Out Like a Lamb!

Hello Barefooters,


Rachel, Dan, Megan, and Sarah at start of Underground RR



March went out like a lamb once again, thank goodness.  We have had a VERY cold winter in Indiana (and elsewhere) and the month of March wasn't much better.  But it ended well!  Today is in the 50's and the weather is dry.  I'm enjoying being able to run either before OR after work these days instead of always having to wait for the "heat" of the day after work.  It seems a lot easier to do a headlamp run in the morning before going to work than trying to sandwich in a late afternoon run between work, conf. calls, etc.

Megan and me at Underground RR 5K Start



The highlight for the month would have to be the Westfield Underground Railroad 5K Race which was held on March 21st.  This was the third year in a row that I did it barefoot.  Once again, other family members joined me in the endeavor.  My 14 year old daughter Megan ran the 5K with me, while her sisters, Sarah (14) and Rachel (17) showed their support by walking the 3K Walk.  We all had a good time.  I was happy to place 1st in my age group once again.  Even though I was 26 seconds slower than last year, I did beat my next closest age grouper by over a minute.  1st prize was a $15 gift certificate to the local running store, The Blue Mile, so I was able to recoup some of my entry fee!

  


Megan finishing with a strong KICK!

 

This month also allow me a couple of business trips to try barefooting in some new locations.  The first trip was to Livonia, MI, followed by St. Charles, IL, followed by Marshall, IL, and finally Flora, IL.  The MI portion allowed me to get in a couple of warmer runs, one with a new co-worker and running buddy Anthony.  We started at the Livonia office and ran down to Anthony's favorite running park and back for a nice 4.91 miles at 68 degrees---warmest run of the year so far.  The next morning I did a similar run, although with a headlamp and only 45 degrees, this time 8.29 miles.  The IL portion of the trip, I was able to find some very smooth pavement down in Matoon IL and got in 19.1 miles over the evening and morning runs while there.

 



Anthony at Comache Lookout Park



Anthony plotting our course



The next week I got some even warmer weather by travelling down to San Antonio, TX.  Customer meetings in two different cities outside San Antonio allowed me to get in 4 different runs in this great city.  Again, with my new buddy Anthony, we explored the city's Comanche Lookout Park to find a good running trail after our customer meeting was over.




Comanche Lookout Park in San Antonio, TX

 

Later, we did a longer run on the city's famed Riverwalk before getting cleaned up and enjoying a steak at the Salt Grass Steak House which was right on the Riverwalk.  Excellent cuisine indeed!  The next morning I had a later flight so I was able to get in another 5 miler on the Riverwalk at a crisp 45 degrees...still very nice compared to the 20s/30s in IN with rain...it was actually SNOWING when we landed in Indy later that day...YUCK...hopefully Winter is FINALLY over!

Now I'm looking forward to Spring Break next week in Myrtle Beach, SC at my sister Jill's house.  She lives only 2 blocks from the beach so my morning routine will be to run a quarter mile on pavement down to the beach and then choose the "North" or "South" route each day to get in a nice medium to long run.  At this point I'm actually a little ahead of my mileage from this time last year, although still about 205 miles behind the pace needed for another 2000 mile year...oh well...still plenty of time to make that up...I'm still not sure if I WANT to top that big mileage from last year!  Either way, I plan on getting in some nice longer runs this month as the weather warms.  I'm preparing for the Shiprock Marathon on May 2nd in Shiprock, NM.  This will be another 6000+ ft elevation marathon but I will be attempting to pull it under 4 hours (actually shooting for another BPR of 3:49) in order to capture yet another 50<4 State (that's 50 sub 4, or 50 state marathons in under 4 hours).

Happy Springtime Barefooters!  Enjoy!

Barefoot Dan

March Mileage = 156.3 miles  (306 for the year)