tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55366255296837102972024-03-05T02:51:49.868-05:00Bare My SoleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-74579892156906900462012-12-10T14:32:00.000-05:002012-12-10T14:32:25.946-05:00Barefoot Running the Movie<br />
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<span class="MsoPlaceholderText"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">After watching
the movie Barefoot Running by Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee, I wanted to run
out my front door and onto some of those beautiful trails they showed in the
movie. Unfortunately I can’t do that
because I don’t live in Maui, but I am still motivated from their inspirational
movie to get out and enjoy the many textures I can find locally. Michael and Jess do a great job of motivating
and inspiring in this movie with both the scenery and their obvious joy of
running barefoot. This movie will show
viewers that neither gender, age nor injury should prevent anyone from enjoying
the feel of running as barefoot and free as a child. The movie is complete with instructional
drills and foot strengthening exercises.
Proper running form is also explained and is quite similar to Chi
Running. For times when some kind of
foot covering is needed, minimalist footwear is also discussed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zYpe0hwkbWiBmzSKBdX7DvGibyQpSH2Yd666cWBPJez-jIDzqziTn5K9CeNP9U4Owzaa_pQ1Ge4Umu8t7vGCNn7AyFh8sU3dDIJ3DkjCvY_a7w9uF5qdi2f-GdG0Ac0c2tOvFTulerU/s1600/Web+Barefoot+Running+Movie+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zYpe0hwkbWiBmzSKBdX7DvGibyQpSH2Yd666cWBPJez-jIDzqziTn5K9CeNP9U4Owzaa_pQ1Ge4Umu8t7vGCNn7AyFh8sU3dDIJ3DkjCvY_a7w9uF5qdi2f-GdG0Ac0c2tOvFTulerU/s1600/Web+Barefoot+Running+Movie+8.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="MsoPlaceholderText"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">I think this
movie will really help to spread the word that our bodies are all we really
need and that there is another option to expensive shoes. Like all of my other
books and videos, I want to share this with others who are interested. One of those people was Michelle Mason. Michelle is a runner
who has recently transitioned to barefoot running. Here is what she thought of the movie; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoPlaceholderText"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">“I found the movie Barefoot Running by Michael
Sandler and Jessica Lee absolutely fantastic! In recovery from a impatient
transition to barefoot, it offered both positive and encouraging messages. It
reminds us of the importance and reasons why we run barefoot. I liked the male
and female perspectives in it, and also all the useful tips and drills and
information on proper form and technique. It was also really interesting and
fun, and easy to understand. The movie covered so many different aspects of
barefoot running and many questions and concerns were addressed. A great movie
to watch and share with others!! Thank You to both Michael and Jessica for
sharing and making this great movie.... " .... Michelle Mason, Port Hope,
ON.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja29FKxbgOUFKgsaOlNCEE1AgOPAvozMtn_51zw-xOfctuMRY3vulv_30mKAHs4jOYlTgd3lkwhf2TlEjcpIqAK2ylq803XOzciBiLEgTc1Fz_tKnyZoeJK6f_eDi3UiG-YoF08nWl7-U/s1600/Barefoot+Running+Movie+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja29FKxbgOUFKgsaOlNCEE1AgOPAvozMtn_51zw-xOfctuMRY3vulv_30mKAHs4jOYlTgd3lkwhf2TlEjcpIqAK2ylq803XOzciBiLEgTc1Fz_tKnyZoeJK6f_eDi3UiG-YoF08nWl7-U/s640/Barefoot+Running+Movie+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="MsoPlaceholderText"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-1395810628979862202011-12-16T16:27:00.001-05:002012-03-17T17:11:59.382-04:002011 Fall Running Summary<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">I have put together a short summary for this post since I have gotten so behind on my blog. Here are some of the Run Smiley barefoot runnings I’ve been doing in the fall of this year.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Warsaw 30k Point to Point</strong></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #d5d6d7; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">For my Run Smiley Virtual Run, on Saturday September 24, I ran the Runner’s Life Point to Point 30k from Peterborough to Warsaw. I had run this once before in the spring of this year, but this time I wasn’t training for a marathon. Without put as much mileage into my training I found this distance to be a bit of a challenge. However, the biggest challenge was the surface conditions for a section in the middle of the run. The addition of the pea-gravel for about 5k of the run was no treat either, but my feet will be that much better for it. 30k Time: 3:15.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLuge8HL3XIrWQh1MYzgbvm8SJAR8nt7Dw0B_apWFKVaA-O5B6bAuBOm5sZY559MO9oEa4kQPBSIeHbSN1Tb-7m-vfBJZrdIaywZOfvpc-wMglg6MuA0gr09vJkEt5iTwuwNy7j0deuk/s1600/Web+2011Sep+Ptbo+Warsaw+point+to+point3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLuge8HL3XIrWQh1MYzgbvm8SJAR8nt7Dw0B_apWFKVaA-O5B6bAuBOm5sZY559MO9oEa4kQPBSIeHbSN1Tb-7m-vfBJZrdIaywZOfvpc-wMglg6MuA0gr09vJkEt5iTwuwNy7j0deuk/s1600/Web+2011Sep+Ptbo+Warsaw+point+to+point3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Turkey Trot</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">A great barefoot run through the Ganaraska Forest followed by good food, drink and hot-tubbing. 15k Time: 1:38.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #d5d6d7; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Some converts?</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Warkworth 8 Miler</strong></div><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">I ran this country road/trail race once before 2 years ago and finished in 1:15. I was happy with my time this year considering it was quite windy but at least it was 10°C and the sun was out for most of the race. 13k Time 1:08.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Runway 5k Win</strong></div><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Wow! I actually won a race! It wasn’t a “real” race since it was a charity walk/run event, but still I have never won one of those before either. 5k Time 22:40. Then I went on in my euphoria to race a Halloween costume 5k trail race. A very successful fun-filled day for me. </span><img alt=":-)" class="wp-smiley" src="http://runnerslife.ca/blogs/bare20my20sole/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;" /></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Halloween 5k</strong></div><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Not a bad time considering this was my second race of the morning. I started off too fast, but soon realized that I had already spent most of my energy. I was able to settle into a doable pace and finish strong though. 5k Time 24:26. There were a lot of good costumes this year. Good times!</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Road2Hope Half Marathon</strong></div><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">I drove to Hamilton for the race in the morning. I had eaten breakfast at 3am and was on the highway by 4am. So I was feeling quite hungry by the time the race started. I started out fast, maybe too fast. A little before the 3k aid station I got a stitch pain under my lower right rib and had to walk. I drank some water and walked a little after the aid station as well. I tried to relax to keep the pain away and at that point I was starting to descend the hill. So I relaxed my legs, sped up my feet and went flying past many people. By the time I got to the flat part around 10k I was feeling pretty tired. At that point I thought I was shooting for 2 hours. Then Bob came by on a bike and motivated me by telling me I was still on track for 1:45. By 15k Mabel had caught up to me and was pulling away. I decided I would do whatever it took to stay with her. Every so often she would get ahead of me and I would have to push it to catch up. I was wondering if she was as tired as I was because she didn’t look it. In the last kilometer I noticed I was in front of her but I didn’t dare look back. I pushed with all I had left to get to the finish. I was able to do a final sprint in the last hundred meters to pass four or five people in front of me. I was very surprised and happy when I read in the results that I had just run a new half marathon PB with a time of 1:44:41.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4rWZ8eAzTX8pSM8LKIhX93qdb2rSIUkm-3llSSgb_Peniq4lMLG7q30vDFN2EeoXWcj2UeqGT1KS1DhTu7TQu40f6dkvr6u4SHL6vPpXdpL7lfcPvc0UlWf0U9hMOAAKY4CHX1gfQDC8/s1600/web+Hamilton+R2H+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4rWZ8eAzTX8pSM8LKIhX93qdb2rSIUkm-3llSSgb_Peniq4lMLG7q30vDFN2EeoXWcj2UeqGT1KS1DhTu7TQu40f6dkvr6u4SHL6vPpXdpL7lfcPvc0UlWf0U9hMOAAKY4CHX1gfQDC8/s320/web+Hamilton+R2H+2011.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">Zemgear</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
</strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">I met up with Arlen from </span><a href="http://www.zemgear.ca/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;">ZEMgear</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"> Canada after the race in Hamilton. I told him a bit of my running history and about my experience with the Zems last winter. He asked me if I would write on the ZEMgear blog and I said I would. He then gave me a free pair of the new </span><a href="http://www.zemgear.com/360.html" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;">360 split-toe model</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">, a ZEMgear t-shirt and said I was now an official ZEMgear Runner.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqXjGiNSG85SqqEG6rBVzeH-pQhkVFkbBRI8pzmJj69I6lYc-foUrpawSYRlY19HNJUFopelnFNZ_VmZ_KxJkp4RCf9Me5EN-ydWDXHx3gVOhgdEiIAzhMQTmG-b9hTwB_ZeJuD7Hs7M/s1600/360-Ninja-Black-Lime-Metallic-Sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqXjGiNSG85SqqEG6rBVzeH-pQhkVFkbBRI8pzmJj69I6lYc-foUrpawSYRlY19HNJUFopelnFNZ_VmZ_KxJkp4RCf9Me5EN-ydWDXHx3gVOhgdEiIAzhMQTmG-b9hTwB_ZeJuD7Hs7M/s1600/360-Ninja-Black-Lime-Metallic-Sm.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Whitby 10k</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Two years ago I ran the 10 miler in Whitby with Paul and Vanessa. This year I ran the 10k and the temperature was about 10°C warmer although there was a bit of a wind. I ran this with Deb, Bob and Kevin. They are all quite fast and I wanted to get a 10k PB here, but I really wanted to try to keep up to Bob. I realized that was a mistake at about 3k. Bob and I started out very fast (faster than I usually start a 5k). By the 3k mark Bob was starting to leave me behind and I was left to try to get through the next 7k with a fatigued body. I was able to pick up my sluggish pace for a nice sprint at the end encouraged a lot by Bob yelling “HEY, IT’S THE BAREFOOT RUNNER FROM PETERBOROUGH!” and running the last several meters with me. Thanks Bob. Although I couldn’t keep up to Bob’s 42:36 time, I did get my PB with a 46:14 time and best of all free chili and beer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-44392706888013098652011-08-13T12:58:00.000-04:002011-11-20T22:40:36.426-05:00Milk Run 2011<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #d5d6d7; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
After the marathon I took a bit of a break and now have been slowly building my running back up. This time with some of the ideas from Ken Bob Saxton who has run over 77 marathons and has been running barefoot for over 20 years. I have been doing shorter runs and on gravel as much as I can. This way when I run, I will land much more gently to save my soles and at the same time save my knees.<br />
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So my training has consisted entirely of less than 10k distances since the marathon. With the hot day and the reduced training, I knew it would be a slower Milk Run 10k race for me. The race started at 9am so the asphalt on the roads didn’t feel too hot on the feet. The sunlight and humid air however, were a major factor for physical exertion. I think I may have started a little too fast with the thought of getting the race over with and having ice cream at the end. By the time I had run about 3k, any concern over getting a good finishing time fell from my list of priorities. At that point my pace had slowed a lot and I simply wanted to finish without walking it in. A couple of kilometers later and I was only concerned about self preservation. I was feeling so uncomfortable in the heat that I was running faster in the sun so that I could get to the shady spots where I would slow right down and give myself maximum time in the shade before having to run in the sun again. In the last 3k I didn’t care about running in wet clothes and headed for every spraying hose that the nice citizens of Lindsay provided. I forced myself to keep my legs moving and finished the race not looking at the clock only looking for anything to cool me down. I ate my first two dishes of ice cream just to try to cool down. The next two however, were for pure indulgence. I didn’t feel any pain in my feet or legs during the race, only heat fatigue, so I was happy about that. Once the results got sorted out I ended up with a time of 52:56. I was happy to see that I hadn’t run the race as slow as I felt I had, but I was still a lot slower than my best 10k race (47:08). So I felt satisfied that at least I set a PB for the number of dishes of ice cream I ate even if I didn’t for my 10k time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-78149495694931000732011-05-24T23:32:00.000-04:002011-05-29T08:32:54.964-04:00Toronto Marathon<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">On May 15 (my birthday), I arrived at the race with my shorts and Runner’s Life singlet on. The pouring rain had eased up to a drizzle at the start, but there were some 60km/h wind gusts and the thermometer was reading 8°C. That was ok because I decided that my mantra for this race would be “Honey badger don’t give a shit!”</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">I was cold and shaky but that all went away as the race started at 9am. I forced myself to start out slow for the first 12k. I was waving at the crowd and smiling for the cameras until at 12k after I passed by a few cameras I noticed I was on a steep wet hill. I didn’t want to try to hold back my speed and have that friction on my wet feet so I relaxed my legs and tore down the hill. I slowed at the bottom and tried to fall into a pace I could hold for a long time. I kept reminding myself to constantly sip at the energy drink and to take an energy chew every 8 to 10k. The scenery on Rosedale valley road (from 14 to 17k) was very calming. It wasn’t until Lake Shore Blvd. (26 to 30k) that the wet rough asphalt was starting to make my feet sore. After 30k I was just trying to maintain my pace and get away from the wind gusts blowing drizzly rain in my face. I was noticing at this point that there were more people walking and even some that looked like they had given up. After 37k I was in uncharted territory as far as my running distance goes. I was starting to push a little harder with the thought that I only had a 5k race to run.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Once I got to 40k on University Ave. I was feeling good and wanted to finish strong. I was getting a lot of support from onlookers and it was getting harder to hold back the urge to sprint for the finish. I held off the sprint until 42k, when I knew I wouldn’t burn out before the end, but I had already increased my pace to sub 5min/k by 41k. After I crossed the finish line I took a couple of sips of my energy drink and thought “Wow! I feel a lot better than I did at the Around the Bay finish.”</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kmat1k5j75E8Xu-PRqjOOBxQWYCo_Kd0p_fIrKNoYyj67BhXKd_3GqpAc0K5mtZOY_IbPKLGqO76brIH1fyQKvsnwNL6NLCmToZGpgNrGDhDZoPNa4QKuljMcOLpZ6txBhIC7zRDbnY/s1600/Web+2011+Toronto+Marathon+HB+end2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kmat1k5j75E8Xu-PRqjOOBxQWYCo_Kd0p_fIrKNoYyj67BhXKd_3GqpAc0K5mtZOY_IbPKLGqO76brIH1fyQKvsnwNL6NLCmToZGpgNrGDhDZoPNa4QKuljMcOLpZ6txBhIC7zRDbnY/s320/Web+2011+Toronto+Marathon+HB+end2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Looking at my stats I see I finished with a time of 4:17 and that I was able to negatively split this race by 1:09. I ran the first half in 2:09 and the last half I 2:08. I thought it was interesting that my time at 30k in the marathon was exactly the same time I finished the Around the Bay 30k race. One of my favorite</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://www.runpix.info/wrace1/00/tor11/finord_one.php?id=643&event=tor11&dist=42" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">stats</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">is that in the last 12k of the race I passed 114 people and nobody passed me. I was very happy with this race overall. Run</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" src="http://runnerslife.ca/blogs/bare20my20sole/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" style="max-width: 100%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px;">After the race I noticed that my knees were quite sore under the knee caps. The left knee is especially sore and feels worse each day. I am hoping that some rest and anti-inflammatory pills will fix it up. I’ve read most of <a href="http://barefootrunningstepbystep.com/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Ken Bob’s book</a> and I am going to re-assess my running form. I believe that I need to bend my knees more and get more cross training in by riding my bike. I am hoping this will fix my knee issues permanently. I will also go back to the sharp gravely trail to help improve my form. Thanks Ken Bob!</span></b><br />
