A new half-marathon PB ...

 ... in Crocs.

That's right.  The slip-on, slip-off, top-aerated plasticky clogs that you can custom decorate with plug-through charms.

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I confess that I've found it very challenging to keep any kind of a 'training mentality' with only virtual races as the available competition options, so when a few friends collaborated to host an impromptu socially-distanced half-marathon today I joined in on the fun.  However, knowing that I was far from optimal race-shape I thought that I would try something different ... and having recently just watched the video of Benjamin Pachev running a smokin' fast half-marathon in Crocs I told myself "why not?".  It would take the pressure off of trying to go all-out, and would provide a brand new experience.

But maybe I should have tried running any distance in Crocs first.

Even once.

But nooooooooo ....

So what was it like?

Well, it wasn't fast (at least for my liking).  I could tell that after the first 3km that my quads were getting totally smashed.  Perhaps that was due to the not-particularly-cushioned composition of the Crocs, or maybe my running form changed to accommodate the different feel of looser-fitting shoes on my feet.

I also found that since the route went along some crushed-limestone trail that there were various times that I could feel pebbles bouncing into and around the Crocs.  To be fair I think that perhaps half of the stones that I detected going in also found a way to bounce out the same way that they came - but I also found at various times that I was subtly trying to maneuver the debris towards the front of the shoes in hopes that they would sift out the top through the holes.  I'm going to guess that that tactic was mayyyyybe 40% effective as at least on one occasion I had to stop to remove a Croc and empty out the stones. 

Today's weapon of choice - only slid off of my foot once

After all was said and done I found that there were definitely sections of the run that I felt like I could have been running in any of the shoes in my regular rotation, so that's a plus.  I did find that they were 'noticeable' when climbing sections of the route, and that could have been a bit of a slippage factor given that my feet weren't locked down into them.  And upon returning home and removing my socks I did find that my pinky toes both had some significant rubbing/blistering that had taken place, in addition to 'hot spots' on the outside edges underneath my forefoot (both sides).

It takes a special kind of crazy ...

Was I glad that I did it?  For sure. 

Would I do it again?  Maybe ... but I will definitely get in some training runs with them beforehand. 

So the question is ... would you give it a try?

A new half-marathon PB ...