Low Mileage, Yet Longer Runs

Hello Barefooters,
Is everybody enjoying this record breaking hot weather?  Here in Indiana, I've had to begin my runs right at daybreak just to keep them cool enough to complete them before the sun gets too high.  Still, I've really appreciated the flexibility that summer affords since there is no snow or ice to contend with!  It's easy enough to avoid the heat of the day at 3pm.

I've now begun to increase my "per run" distance while still keeping my overall mileage down.  This month I ran a 12 miler, a 10 miler and even a 15 miler (first ever!) with little or no damage to the feet. I am still resting at least one day after each run.  And I take even more time off after the long runs.  Recovery is beginning to take less and less time and my 10 miler was actually only 5 days after my first ever 12 miler!  During this rest period, we took a short family vaction over to Springfield IL with the family. 

Here is a picture of the whole family posing along with the Abraham Lincoln family!  And I even got in a short run on that trip around the sites in downtown Springfield.  It's always fun using the Garmin in a new location to see the new running route on the computer once I download it.  Speaking of the Garmin, I had to send the watch in for repair due to a power issue.  I will say that Garmin Corp. has excellent customer service and the RMA process, start to finish, took only and week and I'm pretty sure I got a brand new unit returned to me...and it works great.  

Then 10 days after that 10 miler, I ran my first ever 15 miler...actually 15.35 miles.  This was a Deming loop along with an out-and-back on Anthony Road (same basic route I hurt myself on back in Feb.)  It was great to "survive" the run on that course while the earlier injury was in the back of my mind the whole time.  The next day we took off for Beverly KY on a mission trip to Red Bird Mission with the whole family and 25 of us from Christ United Methodist Church in Westfield, IN.  This was a week long mission trip and was an absolutely awesome chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  We saw tremendous growth as a group and as individuals as well helping the folks of Southeastern KY...a very poor region indeed.  God is good! 

Here is a picture of our entire group  (Team Red Bird).  We ranged in age from 11 to 81.  While I didn't really expect to run at all this week, the roads were in surprisingly good shape, so I actually ran three different times on and around the Red Bird campus.  One of the days I ran with my daughter Megan (in her socks) and her friend Paige (barefoot!) for a 1.07 mile barefoot run around the campus.  I'm still not sure if I converted Paige or not.  She said afterwards the bottom of her feet sort of burned.  But then later that same day she told me that they felt really good and stimulated.  So maybe she'll give it another try later on.  It is very common for first time barefoot runners to experience a completely new "feeling" as the bottoms of their feet begin to "wake up" to the world around them.  This is the really cool (and addictive) part of barefoot running.  It just makes you feel good!  We all made it back safe and sound to Indiana and I rounded out the month with a short run yesterday.  Looking forward to some cooler temps next month and to continue to increase my long runs in pursuit of a November marathon (maybe).

Stay safe out there and watch out for HOT PAVEMENT!!!

Barefoot Dan

July Mileage = 59.07 miles (weekly mileage:  17, 12, 19.5, 9, 1.6)

Barefoot in Bangkok, Thailand

Hello Barefoot Runners,
This has been another eventful month.  I'm happy to report a good amount of increased mileage.  I actually turned in two of the longest runs since my foot injury (8 miles and 10 miles) and the feet feel pretty good.  Slow and steady comeback has been the key.  I am also still employing the "at least one rest day" philosophy between runs which has helped tremendously.  The key once again is to let the skin on the bottom of the feet dictate both the length and speed of the run.  Once the blisters or "hot spots" start, you should consider your run complete and live to run another day.

At the end of the month, I was able to take a business trip to Thailand.  My first day there was a Sunday and a rest day.  I booked a temple tour of Bangkok and was happy to find that BAREFOOT was the rule at all the temple sites.  And even though I wasn't running, it felt good to explore the different surfaces in the temples barefoot...from hot, to cool...from smooth marble, to rough concrete, to plush carpet.  It was a cornucopia of barefoot stimulation which felt great after flying for 24 hours the day before.  It's amazing how stiff and cooped up your feet can feel after swelling up at 36,000 feet for hour after hour on these long flights.  It was good to get "grounded" the day next walking around barefoot.   This next photo shows me (barefoot of course)  along with my new found friends Bob and Margo from Sydney Australia.  They too were there on business and enjoying a free day before starting the work week on Monday. 