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</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-34330162927339681472011-05-10T20:49:00.000-04:002011-05-10T20:49:39.125-04:00IBRD Clinic<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong>Warsaw Point to Point 37k Run</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMTXhjpR1XAYceuF8lHJAljZMgY6emu3ZqOt46Vanh74FpJh9EamlZOjR-Pz0ymvMMcOilZ2tYC4yKx2hkHeopxrNB23LjtpSqe-z-ZKkgF594WLKAez7Tl0Ha7CYms68H6dV2x6lG5yw/s1600/2011+Ptbo+Warsaw+point+to+point.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMTXhjpR1XAYceuF8lHJAljZMgY6emu3ZqOt46Vanh74FpJh9EamlZOjR-Pz0ymvMMcOilZ2tYC4yKx2hkHeopxrNB23LjtpSqe-z-ZKkgF594WLKAez7Tl0Ha7CYms68H6dV2x6lG5yw/s320/2011+Ptbo+Warsaw+point+to+point.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><br />
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</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Two weeks ago was the <a href="http://runnerslife.ca/xnew/html/modules/newbbex/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2806&forum=1&post_id=10117#forumpost10117" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Runner’s Life Point to Point Run to Warsaw</a>. The day started out cold, windy and drizzly with a forecast of warmer weather but increasing wind gusts. This made it hard to decide what to wear, but luckily this was a point to point run with a mobile support crew. My thanks go out to Chris and Mandy for looking after us.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0Av5o-rGXisNH0dJ_HOV2Pqx3IXmiett5DHKV2dYpLtgFhFtw4cXUY-u-FYnuQP7UdUiHLcVVE9H2utFwJb4h77Es9vbZNSuHv-hzkqtOppc5h-le1KeUT7RQihknU9NNvLOqzhVL9U/s1600/Web+2011+Ptbo+Warsaw+point+to+point1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0Av5o-rGXisNH0dJ_HOV2Pqx3IXmiett5DHKV2dYpLtgFhFtw4cXUY-u-FYnuQP7UdUiHLcVVE9H2utFwJb4h77Es9vbZNSuHv-hzkqtOppc5h-le1KeUT7RQihknU9NNvLOqzhVL9U/s320/Web+2011+Ptbo+Warsaw+point+to+point1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">I was able to get in my 37k that was scheduled for the marathon training that day by running the Pub Run route first and then heading out on the 30k run to Warsaw. Having great company to run with who didn’t complain about me talking their ears off really helped me pass the time and the distance without as much effort as I would have thought. I was also thankful that they didn’t mind running on the roads with me instead of taking the much safer (but hard on bare feet) gravel trail. The muddy country roads were much more pleasant for me to run on. My body seemed to hold up well and I felt as if I could have run longer.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">On the way out, an old guy in a pickup truck stopped and I thought he was going to ask if we needed a ride. Instead he just asked me if I wanted his boots he had in the back of the truck. <em>Yes, how did he know exactly what I wanted? </em>I said thanks but I was fine the way I was. I enjoyed a nice western omelet with some Texas toast at the restaurant in Warsaw. A woman sitting at a table we passed as we were leaving asked us what our group was doing. One of our runners proudly told her that we had just run all the way from Peterborough. The woman promptly asked “Why?” Dave laughed and said he didn’t know why other than we were crazy. As I got into the van to come home, I felt more confident than crazy. I hope I feel this good after the Toronto Goodlife Marathon This Sunday.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong>International Barefoot Running Day - Barefoot Running Clinic</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">May 1<sup>st</sup> was declared by the <a href="http://barefootrunners.org/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Barefoot Runners Society</a> (BRS) to be<a href="http://barefootrunners.org/story/inaugural-international-barefoot-running-day-paleo" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">International Barefoot Running Day</a> (IBRD). Dave and I had already started to plan a <a href="http://runnerslife.ca/xnew/html/modules/newbbex/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2807&forum=1&post_id=10092#forumpost10092" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Barefoot Running Clinic</a> for late in April or early May. We were curious to see what kind of interest there was in the community for barefoot or minimal shoe running. The internet has shown a substantial in increase in barefoot running sites and related blogs/articles since the release of <a href="http://www.chrismcdougall.com/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Chris McDougall</a>’s book “Born To Run”. Once I heard about IBRD, the first of May just seemed to be the obvious choice for our clinic.</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Dave posted an advertisement for the clinic on his website and on Facebook. I also posted it on the BRS site and in the barefoot running forum on the Runner’s World website. Unfortunately, the Sporting Life 10k race in Toronto was being held on the same day, as well as what seemed like every other event that someone could think of. So it wasn’t a big surprise that we had to share the Park with the “Hike for Hospice “. This wasn’t so bad it just meant we had some live music in the background for mood. The weather on the Sunday ended up being cold and overcast, but we completed the clinic before the rain started. Just a few days before the clinic, Dave said we had 2 or 3 people signed up. I told him that as long as I had one person I would consider the clinic worthwhile and he agreed. I feel the clinic was a success with two participants showing up. The small group was interactive and I think we each learned a little from each other.</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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</span></strong></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-11294800064156601132011-04-18T21:38:00.001-04:002011-04-18T23:19:31.955-04:00Douro 10 Miler<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;">After the Around the Bay race I was getting some pain on the top of my left foot. My physiotherapist said it was a little tendonitis from the sudden increase in distance of the 30k race. I took a few days off to rest and recover and then 6 days after running the race, I ran 24k. It may have been too much too soon because the pain in the foot came back. I don't want to spend too many days recovering because I only have a few weeks to train for the Toronto Marathon. So on Thursday April 7 I ran 13k but at a much faster pace. After about 6k, the tendons at the top of my left foot started to hurt again so I switched to a more mid-foot landing from a forefoot landing. The pain left my foot, but I could feel it more in my knees and groin. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQU-8jgqOWwiERgTysZtEAjiW6FKmha8qYJjLoKHMJFEdp8A6XftUEp1u0c-99zMJSgDlR_1HivMkQxtjuaGwC-WQOzAL9Ztztd7VqMWdFsxuYb9MnIBbmBwXWtNXmfC_JP0yRZW3GerE/s1600/2011+Douro+10miler+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQU-8jgqOWwiERgTysZtEAjiW6FKmha8qYJjLoKHMJFEdp8A6XftUEp1u0c-99zMJSgDlR_1HivMkQxtjuaGwC-WQOzAL9Ztztd7VqMWdFsxuYb9MnIBbmBwXWtNXmfC_JP0yRZW3GerE/s320/2011+Douro+10miler+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The following Sunday was the Douro 10 Miler. It was now two full weeks since the 30k race and I wanted to start increasing my distance. I got to Douro early at 11am, two hours before the race start so I could run the course once before the race and then the race to give me the 32k for the day. The morning was colder than was forecast and it started raining as soon as I got out of the car. I decided to run in shorts and singlet so that I would have at least the dry t-shirt to wear for the race. I joined two other runners who were also running the course early for the extra marathon training distance. We set off with the sound of rolling thunder and light rain falling on us. The asphalt was rough but the section of dirt road was a nice rest until we got back on rough wet asphalt again.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> On the way back at about the 10k mark I was tired, cold, soaked and seriously considering going home once I got back to my car. By the last kilometer the rain had stopped and the temperature had risen a couple of degrees. I got back to the race start and was surprised to see so many people ready to race considering the weather. After an energy chew and some power drink, I decided to run the race just to get my distance in. I had enough time to put on my new dry shirt from the Around the Bay race and get to the starting line.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The race itself was kind of a blur since I had just accepted the fact that I was going to be sore tired and uncomfortable, but I did notice a couple of things. The first was that my left foot wasn't hurting yet and I was landing mid-foot now. The second was that the dirt road was now a muddy road and felt great to run on. Once I got past the muddy section on the way back there was only about 1 k left and that's when I saw the flash and heard the loud clap of thunder. The rain now fell in sheets with some wind. I didn't care how I felt, I just decided to get to the finish and back to my car as fast as I could. I continued to pick up speed all the way to the end of the race. When I saw my time I was astonished to see that I had PB the 10 mile race by 10 minutes with a time of 1:28.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I went to the car to change once again into a dry shirt and that's when I noticed how sore and red (bleeding a little) my nipples were. This had only happened once before when I had run in the rain and my shirt got wet. It had been so minor then that I hadn't thought much about it since and pretty much thought of it as a joke. But from now on if I am running in the rain I will take my shirt off to save the nipples.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/xWkeYtBWN3M?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My continued training has consisted of a 9k speed workout and the first gravel run of the year around Jackson Park pond on Tuesday April 12. I avoided the gravel as much as I could, but I know the only way to get better is at running on it is to run on it.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> On Thursday I ran another 9k, but this time it was all crushed gravel trail and the last 4k was a time trial. For discomfort comparison, if the bridge in the Around the Bay race was a 10, then I would give this gravel trail run 8. I also did a little hike up a steep muddy hill in the woods as a finisher.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Then on Saturday I was supposed to run 35k, but only did 18k due to the much misery. It started with the run on the gravel trail again, which made my decision to wear the VFFs seem like a good one until I was soaked in the cold blowing rain. It didn't take long for the VFF shoes to wear away my wet skin at the sides of my feet. I continued on anyway, but luckily at the 9k point a huge puddle (or small lake) made the decision to turn around much easier. It was a good choice because I was cold and soaked so I don't think I would have lasted much longer.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Now however, I am feeling like I have to push harder to make up for lost time or distance and I am still bothered with the pain in my left foot.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-69963341266929539532011-04-01T18:15:00.001-04:002011-04-01T18:44:39.116-04:00Around the Bay<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong><em>I am running a guest post by <a href="http://vanessaruns.com/">Vanessa Runs</a> who wrote such a great race report that I felt it was just easier to make a few comments on her post than do a rewrite of pretty much the same experience. Thanks Vanessa.<br />
</em></strong></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMp24dJ_ftlm9qTZ8OVeNdvmgfvajfdDrqEfBglii0c6ElvF9FRUusQ48X3F3CC6IuYAE0T2-7zJ3lftv-pxFcRiS_Rku7U2a-Eg0HWTBy7t67nY-wYg1vY7Th1reBpDGUbtNBkwIj7Q/s1600/2011+AtB+Hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMp24dJ_ftlm9qTZ8OVeNdvmgfvajfdDrqEfBglii0c6ElvF9FRUusQ48X3F3CC6IuYAE0T2-7zJ3lftv-pxFcRiS_Rku7U2a-Eg0HWTBy7t67nY-wYg1vY7Th1reBpDGUbtNBkwIj7Q/s320/2011+AtB+Hill.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong><em><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>MY GOALS FOR THIS RACE</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">To run it:<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>1. Without shoes.</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I haven't used shoes since last October, so this is pretty much a given now. But this was still my longest race in VFFs (though I've run further for training).<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>2. Like a training run.</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I'm in the middle of my ultra marathon training, so 30k was actually the distance I had to run today anyway. The distances are increasing every weekend, so next weekend I'm going up to 50k over Saturday and Sunday. I also have another race next weekend, and possibly a group trail run. Because of that, I didn't want to kill myself out on only 30k.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>3. Like a pacer.</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I felt privileged to be Lou's pacer because he's such a great barefoot runner, and I had such an amazing experience when Shacky paced me for my marathon that I wanted to pay it forward.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>4. In 3 hrs or less.</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">This was Lou's time goal, so my goal as a pacer as well.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>5. Without a watch.</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I've stopped using a watch when I run because when I do have a watch, I'm a slave to it. I don't want to rely on electronics, but rather get to know my body well enough to know what pace I'm going and how hard I can push. This has been an amazing process for me, and I've been able to develop my pace/time/heart rate estimations with impressive accuracy. I am also much more aware of how my body moves.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>MY MILESTONES FOR THIS RACE</strong><br />
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<ol><li><span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">My longest race in VFFs.<br />
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<li><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana;">My first long race of the season.<br />
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<li><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana;">My debut as a pacer.<br />
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<li><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana;">My first race without a watch.<br />
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<li><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana;">My first ATB ever!<br />
