Bare My Sole

Sunday morning was a cold one.  When I arrived at the Lions Club for the Peterborough Liftlock Classic it was only 5ºC.  After getting my bib and T-shirt I sat in the car to stay warm until the 9am start time.  At about 8:50 I spotted John  and got out of the car.  I told him I wanted to pace off of him because I was aiming for a time like he got in Lindsay.  As we headed to the starting line I felt like I was missing something.  I realized I didn’t have my timing chip.  I quickly picked up my chip and put it on my ankle before hastily making my way back to the start.  I made it to the line in time to hear that the race would be two laps and that we would be starting at the same time as the 5k runners.  That may have explained why everyone ran so fast at the start of the race.  There was a short stretch of gravel not long after the start that didn’t slow me down too much but I knew I had to encounter it 3 more times in the race.  I found the race to be psychologically more difficult than The Milk Run because of the looping of the course.  There was a short but fairly steep hill at the Quaker parking lot driveway.  Since we would be coming down it just before the final stretch, I decided to let myself go and carry the speed right to the finish.  As I reached the bottom of the hill I passed John and heard him yell “I knew you were going to do that!”.  I finished just a few seconds before him at 47:08.  It was a slower time for him compared to The Lindsay Milk Run, but it was still a best time for me so I was happy.

Since The Lindsay Milk Run I have been running Monday night Pub Runs and Tuesday night track workouts fairly consistently.  I can now run barefoot on the track for the whole workout.  In the last few weeks I’ve tried to add in some longer runs.  A couple of those longer runs have been on the gravel path in Jackson’s Park.  The gravel still slows me down to not much faster than a walk, but I can now run the full trail from Parkhill bridge to Ackison Rd. and back (9k).   I’ve now registered for the Warkworth 8 Miler.  It looks like it could be challenging for me since it is the longest race I’ve run and looks like it has a lot of gravel and rough trails.  With the training I’ve been doing I should be able to do it, but we’ll see.

I went to see a physiotherapist about the pain in the knee I was feeling.  His assessment was that I was running quite a lot for someone new to the sport and that some of my leg muscles were not as strong as they needed to be.  The weak muscles were letting the strong muscles pull the knee cap off to the side enough to cause irritation and then pain.  He gave me some stretches and some excercises to do to strengthen the weaker muscles.

One week before the race I ran the course to check out the surface and to get an idea of time.  The surface was good with only a small patch of gravel at the trail head, but the trail itself was paved and smooth.  The time was about an hour, however I didn’t accurately check the time so it was only a guess.  Monday night was a fast 8.5k Pub Run.  Tuesday I ran a very fast 4k on the track, followed by Wednesday’s fast 4k with a run up armour hill.  I then rested the rest of the week.  My knee was feeling fine considering I had run more this week than any other in my life.

In Lindsay I met up  with the other runners from Runner’s Life and tried to get my name on the team.  After being re-directed to several different people, I ended up giving a change of info form to the lady handing out the timing chips and she didn’t know anything about it but put the form in her pocket.  I ran the MAD 10k last year in 1:05:00, so I wanted to do this in less than one hour.  My target would be 50:00, but I thought it might be a long shot.  I asked some of the other Runner’s Life runners what their target times were and got times around 45 minutes.  Cynthia said she thought that might be a bit fast for her so I decided to pace with her.  My plan was to stay with her as long as I could.  When the race started the pace felt a little fast but not uncomfortably so.  We were passing quite a few people and I hoped I could keep this up for the remainder of the race.  At the 5k mark I found my breathing getting more laboured and Cynthia was slowly pulling away from me.  I decided to just let her go and to relax and just keep my legs going.  I noticed a lot of the people we had passed were now passing me.  My only goal at this point was to keep running and not let myself slow to a walk.  I figured I would be lucky to beat the one hour mark now.  I saw a police officer friend of mine as I was coming down Adelaide St. and decided to pick up the pace a little to give a better showing.  Just a little further and I was in sight of the finish line.  I was determined to pass the 5k walkers and the stroller pushers that were between me and the timing mats.  So with my head down, I sprinted toward the mats making sure to hit every one.  Not wanting to pass out I continued to the parking lot at a ever slowing walk and then came back to the tables for some much needed ice-cream.  Some people asked me how I did and I didn’t know.  So I walked back to the finish line where the clock was still only reading 1:02:00.  I ask if that was the 10k clock because I thought I finished close to one hour and I had already walked around for several minutes.  I was told it was and suddenly felt very good.  Once I read my time from the result sheet I was in disbelief at my 47:30 time.  They never did get me on the Runner’s Life team, but I would have been the slowest time on it anyway.  My target for my next 10k race will have to be 45 minutes or better.  I don’t know when that will be, but I do know I want to start working on more distance now and maybe some trails.