Bob works in the weather industry and is an "ex-runner" due to some chonic injuries earlier in his career.  I told him that I thought he would be great candidate for the changeover to barefoot running.  He has been doing a lot of biking as it is "easier on the legs and back."  I think so many of us out there have given up on running altogether due to injuries caused (in my opinion) by our poor choice of running attire -- i.e. the "best" shoes money can buy!  So if you're reading this and THINKING about trying it...well...it's time to take the next small step and actually TRY IT!  What's to lose?  Except your diginity.  Life is too short to be worried about some out of shape smart aleck driving by and shouting something about forgetting to put on your shoes before you went out the door!  Nowadays, that kind of stuff just makes me smile as I run!

The rest of the week in Thailand was pretty much non-stop meetings and dinners with customers and suppliers.  This meant each night not arriving back at the hotel until way after dark.  So all-in-all, not too conducive for barefoot running.  So it really was truly a recovery week after my 10 miler on Wednesday the week before I left.  I got back home last night and woke up this morning (Sat. June 30) feeling fine and went out for a short 5K.  It had been raining earlier so the pavement was a little wet in spots but not too bad (and Indiana really needed this inch of rain as we are in one of the worst droughts on record).  And once again, it really felt great to "do something" in the first 24 hours after a long flight.  Plus it was a great way to get in a little mileage before the end of the month and not have to turn in a ZERO week!  Still looking forward to slowly increasing my mileage over the next few months with my eye on the Monumental Marathon in November (barefoot?...maybe...we'll see how this "slow but sure" training method works out)

Well, keep up the good work out there and enjoy those early morning runs ('cause the pavement is too hot if you wait much past 8am!...at least here in hot & dry Indiana)

Barefoot Dan

June Mileage = 34.55 Miles

Week 1= 14, Week 2= 7, Week 3= 10, Week 4= 3

Barefoot Quarter Marathon

Hello Barefooters,

Hope your summer is starting off well.  I have been enjoying getting back into it slowly.  Trying my best to keep the feet fit while not overdoing it.  My key to the month of May has been to never run two days in a row and always have a good rest day (or 2 or 3) afterward.  The highlight of the month had to be my Quarter Marathon for Relay For Life on the track at Westfield HS. 

The Relay was run on May 18th and brought together teams from all over Hamilton County (Indiana) to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  A couple of my girls and I decided to take the "UP ALL NIGHT" Challenge so I was able to wait until 2am to run my self imposed Quarter Marathon (6.55 Miles) on the track.  I was blessed to have my 11 old daughter Megan run with me for the first 2 miles.  She then alternated running/resting each quarter mile lap.  Oh, and did I forget to mention, Megan also did it barefoot!  Using this method, I was able to get in my 6.55 miles and Megan got in 4.25 miles.  This was a full 26+ laps on the rubberized track.  Time was just over one hour, so this was a good first test of the foot since the injury in February.  The cool part was the reaction we got from other walkers and runners on the track that night, very uplifting and encouraging.  We even inspired Nick, a shod runner, to kick off his shoes and run the last couple laps of his 4 miler with us.  I warned him to take it easy since the first barefoot run can be painful afterward.  He seemed to do fine, but I'm sure his calves were screaming the next day. 

I had a small blister on the ball of each foot (I think from the rubberized surface of the track) and Megan had some extremely sore calves for about a week after.  Here is a picture of my foot afterwards, hard to see the blister due to all the dirt from the track.  To get our legs back we did a couple hikes on the trail in MacGregor Park as recovery.  I continued taking it easy the rest of the month and won't begin increasing my mileage until mid summer, God willing.

Oh, and the Relay did raise over $100K and our individual team, Christ UMC Holy Rollers, raised over $10K for Cancer Research.  It was a good fund raising year overall despite the shaky economy.  And, it's never to late to donate:  Here is the link to Barefoot Dan's Fundraising Page.

Well, enjoy the summer and watch out for hot pavement!

Barefoot Dan

May Mileage = 42 Miles
Week 1= 5, Week 2= 9, Week 3= 12, Week 4= 7, Week 5= 9

It WAS a stress fracture!