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</span></ol><span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>MY EXPERIENCE</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">The first half of this race was lovely and pleasant. Slow and easy. Our good conversation was interrupted every once in a while by people telling us how brave and awesome we were. Lou felt more shy about the compliments, like running barefoot wasn't a big deal. I just smiled widely and said "Thank you!" – because quite frankly, I thought we WERE awesome.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">We didn't get any negative comments, although a few people seemed genuinely worried about us. It was cold waiting for the race to start, but we warmed up pretty quickly. The sun had been hitting the pavement where we ran, so the surface was warm.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">One thing about trail running is that I've noticed I'm a lot more aware and sensitive to sounds while I run. At one point when Lou and I fell into a silent stretch, I was shocked to hear the POUNDING of feet all around me. Really loud thumping that frankly sounded quite painful. Neither of us were making any noise.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I was thrilled when Lou ran the grated bridge barefoot, because I thought that was quite the feat (more on that later). I predicted he'd be famous because of it because I'm sure that NOBODY has ever run that bridge barefoot.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I was surprised at how many people ran this race! The crowds never fizzled out and we were constantly maneuvering, right to the end. In the last 10k there was a fat guy with long hair that came to sit out on his porch and flip his middle finger off to the runners. A couple of the runners who noticed flipped him right back. I thought that was pretty hilarious…<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Lots of people passed us in the first half, but I kept promising Lou that we'd get them on the hills – and we did! We didn't slow our pace on any of the hills, and we passed the 3-hr pace bunny on the final hill. My plan at that point became to stick with the pace bunny, then sprint past him in the final moments for a sub-3. I sensed at the time that we were running more like 3:05 finish time, but the bunny kept looking at his watch so I figured he knew how fast we were going.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">We were nearby when the pace bunny yelled at people to run ahead for a sub-3. We did. We actually picked up the pace significantly with about 1-2km left, and then sprinted the final 800 meters or so. We were a good 2-3 minutes ahead of the bunny, but we actually came in at 3:03. I was slightly disappointed, but it did teach me a very valuable lesson – my own body is a much better indicator of my pace than a pace bunny with a fancy watch. Always trust body over bunny.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">The grim reapers in the final sprint cracked me up. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT…."<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #545454;">I looked and felt great the entire race. I wore my <a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/product/4781/Wallace.html" target="_blank"></a></span><span style="color: #006a80;">red Hunter's mini Sport kilt </span><span style="color: #545454;">with black leggings, and surprisingly got more attention around the kilt than I did with my VFFs. One lady came to look for me in the end to ask where I got it, and there were several comments throughout the race. Mostly ladies and of course a couple of guys. I've definitely developed my own individual style around running. I don't own any bright running jackets, and my leggings aren't even for running – just some cheap pair I found at Garage.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;" xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #545454;">I ALWAYS run in skirts – either </span></span><a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #006a80;">Sport kilts</span></a><span style="color: #545454;"><a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" target="_blank"> </a>or tennis skirts (running skirts tend to be more expensive). I like how the skirts look with my monkey feet. I wear layers, sometimes thermal, but never specifically for running. Most of my layers I got at Marks Work Warehouse. And I'll wear an old race t-shirt on top of it all – usually from a race I'd like to specifically remember that day.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Today I have no issues – feet still look and feel great. No marks/blisters/soreness of any kind. Good times!<a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" target="_blank"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguKSbDcrRKFapQ6AjaOXdvu4f4Gnhp6KBWA5WSxXggHslPgLTNNF59te5OvQtk7XVFyktWQobbkPwWBObBhV2IVuwo2nlBmKU_P7tmxZYdEqNcC_9rkXPG8QBG1Jgrh4l9szCmtSAwn2c/s1600/2011+AtB+Finish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguKSbDcrRKFapQ6AjaOXdvu4f4Gnhp6KBWA5WSxXggHslPgLTNNF59te5OvQtk7XVFyktWQobbkPwWBObBhV2IVuwo2nlBmKU_P7tmxZYdEqNcC_9rkXPG8QBG1Jgrh4l9szCmtSAwn2c/s400/2011+AtB+Finish.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>LOU'S EXPERIENCE<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>{Lou's notes}</strong><a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" target="_blank"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Lou started off very nervous. He didn't sleep well, his breakfast didn't sit well, and he was anxious.{normal pre-race anxiety for me} At one point I grabbed his bib with mine as we were leaving the car, and he was starting to freak out {for only a second}when he didn't see it. He was worried about the timing chips not sitting right – he was jumpy in general. I tried my best to calm his mind and I figured once we started going, he'd relax and enjoy himself. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: blue;">{that's what I told her}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I think there's a lot of pressure sometimes for us minimalist/barefoot runners to constantly perform at our peak. Although nobody expects us to win, we can't go out there and look like we're dying because people are going to blame a lack of shoes instead of a lack of training. When you're running barefoot, people are constantly watching and judging you, both during and after the race. So I think this was the source of Lou's stress. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{Well Said!}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #545454;">I'm the kind of person that races for pure fun and FU if you don't like the way I run. I don't feel pressure to perform for anyone. I also feel the best example I can set as a minimalist/barefoot runner is the pure joy of running itself. I'm not out there to look like a martyr; I'm genuinely having a blast and making it look easy. Too few people out there truly run for the fun of it. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{I am trying to run this way}</span></span><a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" style="color: #545454;" target="_blank"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Lou wanted a sub-3hr time, and I wanted to do my best to get him there. I told him to just follow my pace and let me know if he needed to change pace or stop. We had some rough patches in the beginning (broken roads, rough surfaces), and I asked him a couple of times if he needed to stop. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{I thought this was because she was getting tired}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> He said no, and after a while I didn't want to give him that option anymore so I stopped asking. <br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">The first half of the route was flat and slightly downhill. Lou was in great spirits – he chatted with the people inquiring about his feet, and we shared some good conversation. He was pushing his pace a little quicker than I knew he should, so I held him back a bit in the beginning. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{this felt slow to me and I was a little worried about putting too much time on the clock}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> He was carrying water </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{hand held water bottles that start to feel heavy after 15k}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> and I had nothing, so I was relying on the stations for sips. I told him to keep going and I'd catch up with him after my water station delays. In the first half he'd make it quite far without me – I'd have to sprint a bit to catch up. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{because I wasn't drinking much}</span><a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" style="color: #545454;" target="_blank"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">After the grated bridge </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{about half way}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> things started to change for him. He was less chatty, </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{getting tired and breathing heavier}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> and when people asked him questions he was short and abrupt. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{because breathing was the priority}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> In the last 5k, he was struggling. I told him to just focus his mind, block everything out and RUN. He took that to heart and stopped talking altogether. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{not much choice when you are exhausted and just trying to get enough oxygen into your lungs}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> He fell into a zen-like trance and when people spoke to him, he totally snubbed them like they weren't even there. So I found myself running circles around him, fielding questions like his PR rep. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{she's hired!}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> I didn't want people thinking he was a total snob… </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{these people should realize that this was the first time running 30k for some people and we are not all able to chat at 26k}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #a8a8a8; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;">"Yes, he's ok. He's doing great!"<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #a8a8a8; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;">"Yes, he ran the bridge! He survived!"<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #a8a8a8; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;">"No, he's not cold."<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #a8a8a8; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;">"No, he didn't train in shoes – he's actually never run in shoes."<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #a8a8a8; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;">"Oh you want an interview? Contact me after the race."<a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" target="_blank"><br />
</a></span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Shacky later told me that I should have told people he was deaf. A brilliant idea that I wish I had been smart enough to think of.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I lost Lou on the final sprint. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{and I lost the 3hr. pace bunny :-p }</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> I looked over my shoulder for him and it was clear he was going as fast as he possibly could. I thought about stopping to wait for him, but decided I'd be more of a motivation sprinting just in front of him. I know he's competitive and I wanted to give him something to catch. <br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">In the end I wasn't too disappointed with 3:03 because it was clear that Lou was giving it ALL he had. I don't think he could have run this race more perfectly, or pushed himself any harder. He later told me that as he was coming into the finish line, he felt like he was starting to black out. I think I took him RIGHT to the edge…<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I was THRILLED when he crossed the finish line and wanted to immediately explain to him how well he'd done, but he looked incredibly pissed so I waited until after the food tables to say anything. He was like a walking zombie. He blew past the people handing out bags, and rushed straight to the food. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{I was not pissed, mad or angry. I was just trying not to pass out}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Then they gave him so much food that he couldn't carry it and he looked upset about that. He was starting to backtrack to get a bag, but I grabbed him and got him to dump his stuff in my bag instead. I probably found his state more amusing than I should have, but I was chuckling because it reminded me SO MUCH of my own post-marathon state back in October. I just wanted everyone to die. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{not me, I just didn't want myself to die}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">When I finally decided to approach him for a "Great job!" and "Congratulations!" he made a full 180 and walked directly away from me like 3 times. He looked SO MAD AT ME that I wanted to laugh, but was also slightly concerned that he might never actually speak to me again. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{still not wanting to pass out, I knew I had to keep moving so my heart rate and blood pressure wouldn't drop too fast. Not Mad}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I left him alone and very slowly he came out of it. Anyway at that point he needed me – I noticed he couldn't open his juice box and he looked like he was about to cry over it. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{my hands were a little shaky and the endorphins cause an increase in emotion :-p }</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> So I opened his drinks and the snacks they gave us and put them in his hand. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{thanks again for that}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> He munched quietly.<br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>WHY I'M PROUD OF MYSELF</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">1. I had enough energy to sprint to the finish. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{very impressive!}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">2. My recovery was super quick. When I got home, I felt like I could repeat the same distance. And one day later I feel like I could easily go out and run again. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{took me two days to feel that}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">3. I felt like I could have run further, or much faster. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{not me, maybe next time}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">4. Almost all my training runs have been on steep, hilly trails, and I was able to feel the direct results of my trail running in two forms: a) The paved surface was like a walk in the park b) The hills were a non-issue. I had heard a lot about the hills so maybe my expectations were exaggerated. But I kept looking for the "big hill" – until I realized we were on the final stretch and we must have passed it. In the woods, hills are a completely different beast. A "big hill" to me now means basically crawling on your hands and knees! And when I have run paved hills for training, I've done it with 10lbs of schoolbooks strapped to my back. I didn't realize how drastic of a difference that would make in this race, so it was encouraging to see. I flew those hills. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{an ultra runner in the making}</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82rt548oe8lCZe1_uhLzApe9uHpQplT4ubNDwEtmJKoXaHPkSaR67m3JBrUwlHxyLVmW2VAMQlKkGlDtLwd9M9CJ6omU7VFBjxkb7D476FcORCzrR_ARrK9UXdRMX3Br45Cad-lhGWAg/s1600/2011+AtB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82rt548oe8lCZe1_uhLzApe9uHpQplT4ubNDwEtmJKoXaHPkSaR67m3JBrUwlHxyLVmW2VAMQlKkGlDtLwd9M9CJ6omU7VFBjxkb7D476FcORCzrR_ARrK9UXdRMX3Br45Cad-lhGWAg/s320/2011+AtB.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>WHY I'M PROUD OF LOU</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">1. He took the grated bridge completely barefoot. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{I'm proud of that too}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> He was swift and quick and focused, and took it like a man. He fell into a very focused and determined state. He didn't hesitate or slow down, but just flew over it and didn't flinch. I couldn't tell by his face that he was suffering, but I knew that it was rough. I tried my best to verbally coach and encourage him. He wasn't responsive at the time but later he said that it helped to hear that we were passing people. We did pass quite a few people on the bridge – they were slowing down and we were speeding up. I think it was easier to just get it over with. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{It felt good to have that behind me}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">2. This was his longest distance ever, and he ran it at a steady pace without stopping. Keeping a steady pace through a long run is really hard – especially near the end when you feel like you're dying. Lou stuck beside me until the very last stretch. In the last 5k he told me I was killing him, but I figured he'd thank me for it later. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{makes me want to train a little harder for the next one}</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_31639023" style="color: #545454;"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">3. He took the hills like a gazelle and kept right up with me. I've done some pretty hard-core hill training on trails, so I think I was better conditioned to take the hills than Lou was, but he stuck right by me. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{thanks to Dave and the Armour Hill training on Tuesday nights}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> When he fell behind, he'd catch up. We never stopped on the hills and I was very impressed with him. He didn't slow his pace, and was actually faster going downhill than I was. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{just an easier way to take the downhills when barefoot}</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> He was slower coming off the hills and he started getting quiet after a few inclines, so I knew he was reaching deep. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">{ya, it's hard to talk when you are gasping for breath ;-) }</span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> But he never stopped.<a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" target="_blank"><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">4. He was hurting every second of the last 5k, and pushed through it. I've never seen anyone empty their tank to THAT extent! I think he crossed the finish line on fumes. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{I'm glad I didn't pass out several feet from the finish line}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #8fbf60; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><strong>CONCLUSIONS</strong><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">I had an incredible time. I laughed/smiled more at this race than any other yet. I got a stitch once but I think it might have been from laughing… </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{me too, but I think mine was gas ;-)}</span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #545454;">A great race with great company. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">{Agreed!}</span></span><a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/" style="color: #545454;" target="_blank"><br />
