Summer Feet

Obviously after a marathon the legs are flat.  This is to be expected.  So what do you do?  Well, you ride the bike and concentrate on other activities.  Even though the legs were still tired I decided to work on my “summer feet”.  Taken from a blog post just about a year ago -

No socks, no nothing. I was going to give the feet a trial by fire. A friend of mine taught me the term ‘summer feet’ a while back. That is conditioning your feet to running around bare footed like you did when you were a kid. This is critical for the transitions in triathlon. So I slipped the running shoes on with no socks. I am actually pretty good at running without socks. When racing anything short I will never put socks …

So not only did I decided to run a couple of miles sockless I also decided to do these miles in a brand new pair of shoes.  You see I am a shoe junkie and a deal hound.  When I find a deal I go all in.  We you see a pallet of goods at a great price you don’t buy just one or two – there is only one correct answer – you buy all!

With shoes I am not that bad, although I did have 3 pairs show up at my doorstep just prior to Boston.  One of these pairs is the Avia Avi-Lite III (last years model). 

• Hot on the heels of the widely popular Avia® Avi-Lite II comes the Avi-Lite III running shoe—complete with improved cushion ride and lightweight comfort for race day action or the casual weekend run. Built for the mild over-pronator who requires a combination of cushioning and stability.

It was hot this past Saturday and I slipped the shoes on without socks.  As I have mentioned I do not wear socks in most races.  It simply takes too much time to put them on.  I will wear socks in a half or full IM where the transitions are not as important (still important but not so much percentage wise).

skull and cross bones - cool

the blood spot faded

hot looking shoes



I started on the run and the shoes felt great.  I was sweating quickly in the Mississippi sun.  After about a mile my feet were soaked.  No problem for these shoes.  However, I started to develop some discomfort on my right middle toe and my left heel.  My feet had gotten soft over the winter months.  After a short while I looked down and the bright white toe box of the shoe had developed a deep crimson color.  The color actually matched the tongue of the shoe.  I was in mild discomfort and it was not going to stop me.  I still had to get home.

The run was a moderate 7:45 pace for 4 miles.  The legs were tired and the feet hurt.  After I finished the run and gave the shoes time to dry I unlaced the right shoe and did some minor surgery.  I clipped an offending sharp edge from the sock liner of the shoe.  This should not give me any problems in the future.  As far as my left heel, well, I’ll just have to toughen up some more.

It is too early to post a review of the Avi-Lite III’s but I like them.  I think they will work out for a light weight cushioned trainer.  I like just about everything about them except for all of the blood and pain.
Remember to start developing your summer feet weeks in advance of your first race.  You do not want to discover the pain on race day