Hello Barefooters,
I finally found out a few days ago that my injury was indeed a stress fracture.  I was in my doctors office for another issue and requested a follow up X-ray from the one taken back on Feb 15, two days after I hurt my right foot.  Sure enough, the new X-ray showed a healing/healed stress fracture and here is the photographic proof.  (The round "bulb" around the 2nd metatarsal is the healing fracture.)

  I took a few extra days off afterwards, waiting for the radiologist to confirm that it was healing properly and there were no new fractures.  Still, even after getting the "go ahead" to resume normal activity, I've been thinking differently about my foot and will really be taking it extra easy for a few weeks more.  As a result my running mileage is very minimal for the month, however I did begin doing some barefoot walks and even got my wife Linda to do a few with me.  I don't think she will become a barefoot runner any time soon, but it was nice to be able to share with her some of my passion for the barefoot lifestyle and it's benefits. 

The month began with our annual Spring Break trip to FL to visit my dad and stepmom in Sebring.  On the way down we passed through Altanta, GA where we met this barefooter (a nice dog and his owner which, while not a runner, was wearing Vibrams).  We stopped off for two days in Orlando and visited Islands of Adventure and the famed Harry Potter World (my daughters' favorite part).  Eventually, we made it down to Sebring, where I did get in a long hike, starting around Lake Jackson but turned back in the early morning rain.  It was probably for the best as I would have probably gone too far on the healing foot and would have regretted it.  I went barefoot for about 3 of the 8.43 mile hike, and enjoyed this first test of the foot in any significant barefoot capacity since the injury happened (and afterall, it was still Lent and I was still on my self imposed hiatus from running).  When we got back from FL I started back up barefoot running and took it very easy.  The first week, I did a couple short runs from the house and then tested the foot on the Jackie Sanders Miracle Mile with the Club Kokomo Roadrunners for a one mile race.  I took it very easy and still came in 12th in 7:52.  Before the race Charlie Skoog honored me with the presentation of the President's Award from 2010 for running a marathon in all 50 States.  This had been a joint award to both Earl Strong and myself although I had been unable to attend the award dinner back in Feb 2011.  Even though this was a year later, it was still quite an honor to recieve this plaque from Charlie and the Club.  The next week was a business trip to CA and I went out for a quick 2 miler before dinner the first night I was there.  The trouble was, it was 84 degrees and while I knew the pavement was hot, I didn't know I was getting blistered until is was too late and this was the result:  large blood blisters on the balls of both feet as well as the big toe of the left foot.  I guess the feet were both a little tender from being in my shoes flying all day, and also I may have been a little over confident and enjoying the bright sunny day a little too much.

I've definitely had blisters before, but not heat blisters like these, although they are very similar.  These were very unexpected and very painful as well, since I had to walk around in dress shoes the next couple of days.  They are still intact now (two weeks later) as I have been taking it extremely easy since then, as my mileage totals indicate below.  I hardly consider my self a runner these days as much as a healing patient!  But I'm sure when this is all said and done, it will have been a great learning experience.  And lastly I can't conclude without relaying my GOOSE ATTACK story.  As I mentioned, Linda and I had been doing some evening barefoot walks as I recooperated.  These walks were done out our back door and down and around the pond at the bottom of the hill on the back of our property.  One one particular evening, we encountered two rather agressive geese which came swooping in from the south and sort of trapped us on the back side of the pond.  After shouting and screaming like a couple of ninnies and shaking fists and throwing sticks, we escaped around the pond and were on our way back up the hill toward the house.  We were panicked but thought surely the worst was over. 

We stopped to assess the situation and laugh about it a little although our hearts were still racing.   At this point we were a good 100 yards from the pond and the geese were on the far side.  Suddenly, one goose took off and flew across the pond making a beeline for us, honking all the way.  He swooped in and grabbed my shirt and pulled as I ran away and swung my arms around my head (like a little girl).  I'm sure it must have been funny looking, and it's a good thing Linda wasn't recording or I'd be quite a YouTube sensation by now.  All we can figure is they must be nesting somewhere around the pond although we haven't found a nest, eggs, or any baby geese.  All I know is we don't do our walks around the pond anymore without a broom or stick or something in hand to swing in self defense.  It makes for an exciting walk!