</a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-56481422502235485032011-03-07T19:18:00.001-05:002011-03-07T19:34:21.529-05:00Peterborough Half<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns="">On February 27, 2011 at 12:30pm the Peterborough Half Marathon started. At 12:29 I trotted barefoot from the warmth of the YMCA building into the large flakes of falling snow and to the start line on Aylmer Street in front with my feelmax moccasins folded into my race vest pockets. I had decided based on the weather forecast for midday that I would be able to do the entire race barefoot, but the weather was not quite as nice as predicted. The temperature was -1°C with a -7°C wind chill and the roads were wet. The asphalt on the streets was very rough up to Lansdowne. Dave was calling out the times for the first k, as I turned the corner on Crescent Street I heard him shout 4:48. I knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle to get under 2 hours but I wasn't too concerned. My priority was getting through the race barefoot without injury. Once I got to Ashburnham Drive the asphalt got smoother and I had warmed up a bit. My stride and form felt good and I was settling in a bit. I was still passing a few people here and there, but I felt I was on a fairly steady pace. It was just then that I heard "Hey check out the guy with no shoes on!" It was Dave as he reappeared on his bike taking pictures. By then most of the people around me knew I was running barefoot and I had already heard half a dozen comments.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD-lDWfr_DXD2ANOUOXd8fXNzJ25mZnZAVskD1TEmp6xfHWf_X1v_sif0xAtb1qKBWGC4mh2aPImNTmr3nq_4zM05KdkZ35vLAMGHCgqq2eOWwsGLMLiz4GbCVdqbml5P-Hn3DAnYILoc/s1600/2011+Ptbo+Half+Marathon+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD-lDWfr_DXD2ANOUOXd8fXNzJ25mZnZAVskD1TEmp6xfHWf_X1v_sif0xAtb1qKBWGC4mh2aPImNTmr3nq_4zM05KdkZ35vLAMGHCgqq2eOWwsGLMLiz4GbCVdqbml5P-Hn3DAnYILoc/s320/2011+Ptbo+Half+Marathon+1.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><span xmlns=""><br />
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<span xmlns="">The next two familiar faces I saw were those of Chris and Mandy. They were at the corner of Ashburnham Drive and Hunter Street. Mandy was shouting some encouraging words and Chris yelled that the road should be warmer in the tunnel under the lift locks. It was not. In fact it was colder due to the lack of sunlight, but my feet and legs were getting warmer as I started the hill assent. I passed a few people climbing the hill and passed many more as I let my legs relax coming down the hill. I find that in order to reduce the uncomfortable friction from the road on my feet during the decent I take short quick steps and let gravity do the work. The more I relax, the faster I go and I only hold back enough to maintain control. This was the same story on the way back except a little slower. My feet were feeling pretty cold by the time I reached the rough surface of Crescent Street. As I turned on to Perry Street I saw Dave again on his bike. He rode beside me telling me it was only 500 more metres to go and to give it a final push. I usually wait until I can see the finish line, but I was cold and wanting the race to end at this point. I suddenly went into sprint mode and passed Dave on his bike, but by the time I was back on Aylmer Street I had run out of gas. My feet were now cold and sore. I gave a last little sprint for the 20 meters that took me over the finish line. I quickly continued my plodding to the warmth of the YMCA building.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEyHh_zjO8568y-q4rIaoTnf7XDUeyB0utoNXsFf_rGpYICDujbT476iR5aPWnvi3AsvUJ3YqLJxlDYID2p02OGeq62wdzWSZJYgglJEbVY6MaMY-gFiXKOY2a3305XM0Nbg-LyFV5d8/s1600/2011+Ptbo+Half+Marathon+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEyHh_zjO8568y-q4rIaoTnf7XDUeyB0utoNXsFf_rGpYICDujbT476iR5aPWnvi3AsvUJ3YqLJxlDYID2p02OGeq62wdzWSZJYgglJEbVY6MaMY-gFiXKOY2a3305XM0Nbg-LyFV5d8/s320/2011+Ptbo+Half+Marathon+2.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><span xmlns=""><br />
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<span xmlns="">I was happy to find that my feet warmed up quickly and didn't hurt as much as I thought they might. After a quick complimentary lunch thanks to the sponsors, I went to the results wall to check out my time. I was happy to see a 1:51 beside my name. I felt this was a decent time for me considering I had just run 21.1k barefoot in Peterborough on February 27.<br />
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-35901361014737237032011-02-11T22:16:00.000-05:002011-02-11T22:16:22.945-05:00Front Page<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgkEhAy0YBpCX11ig1VxlYXU8QsomXsYUpTa1BsaHzQpmapv24M94N8h8gBqljifYx88S3nA58lmI8NQpLhluQStU199uiS08AdGG4ZuHoNG9EUSdMv6e7RmpjwqZXzAEtSkeV6OmmMI/s1600/Web+Article+Picture+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgkEhAy0YBpCX11ig1VxlYXU8QsomXsYUpTa1BsaHzQpmapv24M94N8h8gBqljifYx88S3nA58lmI8NQpLhluQStU199uiS08AdGG4ZuHoNG9EUSdMv6e7RmpjwqZXzAEtSkeV6OmmMI/s1600/Web+Article+Picture+1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
When Rod Begg of the Barefoot Runners Society -Canada Chapter emailed me asking if I would mind doing an interview with the Peterborough Examiner about running barefoot at the Peterborough Half Marathon, I was a bit hesitant. I didn't want the article to be a "sideshow piece" about somebody doing something crazy. I was also worried about the pressure I would feel to push myself beyond my limits once I knew people would now be expecting me to run this race barefoot. Dale Clifford, the Examiner reporter, assured me that the article would be written as a serious running article showing people that barefoot running was a viable alternative. I spent an hour in total in the interview and had talked a lot about my barefoot running. I didn't know how much of the information would end up in the article and how it would be put together, but I figured a small article in the back of the Saturday paper wouldn't get much attention anyway. To my surprise, when I asked Dale when the article would run he said tomorrow, <a href="http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2952523">front page</a>. I read the article online Saturday morning and I was pretty happy with it apart from a couple of photos. I had asked if Dale if he was planning on doing a follow-up interview after the race and he said he was so I really hoping things go well on race day.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2952523">http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2952523</a><br />
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Zem Gear footwear are light and warm. I found them to be quite good for running in cold snow. However, their soles are not meant for running on asphalt or concrete, even if only for short distances. The sole on the bottom of my left Zem Gear boot is shredded. I got a lump of snow built up under the black sole covering at the end of a run so I had to take them off for the last few hundred metres. I cut the ripped black covering off, but I am a little hesitant about running in them again this winter.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NqyY74O7DtYTqE-aQ5ORp-rRipBFJ96-9avTeIULSQMFnTvr1r20e77rtGvlazMSYIY9GyZNi565tpsWWaeGcYEISDLOGdyh4cv-4O-93t0sjLhQ4LcnNKKeNVtOAHbmGcner8JlEiI/s1600/Web+Ripped+Zem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NqyY74O7DtYTqE-aQ5ORp-rRipBFJ96-9avTeIULSQMFnTvr1r20e77rtGvlazMSYIY9GyZNi565tpsWWaeGcYEISDLOGdyh4cv-4O-93t0sjLhQ4LcnNKKeNVtOAHbmGcner8JlEiI/s1600/Web+Ripped+Zem.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A tendon in my right foot is really bothering me now and I am going to have to take some time off running. I hope it will only take a couple of days rest. The tendon that is bothering me is the one that I use to move my right big toe and I can feel it in the arch of my foot. I think it is from all of the running on slippery lumpy packed snow that is covering the sidewalks and paths. I believe I was running more on my forefoot on the lumpy snow and this is what caused the soreness. The foot doesn't really hurt, but I just don't want to run on it until it feels normal.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-36122823903990230442011-01-03T19:12:00.000-05:002011-01-03T19:12:04.431-05:00Let's Try Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQt_fmcRLnsZeeHgO0IoUzDSohg5P48T-59_bj2wsqWEsiV3k7sdA-DcdkcH-rJBbvbksGbTzXVQLDOMYLz2rQVACwbmN7sK7WbuU6j3nbyzlbYLVbiCqCb1hfZXu8FcXvydmgfZK6UU/s1600/Dec1+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQt_fmcRLnsZeeHgO0IoUzDSohg5P48T-59_bj2wsqWEsiV3k7sdA-DcdkcH-rJBbvbksGbTzXVQLDOMYLz2rQVACwbmN7sK7WbuU6j3nbyzlbYLVbiCqCb1hfZXu8FcXvydmgfZK6UU/s1600/Dec1+2010.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Another winter is upon us and I will try again to continue running through it. The last two years didn’t work out for me, with the frostbite in January 2009 and then the fibula fracture in the December of the same year. I’ve really been trying to play it safe this winter. This winter I am open to experimentation and will try different ideas to facilitate a healthy winter running season. I have been experimenting with different minimal footwear and training options. Some of the things I am incorporating are</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://vanessaruns.com/2010/11/11/post160/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">niacin</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">(vitamin B3),</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24-oCx1lek" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">gravel bucket training</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">and a few different minimal shoes or foot coverings. Niacin at the right dose produces a “flush” caused by dilating the small blood vessels in the skin and giving a feeling of warmth and a slight skin flushing. The gravel bucket training is a way to maintain the thick skin on the soles of the feet by stimulating the nerves that trigger increased cell production. I got a couple of Rubbermaid bins and half filled them with some round “pea gravel”. I walk, march or jog on the spot in the bins of gravel barefoot while I watch TV. So far about an hour is all I can stand, but I hope to increase that as I do it more. I have</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://www.feelmax.fi/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_new.tpl&product_id=33&category_id=27&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=155&lang=en&vmcchk=1" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Feelmax shoes</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://runnerslife.ca/blogs/bare20my20sole/2009/03/22/st-paddys-day-5k/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">VFFs</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://shop.zemgear.com/split-toe-high/original-split-high-black-aqua.html" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Zem Gear</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">shoes I can go to when the winter running conditions get to be too much for my bare feet. It depends on whether the problem is cold salted snow/ice or cold rough surface, what foot covering I go to. The Feelmax are good on cold rough surfaces and I can fold them up to carry with me. The Zems are a neoprene sock that covers my ankle for more warmth in the cold salted snow/ice or slush. The VFFs are good for short runs but with very rough terrain like sharp gravel.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="" style="text-decoration: none;">I have gone out a couple of times barefoot, but I now have some backup footwear with me. I let me feet get cold and even uncomfortable, but when they start to feel real pain I don’t push it any farther barefoot. I have realized that the risk of frostbite while running barefoot has more to do with the surface temperature than the air temperature or wind chill. I have an IR thermometer that I use to check the surface temperature, but the surface changes over the course of the run and each surface can have very different temperatures, like dry roads compared to salty ice/slush on a sunny winter day.</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="" style="text-decoration: none;">I have signed up to run the Peterborough Half Marathon and the Around the Bay 30k so I will not only have to get through the winter uninjured, but I will have to increase my running to train for these races.</a></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp6rC1TyqQyVbO3npA0Fv_JTbu-BwRLdj3qIN70A4kEfxjTYSvW5J1MslFaG-h79t53d12RXijSZHZh2kxWZjdConq3jy9pBoOvX9u_qWf16u-TtSyfpdJtMPPLxcFrTL6e1G9sYxY72A/s1600/Web+2010+Whitby+10+Miler+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp6rC1TyqQyVbO3npA0Fv_JTbu-BwRLdj3qIN70A4kEfxjTYSvW5J1MslFaG-h79t53d12RXijSZHZh2kxWZjdConq3jy9pBoOvX9u_qWf16u-TtSyfpdJtMPPLxcFrTL6e1G9sYxY72A/s320/Web+2010+Whitby+10+Miler+2.jpg" width="185" /></a></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">November 21, <a href="http://vanessaruns.com/2010/11/22/post165/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Whitby Waterfront 10 Miler</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">I have signed up with the Barefoot Runners Society. This is a good website that helps the few barefoot runners out there meet up and not feel so much like outcasts. So when a couple of members said they were going to run a race in Whitby I jumped at the chance. It would be the first race I have run with another barefoot runner. The morning was -8ºC wind chill and even the walk from the car to pick up our race kits was uncomfortable. The terrain was mainly a rough asphalt trail and the cold temperatures made it feel even rougher. This race for me was not about time, but about teamwork. It was truly the company of my fellow barefoot runners that made this race a success for me. I finished in the humble time of 1:38 and my feet were in good shape. This was the farthest race I had run in that cold of temperature. So in the end, I had a good long barefoot run and a sense of accomplishment. Going out for lunch and socializing with my new friends made this a very good day for me.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf28I7eV18B6utquAFW5WqZgq4QHoMnxgYjAFCb_6D99drthdfK61zBs0h3Z0DGDhdXYg7eEUVsLRNU5mre-n_Fey-SBeuuAuPIKsjhiGdO-qlA6PyRZng1JgviODH6AzkqqZTBgzLeJI/s1600/Web+2010+Whitby+10+Miler+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf28I7eV18B6utquAFW5WqZgq4QHoMnxgYjAFCb_6D99drthdfK61zBs0h3Z0DGDhdXYg7eEUVsLRNU5mre-n_Fey-SBeuuAuPIKsjhiGdO-qlA6PyRZng1JgviODH6AzkqqZTBgzLeJI/s320/Web+2010+Whitby+10+Miler+1.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">At this point I want to repeat some information from a couple of my first posts to reflect on where I started and how far I’ve come so far.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">How It Started</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">When I was a child I enjoyed going barefoot but my feet were soft and sensitive. Unfortunately this meant I would wear shoes more than I wanted. I found that I would sometimes get sores just from rough surfaces in the early summer but by the fall my feet were tougher, just in time to be wearing shoes permanently again. It seemed like a never ending cycle. As I got older I realized that the shoes were “a crutch” and were really just keeping my feet weak and prone to injury. I searched the internet for information on the benefits of being barefoot and found a few good sites (more are popping up now that more people are discovering the benefits). One site I found promoted a book about <a href="http://www.bhthom.org/hikertxt.htm" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">barefoot hiking</a>. I bought the book and decided to try that. There are a few rules to barefooting safely and you either learn them the easy way or the hard way.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">1. Start with a few steps on a soft surface then build up from there, walking further and on rougher surfaces gradually.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">2. Always look where you are going to step.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">3. Step straight down, don’t scuff or drag your feet.