If the miles behind me could be put into words before you, you would feel my efforts, my struggles, my desires. Most of all you would see my joy. Watch me from afar run the trails and hills and miles upon miles and you will see ...

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Barefoot Update

The last couple weeks have been cold, and I don't mean just put on a sweater and stop whining cold. I mean it's toque and gloves and, gasp, shoes weather!! I went without footwear as long as I could but it only took a twenty minute walk with the kids after dinner about ten days ago to make me realize some things are best left covered. The bottoms of my feet were bright red from the cold pavement. Plus now there's salt on the road and all I can envision is the soles getting all dried and cracked and peeling, oh, the horror. So I've been sticking mostly to my $8 WalMart water shoes I got in the summer. They don't breathe all that well, good thing it's too cold for my feet to sweat.
I've been out in the Fivefingers quite a bit, nothing epic but enough to keep the muscle memory of running barefoot. The ground in the trails is so frozen right now it's like running on the road. The grass is actually uncomfortable because the frost heaving has left it like running on gravel. I even managed a ten minute pavement stint today. Won't be doing that too much until it rains again, which it's supposed to do this week.
Stay tuned for the 2010 schedule. A little distance, a lot of distance, a little speed, a little travel.

2 comments:

Jason Robillard said...

Glad to see more distance runners going the barefoot/minimlaist route! Keep up the good work, and keep blogging about your adventures!

Good luck and take care!

-Jason

Scott said...

Come on up here and try your barefoot antics... I'll ride beside you in the -15 sunshine with my Mukluks on.
I'm a little concerned you might be going hippie on us though, next time I see you you may have a ponytail and hair down your back (nice visual there). I suppose you can always get a summer job up here picking fruit. Hope the Christmas training and season is going well, talk to you later.