Rough Month...and Spring Hasn't Quite Sprung Yet!

Hello Barefooters,

Come on Spring, I know you're out there!


February started out pretty nice after the brutal January we had.  The first week I actually got in 40 miles...but that would be the high for the month.  We had a few sunny days and I was actually even able to do a couple of longer runs in the morning it was so nice and warm. 


The second week wasn't too bad either weather wise and I got in three longer afternoon runs for a weekly total of 36 miles.  By the end of this week I was getting pretty sore since with the slightly warmer weather the potholes got even worse.  With the salt being put down and the roads crumbling its sort of like running on a gravel road sometimes, especially Anthony Road and the first quarter mile from my driveway in either direction!


The third week had an absolutely horrific start.  Monday morning started out with fog and ice and since I had an afternoon hike already planned I went out early with a headlamp to get in a quick half mile...big mistake.  As I ran to the end of the bridge on Anthony and turned, I saw the ice, but it was too late.  My feet flew out from under me and I went down like a sack of potatoes on my right hip, slightly catching myself with my right hand.  I laid there briefly and figured I didn't break anything and got up for the quarter mile limp back home.  Although it hurt a lot when it happened I was happy to be able to run on it.  It swelled up a little the first day but I actually was able to run 11 miles the very next day with little or no issue and then another 11 three days later.  I got in 28 miles that third week so was pretty happy with the healing.

Ouch!

Then Monday of the last week I ran 7 miles and the hip started REALLY aching toward the end of the workout.  It seemed to swell up much more than it had before and continued throbbing that whole day.  So the rest of the week I just did one milers to see If I could get the swelling to go back down.  It seems to be helping a little but the swelling is still there.  This picture was taken 7 days after the fall and doesn't really do it justice but the color is finally starting to fade a little.  Hopefully I will be able to ramp up the training soon as the marathon is now only one month away.

The last time I slipped on ice and fell was over two years ago in December on a particularly rainy and icy day.  I ran out of my garage and the first step out in the rain, went down on the other (left) hip and wrenched my left shoulder pretty good too.  That time I think the shoulder injury was worse than the hip, but both took weeks/months to completely heal so I'm thinking this time will be the same (or worse since I'm now two years older).  Oh well, I guess I will just have to let God continue to heal me and be happy for the few miles I can get in the mean time.


Happy Running All,


Barefoot Dan


February Mileage = 115 miles

Good Riddance Polar Vortex!

Hello Barefooters,

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm out there!

Makin' Tracks! - in a Snowy January

It has been a brutally cold end to January with the nasty visit of the Polar Vortex over the last few days.  Thankfully this was a short visit which will be over soon.  The first couple weeks of January were actually "mild" by comparison with above normal temps in the 30's and even 40's which allowed me so get a couple of 35+ mile weeks without even switching over to afternoon running.  But alas, the more normal January temperatures returned along with snow in the 3rd and 4th weeks of January so I started doing the majority of my running in the afternoons after work.  The short days this time of year make this an additional challenge in order to still run in the daylight.  As you know, my preference (weather permitting) is actually to run in the dark early pre-dawn hours with a headlamp.  And even with these chilly January temps I was still able to run 6 of my 21 days with the headlamp in the morning when the traffic is lightest.

My two longest runs of the month were on the first two weekends with a 12 and then a 15 miler.  Many of my weekday runs were shortened due to cold or snow where I recorded 5 runs of less than 1 mile.  You might ask why even record something less than a mile, but for us barefooters, it is essential to "take what you can get!"  And for me I always try to avoid logging a ZERO unless I absolutely have to.  All things considered, I was very happy to have only 6 ZERO days this month.


Those cold days off gave me some extra time to think and plan some races for the first half of the year.  After running NO marathons in all of 2018, I went ahead and signed up for 2 full marathons already this year, both races I have been itching to do for some time.  First will be the Carmel Marathon on March 30 in Carmel IN, right next door.  I have wanted to do this since it's inaugural race some years back but never did, either because I didn't want to have an "Indiana repeat" for the 50 States thing, or because the schedule already conflicted with something else, usually Spring Break.  It still falls on the weekend before Spring Break but this year we have decided to stay halfway local in Indiana for that week.


