditional running in Asics Evolution 5's on mixed surfaces
9.3 barefoot on pavement
3.0 Vibram Five Fingers
6.2 Nike Free

I don't know where my barefoot running is going; I may not convert completely but it is educating me about being able to run differently. I can cruise uphills easier now in traditional shoes because I am able to put down a mid to forefoot foot strike and have the conditioning to sustain it going up. A long stretched out rear strike on a paved downhill still seems an efficient way to descend. I can see myself using the Vibrams for a more natural trail run and I think my muscles can do the barefoot run even though I find myself in the Frees.