I hope everyone is enjoying this special time of year with friends and family as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I'm also hoping everyone is looking back on a good year of running and now plotting out their course for an interesting 2016. As I look back over the year, I'm almost amazed at what I was allowed to accomplish with my newfound passion of barefoot running. Barefooting has completely changed my running (and changed me as well!)
Today, I'm celebrating my biggest annual total ever of 2525.25 Miles of barefoot running. This large total has sort of been in the back of my mind all year but was definitely not the main focus of my running or my goal setting. Of course as the weekly and monthly records were set earlier in the year, I again had a large annual total, which sort of made it a no brainer. I actually hit the 2000 mile mark back on Sept 26 (quickest date ever) so I knew last year's total of 2222 would be relatively "easy" to top.
The 2500 mark sort of "came into view" by mid November, but with much needed rest and impending colder weather, I had sort of given up on it by the first week of December. But then the weather began to turn milder and I got serious about the 2500 mark for the last two weeks of the month, which meant daily double digit averages. I figured, "Oh Well, I'll rest next year!" I've enjoyed these last two weeks off from work and got in some great warm December runs, actually turning in an 18 on Christmas Eve and then a 21 a couple days ago so I could take today off completely and write the blog!
With the big total, I started looking at my all time numbers and came up with the following interesting facts: I've now run 22.8% of my all-time miles barefoot (6,958 barefoot vs. 30,536 miles total). I've been running for over 25 years but only the last 4 have been barefoot. And yes, this also means I've now run around the world at least once but only in shoes...barefoot total is still only a quarter to third of the way around the world!
Also for 2015, I looked back to note that I have run in 5 different countries and 10 different states this year alone. This included my first ever barefoot marathon outside of the US back in January when I went on the Mission Marathon Trip to the Canary Islands (part of Spain) with Athletes in Action.
My Top Ten for the year 2015 would go something like this (chronologically):
1. 1st International Marathon ever - Grand Canary Island, Spain - Jan. 2015
2. Barefoot Running in Philippines, June
3. Biggest Barefoot Month Ever, July = 333.33 miles
4. Biggest Barefoot Week Ever, Aug 22nd = 111.11 miles
5. Biggest Barefoot Month Ever, Aug = 370.05 miles
6. Biggest Barefoot Week Ever, Sep 26 = 125.25 miles
7. Biggest Barefoot Month Ever, Sep = 404.04 miles
8. Fastest Barefoot Marathon Ever, Delaware, Oct. = 3 hours, 45 minutes, 0.9 sec
9. Barefoot Running in Austria/Germany, November
10. Biggest Barefoot Year Ever, 2015 = 2525.25 miles
If you look closely at the chart above, you see that my 3 record breaking months were actually back-to-back-to-back in the months of July, August and September. The other astonishing thing (to me) is that these records came during what could be considered a "transition year" at work. As most of you know, my company was bought out last year and my work and travel schedule have changed, although not too drastically. But through it all, I was able to maintain the high mileage daily running, primarily by shifting to very early morning running...oh, with a headlamp of course!
Another tidbit discovered while "number crunching" is that my daily average is now 6.91 miles (without counting my Sundays off) and is 8.06 miles (if you discount the off days). This gives me a weekly average of 48.5 miles, which is another all time high, of course, with or without shoes.I pray that God will continue to bless my running and all of you other barefoot runners out there as well. If you haven't done it already, I would encourage you to pick a new goal (or three) for the New Year! I hope to meet some more of you in 2016.
Stay Strong,
Barefoot Dan
Dec. Mileage = 241.8 miles
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