Keep running out there barefooters.  Hope to have more progress to report in May.

BF Dan

April Mileage = 9 miles

Week 1 = 0, Week 2 = 5miles, Week 3 = 3.5miles, Week 4 = 1mile

Yoga, Tai Chi, and...Accupuncture?!

Hello Barefooters,
Finishing up my 7th week off...wow! I haven't taken this much time off from running in over 10 years.  On the one hand I've been enjoying my time off, but on the other hand I feel like a caged animal.  I really miss my normal stress relief and will enjoy getting back to running soon.  The injury to my right foot has given me lots of time to think.  Time to think about running, about injury, about form, about landing, about recovery...you name it.  But, I'll be glad to get back to ACTUAL running instead of THINKING about running.  And yes, before you ask, I am going to start back up barefoot, although I will be starting back very slowly.  I even passed on my opportunity to join Barefoot Tellman Knudson's elite barefoot training program because I didn't feel like I could do it justice from the sidelines.

So what can you do with all your extra time when you aren't running?  Well, you can read books.  Since I got injured back on Feb. 13, I've read "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and I'm now reading "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte.  And these are BIG books!  I also took up painting by numbers along with my 11 year old twins, Sarah and Megan.  In about 3 weeks, I finished my "Tuscan Scene" which I think came out pretty good.  Here it is, take a peek.  We're all pretty pround of our work, and we've actually framed our paintings and have them hanging in the living room (at least temporarily!)

I bought a Groupon from an Indianapolis chiropractor for two sessions of Accupuncture.  In the first session he noted a slightly "dropped 2nd metatarsal" and did a minor "manipulation" on the 2nd and 3rd toes.  He stuck me with 7 needles and I did feel some pain relief.  In the second session, he said the manipulation "held" and stuck me with 4 more needles.  Each session lasted about 20 minutes, and I did have a good endorphin release during each accupunture session, which made for a very relaxing experience.  I did have some additional pain relief int the foot, but I'm not sure I am fully on board with the whole accupunture thing.  Don't get me wrong, I totally believe in the Mind-Body connection but I also feel that my pain was diminishing prior to these sessions.  I won't rule it out for the future, but it's not something I'm relying on for now.

I've also rediscovered both Tai Chi and Yoga during my down time.  I began doing Tai Chi four years ago and picked up Yoga about two and a half years ago.  Then, for whatever reason, I stopped both about 10 months ago.  Not sure why I stopped, but these activities were both pretty time consuming and my running was going haywire with injuries, etc.  Shortly thereafter, I started barefoot running and just never got back into Tai Chi or Yoga, both of which I really enjoy.  So, I've started again this past couple weeks and I'm alternating one day of Tai Chi and one day of Yoga, and trying to get in 5-6 days a week.  It's no substitute for the aerobic workout of a good barefoot run, but both can make me work up a sweat, so I feel it's better than doing nothing.  I've also realized how my flexibility has deteriorated since I stopped.  Like any exercise, it takes a while to get into shape, but almost no time at all to get out of shape!

Now, just so you know, I have given up both running and alcohol for Lent, so I still have another week off before I run my next step.  I'm glad I went ahead and took this time off, since I probably would have run the Westfield Underground Railroad 5K last weekend and would have ended up hurt myself with no training.  I'll be heading to FL with the family for Spring Break next week and would have been doing my series of 11 mile runs around Lake Jackson in Sebring, and again, probably would have overdone it.  It will be good to wait until after Easter and then start up slow back in Indiana.  Although, I am thinking of maybe doing a WALK around Lake Jackson in barefeet...maybe.  I may be too tired just from walking around Harry Potter Land at Universal Studios the first couple of days, we'll see.

And lastly, I have the mental challenge of knowing the Boston Marathon is coming soon (April 16) and I won't be particiapating for the first time in 17 years.  Oh well, as they say, streaks are made to be broken and 16 in a row was a pretty good streak.  Still, that will be a rough Monday.

Happy Barefooting,
BF Dan

March mileage = ZERO !!

