Great Trail Run and Major Ouch, A Raccoon and Bears?

Last evening I decided it was time to tackle a truly impressive and challenging trail. It is called Sugarloaf Mt and I have hiked portions of the trail and remembered it being Hilly, rocky, rutted, bug infested, bears, sandy and about everything else. I ran the Yellow trail which is called the saddle loop because it loops around the mountain and climbs over a saddle between to 1100 foot peaks. I laugh at the term peaks used here since I am from Utah

As I prepared for the run I realized I left my Garmin at home. My first instinct was crap now I can’t run and the thought reapply pissed me off so I threw on the Nathan with the KSOs strapped to it and headed up the trail.

The run started out wonderful, I was barefoot and the first ½ mile was on a road, then I started into the trees and it was course rock, chipped rock and misery. I sucked it up for about another mile but there was no relief and then gave up and put on the KSOs. After that the running became an absolute pleasure. I really had no clue how fast or far I was running, I ran to feel good and enjoy the run and that was all, no benchmarks.

About 30 minutes in I heard a screeching growl sound and turned and this mangy looking raccoon was standing me down. As I moved it would face me and scream at me. It was puny and seemed to not be doing well. I got the heck out of there, the last thing I needed was a bite from a rabid raccoon.

Now the trail turned up the mountain and I knew it was turn back or suck it up and make the whole loop, this was a point of no return. I felt so good that I headed up the hill and made the climb. It was a 400 foot climb, nothing crazy but a real burner over the saddle and the trail became spectacular. Instead of an old fire road it was now a single-track with Boston ferns growing on both sides of the trail. This single-track wound through valleys and trees, it was absolutely stunning on top and several times I had a great view around the Maryland farm areas below.

Then I started down the other side and that is where it got ugly. The trail joined another old overgrown fire road that looked to have suffered a lot of damage and they hauled in ground slag and rock about the size of your fist to sure up the road. For the next 30 minute I was hot footing it over this crap until I thought my feet would scream. When I could, I would run the sides where leafs had filed up and padded the rocks. Then finally the fire road joined a gravel road and that was heaven. After a few minutes the trail took off into the trees again on a single track and this is where I saw the first bear warning sign. WARNING: a Bear and her cub have been sighted on the trail. Do not approach. Yikes, I am almost done, heading back into the woods and now they tell me.

The last 30 minutes was a nice trail of roots, dirt and an occasional rock and I let my guard down. At a creek crossing I came up the other side and stepped on what felt like a knife blade sticking out of the dirt. It was actually only a pointy rick about 2 inches tall covered in leaves but it went right into the pad of my foot between my 2nd and third toe and almost dropped me. The pain was insane and faded after about a minute but then I could feel a lump growing. I ran on but after about 10 minutes it was hurting and thank goodness I saw the end of the trail.

Today my foot is very tender to the tough in the pad area between the toes. I can’t see any visible swelling but to press causes an intense burning sensation and I feel I probably bruised the hell out of the foot there. Not the best way to end and otherwise stunning run.

Barefooting Trails, I am not sure I dig it | Barefoot Runners Society

I have done a lot of barefoot running in the last year. Nothing on the scale of some but heading out for a 6 mile BF run on about any surface is usually no big deal. I might get a small hotspot or some tender feet on a bad asphalt run but in general, I think I do OK. I don’t run as fast BF as I do in something minimal, I prefer KSOs, but I can usually deal with that since speed isn’t really the goal.

However, when I hit the trails there are just way too many gotchas. Sticks, Thorns, Rocks, pointy rocks and as much as I love the feel of running in soft or smooth dirt, it is almost inevitable I hit something painful. With a pair of VFFs or Huaraches 4mm cherry I can still get the basic foot workout and have just enough protection that I don’t end up slowing down and losing the FUN which is why I am there anyway.

For example; Last night I headed to a local trail. It is a very sweet trail, lots of challenges like rocks, roots, creeks, hills, snakes, ticks and general pokey things. The run over to the trail is about 1 mile and I did that all BF then when I hit the trail, dodging the clover and the bees, I went from a 9 minute pace to 13 minute pace as I ooch’d and ow’d my way along a particular gravel and rock area, then the roots started jumping out and as light faded in the shadows I slowed even more. Finally after almost running into a tree, I was busy watching every step, and dodging poison ivy too, I decided to put on the KSOs. My pace increased and although I still need to keep a very close eye on the trail, I was able to look around a bit and enjoy the run.

