First official barefoot 25K trail race, had to switch to sandals mid-race
Ran my first official barefoot trail race this weekend (Running With My Gnomies 25K at Camp Tuscazoar).
Went in planning to run the whole thing fully barefoot. The first ~8.5 miles on dirt and singletrack felt great, but a section of sharp slag/gravel ended up being too much for my feet. Nothing catastrophic, but it pushed past the point of “productive discomfort” into “this is going to set me back if I keep going.”
Switched into my Luna Origen sandals and finished the rest of the race in those.
Feet are pretty beat up today (bruised/tender, hard to walk normally), but I’m glad I made the switch instead of trying to tough it out and losing a week of training afterward.
Overall takeaway: barefoot felt amazing on the right terrain, but surface variability is the real challenge, not distance itself.
Video of the race here if anyone’s interested: https://youtu.be/K1hE7x52aJo
Curious how others handle mixed-surface races like this when going fully barefoot or transitioning mid-run.