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">I was enjoying the hiking and the muscles in my feet were getting stronger. I noticed that my feet seemed more aware. The changing surface textures and obstacles were not only thickening my soles, but also awakening a part of my brain that had been suppressed by wearing shoes. I also started to feel the <a href="http://vanessaruns.com/2010/10/26/post150/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">spiritual Earth connection</a> I had read about.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">After a couple of years of barefoot hiking, a co-worker was telling me about the running she was doing. I was interested in a new challenging experience so I started looking up information about running and specifically barefoot running. My main concern was about injury (but not specifically foot injury), since pretty much any runner I had talked to in the past had been injured and had to stop running. I read a book called <a href="http://www.chirunning.com/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">Chi Running</a> by Danny Dreyer. Danny is an ultra marathoner and his running form uses concepts from tai chi. It is promoted as an effortless injury-free running technique. It does not require the runner to be barefoot, but does involve a mid-foot landing that is more easily achieved with minimal footwear. I found barefoot and chi running to be a good match.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">So unlike most barefoot runners I talk to, I have never run in shoes and have never had to make a “transition” to barefoot running.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">To address the question that almost everyone has when they see me running without shoes I composed a top 10 list to answer the question of “why do you run barefoot?”</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">1. Most commercially available footwear is bad for your feet (I have many references to support this statement)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">2. It allows natural development of the foot (bone, joints, tendons, muscles, etc.)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">3. The more you do it, the more comfortable it is</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">4. Your feet will adapt to almost any terrain so you can save $ on shoes and boots</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">5. More friendly to the environment</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">6. Shoes promote heal striking and rob your body of the valuable feedback of feeling the ground and making minor adjustments for optimal efficiency</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">7. Better for blood circulation in the feet so they are cooler in summer (and sometimes even warmer in winter)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">8. Provides a better sense and connection to the Earth both <a href="http://vanessaruns.com/2010/10/26/post150/" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">physically and spiritually</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">9. Don’t have to worry about not having your running shoes when you want to go running</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">10. An even bigger sense of accomplishment after finishing a race</span></span><br />
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</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-16629958182158475232010-11-17T22:29:00.000-05:002010-12-27T09:42:57.321-05:00Tarzan Returns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1rICD_ZDVDqND_L5tCSK7P1XSdYVgaNO3ejE8-QkKX2ICeqshBMBSjqeDSQE3BLPXYpJXfrGQ20Me1hydMh0T2S3scUrUtNOsQqbqGusoiDvN88iAQe1k33mcyxCa_xQCElSPYrgCVk/s1600/Web+2010+Halloween+5k+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1rICD_ZDVDqND_L5tCSK7P1XSdYVgaNO3ejE8-QkKX2ICeqshBMBSjqeDSQE3BLPXYpJXfrGQ20Me1hydMh0T2S3scUrUtNOsQqbqGusoiDvN88iAQe1k33mcyxCa_xQCElSPYrgCVk/s400/Web+2010+Halloween+5k+3.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Halloween 5k trail run</div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Tarzan was spotted again. This time he was seen running through the woods at the Ganaraska Forest this past October 31 for the Runner’s Life Halloween 5k trail run. It was only a few degrees Celsius above zero but the sun was out and the air was still. I started out way too fast this time because I was a little chilly. It didn’t take long to warm up though and by then I was already starting to feel tired. By 2k I had slowed quite a bit and just wanted to find a pace I could maintain with out loosing a lung on the many little hills. I stuck with it and finished in a time of </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">24:18. When I compare this to my time last year it doesn’t look so good but last year I had done a lot more training in preparation for the half marathon and it was before the injury. On the up side, I was still able to podium as a second place finisher in my new age category.</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">10k James run on crushed gravel trail</div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">On November 7, I headed up to Trent University for the James Fund Walk/Run. I ran the 10k and it was an out and back course on the mostly crushed gravel trail heading up to Lakefield. It was another single digit temperature morning without wind. I had never run a 10k race on gravel before and I don’t think I have even walked 10k on gravel all at once before. The first 2k were easy with no real discomfort. After the next two, I started to notice more discomfort and was looking forward to turning around and heading back. By the time I was past 5k and was heading back, I was looking for places beside the trail that I could run on. There were only a few short stretches that had grass or dirt where I could run and some of the places were covered with fallen leaves. The leaves felt good but I was nervous of not being able to see what was under them and opted to stay on the gravel trail where I knew what I was landing on. At about 7k I reached a point where I didn’t feel as uncomfortable and my souls were more tingly than tender. I finished strong at about 50:30 which I thought was pretty good for a gravel 10k. My feet were feeling quite warm and a little sensitive, so I walked on the cold grass for a few minutes until they felt better. The next day I noticed a tender spot on my left foot that I think would have become a blister if I had continued running on the gravel for much longer. Over the next few days my foot was still a little tender but I could feel the skin thickening and I was able to run 10k on the road the following Thursday night.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Running with Reid Coolsaet</div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">When Dave posted that Reid Coolsaet was going to be at <a href="http://runnerslife.ca/xnew/html/modules/newbbex/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2684&forum=1&post_id=9845#forumpost9845" title="Runner's Life">Runner's Life</a> and was going to join us for a workout, I was interested but didn’t know who Reid was. When I went to the store that Tuesday night and found out that he had finished the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in a time of 2:11:23, the fastest time ever by a Canadian on Canadian soil, I was impressed and curious as to how he accomplished it like everyone else there. It wasn’t until he ran with us for our workout that I got to talk with him. He was not really training that day but ran gently (for him) around the subdivision with us. I was impressed with how he was so easy to talk to and had no over inflated ego. He ran beside me for awhile and we started talking. He had noticed I was running barefoot and told me he though that was a good thing. He said that he often runs barefoot in the grass as part of his workouts. It was nice to get supportive comments from someone of his calibre.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I finished Michael Sandler’s book <a href="http://www.barefootrunningbook.com/">Barefoot Running</a>. It is a really good book for beginners and a great reference for more experienced barefoot runners.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also finished Daniel Howell’s book <a href="http://www.thebarefootbook.com/">The Barefoot Book: 50 Great Reasons to Kick Off Your Shoes</a>. Everyone who has feet should read this book.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The barefoot movement is really starting to gain momentum now. It is not surprising that a lot of shoe companies are scrambling to find a way to profit from this by coming out with minimalist shoes for runners who want to be more barefoot like or transition to barefoot running. However, if you want to go barefoot all you have to do is not put anything on your feet and this is how you should start if you want to run barefoot. You have to walk before you can run. The more time you can spend with your feet free from footwear, the more adapted they will be to the environment. So the best way to start barefoot running is to start living barefoot. I find myself a bit unique among barefoot runners in that they are mostly trying to “transition” to run barefoot. Whereas, I try to do everything barefoot and only look for a foot covering when I really need one. I would prefer to allow my body to adapt to conditions than jumping straight to an aid. For example, I did a lot more walking than running this year due to my injury, but I found that my feet are stronger now when I run. I find myself now looking for opportunities to walk barefoot on the most challenging surfaces I can find. Surfaces like gravel are difficult to run on but when you walk you can go at a more controlled pace and move very gently to avoid injury. When I walk over difficult terrain I try to go until my feet start to hurt and then I will avoid that terrain for a couple of days and then go a little farther on it the next time. I have even got a couple of small storage bins that I put gravel in so I can jog on-the-spot at home and toughen my feet all winter. Todd Ragsdale has a video showing this here</div><div class="MsoNormal"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24-oCx1lek">Barefoot Training: Gravel Bucket Marching with Todd Ragsdale</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This weekend I will be running the <a href="http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=5599">Whitby 10 Miler</a>, but the really exciting part of it is that I will be running it with a couple of other barefoot runners I have recently met online but have yet to run with. There was even some talk about having local media do a story on us running the race barefoot. I like the idea of informing the rest of society about the benefits of barefoot running and having them realize it is not a crazy idea, but I tend to shy away from attention. However, I would like to see a day when barefoot runners are just runners and running shoes are cause for a double-take<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 9pt;">.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I am now hoping for an injury free winter running season as I try to find ways to meet the challenges that come in winter and my goal of running the <a href="http://www.peterboroughymca.org/marathon/index.htm">Peterborough Half Marathon</a> barefoot in February.</span><br />
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</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-83405615508860288012010-10-24T15:17:00.000-04:002010-10-24T15:17:40.639-04:00A Couple of Races<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIaLqeei4rhZZhpc8jsTR-qF4aAie_14rXNy8PnLafsgn7v-SM1Xs-w8r8NgeZCOO6qqoW7OpNXBeO2mWwrqYh7UymPWtb7XQDbpT9F0vXv8uwr7J6FTzrx4L6WUCAqIEC2EQ-svQMaM/s1600/Web+TO+Zoo+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIaLqeei4rhZZhpc8jsTR-qF4aAie_14rXNy8PnLafsgn7v-SM1Xs-w8r8NgeZCOO6qqoW7OpNXBeO2mWwrqYh7UymPWtb7XQDbpT9F0vXv8uwr7J6FTzrx4L6WUCAqIEC2EQ-svQMaM/s320/Web+TO+Zoo+2010.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">On Sunday October 3rd , I ran the Run for the Cure 5k run and it was a good 5k test for me. The air temperature for the race was about 8°C and I decided to run about 3 to 4k to warm up and do some stretching before the run. The Run for the Cure is more of a run than a race for most of the participants. The start was quite slow with many walking groups of people in front. I’m sure for most of the people there it was the first time they had seen anyone running barefoot. I got lots of cheers and supportive comments from young and old, both racers and spectators which always makes it more fun for me. I don’t know what my official time was, but I would guess it was around the 23 minute mark. This showed me that I had regained much of my speed for short distance races since the fibula break. I iced the ankle when I got home and it gave me a few painful twinges over the next couple of days, but overall it felt pretty good and I was able to get out for a few longer training runs.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Early this summer I decided to register for the Oasis 10k Zoo Run after one of my running friends told me how much fun they had running it the year before. She told me that she and some friends ran it all dressed in costumes of a common theme. When she told me they were going to dress as monkeys this year I ask if I could join them as Tarzan since it would be a costume that would fit well with my barefoot running and also their monkeys. The thought of running through the zoo wearing not much more than a loin cloth seemed like a better idea in the summer than the 16<sup>th</sup> of October.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">The temperature was a bit of a concern as the race day approached, but the morning ended up being 5<span>ºC</span> and sunny. The logistics of the costume with the temperature, running and the new chipped bib they were using for this race were mostly just improvised at the last minute. I changed into the costume in a very busy public washroom in the zoo (not a good idea) and as soon as I came out people were turning their heads, hooting and commenting. Being the only barefoot runner in all the races I have run had prepared me for this kind of attention somewhat. I was being asked to pose for photos with people I didn’t know as I tried to make my way to the start of the race. I was lucky to find one of my monkey runners in the starting line and was happy that I only had a couple of minutes to shiver in the cool morning air before the race started. Once the race started I was getting cheers and comments of support from both spectators and runners I was passing. It was great and I didn’t even notice the temperature any more. The race was a little different from other 10k races I have run with the costume and the twisty, hilly zoo path we were running, but all of the comments, cheers and hoots of support just pushed me to go faster and keep going. I found myself so drained by the end that I didn’t even have much of a finishing sprint and I didn’t even think to look at the clock for my finishing time. Due to some problem they didn’t post the times and so it wasn’t until I got home that I found that I had bested my Milk Run time for this year. My chip time for the Zoo Run was 49:25 as compared to my 50:17 Milk Run time.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Prior to getting injured, my 10k PB was 47:08 and my 5k PB was 23:07. Since the injury my 10k PB is 49:25 and my 5k PB is still close to the 23:07 as well. So as I look at my races since my fibula break, I am encouraged that both the healing is going well but also the injury for the most part hasn’t had any lasting effect on my running ability.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Oh bye the way, we won first prize for our costumes at the Oasis Zoo run.</span><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-37120398103540838452010-07-25T21:24:00.000-04:002010-07-25T21:24:18.756-04:00First Race Post Break<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7sCsDV1_OMRIoQvIodSs6iUtmv2jvBFe09PNAXB6VWDbsbU8MzIriH2AQid6F4otKI8lY_1n8zEeDPd-_2aeSq7haRNKRKJLH0udSKYNsk9UDIZyxwhT1lpi6831Cyq094Kq8F3P2vU/s1600/Web+Milk+Run+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7sCsDV1_OMRIoQvIodSs6iUtmv2jvBFe09PNAXB6VWDbsbU8MzIriH2AQid6F4otKI8lY_1n8zEeDPd-_2aeSq7haRNKRKJLH0udSKYNsk9UDIZyxwhT1lpi6831Cyq094Kq8F3P2vU/s320/Web+Milk+Run+2010.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">On Sunday July 18, I ran my first race since my fibula fracture. I ran the 10k race and it was much more hot and humid than I remember it being last year. I wasn’t aiming for any particular time as long as it was less than one hour. Being my first race since my injury, I was focused mainly on how I felt and maintaining good form. I tried to keep slow and steady breathing as that would be my best indication of a safe pace. I was able to keep my breathing slow for the first 5k, but found it getting progressively faster during the last half. I remembered from last year that the downhill toward the finish was a lot longer than it seemed. I made sure I didn’t start to speed my pace too much until I could see the finish line. Once I saw the finish line, I slowly increased to the fastest sprint I could muster. My finishing time was 50:17 and I was happy with that all things considered. I was happier that I felt good after the run and for the most part during the run, which is more than I can say for a lot of people out there.