The second marathon I'm signed up for is the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati OH on May 5th with my running buddy Earl Strong from Kokomo.  As most of you know, Earl and I have run dozens of marathons together over the years, including the Boston Marathon and the Space Coast Marathon to finish up my 50Sub4 challenge, so I think we were sort of overdue.  Earl has done the Flying Pig several times but for me it always conflicted with the Indy Mini (always first weekend in May) so I'm glad to finally get to experience this nearby race.


If any of you runners out there want to do either the Carmel or Flying Pig race with me please let me know.


I'm hoping the months of February and March will allow for some good training runs since this is kind of early in the year to be in peak training shape for a marathon...especially barefoot.  One month later, my family and I will be travelling to the Holy Land with a group of 18 "pilgrims" from our church.  Looking forward to possibly getting some barefoot runs in the "footsteps of Jesus!"  My inspirational barefoot running mentor Barefoot Rick from Missouri has run the Jerusalem Marathon several times so that has always been in the back of my mind as a future challenge...maybe someday!


Stay Warm!


Barefoot Dan


January Mileage = 111 miles...all outside and all barefoot, of course!

2222 Barefoot Miles This Year

Happy New Year Barefoot Runners!

Wow, what a year!

This was another year of big miles for me.  The 5th consecutive year with more than 2000 barefoot miles.  However, it was also only the 3rd year of the last 26 in which I did NOT run at least one marathon.  Actually the only big race of the year was the Indy Monumental Half Marathon last month.  With my annual total of 2222.22 miles, I have now run a total of 13,461 barefoot miles which is more than half way around the world (although counting both shod and unshod miles I've run around the world over one and a half times.)

When the weather started getting cold early in November I was afraid I might not be able to finish out the year over the 2000 mark but then the weather improved greatly over the last few weeks.  I was actually able to do a pre-dawn 12 miler this past Friday to help boost my totals toward my newer goal of 2222 and allowed me to finish off with a 3.5 miler today (Saturday) and still completely take off completely on Monday (New Years Eve) as we will still be up North in Howe IN celebrating with Linda's side of the family.



Lutes Family Christmas 2018

I haven't really decided on any other running goals and have really enjoyed just continuing to rack up big barefoot miles without any extraneous goals related to marathons.  That being said, I do think I will try to pick out at least one "destination marathon" and use it as a vacation within the next year.

I continue to be astounded at the amazing healing power God has given me within this human body.  I continue to thank Him and pray for continued protection from any health issues or other injuries especially from barefoot running.  So far, so good, since barefoot running seems to continue to "help" any and all of my running injuries and actually gives me more stamina, not less.  And for the six year, I'm still continuing to drink a veggie/fruit/nut/seed smoothie each morning ahead of my run and recently added bee pollen to the mix thanks to a recommendation from my wife Linda.


Hopefully the warm weather will continue into January and February although I think we are probably due for some colder, bone chilling weeks which will probably suspend some of my outdoor activity.


I hope you all enjoy continued barefoot success and


Have a Healthy and Happy New Year!


God Bless You,


Barefoot Dan


Dec Monthly Mileage - 160.38 miles
2018 Annual Mileage = 2222.22 miles

November was a cold one...but 2000 miles acheived

Yes, November was a cold one

Hello Barefooters,

Snowy 6 Mile Run on Nov. 19

I hope you all survived your November.  It seemed to get a lot colder a lot faster this year so hopefully you are already well ahead on your running distance goals for the year.  I hit my 2000 mile mark already (on November 17) so now I can just continue to pad my total...although if the cold weather keeps it up, I may not pad it by much!

Cold Indy Monumental Half Marathon

I started off the month by running the Indy Monumental Half Marathon with my team from Christ UMC Westfield, "The Running Angels."  We raised a lot of money for clean water in Africa and had a lot of fun doing it.  It was a cold morning and I really should have been able to run faster but for whatever reason, I just didn't have another BPR (Barefoot Personal Record) in me this year.  The cold weather seemed to only affect me while waiting around at the start, but once I got going the feet were fine.  I "borrowed" a guys sweatshirt he was throwing away at the start line and stood on it instead of the 35degree pavement for the last 5 minutes before the gun went off. 