Now I know I am speaking blasphemy here since I am “Supposed” to be a barefooter but I have to say, it is all about the pleasure of the run and sometimes I think I get so caught up in my own ego and doing it barefoot that I forget to enjoy the run.Of course I am open for input on ways that I might improve my trail barefoot skills but I think I will stop getting so religious about it all. Here is a POV video of me dodging things

This is a cool Barefoot Training Video

Learning the Skill of Barefoot Running from Terra Plana on Vimeo.

Eight years to run 16 Miles

For many, 16 miles is a warm up exercise but for me it has been a challenge and something that has eluded me for years. In 2002 I got the urge to start running again and I still remember that first run of 1 mile, I thought I would die. I think I ran 100 yards, walked some, ran again and eventually finished a mile somewhere around 15 minutes. Heck, I could have walked it faster but I was getting off cigarettes and years of unhealthy living.

Well times change, bodies heal and time rolls on and a few years passed. I was running 3 and 5 mile short runs and trying my hand at some longer weekend runs but every time I started to increase the miles. My first pair of running shoes were New Balance 880s. They were neutral and cushioned and pretty much just another ugly running shoe with no bells, no whistles and no gel pods. I really liked running in them and after two years I decided they needed to be replaced. I took them down to the local Fleet Feet store and said I like these shoes and want something close to them. They laughed and said “Those aren’t running shoes, they are trainers. you need real running shoes? And they proceeded to tell me I pronated and needed a stability and cushioned shoe. They sold me on some Asiics something or others with Gel pods, stiff rubber stability and the first thing I noticed is they had a heel.

I was excited to get out there and blow away my personal record of 10 miles and after a few weeks of breaking in the shoes I went after my record. I broke the record by a whopping mile and was so damn proud of myself and then it started; Leg pain. I had the worst case of shin splints and it just wasn’t going away. I went to the doc and they x-rayed the leg. Nothing seemed too wrong, just some R.I.C.E. and it will get better. After two weeks, I was ready to start again. First a few miles, then a few more and eventually I was back to my 15 miles a week and longest runs of 6 miles and I decide to go for 8 when blammo! Shin pain again.

Well this cycle continued for several years. Spring would arrive and I would start adding miles and by June I was approaching 10 miles then bingo! The legs would fail me or the knees would swell or I would get a calf pain and I was out of commission for another race season. This was ridiculously frustrating. In 2007 someone suggested I try Barefoot running but without any idea what I was doing I just made things worse and gave up. I was able to literally limp through an Army 10 Miler and DNR’d a couple more as well as DNR’d a marathon. I was getting really tired of donating entry fees.

Well speed forward to last year, 2009! Spring arrives and like a fool I decide to start running again. I have maintained a level of fitness throughout the winter and so I start ramping up miles. First some 3 milers, then some 5’s, Soon I am running 8 and 10’s with regularity and things are going well so I go for 12 and although I am getting some pain, I take a light week then shoot for 13. There it is, Pain again. The calf literally feels like it will explode when I run, the muscle feels like it will rip off the bone every step. I back off the miles and take it easy, the Doc puts me in orthotics and matters get worse. Finally the Annapolis 10 miler comes and I am at a loss. I cannot stand the shoes I have, the orthotics make life miserable and so I go and buy a pair of brand new Asiic cumulus and run the race. At the end of the race my legs hurt, I made it but I am not happy. Runners should be happy otherwise, Why Run?

Well, This is the last race I run in non minimalistic shoes. I start researching again barefoot running and minimalist when someone suggests I read Born to Run. Halleluiah, someone validates the way I think and feel and I start running barefoot. Ha Ha! I still remember that first run. I made it maybe 1000 feet and my feet were killing me, I had blisters and couldn’t hardly walk for three days. I started searching the internet and found a few web sites that talked about running barefoot and minimalist shoes. Over the past two years I had read Chi Running and as I started running barefoot I got the POSE Method DVD. Pose helped me see many of the errors in my running style and running barefoot reminded me when I was running incorrectly. Soon I was running 3-4 miles barefoot basically pain free.