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">This year I was able to get my name on the Runner’s Life team. I am proud to say that for the second year in a row the team has won this event thanks to the performances of my fellow team members.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">June 25 was my last appointment with Dr. Krete regarding my fibula fracture. After looking at the x-ray he told me that the bone was fully healed. I find that I get more nagging aches with it now than I did earlier, but I think it is just the soft tissues adapting to the new lumpy fibula. I find that I usually don’t notice it at all when running, but it aches some times when I am resting. I am hoping this will go away with time and more exercise/stretching.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">As I am reading through Michael Sandler’s “Barefoot Running” book, I can’t help but think that I could have avoided my injury if I had this book to follow when I started running. I love this book and in my opinion should be read by every runner starting out. It is full of helpful advice including stretches, exercises and drills. The important part I found was that his emphasis is on good running form and not pushing yourself too hard. I am trying to get Michael to come to Peterborough for a brief talk about his book. If I can get enough people to come from 12 to 1pm on Thursday, August 5 for the talk, I think he will make the stop on his way from Ottawa to Toronto during his book tour. So if you think you could make it, let me know as soon as possible.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">One last thing, I’m now signed up for the Toronto ZooRun 10k on October 16. You can pledge me online <a href="https://eventsonline.ca/cgi-bin/events/crs_zoorun/pledge.pl?id=JME1874374" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">here</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">https://eventsonline.ca/cgi-bin/events/crs_zoorun/pledge.pl?id=JME1874374</span><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-6055737331358771802010-06-06T21:54:00.000-04:002010-06-06T21:56:29.215-04:00Carbon-free Footprints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkLFRqYR8KvrcE6bGKIfOX9aeyHkPKZ1JUPdm8ecfYLJdrMO5XFeiSOBHss8FUaMyX_H_7f58BjzNcy7Qs4cDUj0uPbFGNq2HMTFmjCPNTMzrtZ88uOrK8NHiHyBSMKxzrniro8j8S4I/s1600/Green+Footprint2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkLFRqYR8KvrcE6bGKIfOX9aeyHkPKZ1JUPdm8ecfYLJdrMO5XFeiSOBHss8FUaMyX_H_7f58BjzNcy7Qs4cDUj0uPbFGNq2HMTFmjCPNTMzrtZ88uOrK8NHiHyBSMKxzrniro8j8S4I/s320/Green+Footprint2.gif" /></a><a href="http://www.peterboroughmoves.com/">Peterborough Moves</a> is a joint project of Peterborough Green-Up, City of Peterborough and the Peterborough County-City Health Unit. Every year Peterborough Moves runs a program for the month of May called Shifting Gears. Shifting Gears is a transportation competition and campaign encouraging people to use sustainable and less polluting ways to get to work: walk, bike, take transit, carpool, or work from home. For the last couple of years I have participated in this by riding my bike to work a few days throughout the month. I live 10k from work and this year I wanted to try to run to work. It is always a challenge to get in all the training distance that you want for a marathon and I thought that running to work and back would be a good chance to get 20k of running in every day without it using up all of my free time. Since my injury I have not planned any races and I am slowing getting back into running by doing a lot of walking with a little bit of running thrown in. On the last Friday of the Shifting Gears program, I decided I would take advantage of the warm weather we were having and get to and from work with just my bare feet for transportation. I had planned ahead by leaving food and my work clothes at work the day before. All I had to take with me was my keys and cell phone that fit nicely in the pocket of my hand held water bottle holder. I left my house that Friday morning 2hrs before I had to start work since I didn't know how much walking I would end up doing. The air was humid that morning with intermittent drizzle that stopped after about 30 minutes. I started out with a light run for about 10min. followed by 10min. of walking. I then reached the mostly downhill part so I ran until I was about 3k away and looked at the time and found it had only taken my 45min. to get that far. That meant I was going to be really early for work so I decided to walk the rest of the way. After drying myself with paper-towel, I felt energized and my legs, ankles and feet felt fine. The trip home in the afternoon found the weather to be humid like the morning but much hotter and sunnier. I walked the first half of the trip home and was covered in sweat. I ran the rest of the way home since I was already hot and sweaty. After I showered at home, I drank some watered down orange juice while I razed and iced my ankle for good measure. I felt proud of myself that I was able to go to and from work leaving "a carbon-free footprint".</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob5cNdKYb_eqtKjvdd72V9RkJAv5eQbndIiPoM-R8XPX24EoYP6lV4SMgUbPx0UYGNvGE9-FG_I-DHlpN9jkJDNQ3qXH_7jXY-STOUCQ1qK2mdDVE8cEckYyDK4CtghKt_j_8_yCDmCw/s1600/May+2010+To+Work+Print.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob5cNdKYb_eqtKjvdd72V9RkJAv5eQbndIiPoM-R8XPX24EoYP6lV4SMgUbPx0UYGNvGE9-FG_I-DHlpN9jkJDNQ3qXH_7jXY-STOUCQ1qK2mdDVE8cEckYyDK4CtghKt_j_8_yCDmCw/s400/May+2010+To+Work+Print.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
My ankle still aches from time to time, but it is mild and I usually notice it after a couple of days of rest. So right or wrong, I take it as a sign I should give it some gentle exercise. I'm happy to say that the gentle exercise now includes a light track workout. On Tuesday, I went to one of Dave's Tuesday night track runs and was quite happy with the workout and pace he gave me. It felt slow and a little boring at first but I was able to focus on my form more. Again, I had elevated and iced my ankle when I got home from the track. After the workout and the next day I didn't feel any soreness in the ankle so I would call it a success. During my recovery I have been doing a lot of walking since I haven't been able to run. My feet felt a lot more comfortable running on the rough track than they had last year. I credit all the walking I have been doing with toughening up my soles. The varying terrain and the reduced friction of the walking seem to have allowed the skin to thicken more than the running. I am going to try to incorporate more walking into my routine even when I am back to full running. <br />
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Tuesday was a good day to be barefoot and not just at the track. The City of Peterborough council had proclaimed June first "<a href="http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2603262">Barefoot Challenge Day, in support of International Children's Day</a>" as posted on the City's <a href="http://www.peterborough.ca/City_Hall/City_Council_2833/Mayor_s_Office/Proclamations.htm">website</a>. The proclamation made me feel (rightly or wrongly) like there was more social support for the benefits of going barefoot. I don't however like the idea of linking being barefoot with raising awareness of the poor. I feel that the poor have much greater needs such as good food, shelter and access to medicines and education. The last thing they need is blisters, athlete's foot, plantar warts, plantar fasciitis, neuroma, hammer toe, corns, bunions, heel spurs, arthritis and ingrown toenails caused by shoes. I would much rather see bare feet being associated with health, sport, fitness, adventure, spirituality and environmental awareness.<br />
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As a final note, I just received my copy of <a href="http://www.runbare.com/371/barefoot-running-book-due-out-this-spring/">Barefoot Running</a> by Michael Sandler. From the small bits I have read so far it looks like and excellent book and I will be posting about it in the future.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAn262yQQCnvRhbJW7zqohN7jfPGVgHm286R55tR8MTXXaq03kI1DTHeagChw2cCnCowf8VA_-GZQnYQFgNxVyzxJMM0RDIgN7Z5lR2kPFzu1MGBm8qocp_OASvlap5tt6LQ9XTY5rHY/s1600/Barefoot+Running+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAn262yQQCnvRhbJW7zqohN7jfPGVgHm286R55tR8MTXXaq03kI1DTHeagChw2cCnCowf8VA_-GZQnYQFgNxVyzxJMM0RDIgN7Z5lR2kPFzu1MGBm8qocp_OASvlap5tt6LQ9XTY5rHY/s200/Barefoot+Running+book+cover.jpg" width="139" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-86838843411332807332010-05-10T21:05:00.000-04:002010-05-10T21:05:08.969-04:00The DebateOn Friday April, 9th, Chris asked me if I would be willing to go on his radio show to participate in a roundtable debate of shoe running versus barefoot running. I said I would and decided to do some internet research to see if there was any new data out there. I was surprised at how many people are now talking about barefoot running now. The majority of it is about Daniel Lieberman's study and writings from Chris McDougall. <br />
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Armed with printouts of my research I went to the Trent Radio studio on Wednesday afternoon. Joining me on the show was Dr. Brian Lindsay, who was going to be arguing on the side of running shoes and Chris who stated that he "strongly sided with the shoe side of the debate". I knew this would be challenging, but I had done my research and was confident with the information I had. <br />
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Chris started out with a list of topics we would cover, although I think it was pretty much free-flowing once we got going. The topic we started on was Injuries. Both Chris and Brian felt that running barefoot was a dangerous undertaking due to injuries from cuts, scrapes and puncture wounds. Brian felt that there are some people with conditions that should never attempt this due to increased risk of infection including "to some extent obesity". I agree that these people need to do what is best for their health for their conditions, but they also need to live their lives without over protection or becoming overanxious. Chris and Brian both felt that parents would not let their kids run/go barefoot because of the (perceived) risk of sharp debris (i.e. glass) causing injuries. I told them that the risk was over exaggerated and that in the 2 years of barefoot running, I've had more cuts on my hands from everyday activities than on my feet (wearing shoes doesn't ensure healthy intact skin as there are many open blisters from running in shoes), but that doesn't mean I am going to be afraid of not wearing gloves everywhere. Brian asked me as a microbiologist how I reconcile the risk of infection by going barefoot. I told him I don't believe there is an increase in infection by going barefoot and than in my opinion the cause of a lot of foot infections and ailments is the shoe itself by providing a warm moist place for harmful organisms to grow. <br />
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We also talked about how barefoot running would affect typical running injuries. We agreed that there is not enough data since very few studies have been done. Brian suggested that there aren't a lot of studies out there because there is no interest in it from the shoe companies who are the ones that have spent the vast amounts of money on research. I questioned why the shoe is always the default and barefoot is not when barefoot running is what people have been doing for 2million years and the modern running shoe has only been around for 40 years and the injury rate in running is 60-80% for the last 40 years and hasn't changed even though the shoe companies have added all of this technology to their shoes. <br />
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At one point Brian said he felt that barefoot running seemed like a complete fad to him and if it was not going to effect performance or participation, then he didn't really see the point of it. I had to say that I was somewhat surprised when I look at Nike's website and saw that they had on their Nike Free shoe page for the Free 0.0 a bare foot. They also had written there "Barefoot running isn't just a fad; it's proven fact that it improves strength, flexibility and balance." So it was strange to use a quote from Nike to support my position. We agreed that shoe companies really just want to sell a shoe to everyone. <br />
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At the end of it all, I said even if you believe barefoot vs. shoes debate is a draw at least I don't have to pay the money every so many months to buy new shoes and if I decide to go running no matter where I am I always have my running shoes.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-89772510186907639342010-04-18T13:38:00.000-04:002010-04-18T13:38:10.642-04:00Back to Running<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8b3IHCJmFfqKYKrMt_gk7G7a326_FKRzx9gWO86UduYct_G5nTs66rMd84waZgqA27J7GFfUJr0BgsBA5D26_tb5taWpsjDcQ47wjakue2CDU66OcXndNjyT2d3Cl8FhBNAifXARkXG8/s1600/Left+Fibula+Fracture+3mo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8b3IHCJmFfqKYKrMt_gk7G7a326_FKRzx9gWO86UduYct_G5nTs66rMd84waZgqA27J7GFfUJr0BgsBA5D26_tb5taWpsjDcQ47wjakue2CDU66OcXndNjyT2d3Cl8FhBNAifXARkXG8/s320/Left+Fibula+Fracture+3mo.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div>This is an x-ray of my left fibula 3 months after the injury occured on Dec. 7, 2009.<br />
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I went to see the doctor on Wednesday March 31. I had to get another set of x-rays done. After having me move my ankle in all different directions, he told me that I could start running on it again and to let up if I started feeling any pain. I told him that I run barefoot and to my surprise he was actually quite supportive and interested. He didn’t know the exact cause of my injury, and although felt I was well enough to start running, he wants to continue seeing me and x-raying the leg on a monthly bases. So although I don’t have any definitive answers about what happened and how to keep it from happening again (and probably never will), I do have my own theory.<br />
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I was pretty much living a sedentary life before I started running. In the first year of running I didn’t train very hard and I was only running 8 to 10k per week. The second year I decided to run the half marathon in Hamilton. In July I ramped up my running to about 40k per week plus track workouts. I was only running and not doing any cross-training with other exercise. At the end of that year I got the fracture after running a few k’s in cold temperatures without warm-up or stretching. Since bones thicken to support muscles but at a slow rate compared to the muscles. I believe that the muscles had strengthened too fast for the fibula to support it under the conditions that I was running under. The tight tendon and strong muscle pulled the fibula apart creating the stress fracture.<br />
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The doctor didn’t agree with my theory, but until I hear something better, I’m going to stick with this one.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-56949794294839416652010-02-28T18:21:00.000-05:002010-02-28T18:21:56.281-05:00Ankle UpdateOn Monday February 22, I had a physiotherapy appointment and we talked again about the lump just above my ankle bone along the tendon. This spot has been where my ankle starts to ache after I work it too much. I asked if she thought it was scar tissue, fluid or something else. She told me that it felt too hard for fluid and too soft for bone and she really didn't know what it was. I stated that I thought I should go back to my doctor and see about getting some kind of scan done so we would know exactly what we were dealing with since I hadn't had any type of internal scan performed on my ankle up to this point. At first I thought this might be futile because whatever scan I went for would likely not be for about a month. I figured it wouldn't hurt to call the doctor again anyway and the sooner the better. So the next day I called and got an appoinment to see the doctor the following day. That night I ran the indoor track with the group and felt pretty good. I pushed it a little harder and felt the soreness creep back a little quicker as I suspected it would do. However, I felt I had done more than the week before and that I was still getting progressive improvement.<br />
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The next day the doctor felt the lump on my ankle and said he would send me for a x-ray. I said I thought he was going to send me for an ultra-sound or MRI so that the soft tissue could be looked at. He told me he didn't care about the soft tissue, it was the bone he was more concerned about. When I asked him how long it would be before I could get in for the x-ray I was surprised when he said “right now”. I went into the x-ray office and there were no other patients so they took me right away. The technician took 4 images of my ankle at various angles. As she was taking the last one I asked her how much soft tissue the x-ray would be able to show since it was a tendon injury. She told me it wouldn’t show much soft tissue and then she paused and said “Well you definitely have more than a soft tissue injury.” She then motioned me over to look at the image and I could see even before I got close that there was a fracture across the fibula about 6cm above the ankle joint. I was shocked and felt a little sick in disbelief. She said it was pretty much healed and it looked pretty straight to her. I thanked her and still in some shock I left the office.<br />