"Sprint" to the Finish!

I quickly got into my pace for the first few miles but then everything started to ache and the pavement seemed MUCH rougher than year's past, especially the last 6 miles or so.  As a result I actually finished well of my BPR pace by about 7 minutes but still ended up with a halfway respectable time of 1:50 for the half.  We enjoyed the warm World Vision tent at the end as well as an annual tradition of post race brunch in Westfield.

The rest of the month was pretty cold as well and I spent most of it in Indiana.  However, I did have a business trip to Livonia, MI this past week and got to enjoy some snowy weather up there.  I just "slugged out" and ran on the hotel treadmill all 4 days in Michigan instead of braving the cold, but then did a nice 5 miler outside today back here in Indiana at a comparatively balmy 39 degrees.

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving right here at home this year and didn't travel too far other than to downtown Indy to watch the lighting of the tree (first time I've done that since I was about 10 years old).  Everyone stay safe out there and enjoy the Holiday Season with family and friends.


God Bless,


Barefoot Dan
(November Mileage = 128miles)

Brrr...Winter is Coming

Hello Barefooters,

The leaves are turning and starting to fall...


Before you know it the snow will be flying...yuck.




On Broadway!

Well, let's hope not but it looks like the last of the good weather is behind us for a while.  This bone chilling rain today looks like the start of a long winter.  I've been getting some pretty good longer runs in this month even though it started turning colder.  As always, its the moisture that determines how cold of weather we barefooters can run in...and so far, not so bad.

 

Barefoot in Central Park

Every week this month I was able to run a 40 or 50 mile week so I was able to keep the higher average going.  I started off the month out in New York City with my daughter Megan on some college visits.  We enjoyed the city and went to her three favorite fashion colleges while there.  We ate some really good food and even got to enjoy a Broadway Show (Phantom of the Opera).  I ran each morning and actually ran all the way to Central Park one morning and witnessed the setting up for a 10K race later in the day.

The following week I went to Fargo North Dakota and it snowed while I was there so I opted for an 8 mile workout on the hotel treadmill (dreadmill!)  Back in Indiana the weather continued to hold out a little while longer so I continued my longer runs all the way into Westfield each morning and got to keep using the Midland Trace Trail as well.


This weekend will be our long anticipated Indy Monumental Half Marathon Race with my team from Christ UMC, "The Running Angels."  We have 12 people on the team and are looking forward to a nice race on Saturday.  I'm hoping for dry weather since it looks like temps will be down in the 30's.


Oh well, keep running out there and enjoy the Fall,


God Bless,


Barefoot Dan
(October Mileage = 225.81miles)

Cool Running

Hello Barefooters,


I absolutely love the cooler temps in the Fall for running.

16 Mile Barefoot Run in Late September

I have been continuing to rack up some pretty big miles during September and continued my "Just Go Out and Run" theme from last month.  I have also continued my exploration of many "new" routes which are near my house but for some reason I never ran.  My new theme mainly is to run south (toward the congestion) instead of north (toward the cows!)  But actually, the time of day I run, primarily between 4 and 6 am, there is no congestion and actually very little traffic.  I have continued my runs into Westfield most days continuing on a portion on the Midland Trace rail trail which runs east-west from Westfield to (almost) Noblesville.

I actually ran 10 days of the month at half marathon distance or beyond.  Just this morning I ran a 16.13 mile "extended" half and completed my third biggest month of the year at 246 miles.  This course is my new favorite half marathon training course with an added 1.5 mile out and back from Gray Road to the Hazel Dell Shelter on the Midland Trace.  A couple of times this month I even met up with my running buddy Gary Adams and my biking buddy Mark Gordon while out on the Midland Trace trail.  

 

 

 



Pool Closed 2018

The temperatures have been absolutely awesome (usually mid 50s) with low humidity and this allows for longer runs and quicker recoveries.  Since I closed up the pool on Labor Day, I can't jump in the pool after my run.  But now, the hot tub feels "REALLY NICE" after I start getting chilled during my daily post run ritual of recording of times and distance and comments in my spreadsheet.  I think Fall really is the best time of year for most runners, would you agree?