PS...here's a couple of funny barefoot links:  Steven and Rory Coatsworth  (hit the "play" button on the pic to see videos)

A February Limp Home

Happy Leap Day Barefooters!
I hope everyone is enjoying their bonus day.  February is over.  The weather is warming.  So I should be happy, right?  That would be a lot easier if I was running, but I'm not!  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I'm once again leaning toward blaming the Vibrams.  My injury happened while on a long barefoot run, but occured just two days after my first run in the Vibrams all year.

February started well, and I had a pretty good couple of weeks at the start of the month.  The first week included a business trip to Chicago and a couple of nice barefoot runs in new surroundings.  The second week was nice as well and I was looking to finish with a Saturday run on Feb. 11, but the weather wasn't cooperating.  Windy and cold (19 degrees) and I didn't feel like flirting with frostbite again.  So I decided to do a quick Vibram run over to MacGregor Park and back, utilizing the 1.6 mile trail in the park, for a total of 5.21 miles.  Afterward, I had a little pain in the lower right back and a little TOFP Top of Foot Pain on right foot.  But nothing I hadn't felt before, and figured that it just happened to coincide with the trail run in the Vibrams.

After a day off, on Monday I went out for a "mid length" barefoot run and it felt great.  I mean really great!  It was 29 degrees and partly sunny with a slight southerly breeze.  I ran straight north on Anthony road and...well...ala Forrest Gump...I just kept on going.  I kept thinking I would turn back, but then kept picking targets just a little farther ahead and thinking how great it would feel to do my longest barefoot run ever.  I ended up running all the way to the Tipton County Line!  And that is 8.1 miles from my house.  OK, I thought, great, I'll get to turn in my first 16 miler!  Upon turning around things were still feeling great and the breeze was now in my face which actually helped to cool me down.   I was enjoying this lightly travelled road and running right down the middle on the softer tar portion left from 3 year old chip and seal.  I was really feeling great.  I had no problem keeping a really consistent 8:40 pace and even started calculating about what time I would be back home.  Running along, thinking life was grand, when all of a sudden, TWANG!!!  A sharp pain in the middle of my right foot stopped me cold.

And I mean cold.  I tried to walk it off.  I tried to shake it off.  I even sat down in the middle of the road, actually laid down on the road and massaged my foot, but to no avail.  I started walking back...but I still had almost 7 miles to go!  I felt like crying but figured that just wasn't gonna help.  I walked on the side of my foot.  I was limping slightly.  I tried several times to run, but each time, after only 2 or 3 steps, the shooting pain was back.  I was convinced I had broken something.  But what to do?  There was no traffic coming along, no cell phone...heck no shoes (at least last time I went on my 11 miler I had hauled along my shoes in my jacket pockets, just in case...Duh!  this was a major screwup!)

I said a prayer.  God, just please keep the partial sun coming, and keep the wind from getting too strong...and please let me get home before dark.  Well, I kept limping along at about a 20 min/mile pace.  The sun stayed just warm enough.  While the wind was bitter, I never got super-chilled and tried to concentrate on not wasting energy shivering.  A few cars came along after I had been walking for over an hour and I thought...well, I've come this far, no sense hitchhiking now...I sort of regretted not flagging down the first couple of cars, but once I got within 2-3 miles of the house, I knew I would survive.  The Garmin went dead for the last couple of miles, but I felt I was finally back in familiar territory...at least they'll find my barefoot corpse!  Well, as you can see from the above picture, the right foot has definitely seen some damage.

I made it back home after 2+ hours of walking and immediately jumped in the hot tub.  (God answers prayers!)  My whole right side was sore from the limp home.  I waited 48 hours before deciding to go to the doctor.  The GP did an X-ray and compared to the X-rays taken back in July when I did this to my left foot.  He then sent me to a podiatrist when the X-ray showed nothing.  The podiatrist did a bunch of twisting and prodding and gave me the diagnosis of "soft tissue damage" and said to let pain be my guide, continue icing and take Aleve (Naproxin Sodium).  I was just happy he didn't stick me in a walking boot.  He scratched his head on the whole barefoot running thing but to his credit he didn't discourage it, and did ask a ton of questions about the whole phenomenon (maybe a future barefooter!) 