Last week I finished reading the book Born To Run, by Christopher McDougall.  This is a great book, packed full of adventure, science of running and the most interesting people doing things others thought were impossible.  If you are a runner or interested in running, you should read this book.

This book has inspired me and reenergized my running.  I am now  more interested in trail running and looking more closely at ultra marathon distances.  Ultra marathons seem like a pretty lofty goal considering the longest distance I’ve raced is 10k.  Right now the thought of even traveling 50 miles on foot in a day seems super-human.  However, there are a lot of people out there doing it and there is more and more each day.  It has been said that ultra marathon running is the fastest growing sport in North America.  For now I will have to stay focused on improving my distance and speed at 10k.  I have registered for the Lindsay Milk Run (10k), on July 19^th at 9am.

I learned the hard way not to make changes to my running form until I know what I’m doing, because what I think I am doing is not what I am actually doing.  Last Monday I was all excited to go running after finishing the book, and I was thinking about trying to shorten my stride.  By Tuesday night’s track workout, my left knee was very sore.  I knew it was from the changes I had made to my stride on Monday.  I had the same pain in my knees when I changed my stride in the winter while running on the ice.  When I was running fast at the track, the pain went away, but when I slowed down it would flare up again.  I rested for the rest of the week, and then on Sunday went for a two hour barefoot walk on the Jackson’s Park path and some trails through the woods.  So far the knee is feeling better and I hope to do an easy run Monday on the Pub Run without making any form changes.  Dave says he will get the video camera out in July so I can have a look at what I am really doing when I run.  So that should help.

Here are some websites of people featured in the book.

Barefoot Ted

Luis Escobar (the photographer)

Micah True (aka Caballo Blanco)

Chris McDougall on The Daily Show

On Tuesday I went to the track for the interval workout.  I don’t know if it was heat stroke or dehydration but I must have blacked-out and when I awoke I was … gasp! … WEARING SHOES!

I was joking about the blacking out, but I did put a pair of shoes on my feet.  They weren’t just any shoes I put on.  They were the new BIOM B 1.2 Male Mesh Natural Motion Shoes by ECCO.  They did feel lighter than most shoes I have worn.  After a few laps around the track, I could really notice what felt like a wedge of spongy material under my heels.  The effect seemed to cause my heels to strike the ground first instead of my usual mid-foot strike.  I tried to adjust my landing to move more forward and ended up getting sore shins.   The sole was still too rigid for me.  My feet weren’t able to flex and adjust to the ground as much as I am used to.  Also my feet got hot causing me to feel hotter than usual.  It amazes me how much heat my feet dissipate when I’m barefoot.  So you might have guessed, I will not be buying these shoes for myself.  This is not to say that I wouldn’t recommend them however.

The Bioms would make a good transition shoe from shod running to barefoot running.  A person who is already running with typical running shoes and wanting to become a barefoot runner, would be wise to accomplish the change-over in two phases.  The first would be to use the Biom shoes at ever increasing distances or time if they are running in circles (at the track).  When they are not running, they should try walking barefoot as much as possible.  The next phase would be once they are comfortable enough to use the Biom shoes for most of their running, to run barefoot at ever increasing distances and different surfaces (concrete, grass, packed soil, sand etc.).

