Steve Partridge

Five Finger Running Shoes

steve — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:38:43 +0000

Vibram Five Finger Komodos

Overdid the training

steve — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:49:51 +0000

My right knee is now complaining after Saturday’s outing and I will need a trip to the Chiropractor. How right those who say it will take 6 weeks to adjust. I did some weights and found some more calf strengthening exercises on YouTube. Boy I am a geek!

Day off – London Marathon day

steve — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:50:52 +0000

I watched the runners round the course which I always find inspiring. I haven’t been able to get an entry for many years and would like to complete it 10 times. Maybe next year; the barefoot running is giving me a new lease of life and maybe, just maybe, I have time to enter the London Triathlon this August in the Super sprint. It’s an idea!

I heard about a female runner collapsing and dying in St James. Its really sad and a tremendous shock to her family. She was doing something worthwhile when it happened and she is at peace. I had one runner drop down in front of me at the Great North Run some years ago. You can see why the French require a heart scan before any marathon in France and every desert race. We ought to bring that over here.

Grass running

steve — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:46:50 +0000

I went to our local park, Weavers Fields in Bethnal Green, where there is an adventure training course of climbing logs, leapfrogging, etc. Kathy and I ride over on our Boris Bikes and take each of the disciplines one at a time. I also took the chance to run on grass for the first time in 6 months and managed 200 metres which was fantastic. We then clambered over the obstacles looking like overgrown kids but find each one very demanding.

Sore calves

steve — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:43:43 +0000

The videos indicate it will take 6 weeks to get up to full speed; that sounds about right because my calves are sore this morning, so I am taking it easy. It’s a great feeling running on the toes, my body is different and I am more upright.

Barefoot running day 2

steve — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:33:30 +0000

I went back to the treadmill and took the distance up to 400 metres. It felt just great and I felt a wave of relief at being able to run.

It felt balanced; there were no cracks from the right knee, but the calves were beginning to scream a bit.

Vibram Five Finger Komodos

steve — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:29:59 +0000

I have been on YouTube and looked at several videos of how to run barefoot and am now the proud owner of Vibram Five Finger Komodos which Becky advised me to get. Putting them on for the first time takes ages but by the third time I was putting them on in a few seconds.

Barefoot running to overcome injury

steve — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:20:04 +0000

Having completed the marathon distance over 250 times in the last 25 years including 3,000kms across the Sahara, I came to an abrupt halt in early December last year when my right foot seized up and now slaps the floor with every step. Running is very painful and each step causes my right knee to crack. So the most I have managed is 30 metres.

Many, many times over the years various professionals have told me “No more running for you, time to pack it in” only for me to find a new therapist who has changed my life by making me do new exercises which have solved the problem.

My currently injury is caused by stress (who isn’t suffering from stress these days?) which will take time to solve and until then I have to find a different solution.

Thanks to Becky Wood – a great desert pal and two-time winner of the Jungle Marathon – I have been introduced to Barefoot running. I have just run 200 metres on the treadmill with my new barefoot shoes and decided to keep notes, in the hope of providing some help to other runners with a similar problem.

My plan is to get over my injury with this completely new way of running, and, in 2013, take part in the Atacama Crossing and the Comrades.

I don’t know if I will succeed but I will give it a good go.

Personal adventure leads to business success

steve — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:06:16 +0000

I was invited to give a speech at the Institute of Directors describing my adventures in desert running.

My talk, on 24th February 2012, outlined my career in construction where I started as an engineer. It was all quite average, until one Saturday morning in 1997 I saw a sport on TV which changed my life. It was a race in the desert, which captivated me so much I decided I had to do it. Two years later I was in the Sahara Desert completing my first event. What I didn’t realise is what would happen next.

I returned home, enthused, and set up a company which turned into a Group of six companies managing £40 million. In 2007 I closed down the Group, parted company with 100 employees and again turned to events for inspiration.

Today I am an entrepreneur in a new industry; managing two “Silicon Roundabout” IT companies which have grown from 3 people to 48 in 7 months.