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On Thursday, the doctor’s office called and referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon. So now I am waiting to set up an appointment with him. It was again another shock that I now have to see an orthopaedic surgeon, after all this time and it not feeling what I imagined a bone fracture would feel like. With my brain now unable to concentrate on anything else, I have been searching online for more information on my situation.<br />
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Here are a couple of sites I found interesting.<br />
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<a href="http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2399885">http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2399885</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/lowerleg/fibula_stress_fracture.htm">http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/lowerleg/fibula_stress_fracture.htm</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8129189/physioadvisor-ankle-pain-ankle-injury-treatmen.htm">http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8129189/physioadvisor-ankle-pain-ankle-injury-treatmen.htm</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-73072422163263956942010-02-06T13:41:00.000-05:002010-02-06T13:41:42.216-05:00More Winter LessonsAs I recover from my strained ankle tendons I realize I have learned the hard way that one of the challenges of barefoot running in the snow is avoiding tendon injury. The problems are dealing with a slippery uneven running surface and keeping the tendons warm enough to have the flexibility to maintain stability on this kind of surface. Part of the solution is to do a good warm-up followed by plenty of stretching of those tendons. I also found it is a good idea to maintain a pace that will keep your feet, ankles and legs warm during the run and not slow down until you are done and somewhere warm. The other part of the solution is to run where there is a clear ice-free surface and preferably no salt.<br />
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I believe this injury would have occurred even if I was wearing running shoes, however I understand now that a barefoot runner is going to develop strength and stability in their ankles by the increased demand they put on them, but the flip side to that is when conditions are poor (cold, no stretching and running fast over rough terrain) the increased demand can cause injury to even the strong ankle of a barefoot runner. <br />
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Strains can take a longer time to heal than other injuries. It’s been almost two months since I injured my ankle and I still cannot run on it even though I can do moderate walking with no problem. I am seeing my Physiotherapist on a weekly basis and she seems happy with my progress however, I am not planning any races this year at this point.<br />
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There are still places along the tendons that are swollen with fluid and causing some discomfort, but it is a lot better than it was. I am currently taking Aleve in the morning and at night to reduce the swelling and wearing a tensor bandage with a foam insert to put pressure on the swollen parts of the tendon. My Physiotherapist said she thought I could try running at the indoor track on Tuesday February 16. The other night I went to the Wellness Centre and tried the Deep Water Running and I found out how much cardio I have lost in the last two months. The Deep Water Running involves wearing a floatation belt, tethering yourself to the wall of the pool as you run suspended in the deep end. It’s a good workout and I plan on doing more of this until I am healed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-8539465571889151112009-12-13T17:20:00.000-05:002009-12-13T17:20:23.668-05:003 RacesIt’s been a month since the Hamilton Half Marathon and I have decided I will join in with a group of other runners for what seems to me to be a very ambitious schedule. The schedule will include The Peterborough Half Marathon on February 28th, the Around The Bay 30K in Hamilton on March 28th and the Ottawa Marathon. <br />
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I now also have some injuries to recover from before I can do any serious training. The ball of my right foot just back of my big toe (called the metatarsophelangeal joint) was giving me discomfort a week or so after the Hamilton Half. I’m not sure if I bruised it or sprained the joint in some way, but the pain was not enough to stop me from running. I would describe it as more of a discomfort and seemed most noticeable when I was walking slowly or resting. I continued to run 2 or 3 times per week as the running conditions began to feel more and more like winter.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5w_Be4YnqiBgL3IyBWhZgpbbj1NvOAo6mjm8DdWzBD0ifWpYF7uK3DE7gworrv7iZOgDtTEyPdkZ34C30W-wtCnCQJWtyk_678Q_vF3vK8SLPQ8pmliEFmCP1SoxnA0QV_EIzm3wM5Y8/s1600-h/Snow+Footprint+Dec2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5w_Be4YnqiBgL3IyBWhZgpbbj1NvOAo6mjm8DdWzBD0ifWpYF7uK3DE7gworrv7iZOgDtTEyPdkZ34C30W-wtCnCQJWtyk_678Q_vF3vK8SLPQ8pmliEFmCP1SoxnA0QV_EIzm3wM5Y8/s320/Snow+Footprint+Dec2009.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Monday December 7, I drove to the store on time for the pub run. I was looking forward to this one because it had snowed about 5cm late in the day giving us the first fresh snow on the ground of the season. Unfortunately the fresh snow also brought out the Christmas shoppers to the downtown. By the time I got parked the run had started so I decided to run the route in reverse until I met up with the other runners. The temperature was about 1ºC and I started out fast with no warm-up or stretching. I was enjoying the feel of the fresh snow, but my left ankle on the outside felt a bit stiff. By the time I met up with the other runners at about 2 or 3k out and turned to run back with them my ankle was really feeling tight and a little sore. Half way back I had to slow to a walk and by the time I got to within a block of the store I found it painful to even limp.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG5_AXkGEgwg5REeFlj3bTgME23pEIiwSBjqBg6P8etv8ZP-mKe5sq-HUiPVf7k9H2XrF1uAfZt7cj8W43gqwh8Tsjyxi1_-yjslIC6Yo3VKfa_QFE_LMhbapAFYjnPqaKfOFOR9AEHc/s1600-h/ankle_peroneal_sublux_anat01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG5_AXkGEgwg5REeFlj3bTgME23pEIiwSBjqBg6P8etv8ZP-mKe5sq-HUiPVf7k9H2XrF1uAfZt7cj8W43gqwh8Tsjyxi1_-yjslIC6Yo3VKfa_QFE_LMhbapAFYjnPqaKfOFOR9AEHc/s320/ankle_peroneal_sublux_anat01.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Wednesday I saw my family doctor and my massage therapist. It seems I strained a tendon in my ankle (the peroneal tendon, brevis or longus is my guess) no doubt from going too fast without warming up. The massage made it feel a little better. The doctor gave me some anti-inflammatories and I got some adjustments from the chiropractor on Thursday night also. I will be seeing the physiotherapist on Tuesday, so I will have had all the experts involved. I think all there is to do now is to rest it. The added benefit is my right foot is getting some rest too and is feeling better now. With any luck I will be able to get back to some serious training after Christmas and I’ll have to make the final decisions on those races when I have healed up. <br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-8641227556526723952009-11-20T19:29:00.000-05:002009-11-20T19:29:23.579-05:00Hamilton Half<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxb2_jgq6hBrKjXKhRwNmZsDPqa46cs2wi8YtEZ8iZoUX6v8ewTK248dZBLCxwzAjAaWvTNa6i_Knf-kLNEhJYC80rxuuqEk1Z0jy0c0zbapa6ArmqGEN5_hnO-jy3q_sfKaIS0U9fIM/s1600/Web+Hamilton+Half+2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxb2_jgq6hBrKjXKhRwNmZsDPqa46cs2wi8YtEZ8iZoUX6v8ewTK248dZBLCxwzAjAaWvTNa6i_Knf-kLNEhJYC80rxuuqEk1Z0jy0c0zbapa6ArmqGEN5_hnO-jy3q_sfKaIS0U9fIM/s320/Web+Hamilton+Half+2009.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div>I was quite relieved when Dave offered to drive me to Hamilton. He was leaving early Sunday morning. I new that meant leaving shortly after 4am, but would allow me to take the kids out for Halloween. There were some strong gusting winds on Halloween night and I was a little worried about what the conditions would be for Hamilton in the morning. When taking the kids out, I was asked at more than a couple of houses if I wasn’t too cold in my bare feet. I thought if they only new that I was heading to Hamilton in several hours to run a half marathon barefoot.<br />
It was nice to see that the wind had died down to nothing by the time we got to Hamilton. The race kit pick-up and the bus ride to the high school (starting line) went smoothly. The high school gymnasium was crowded but a warm place to wait for the start. I was glad I had thought to bring an ankle band because the timing chip that they gave us was for attaching to shoe laces with a plastic tie-strap. I was able to attach it to the ankle band and hoped it wouldn’t rub when I was running. After checking my bag I was lucky to find Tracy who was aiming for a time I thought I could do also, but anything under 2 hours would have satisfied me. Tracy and I got our places near the front of the starting line with more than 900 people behind us. It was a little chilly waiting at the start wearing shorts at 5ºC. However, once we got running I immediately felt comfortable and knew I had made the right choice in clothing<br />
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People were passing us right from the start and a lot of them said something about my bare feet. What was nice was that everything that was said was a compliment, praise or words of encouragement and that really energized me. Tracy had a plan for how she was going to pace herself that involved her starting slow and speeding up throughout the race. I stayed with her for the first part, but by the middle of the downhill I wanted to use gravity by relaxing so I would speed up. I knew it was a gamble that I could maintain the faster pace and not burn myself out before the end since I had never run that distance before. The highway asphalt was rougher than I thought it would be so I tried to stay on the white painted lines as much as possible. I noticed shortly after the 10k mark than any talking had been replaced with puffing. By the time I reached the 17k mark I was really wanting to see the finish line. Every k marker after seemed to be too low and I had to keep telling myself that I only had a few more steps to go. I was starting to feel a tingling sensation in the middle toe of my left foot and imagined a blood blister forming. I saw the 20k sign and thought about hitting the after-burners, but just then I stepped on something sharp. I wasn’t going to stop and check it out at that point so I just kept running. I imagined I was leaving bloody footprints but then I saw the finishing shoot in the distance. At that point I did the best sprint I could do with the energy I had left and crossed the mat at 1:45:59.<br />
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I was surprised that the guy who removed my timing chip from my ankle band didn’t say anything about running barefoot, but he just seemed a little relieved that I had a chip he could remove. However, just about everyone else who saw me started with the same two questions;<br />
“Did you run barefoot?” followed by,<br />
“How are your feet?”.<br />
I was happy to answer “yes” and “my feet feel great”. Despite the tingling and the sharp poke I had felt, the soles of my feet looked better than they had before the race. I could feel a little bit of muscle soreness in my feet, but it was minor compared to my quadriceps. I found it funny that people were so concerned about the condition of my feet after running the half marathon barefoot and Kasey who had run the full marathon had blood oozing out of her shoes at the end of her race.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj041L9xkb3R7i1Dmp_TZ9Hh-QDxU5Rf61zxQiWktqGfuNlUUEk34luxL0HeNgQzRW6V8Debol3QqUUj0AqMrs9rFuwRVEHdWo3yVsuyH79ElNl6icIVl9FYgvSAU5UQRDYBzDkdonxkaM/s1600/Web+Kasey+Blood+Shoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj041L9xkb3R7i1Dmp_TZ9Hh-QDxU5Rf61zxQiWktqGfuNlUUEk34luxL0HeNgQzRW6V8Debol3QqUUj0AqMrs9rFuwRVEHdWo3yVsuyH79ElNl6icIVl9FYgvSAU5UQRDYBzDkdonxkaM/s320/Web+Kasey+Blood+Shoe.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHTC7zmVaFSu7ZeFQKxshk7p0PE5Lnw1ydxXbvG9P6_QUTEIFOcV52KKH8jBbd2nKDsryw2ArLdSOJmyzLV13mAXyMo_KCFwYzL-UWHZfs8Po1p6ciRfvj8ScnTXd75BMHo0qhFRJ03k/s1600/KC+Marathon+Shoe+Feet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHTC7zmVaFSu7ZeFQKxshk7p0PE5Lnw1ydxXbvG9P6_QUTEIFOcV52KKH8jBbd2nKDsryw2ArLdSOJmyzLV13mAXyMo_KCFwYzL-UWHZfs8Po1p6ciRfvj8ScnTXd75BMHo0qhFRJ03k/s320/KC+Marathon+Shoe+Feet.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don’t know why anyone would want to run in shoes. They must be crazy. I can only conclude that I was the only sane one in the races. I did notice the Kenyans looking at me after the race and I think I saw a guilty look on their faces. <span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">;-)</span><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-23487496753639047962009-11-20T19:22:00.000-05:002009-11-20T19:22:05.863-05:00Warkworth 8 Miler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBjYmIvZbbxqb8aixbZA3SLjx-zSYnDkt7wPVnvQ_qSk5dBXKJLjmZQTkvQ7kMUi97JDH4fVXQISzKp9E-HCwiGopjOPer1Vr4bWEh9-uZnRUgHJqJ1-7zB_Z_XQ7hzAs6bjzoYd0dng/s1600/Web+Warkworth+8+Miler+2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBjYmIvZbbxqb8aixbZA3SLjx-zSYnDkt7wPVnvQ_qSk5dBXKJLjmZQTkvQ7kMUi97JDH4fVXQISzKp9E-HCwiGopjOPer1Vr4bWEh9-uZnRUgHJqJ1-7zB_Z_XQ7hzAs6bjzoYd0dng/s320/Web+Warkworth+8+Miler+2009.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div>I finally had a glass injury from running barefoot. Now I’m sure all of the people out there that are either paranoid of broken glass, or use this type of injury as an excuse as to why they need to wear shoes will be thinking “Aha! I knew it!” However, I have received more injuries from glass to my hands than I ever have on my feet and I don’t think that is a reason to wear gloves every waking minute as some people wear shoes. This is the first glass injury I have sustained while running since I started running barefoot more that a year and a half ago. It happened on the railway bridge during the Pub Run about a month ago. A clear glass bottle had been smashed and splintered into tiny shards on the narrow path. I thought I had tip-toed safely through it, but near the end of the run I was feeling several painful jabs with every step. I knew there wasn’t much I could do until I got back to the store, so I tried to adjust my landings so that my weight was minimized in the areas where I was feeling the pain. Back at the store I removed a couple of very tiny glass shards from the sore spots. When I got home I washed, disinfected and covered the spots with liquid Band-Aid (my secret weapon). Everything seemed to heal up nicely.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tHrcjL3QooZd_Iov_ppVBd_uEt_oUdVuts8YBru5agKCbeyzUCJg4Gp90vKoCIUtBXNbGErd9necF2Dps_H35b_EwUHvjzJuXYWinGCD_bfAucN1PyzT0wNhuIvOF5i6D12CcW9owbc/s1600/Web+2009+Trail+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tHrcjL3QooZd_Iov_ppVBd_uEt_oUdVuts8YBru5agKCbeyzUCJg4Gp90vKoCIUtBXNbGErd9necF2Dps_H35b_EwUHvjzJuXYWinGCD_bfAucN1PyzT0wNhuIvOF5i6D12CcW9owbc/s320/Web+2009+Trail+1.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Saturday October third, I ran 15k of trails at the Ganaraska Forest. It was a cool sunny morning but warmed up nicely and the rain held off until we finished the run. The fall colours and the sandy trails make this run one of my favourites. I suffered only a couple of lacerations during the 15k run. On the shin from a whipping raspberry cane and the top of my foot from a bouncing stick. The bottoms of my feet didn’t hurt, but I felt the effects of the hills on my legs.<br />
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On a couple of the following runs I noticed some tenderness in one of the spots where I had removed the glass. I figured it was still healing or maybe bruised from the trail run. On the following Saturday we went out for a long run. Some were running point to point and others were running a much shorter out and back route. Since the point to point route was 30k to Warsaw, I opted for the out and back. I was feeling good for the first 8k out to Trent University, but my feet started to feel quite uncomfortable on the gravely trail north of Trent. I stayed with Cynthia because she said she wanted to catch up with Nick who had told her he was heading back shortly. I stayed with her until we reached the first side road that would get me to Nassau Mills Road so I could start back on a relatively comfortable surface. Once I was back on a smoother surface I started getting the sharp pain in the glass spot again. I continued back and had to slow to a walk. Just as got back to Trent, the others had caught up to me so I did what I could to stay with them back to the store. My route totalled 20k and my feet were not too sore after, but continued to be sensitive in the one spot. So on Friday night before the Warkworth 8 Miler I decided to do some home surgery. So using a utility knife and some rubbing alcohol, I cut into the spot where the glass had been removed. I went deep enough to properly clean the spot and I think I removed a small piece of glass as well. I saw a tiny sparkle and removed it, but it was so small that I lost it once it was out and so I cant confirm it was even a piece of glass or not. Everything got thoroughly disinfected with rubbing alcohol and then covered with an extra thick layer of liquid Band-Aid.<br />