Over the winter of 2009-2010 I continued to run either barefoot or in Vibram FiveFinger shoes and was able to maintain a solid 15 miles per week. Once the spring hit I was running hard and increasing my miles. One thing was different though, I wasn’t getting shin, knee and calf pain. In the early days of running barefoot I did get some calf pain as they changed to meet my new running style but now, no pain. I did decide that runs over 6 miles would be run in a minimalist shoe like VFF’s of huaraches and anything under 6 would be barefoot. Soon I was cranking out 6-8 mile runs and feeling great so I started pushing up miles.

First I tried a few 10 mile runs. There was no pain except maybe a little calf soreness, to be expected, then I went for a 12 and again, I felt great. Two weeks ago I headed down to the C&O canal towpath and decided that I would run out 7 miles and back for 14. Worse comes to worse I could walk out. Again, I finished and there was no pain. I was tired but I didn’t feel like I just ran 14 miles. Then I decided to go for a new Scooter record and on Sunday July 11th 2010 I started down the towpath with 16 miles in my sites. After 3 solid hours of running and some seriously sore feet I arrived back at the Violet’s Lock parking lot with no shin pain, no knee pain, some slightly sore ankles and a big smile on my face.

So it took me nearly 8 years to run 16 miles but I did it and from what I can tell, there are many more miles to come. If all goes well. I will get a marathon distance under my belt this year and maybe even a 30 miler.
Here I am at the end of my 16 mile run!

Going Paleo or going nuts!

Upfront warning! Prepare for a Scooter Rant!

Definition from Paleodiet Site

“Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods being either in or out. In are the Paleolithic Era foods that we ate prior to agriculture and animal husbandry (meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.). Out are Neolithic Era foods that result from agriculture or animal husbandry (grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar and fake foods). “

I can certainly see where most grains may be out but seriously, grains are seeds and my guess is that monkey man ate anything he could get in his mouth that didn’t kill him/her. If the Paleo Man found a potato does anyone really think he would toss it because it wasn’t on his list of approved foods? Sugars are out but there are literally hundreds of sugary foods this early man would have eaten. Sugar cane, Banana stocks, Coconuts etc. and would this pre modern human turn down a nice wild sweet pea? Seriously? They would have ate it for the energy value in a split second. I’d bet my life on it. I mean seriously, and in a joking manor, these people watched a white hard thing come out of a birds butt and they ate it. They would eat anything that didn’t kill them. I am not sure what the difference is between meats pre animal husbandry and post animal husbandry but my guess is that if you’re eating beef of any kind the rules are violated. However, beef came from someplace so somewhere some place Paleolithic hunter-gatherers ate a cow.

Second, anyone have a clue what the life expectancy of the Paleo man was? It was short probably from injury and just plain hardship i suppose. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers would, in my estimation, do anything to make life easier. That is why we evolved. If they had the option of smashing open a walnut or getting into an almond vs. the simplicity of eating a pea pod or a potato, I can almost guess where they would go for food.

I can see excluding foods that are created that didn’t exist in nature, they are unnatural. And I can see eliminating grains to some extent but tender green wheat might have been valid food item. If I were a paleo era dude and I found a corn stock, which we know existed back then, I’d eat it raw right off the stock. I can’t imagine a world where they wouldn’t eat it and any scientist that says they wouldn’t is blinded by his own research. The oldest South American cultures ate roots and corn. There are several roots that are all over the world that are genetically traced back to South America. If they had it available, they would eat it.

These fad diets never cease to amaze me. Paleo is really the next generation of Atkins and South beach, just a slightly healthier version.

And now I see people talking on the Google Groups about how to take a bath Paleo style. How do I shave my legs, what do I use in place of soap. OK people, throw out the houses, clothes, toilet paper, toothbrushes and grow some balls. Go Paleo full out! I really hope they don’t come over my house after a run if they go on a soap strike. Enough of my rant but everywhere I go I see some post on this diet.

Paleolithic Mammoth Farmer

Need to carry tweezers on my runs

I guess I need to start carrying tweezers. Up till now I have avoided impaled objects that weren’t easy to remove. Last night I set out on a 6 mile run and at about 1.5 miles felt something in my foot stinging. I looked and saw a little area of blood but could not feel anything. I continued to run a bit and realized something was in there. I tried to get at it but was unable and turned around running on the balls of my feet only. I found some grass and sat down. I was able to finally dig it out and it was not much bigger than a grain of sand but was a shiny piece of glass.

