Word from the Doc on the ankle

Well, Bones are OK, comes down to one or more of three tendons and without and MRI it’s hard to say which one. Doc says the treatment is the same regardless if which tendon so he didn’t want to do an MRI yet, immobilize, reduce stress, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate (RICE). For the next 10 days I cannot put any weight on the leg, Got to wear this awesome air cast, take a ton of Advil then we will see where I am at and start rehabbing it. If I still have the same level of pain in 10 days then it’s RI time and possibly more work. I also have a gnarly bone spur under the Achilles but it has never bothered me but it does explain why I can not stand shoes that rub the back of the foot. I joked about how it was good I didn’t sign up for a 10 miler in October and he said no problem, I’ll be back running by then. Man I hope so, I have a 50K goal this year.

Annapolis 10 miler, a barefoot adventure

Started out as one of the best run of my life, then….. it hit the fan.
Here is the short version… long to follow.

The barefoot part of the run went off without a hitch, I was having the greatest run, at 1 mile we were just over an 8 minute pace, mile 2 was the same story, my running partners were amazed how strong I was and so was I. it was like I was turbo charged.

Someplace around mile 4 I came into a water station and turned to avoid someone that stopped and slipped on a cup. as I slipped I remember thinking, “that don’t feel right” but there was no pain and on I went. around mile 6 I started feeling some ankle pain and was still cruising to completely blow away my PR but the pain was starting to nag and I slowed down a bit, dropped a little lower in my knees to take a load off the ankles and pressed on.

By the time I hit 7 miles I was walking and in serious pain. this is an out and back so back was the only way out. I considered a DNF and getting a ride but I couldn’t do it, I started running and really working on whatever form took away the pain. I remember thinking at one point there was only 2 miles left, anyone can run/walk 2 miles. Then came the Severn River bridge. I stopped running and walked about 3/4 mile over the bridge. On the other side of the bridge I hit the 9 mile mark and started running again, at first it was excruciating, I really wondered why I was doing this but then it started to feel better, probably dopamine’s kicking in. I ran walk that last mile and was able to pull out a semi sprint to the line with throngs of people cheering about me being Barefoot.
That was the race, there were lots of great moments, funny comments and good people that I talked with while running and walking. As far as I know, and from what several spectators told me, I was the only barefoot runner so I figure I finished first in my class

As for the foot, it isn’t in good shape, something is drastically wrong. Sitting here is OK but walking is out. The pain is inside and outside right behind the ankle bones. It doesn’t feel like the Achilles and there is no palpable pain in the Achilles however pressing either side behind the ankle will bring me to tears. Probably going to need an x-ray and an MRI to figure out this mess

A Barefoot running Personal Record

The longest continuous distance I had been able to muster was 8 miles and once I did 10 but threw a mile in the middle with VFFs
This was pure barefoot running with a Nathan #020 backpack, eating my now favorite running chow
Clif Shot Bloks, Damn these things are Yummy.

A Nice 11 mile run

A weekend long run, nothing spectacular but I am always proud of every long rubn

Using 4MM Cord for Running Huaraches

Well, I get to take back my preference of leather straps as the perfect Huarache lace material. Over the past several weeks as I started using Huaraches in running more I have noticed that the between the toes pain and cutting feeling wasn’t getting better so I have opted to try something different than Latigo Lace Leather.

I went to REI and purchased some 3mm, 4mm and 5 mm cord. The cost was around $0.35 per foot and later I found that I could get that at 1/2 price at The Trail House in Frederick, MD so shop around. I settled for now on 4 mm but may experiment later with the 5mm. 3mm seems marginal as a thickness and might cut into the toes.

The first thing I noticed was the knot between the toes was way too large and making it small enough was going to be a challenge so I came up with this method that seems to work well. After a few days of wearing the Huaraches. The pain between the toes is greatly relieved and there is no cutting feeling.

Starting with 6 feet of cord, more than enough for any style tying, the first step was to cut the line and lightly melt both ends. One end I melted to a point to assist threading into the sandal. The other end just a slight melt so I could pull out the center cord material from the nylon sheath.

WARNING: Be careful and if you can’t be careful, have an adult help you, even if you are over 18 and think you are an adult but don’t act like one. Hot nylon sticks to your fingers and will cause burns! You have been warned.

Lightly melt end of cord using a lighter, stove or other method – See warning above.

Pull back the nylon cord sheath and expose about 2-3 inches of inner twisted cord.

Cut away 2-3 inches of inner cord and melt the end to stop fraying

Melted end of white inner layer of cord after cutting

Pull the outer nylon sheath out over there the inner cord used to be. Make sure you grab the cord up a foot or so and slide your fingers as you pinch the line, towards the modified end. Grab the slightly limp modified cord end and give it a good tug so all the outer sheath is pulled tight. Melt the end of the outer sheath.

Now tie a figure 8 not in the modified narrow end of the line. This will create a large enough knot that it won’t slip through the Huaraches sole yet will be small enough to not be felt when wearing the huarache. I then gave the entire knot a little heat and melted it slightly. Probably not a necessary step. Once the inner cord material is removed, the knot in the outer material is very tight and won’t come untied.

The Final product. I am satisfied with how they feel show here tied in the slip on fashion.