After a "short" impasse...

After a "short" impasse, I have returned to my Barefoot experience idea an so, I am writing again in this blog.

I have brought a pair of Xero Shoes that I have wanted for years and now they are my official "at home" shoes and I have started running in them short distances.

After a few days walking around with them I did my first run, just 3 KM. I was a little concerned about having the correct form and landing correctly but I believe it is something that comes naturally.

My main recommendation when starting is to do distances that you can handle easily, because when you start to feel tired it is more probable to "drag" your foot in the road or hit something. I tried running in aquashoes/watershoes (too heavy, too hot) in the past, and one of the problems I had was that with just a small distraction you can tear/rip/scrape them, and when you are tired, you are prone to distractions.

If You Can't Run Fast, Run Far...

I am a couple of days away from my first trail race. My goal for next year is to hit the trails so I decided to start before the end of the year!

My first experience will be a 11.5 km event. In theory, I must not have any problem with that distance as I have done runs as long as 21 KMs (21KM @ 7:02 min/km), but maybe with less elevation gain/loss (488 m). Anyway, as this is my first time, my main target is just to finish it and evaluate the feeling.

Not sure yet about what race strategy I will use, or my estimated finish time. I will try to do a conservative forecast based on the route and will see how it goes. I am thinking that I could use the run-walk-run approach in the first kilometers (uphill) to save some energy and then run like an animal downhill...

Water will be available at KM2.5, KM4.5 and KM9. I do not normally need water or food (or even to have breakfast) when running similar distances but again, as this is the first time, I will probably stop for a moment at KM4.5.

The "Are you Crazy?" question

I knew it was a risk... sooner or later someone could ask that question... but it was sooner than I expected.
I entered my home this morning, after my second barefoot activity, and found my wife in the kitchen. I quickly turned to the rooms to find my sandals but they were at the other side of the house so I had to admit I went outside without shoes when she asked about my mysterious behavior. She said: Are you crazy?
I really do not remember what I answered but I remember what I said to myself: well, maybe, but who cares!
Here is a tip from Zen Habits for the ones who have not been asked yet!

•Non-conformist: One of the hardest things about walking barefoot isn’t the temperature or possible pain of pebbles, it’s the non-conformity of it all — it’s being worried that others will think you’re a dork, or homeless, or some kind of dangerous radical. And yet, I’ve learned to embrace my non-conformist side, to relish in being a bit different, to be proud I’m not one of the sheep. There’s nothing wrong with bucking societal norms, if it’s for good reason.

I'd rather be the Black Sheep than one of the pack

I challenge you to...

I have been running and biking for a while, trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and I would like to encourage my wife to exercise a little bit more as well (Actually, I want to involve my family in a long-term healthy lifestyle). I have been thinking about how to encourage her, but frankly I am not a good motivator.
Yesterday morning, I gave her a pedometer my company provided me as part of a wellness program, and challenged her to walk as much as possible. She accepted it and decided to start her day with a few minutes (around 10 I guess) in an elliptical machine that have been at home almost unused for years (I hate indoors exercise so I prefer to go out even if it is raining cats and dogs outside). It was a positive reaction and I am very excited about it. She reached almost 7000 steps yesterday, which is more than what I expected
This morning she proposed a short walk and of course I said yes. In these two days I have seen real evidence of some of the common tips to get motivated that I have read in many blogs and forums, for example: be challenged, find a partner...
Now our challenge is to keep the ball running!

Back to the primitive

Back to the primitive, fuck off all you wannabes (Soulfly)

This story probably begins as many others. I have been running since 2009 and, as I love reading, I have been also reading a lot about running, so I heard about barefooot running a long time ago and had been thinking to try it for a while. Recently I did read an article in Runner's World magazine about the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon, the Tarahumaras and the dead of ultrarunner Micah True and I finally took the decision to transition to barefoot running (I think that is completely understandable as many people have been inspired by Micah True and Chris McDougall's Born to run book.
I spent the first 7 years of my life living in the country side and I was really used to move around in barefeet, that's was pretty natural. So it must not be too hard. At the end, if running is as easy as lace up your shoes and get outside, barefoot running must be even easier.
So this is what happened this morning (after some reading over the previous days). I decided to start the transition slowly (as it is suggested everywhere and for everything), so I got ouside for a barefoot walk with our dog (he is an experienced barefoot runner!!!). It was a short walk, around 2 kilometers and I also tried jogging for a few meters from time to time, just to discover that I am too used to the heel strike of Shod running. I think it will take some time to change that, but I already took the first steps (literally) to do it.
It was not all fun. I cannot believe it happened to me on my first "oficial" barefoot walk. I never had that problem when running on shoes, but today I stepped in poo, a really bad way to start the day, isn't it? Fortunately, I did read an article a few days ago that made me feel better.

You could step on something or, worse, IN something! Response: Yeah, so? But: a) How bad would it REALLY be?; b) How often is this REALLY a problem, or are you just imagining it happening without knowing the actual numbers?; c) Are these injuries worse than the various problems people have in shoes?; d) If you do step in poo… which is easier to hose off: your feet or a waffle-soled shoe?

Tomorrow will be another day, another barefoot day.