The bottom line on the Biom shoes is these would make a good transition shoe, but for me, actually being barefoot is better than anything that tries to simulate it.  Don’t mess with perfection!

Biom Review from Barefootrunner.com

More about Chris McDougall

Even Popular Mechanics

On Monday May 11, the CBC radio show The Current did a show on barefoot running.  They had emailed me about being on the show, but by the time I got back to them, they had made other arrangements.  I though it was good that the show brought up the topic of barefoot running and had Chris McDougall on to talk about his book and experiences.  However, I didn’t see the point in having a normally shod runner giving a report on running barefoot.  He would have to build up gradually to any significant running distance barefoot.  If he gave a report after several months of going barefoot, then he might have something worth saying.  You can’t just start running barefoot after wearing shoes all your life and expect you will be like someone who has never worn shoes.  A lot of damage has been done and it will take time to correct.  The younger you are when you do this the better.  Best of all would be if we never put them on in the first place.  Our shoes have deformed our feet, numbed our senses, and weakened our joints and muscles in our feet, not to mention the damage done further up the body.

But I digress…

In the next part of the show they had an interview with John Stanton.  They introduced him with this.  “He is founder and CEO of The Running Room.  It has grown into a Canadian chain of nearly 100 retail stores that sell running shoes and gear.”  Unlike Chris McDougall who doesn’t make any money from people running barefoot, John makes his profits from people buying shoes!  People have bad running form, injuries and foot problems because they have been wearing shoes.  John is saying these are just natural differences in runners that require different shoes to overcome.  I feel this idea is like saying if we add some drugs to your cigarette, your emphysema will feel better.  (I use cigarettes as an analogy for shoes because they both are billion-dollar industries, have fashion to blame for their over use, bad for your health and the more you use them, the more you feel you need to use them.)

More from Chris McDougall:

Born To Run

What Ruins Running

The Barefoot Marathon Runner

After the blowing snow on Saturday it was nice to feel the warm sun on Sunday.  My goal for the 5k race was to better my time from the St. Paddy’s 5k and to run the entire race barefoot.  Running on these types of hills and on the dirt road was new to me.  Despite these challenges I was comfident that I could run under 25:19.  The race started slowly with everyone beginning at the same time.  The gravely pavement was tougher to navigate than the gravely dirt, but at least it was only for about 500m at the beginning and end of the race.  By the turn-around I felt I could use a nice drink of water.  I quickly found that my drinking while running technique needs some improvement.  I took one sip of water and squeezed the top of the cup together to seal it as best I could.  Although I could feel the occational drop of water escape the cup as I ran, I expected to get at least another sip out of it.  At the bottom of the next hill I stopped for another sip and of course couldn’t get so much as a drop out of it.  So I crushed the cup in my hand and held on to it ’til the finish.  This distracted me from focusing to much on my tender left heel that may have been slightly bruised by a pebble on the hard pavement at the beginning of the race.  My feet felt hot and a little tender by the end but that’s typical after a hard run and means the skin will thicken for next time.  The dirt road was actually a pretty nice surface to run on.  Overall I felt good at the end, and the 24:35 finishing time only helped.  The beautiful weather really topped off the day.  It was hard to believe the next day I was running in a snowstorm during the Pub Run.

As the morning sunshine was slowly warming the frozen pavement, I knew the skin on the soles of my feet was still too thin to run 5k on cold pavement without protection.  I had brought my Vibram® FiveFingers® shoes with me but wasn’t sure if I really wanted to use them.  I felt like I was cheating in some way, and yet I didn’t want to have another injury to set back my progress. 

I looked around me for someone I could pace with while waiting for the race to start.  I saw Tanya close by and decided to run with her as the race began.  Quite a few people seemed to move off ahead of us, so I figured we were running pretty slow.  I remember thinking how heavy the shoes felt but thought the payoff was the reduced sensitivity allowing me to step just about anywhere.  By the first turn-around I new it was going to be a struggle to get through the full 5k at my current pace. 