I also have continued to recover from last months onset of inflammatory bursitis around my left knee.  I continued to run through this injury even with the higher mileage although the first week of the month the mileage was down (only 42 miles!) specifically because of this injury.  The next three weeks were 58, 75 and 65 miles respectively.  I don't think in shoes I ever recovered as quickly from this overuse injury.  But either way, I'm glad it's gone...Praise God for the amazing healing power of the human body!

Barefoot Round Trip from Sparks to Reno - 2 days in a row!

Travel has been light this month which is nice but I did have a trip out to the Reno-Sparks NV area in the 3rd week of the month.  Each of the two mornings I was there I ran all the way from my Sparks hotel to Reno (about 5 miles) along 4th Avenue.  As always I was running in the very early AM which was definitely a necessity as this road is extremely busy during the day and is one of the main surface street connectors between these two towns.

Riley Hospital Color "Run"

One of the fun things Linda and I did was the Riley Color Run although I did not do it barefoot and actually didn't even run it either.  We walked the 5K course around the Carmel High School campus while being pelted and squirted with colors to change our white shirts into tie-died.  It was great fun and for a good cause which was actually Carmel Dance Marathon in support of Riley Children's Hospital.

Not Barefoot - But Colorful!

I'm looking forward to continued nice weather in October and even more half marathon training runs each morning as I continue to prepare for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon on Nov. 3rd.

God Bless and Enjoy the Wonderful Fall Weather!

Barefoot Dan


September Mileage = 246.2 miles

"Just Go Out and Run!"

Greetings Barefooters,

Just Go Out and Run -- This was my mantra for the month of August!

Return on Mules via South Kaibab Trail

Rave Run
at Grand Canyon

I really enjoyed this month with the warm weather and "mostly" dry conditions.  I was able to get in some great long runs in the mornings.  I racked up two of my biggest weeks of the year and also my second biggest month of the year.

Barefoot Sunrise Run at Grand Canyon

I woke up on Aug. 1 at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  I decided not to do a barefoot trail run that morning on the advice of the park ranger the night before who warned us about scorpions on the trail after dark.  I didn't want to swell up and miss my mule ride back out of the Grand Canyon so I opted for the ZERO day.  Back up on the rim the day we left I got in a "Rave Run" to see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon on Hermits Road out toward Hermits Rest. 

We then left Arizona for Colorado and stayed in Durango two nights.  I got in two nice longer (albeit rainy) runs down the main drag in Durango each morning.  While there we boarded the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge railroad for the round trip scenic passage.  However, due to recent forest fire in the area (and the subsequent mudslides) the first 13 miles of track were washed out or mudcovered.  So they bused us the first few miles ad we caught the train at Rockwood...still a very nice scenic ride through the woods.

Durango to Silverton Train Ride in Colorado

Once we got back home I started really cranking up the miles in the morning, turning in back to back weeks of 85 and 88 miles.  This second week even included a business trip in which I got in two consecutive days in Defiance OH of 12 and 16 miles.  Even when back home I started exploring new roads and trails I hadn't run fairly near my house.  I'm now incorporating a newly paved section of the Midland Trace Trail in my morning run.  This trail almost completely links Noblesville and Westfield together but stops just short of Noblesville.   


Then lo and behold, the following Monday I did yet another 16 miler on this trail and an old running injury reappeared.  My left knee started aching and swelling as I re-developed inflammatory bursitis around my knee-cap.  I haven't had this in over 8 years!  But here it was.  This is more of a nuisance injury than anything but is indeed an overuse injury so time to back off (a little).  I am able to run through this but the first couple of days were very painful and VERY low mileage.  With many answered prayers, it is slowly healing and I am back up to an 11 mile run just this morning.  This time I included a headlamp run through the wooded trail at Washington Woods Elementary School but ended up regretting that one due to about a hundred COBWEBS!!  I will continue the exploration of new roads and trails in the next few weeks as we transition into Fall and some cooler temps.  It will feel good to start soaking in the hot tub again after my runs instead of a dive in the pool.


Happy Labor Day and God Bless,


Barefoot Dan


August Mileage = 283.7