It was a bummer cause I ended cutting a 6 mile run short by 1.5 miles. When I got home I went to the Gym to meet the wife and do some upper body workouts and kicked butt for an hour and then to top it all off I ran on a treadmill for another 2.5 miles at a 6.5 minute pace. It Hurt like hell and I loved it. I had already completed 250 Ab reps that morning so it ended up being a killer workout day.

Tweezers, that is what this started about huh? I need some tweezers to carry with me.

Posterior Tibial Tendinitis – Massage and Stretch

My Buddy Oso Polar posted this on the Runners world barefoot running board. Having dealt with Posterior Tibial Tendinitis from running barefoot and doing to much to soon TMTS, I thought this was a great massage and stretching exercise for the Posterior Tibial Tendon. Even though I am basically back to normal, I still massage the muscles and tendons after a long Barefoot run and it feels wonderful.

Sit in a chair and place the ankle of the leg to be massaged on the opposite knee. You’ll be looking right at the medial side of the shin – and post tib. (All of the following assumes you’re massaging your left leg.) Place the thumb of your right hand right behind the shin bone, down by the ankle. The thumb is placed along the bone – so it’s pointing up toward the knee. The fingers of the right hand will wrap around the front of the shin. Now place the left thumb on top of the right thumb. Wrap the left hand fingers around the front of the shin. Start making small circles with your foot. You’ll see post tib contract and relax. Push your thumbs deeply/firmly into the flesh and, while making slow circles with your foot, slide your thumbs up toward the knee. You’ll hopefully be massaging that muscle and releasing any of the restricting fascia that could be inhibiting the muscle movement.

via Runners World – barefoot running – posterior tibial tendinitis.

Barefoot Interval training

I have found that Interval training / Hill Speed Work required a completely different method. In high school I was a sprinter. My events were 100 Meter and 100 Meter hurdles. All power came from the hips and legs and was transferred to the ground through the feet pushing off and driving into the ground with every ounce of energy. Barefoot, this would be a difficult task as it would shred the balls of the feet. Some form of protection is required.

Sprinting barefoot requires a much more refined approach. In my experiments I found that a gradual acceleration, straight and aligned body posture with the weight moving through the center of the body, forward knee thrusts engaging the hip flexors, solid arm swings with thrusting back motion, exaggerated lean from the ankles without a bending at the hips and a very solid mid to forefoot plant followed immediately by a strong pull are essential. Any attempt to push off barefoot ends in hot spots and torn skin. Gravity is used to accelerate the body but to increase the speed, a forward drive of the knees and a strong swing of the arms can help increase acceleration without increasing the force exerted on the foot. As you begin to accelerate and decelerate, Do so slowly as to not create accelerating and braking forces on the foot. This is a critical time in sprinting barefoot and avoiding injuries

I like intervals on hills mainly for the added intensity but it also creates a situation where it is very hard to run in bad form. To climb a hill you need a high knee step and an exaggerated knee thrust as well as a forward lean from the ankles.

I included this picture because I love the alignment through the entire body.

via Barefoot Interval training | Barefoot Runners Society.

14 miles along the C&O Canal at Garmin Connect

How running changed taking off the shoes and going barefoot

This pretty much sums it up

Positive side effects of BF Running

• My balance improved, Core work helped there too
• Chronic Shin Splints went away after 7 years steady
• Calf trigger points have disappeared, better hydration may be helping as is foam roller
• Knee pain is gone. Have bad knees, meniscus tears. No pain now
• I smile when I run
• My form has dramatically improved. I am a puller not a pusher
• Oddly, my shoulders don't hurt after long runs. Probably form related
• My heart rate during running is 20 beats lower than when I wore shoes. Could be I run more now.
• Having the time of my life

Negative side effects of BF Running

• Ankles are still adjusting. Posterior Tibial Tendon still inflames occasionally but getting better. Too much too soon did some insult that is not clearing quickly
• People think I am weird, but I guess that was pre-existing

AKA Scooter- The Barefoot Buddha

via Have a medical condition or running-related injury that somehow cleared up when ditching the shoes? Please share! | Barefoot Runners Society.