So I've been off running now for 2+ weeks and have decided to take the whole month of March off as well and let it heal up the right way.  It feels about the same (maybe a little worse) than what happened to the left foot last summer (which started the whole barefoot thing for me.)  I'm hoping this "damage" falls into the category of the natural "spreading" that goes on with the metatarsals as the foot adapts to barefooting and shed the confines of the dreaded shoes, or as we barefooters say:  "foot coffins."

Either way, I probably needed a break for a while.  No races, or even goals on the near term horizon...although I did sign up for the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis at the end of the year...barefoot?...hmm....we'll see.

Happy Barefooting,

BF Dan

February Mileage: 

Week 1 = 17miles

Week 2 = 24 miles

Week 3 = 9.3 miles running, 6.9 miles walking OUCH

Frostbite - A Barefooter's Nightmare

Hello Barefooters,

Yeah!! January is over and I didn't have to resort to wearing the Vibrams at all!  But there were a couple of days when I probably should have.  All in all the month was pretty warm here in Indiana.  The highest temperature I ran in was just yesterday at 53 and the lowest was 11 (more on that in a bit).  The highlight of the month was definitely my first barefoot race ever, which was the Jackie Sanders Miracle Mile in Kokomo (a weekly club race) which I ran (and won!) in 7:06 in the snow with about a 1 inch covering on the ground.  This was my fastest barefoot mile ever and I will be interested to see if I can repeat that speed on the asphault.  The other highlight would have to simply be the fact that I was able to go completely barefoot for the entire month.  The problem with the normal Indiana winter is that there is just never enough sun to completely dry the pavement in between rounds of percipitation.  But this was an unusually forgiving January which had very little snow (a few inches) and several sunny days.  Another issue was the fact that even when I got some sunny dry pavement, it was often littered with salt and calcium chloride (or whatever that green stuff is!) which is not friendly to barefooters.   Another highlight was when my 11 year old daughter Megan ran with me a couple of times although she did wear shoes (thankfully she's a little brighter than her old man!)  The last run with Megan was a very cold day (only 22 degrees) and she fell down on some ice at the turnaround.  Luckily we didn't have far to go and she was able to limp it in.
So, back to the title...just how long does it take to get frostbite!  Well, based on my limited experience (twice this month) it takes as little as 3 minutes.  (and it is both temperature and moisture dependent)  The first time I got it, I went out to run on the Midland Trace Trail which is about 5 miles from my house.   I intentionally drove to this trail to avoid the treated roads and was looking forward to my coldest run yet of 19 degrees.  I did a quick half mile out and back and was very disappointed to find that the after about the first .4 miles the trail was salted!  I did my best to avoid the salt chunks, but as you know, it's the super cooled liquid underneath that gets you.  The feet were really cold when I got back to the truck and i drove home with the heat blasting.  At first I thought I had kindof burned the top of my feet with the heater while thawing them out but the pain/numbness went away after about 48 hours.  Then about a week later, I stupidly tried it again, this time on Anthony road and in my driveway after a nice 3 inch snowfall.  It was a very brisk 11 degrees and I stayed only on the very packed areas and off the treated parts.  I only went .35 miles and then jumped right into the hot tub to thaw out.  I thought everything was hunky dory and at first regretted that I hadn't gone a little further but, still I was happy with my "conquest" of the tundra.  But then, after feeling fine for about 6 hours, my toes started to ache...I mean really ache, and even went a little numb.  It was more than a little scary.  This time it was a full 72 hours before the were back to "normal" and with that they still felt a little leathery and had some slight tingling and numbness.  The key to both of these situations was the moisture.  If you run when it's "really cold" then it needs to be "dry."  This will be my big take away from the whole fiasco, and hopefully I've learned my lesson.  Luckily, the rest of the month was warmer, so I was forced not to do anything stupid!  I'm still hoping not to put on the Vibrams again unless I just have to, so I'll continue praying for more of this mild winter. 

Again, thank you all for the comments and encouragement on the blog.  I feel blessed to be able to run barefoot and again blessed to be able to share it with you.  I will only be doing monthly postings from now on, but if you want to send me questions in the mean time via email, feel free. 
And stay safe out there!

Happy Barefooting,
Barefoot Dan

January Weekly Mileages = 6, 14, 12, 14