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The next morning was the Warkworth 8 Miler and I was hoping the terrain wasn’t going to be too much for my freshly sealed foot. I got a little taste of winter from the frosted grass at the start. Once we got going I warmed up quickly. I started off a little slower than usual because I didn’t want my foot to start hurting again. At the first stretch of pea gravel road I had to slow down so much that I knew that I would have to make up the time on the smoother sections. Once on the trails I found I could continue some good speed as long as I really focused on picking up my feet and watching where I was about to step. There were a couple of steep hills with loose gravel that slowed me down just a little bit. When I reached the sandy potion I was quite happy and realized it might actually be possible for me to get a decent time. The final push came after I got some navigational aid from Cait and then finished at 1:15:58, only 33 seconds ahead of her. At the finish my feet felt very sensitive, but no signs of the sharp pain I had felt before. Over the next twelve hours I could feel the skin thickening on the soles of my feet.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0yVA0woWiBv_h1JZgyCVpVp2Eg3rtJg3e_d2EyITG-xs_Ax6HAMUV21yXATnFx51wQQfKtOPaLjITAm6rpy1OYQiztrsw7v-kA5E0_h_NxEzVCsl2SYHCuhMT-vYjbpPxOMZKLC2pVQ/s1600/Web+Halloween+5k+2009a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0yVA0woWiBv_h1JZgyCVpVp2Eg3rtJg3e_d2EyITG-xs_Ax6HAMUV21yXATnFx51wQQfKtOPaLjITAm6rpy1OYQiztrsw7v-kA5E0_h_NxEzVCsl2SYHCuhMT-vYjbpPxOMZKLC2pVQ/s320/Web+Halloween+5k+2009a.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSRzPeIcYSfOtRIANm2s0TOxgg3p3QM1-9szumSc_5X6o9ss7ZHK1OsFXrzw1xmOkOVGZSvO1fcgRKcN9UuJmukXdDg5PiRaeju5voFZlF8hxEInqxDF_-Nu0sZEE15xgCry-XvuOqDk/s1600/Web+Halloween+5k+2009c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSRzPeIcYSfOtRIANm2s0TOxgg3p3QM1-9szumSc_5X6o9ss7ZHK1OsFXrzw1xmOkOVGZSvO1fcgRKcN9UuJmukXdDg5PiRaeju5voFZlF8hxEInqxDF_-Nu0sZEE15xgCry-XvuOqDk/s320/Web+Halloween+5k+2009c.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Halloween X-country 5k at Ganaraska forest was yesterday. I think my zombie runner costume turned out quite well and I think suited the way I felt by the end of the race. The temperature at 10am was a little warmer than the start of the Warkworth race. Knowing the race was only 5k, I started out fast enough to stay warm but not so fast as to trip on a root or rock. As I ran I kept thinking “I will just catch up to that person in front of me”. When I reached the next person I repeated the process. I knew I was going faster than was comfortable but I just tried to maintain going up the hills and rest a little coming down them. In the last two kilometres I figured I had a good time since I had passed quite a few people and none had passed me. I was very happy at the finish to come away with a personal best 5k time of 23:07.<br />
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My focus now is the Hamilton Half Marathon I will be running on November first. This will be my first half marathon and I am not expecting any great achievements other than breaking two hours. I am look forward to getting my first half marathon under my belt so I can then focus on the challenges that the Peterborough Half Marathon will present to me in February. I am not looking forward to leaving in the middle of Halloween night to get to Hamilton in time for the 6am race kit pick-up however.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-79636967234750582122009-11-20T19:16:00.000-05:002009-11-20T19:16:21.116-05:00Liftlock Classic 10K<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg865k4mAK5KxSsUn9T6obBuWsPhuJCzktWSaBnwznWYGpOzPG8c9ufjrRvQkwNcR0On1RVbQeVFz5qhmVrAf0adRsn2tPF_2ygf4En8CPaI6cxEtziK-cBERrfHZdcoFNoZP1BI6k1lUM/s1600/Liftlock+Clasic+10K+2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg865k4mAK5KxSsUn9T6obBuWsPhuJCzktWSaBnwznWYGpOzPG8c9ufjrRvQkwNcR0On1RVbQeVFz5qhmVrAf0adRsn2tPF_2ygf4En8CPaI6cxEtziK-cBERrfHZdcoFNoZP1BI6k1lUM/s320/Liftlock+Clasic+10K+2009.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div>Sunday morning was a cold one. When I arrived at the Lions Club for the Peterborough Liftlock Classic it was only 5ºC. After getting my bib and T-shirt I sat in the car to stay warm until the 9am start time. At about 8:50 I spotted John and got out of the car. I told him I wanted to pace off of him because I was aiming for a time like he got in Lindsay. As we headed to the starting line I felt like I was missing something. I realized I didn’t have my timing chip. I quickly picked up my chip and put it on my ankle before hastily making my way back to the start. I made it to the line in time to hear that the race would be two laps and that we would be starting at the same time as the 5k runners. That may have explained why everyone ran so fast at the start of the race. There was a short stretch of gravel not long after the start that didn’t slow me down too much but I knew I had to encounter it 3 more times in the race. I found the race to be psychologically more difficult than The Milk Run because of the looping of the course. There was a short but fairly steep hill at the Quaker parking lot driveway. Since we would be coming down it just before the final stretch, I decided to let myself go and carry the speed right to the finish. As I reached the bottom of the hill I passed John and heard him yell “I knew you were going to do that!”. I finished just a few seconds before him at 47:08. It was a slower time for him compared to The Lindsay Milk Run, but it was still a best time for me so I was happy.<br />
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Since The Lindsay Milk Run I have been running Monday night Pub Runs and Tuesday night track workouts fairly consistently. I can now run barefoot on the track for the whole workout. In the last few weeks I’ve tried to add in some longer runs. A couple of those longer runs have been on the gravel path in Jackson’s Park. The gravel still slows me down to not much faster than a walk, but I can now run the full trail from Parkhill bridge to Ackison Rd. and back (9k). I’ve now registered for the Warkworth 8 Miler. It looks like it could be challenging for me since it is the longest race I’ve run and looks like it has a lot of gravel and rough trails. With the training I’ve been doing I should be able to do it, but we’ll see.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-74721299469235937362009-11-20T19:13:00.000-05:002009-11-20T19:13:16.489-05:00The Milk Run<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTsLrzh92Rg7pUmAJZHoeunGl8URzVLKuClMG5Y05NTVSYzJ72Q6f-lp-8dm8peLH7oii6qgIZiPvE8kcw6nAK6ZOvCpfiGDj4cj9ymqgT9POER4h6ZJ6uROgNdAS-CKYZ0Sz1sUafN4/s1600/Milk+Run+10k+2009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTsLrzh92Rg7pUmAJZHoeunGl8URzVLKuClMG5Y05NTVSYzJ72Q6f-lp-8dm8peLH7oii6qgIZiPvE8kcw6nAK6ZOvCpfiGDj4cj9ymqgT9POER4h6ZJ6uROgNdAS-CKYZ0Sz1sUafN4/s320/Milk+Run+10k+2009.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div>I went to see a physiotherapist about the pain in the knee I was feeling. His assessment was that I was running quite a lot for someone new to the sport and that some of my leg muscles were not as strong as they needed to be. The weak muscles were letting the strong muscles pull the knee cap off to the side enough to cause irritation and then pain. He gave me some stretches and some excercises to do to strengthen the weaker muscles.<br />
One week before the race I ran the course to check out the surface and to get an idea of time. The surface was good with only a small patch of gravel at the trail head, but the trail itself was paved and smooth. The time was about an hour, however I didn’t accurately check the time so it was only a guess. Monday night was a fast 8.5k Pub Run. Tuesday I ran a very fast 4k on the track, followed by Wednesday’s fast 4k with a run up armour hill. I then rested the rest of the week. My knee was feeling fine considering I had run more this week than any other in my life.<br />
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In Lindsay I met up with the other runners from Runner’s Life and tried to get my name on the team. After being re-directed to several different people, I ended up giving a change of info form to the lady handing out the timing chips and she didn’t know anything about it but put the form in her pocket. I ran the MAD 10k last year in 1:05:00, so I wanted to do this in less than one hour. My target would be 50:00, but I thought it might be a long shot. I asked some of the other Runner’s Life runners what their target times were and got times around 45 minutes. Cynthia said she thought that might be a bit fast for her so I decided to pace with her. My plan was to stay with her as long as I could. When the race started the pace felt a little fast but not uncomfortably so. We were passing quite a few people and I hoped I could keep this up for the remainder of the race. At the 5k mark I found my breathing getting more laboured and Cynthia was slowly pulling away from me. I decided to just let her go and to relax and just keep my legs going. I noticed a lot of the people we had passed were now passing me. My only goal at this point was to keep running and not let myself slow to a walk. I figured I would be lucky to beat the one hour mark now. I saw a police officer friend of mine as I was coming down Adelaide St. and decided to pick up the pace a little to give a better showing. Just a little further and I was in sight of the finish line. I was determined to pass the 5k walkers and the stroller pushers that were between me and the timing mats. So with my head down, I sprinted toward the mats making sure to hit every one. Not wanting to pass out I continued to the parking lot at a ever slowing walk and then came back to the tables for some much needed ice-cream. Some people asked me how I did and I didn’t know. So I walked back to the finish line where the clock was still only reading 1:02:00. I ask if that was the 10k clock because I thought I finished close to one hour and I had already walked around for several minutes. I was told it was and suddenly felt very good. Once I read my time from the result sheet I was in disbelief at my 47:30 time. They never did get me on the Runner’s Life team, but I would have been the slowest time on it anyway. My target for my next 10k race will have to be 45 minutes or better. I don’t know when that will be, but I do know I want to start working on more distance now and maybe some trails.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-34952647572310848232009-11-20T19:10:00.000-05:002009-11-20T19:10:39.654-05:00Born To Run<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2S92qEfeA-6L4GSnxaxB0AKtqPTE6s05q4pDayBlHg-ZaGl1a9HkDdwczSMEGpqyl4Uy4G58RnTxZS_qJl0NoW6xUh8mRRE0_VRRAaiOkDIaYaSN6lp6yTu05sxw8p0Vb3nkV3RTtxc/s1600/Book+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2S92qEfeA-6L4GSnxaxB0AKtqPTE6s05q4pDayBlHg-ZaGl1a9HkDdwczSMEGpqyl4Uy4G58RnTxZS_qJl0NoW6xUh8mRRE0_VRRAaiOkDIaYaSN6lp6yTu05sxw8p0Vb3nkV3RTtxc/s320/Book+Cover.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div>Last week I finished reading the book Born To Run, by Christopher McDougall. This is a great book, packed full of adventure, science of running and the most interesting people doing things others thought were impossible. If you are a runner or interested in running, you should read this book.<br />
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This book has inspired me and reenergized my running. I am now more interested in trail running and looking more closely at ultra marathon distances. Ultra marathons seem like a pretty lofty goal considering the longest distance I’ve raced is 10k. Right now the thought of even traveling 50 miles on foot in a day seems super-human. However, there are a lot of people out there doing it and there is more and more each day. It has been said that ultra marathon running is the fastest growing sport in North America. For now I will have to stay focused on improving my distance and speed at 10k. I have registered for the Lindsay Milk Run (10k), on July 19th at 9am.<br />
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I learned the hard way not to make changes to my running form until I know what I’m doing, because what I think I am doing is not what I am actually doing. Last Monday I was all excited to go running after finishing the book, and I was thinking about trying to shorten my stride. By Tuesday night’s track workout, my left knee was very sore. I knew it was from the changes I had made to my stride on Monday. I had the same pain in my knees when I changed my stride in the winter while running on the ice. When I was running fast at the track, the pain went away, but when I slowed down it would flare up again. I rested for the rest of the week, and then on Sunday went for a two hour barefoot walk on the Jackson’s Park path and some trails through the woods. So far the knee is feeling better and I hope to do an easy run Monday on the Pub Run without making any form changes. Dave says he will get the video camera out in July so I can have a look at what I am really doing when I run. So that should help.<br />
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Here are some websites of people featured in the book.<br />
<a href="http://barefootted.com/">Barefoot Ted</a><br />
<a href="http://allwedoisrun.com/">Luis Escobar (the photographer)</a><br />
<a href="http://caballoblanco.com/">Micah True (aka Caballo Blanco)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.zshare.net/video/64323723b754250a">Chris McDougall on The Daily Show</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5536625529683710297.post-88004104248548655742009-11-20T18:12:00.000-05:002009-11-20T18:12:53.631-05:00Biom Shoe Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzsDV10izFOBmINrdo66wishVlS8pZpjIvPI3UQnLooAfFB5tyeWDLJCTmEkz-8TMkwI3fSWwiEA7Rk7DdJM8tnKD92EOKBs36Wp8mIm2ZjkLvUw7Q0TfLdHlVqscUEdytI80eHuWrMA/s1600/Biom+Shoe+Test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzsDV10izFOBmINrdo66wishVlS8pZpjIvPI3UQnLooAfFB5tyeWDLJCTmEkz-8TMkwI3fSWwiEA7Rk7DdJM8tnKD92EOKBs36Wp8mIm2ZjkLvUw7Q0TfLdHlVqscUEdytI80eHuWrMA/s320/Biom+Shoe+Test.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div>On Tuesday I went to the track for the interval workout. I don’t know if it was heat stroke or dehydration but I must have blacked-out and when I awoke I was … gasp! … WEARING SHOES!<br />
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I was joking about the blacking out, but I did put a pair of shoes on my feet. They weren’t just any shoes I put on. They were the new BIOM B 1.2 Male Mesh Natural Motion Shoes by ECCO. They did feel lighter than most shoes I have worn. After a few laps around the track, I could really notice what felt like a wedge of spongy material under my heels. The effect seemed to cause my heels to strike the ground first instead of my usual mid-foot strike. I tried to adjust my landing to move more forward and ended up getting sore shins. The sole was still too rigid for me. My feet weren’t able to flex and adjust to the ground as much as I am used to. Also my feet got hot causing me to feel hotter than usual. It amazes me how much heat my feet dissipate when I’m barefoot. So you might have guessed, I will not be buying these shoes for myself. This is not to say that I wouldn’t recommend them however.<br />
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The Bioms would make a good transition shoe from shod running to barefoot running. A person who is already running with typical running shoes and wanting to become a barefoot runner, would be wise to accomplish the change-over in two phases. The first would be to use the Biom shoes at ever increasing distances or time if they are running in circles (at the track). When they are not running, they should try walking barefoot as much as possible. The next phase would be once they are comfortable enough to use the Biom shoes for most of their running, to run barefoot at ever increasing distances and different surfaces (concrete, grass, packed soil, sand etc.).<br />
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The bottom line on the Biom shoes is these would make a good transition shoe, but for me, actually being barefoot is better than anything that tries to simulate it. Don’t mess with perfection!<br />
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<a href="http://www.barefootrunner.com/2008/11/will-ecco%e2%80%99s-new-biom-shoe-fall-short/">Biom Review</a> from <a href="http://barefootrunner.com/">Barefootrunner.com</a><br />
<a href="http://mattfitzgerald.org/blog/?p=284">More about Chris McDougall</a><br />
Even <a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/4314401.html">Popular Mechanics</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05248802490116355708noreply@blogger.com0