Tanya started to pull away just before the final turn-around and my feet were feeling hot and sore.  I knew I would finish near the end of the pack but I wanted to finish true-to-form.  So at the 4k mark I stopped and took off the shoes, and after a short walk to get use to the new sensations I ran barefoot towards the finish.  My feet felt so relieved to be free again and so light, that the sprint to the finish was the most enjoyable part of the race.  I was actually pleasantly surprised with the 25:19 for my first 5k.

 Since the race I have been trying to thicken my soles so I can run Barefoot for future races.  On Monday I ran the pub-run (7k) barefoot with no problems and on Friday I walked for 2 hours to Jackson’s Park and back.  From the cool mud to the sun warmed gravel, its a most enjoyable feeling to walk barefoot on a sunny spring day.  The feet feel like they’re well on their way back to their former strength and condition.

Well it has been about five weeks of healing.  I’m now nearing the end of the process of regenerating new skin and losing the skin I worked to thicken all last year.   I’ve been told that the skin will thicken quicker this time.  I hope that is true and I am going to do whatever I can to help it along.  Once again I find myself trying to thicken the skin on the soles of my feet gradually.  This is done by being barefoot as much as possible and on rough surfaces, but not so much as to wear the skin off.  Its harder to take things slow now, but I want to build strong healthy feet so I can concentrate on increasing my running distance.  I’ve been running on an indoor track every Tuesday for the month of February and I was able to walk approximately 5k outside a couple of times when the weather was good.  I plan to start doing the pub runs again in March when the weather allows.  Despite the early setback, I hope to make some significant improvement in my distance this year.  If I can do that, then everything else should improve.

After having some time to think about what went wrong on that last pub run I think I know.  Although hindsight is 20/20, I should have realized the increased danger of frostbite from salted snow.  Anyone who has ever made icecream in the summer knows that salt mixed with ice is much colder than ice alone.  Now I know that salty snow is one of the greatest hazards of winter barefooting.  Unfortunately I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

Monday’s pub run started out like most of the previous ones I had gone on in December.  The temperature was -4°C, winds were calm and a few cm’s of snow left over from the weekend was on the roads and sidewalks.  I was planning on only running the 7k, but figured I would follow everyone else since I had done the 10k route in December without problems.  The packed snow wasn’t a problem, but I found the loose grey snow on the roads that contained salt to be extra cold especially as it contacted the edges and arches of my feet.  Once we reached Little Lake Cemetery I knew I had pushed too far.  My feet were feeling colder and more painful than my other winter runs.  At that point I decided to pick up the pace to generate more heat.  Once my feet started to warm up back at the store, I was getting the burning sensation that was more painful and lasted longer than before.  The other difference was that this time my foot arches were more affected.  I was able to continue on as usual until the next day when I discovered some blisters on my feet and some pain when walking.  By Tuesday night I had a huge blister on the arch of my left foot and some smaller ones on my right.  This made it impossible to walk, but I knew enough not to break the blisters so as not to increase the chance of infection.

I said earlier “The trick is not to cross the line that results in injury”.  Unfortunately that is what I did.  So once I recover, the rest of my running this winter will be done at temperatures above freezing.

So 2008 has come and gone.  So far I’ve been lucky enough to find a day or two each week that was warm enough to get out and run.  I even ran 14k on a mild (3°C) Saturday, although the slush and ice were unpleasant.  Being away from work the last 2 weeks of December has allowed some extra sole thickening to occure.  By staying out of socks and shoes inside and when possible outside, the skin on the heels and balls of my feet has thickened to give them more protection.  Most people think that the soles get callused from going barefoot, but my experience has been that the skin thickens and remains soft and smooth.  The thickened skin provides protection and reduces discomfort without removing too much sensitivity.  This means I can go farther over rougher terrain without discomfort.

There is a threshold where conditions make it impossible to continue without some kind of foot protection.  My goal is to keep pushing that threshold forward as far as I can.  I want to find the point where I cannot push it any farther.  As biological entities we are always changing to best fit the conditions we are in.  Some of these changes happen slowly and others are relatively fast.  So the more comfortable we make things for ourselves, the weaker we become.  My goal for 2009 is to become stronger, not weaker.