Once Around The Lake

A Trail Tree... On The Trail :)

Today I got up the nerve to try trail running barefoot. Shortly after this run I read in Jason Rubillard's book, The Barefoot Running Book that I shouldn't be doing this for few more months. Oh well...

Let me just start by saying that TRAIL RUNNING IS FUN! It requires an active mind, even more than that of barefoot running on pavement. Amazingly, the human body almost does this naturally. I suppose years of evolution will do that to ya.

I had walked the trail before, in my shod days, and remembered some gravel. I know my limits, and I know that I am not comfortable running on gravel. There are also some spots that are right next to a major highway which may have contained trash. I figured it is better safe than sorry and carried my Crocs.

I apparently took the Jesus route...

I came across a group of four: two girls, a baby, and their dog. The look on one girls face when I came running by without shoes was priceless. I could see what was running through her head. It was something like, "Runner... Gotta move out of the... Oh look no shoes... Wait no shoes!?!..." She smiled and asked me, "Don't your feet hurt?" I just replied that they were fine and ran on, approaching their dog and greeting it enthusiastically. It was pretty stoked to see me.

As the trial went on I hit some really steep inclines, which I walked up. I didn't feel the need to run hard and hurt myself, especially since I would be stuck in the woods with two girls behind me to scrape me up.

One thing that gave me some major problems were the downhills. These were really long, steep inclines. Jason pointed out in The Barefoot Running Book to handle these situations by essentially decreasing the incline of the hill. He says to turn the body at a 45 degree angle and go down it skier style. He discusses it in the video below.

My feet... Well my feet are getting worn. I burnt myself on pavement a few weeks ago, and I had an extra layer of skin over the ball of my left toe. While I was running this trail the skin halfway came off and dangled the rest of the way. I came home and cut it off later, but the new skin is still kind of sore. Also, the outer parts of my big toe are worn every time I run. I understand this is due to pushing off instead of falling forward. Gotta work on that... Another thing I noticed is how my left foot is always more worn than my right. I believe this is due to a previous injury, broken right femur, which now causes me to unknowingly baby my right foot a bit more. I really need to work on my form I guess. I am just happy that I have the awesome ability to do the things that I am doing.

One other thing I want to point out, so I remember it next time, is the large amount of "debris" near the bridge. I don't know what they are feeding those ducks, but it sure is slimey...