Hyland Lake Barefoot Run

Since I'd sent out invitations to dozens of people a few days ago asking them to join me for a trail run and raptor release at Hyland Lake this weekend, I decided I'd better head out there for a beta run to see what the trail conditions were like. Hyland is probably my favorite spot to run barefoot because the trails are soft, non-technical, and I still have sissy feet.

Ended up doing a leisurely 6.5 miles with my feet feeling wonderful! For the most part, the trails are dry and in excellent condition! Well, except when they're not:

Personally, I love running barefoot (or in this case, in VFF's) in the mud! Makes me feel like a kid again! I'll be out there doing it again this Saturday with some of my buddies in tow :)

Care to join us?

International Barefoot Running Day

Kel, Justin, David, Katie, Christian, Chris, Donnie, Lyle, (missing Tomkin)

Headed out to Hyland today to meet up with members of the Minnesota Chapter of the Barefoot Runners Society to celebrate International Barefoot Running Day. The original plan was to kick off the day with a potluck picnic at noon followed by a short barefoot run on the trails in the park. I'd never met anyone in this particular group, but it sounded fun and Hyland Lake is nearby.

Woke up to temps just above freezing and howling winds. Happy flippin' May Day. Got out to the park to find Christian and Lyle huddled together in the parking lot waiting for the rest of the crew (we were expecting 15). It was windy enough that flags were sticking straight out from the flag poles and there were whitecaps on the puddles in the grass. They'd decided to cancel the picnic that morning because of the crappy weather, so some folks were confused about the new start time for the run. Slowly, a few more people trickled in and 9 of us finally hit the asphalt (yes, asphalt) close to an hour later.

A few in the group were trying barefoot or minimalist running for the first time - everyone seemed to be loving it in spite of the weather! Kept the run pretty short - only about 2.3 miles, but there were plenty of smiles all around! We hung out in the warm visitor center munching on fruit (thanks Lyle) for a bit afterwards before everyone headed off to do their own thing. I had a great time and met some cool new people - now I just have to convince them to get their feet off the pavement and into the dirt ;)

Recent Spectating and Pain Free Running

One thing that I've been reminded of with my Achilles tendon tweaking is that the older I get, the longer it takes to heal. Apparently, this trend continues as we age. One of my 100 year old exercise class participants recently told me, "I just don't bounce back like I did when I was 85." Point taken.

Last weekend, I ended up heading down to Zumbro River Bottoms to support several ultra buddies who were participating in the second running of the Zumbro 100 mile trail race. Since the course was a little different this year (and even "sportier" than last year since Larry took out the flat part), I really wanted to get out on the trail to check it out. I also didn't want to do anything stupid that would set me back, since my Achilles tendon still didn't like uphills. Ended up just hiking from the start/finish area to AS 1/4 for about 6 miles of very pretty trail.

Zumbro River from Pine Trail Overlook

Got to visit with Jen who was manning the AS and Donny who had started sweeping the course. Alicia was also there and we got to see a few runners come through on their last loop before heading back to watch the finish. The weather for that weekend was absolutely perfect - it was tough to maintain the discipline to not run and re-tweak my Achilles! Everything was feeling great after the hike, though it did get a little stiff and sore later that evening. Not painful, just tender. My calf also felt like it was on the verge of cramping, but never really did lock up. I decided that my game plan worked perfectly: I stressed it enough to keep it rehabbing without overdoing it.

Today I ended up at Hyland Lake on another perfect day to support my buddies who were running at Trail Mix. Since the parking area gets ridiculously crowded for this race, I didn't get out there until after 11 am when most of the 25K runners had left. The rehab had been going well since Zumbro, so I decided that I would take a stab at running in the Vibram Five Fingers for the first time in 6 weeks. Hyland is the perfect place to try since the trails are soft, flat, and non-technical.

Saw a few familiar faces in the finish area: Eve and Kim had already finished first and second for the women's 50K. Decided to head down the trail in the reverse direction to see if I could find anyone I knew. Les was on his way in to finish his 3'rd lap, Shelly wasn't far behind. Did a little running on the Lake Trail and it felt wonderful! Got almost as far as the AS that intersects Lake and Hill trail junction when Wayne came along. I ended up running back to the start/finish area with him - still pain free running :)))

Decided that I would head over to the ski hill to catch another section of the course, but.... the course had been changed and there was no ski hill section. Went up and over the ski hill to get back into the park, but didn't see any sign of the course in that area. Ended up calling it a day after running about 3 barefoot miles..... 3 pain free barefoot miles....and heading home.

Time to get back to increasing miles, but still not do anything stupid by trying to do too much, too soon. Will probably decide at the last minute whether to head out to Afton with the gang tomorrow (50K fat ass starts at 8, picnic at 3), or go back to Hyland and try to figure out what this year's Trail Mix course was. I don't suppose anyone who ran Trail Mix captured the course on their Garmin and would like to share?

See you on the trails!

February Update

It's been awhile.

Haven't been doing any trail running, but have been doing lots of short barefoot runs on an indoor track. Only ran in shoes twice this month! Feels great, but is taking longer than I'd hoped to transition to longer mileage. Trying to be patient and not do anything stupid ;)

With the shorter mileage, I've also managed to put on a few pounds over the last 4 months since I've continued to eat as if I were still hammering out 20+ mile runs every weekend. Peri-menopause doesn't help in that regard either.

Been trying to eat healthier, as in more natural foods and in better combinations (ie veggies, good fats, protein, and carbs at every meal). This all came to mind after watching Food, Inc.and then listening to a dietician from Nutritional Weight and Wellness give a presentation. Even "good" carbs break down to sugar and result in insulin spikes when eaten alone, which in turn can affect blood cholesterol levels, inflammation, sleep quality, yadayadayada. Trader Joe's has an awesome natural peanut butter with roasted flax seeds (the almond butter with flax is pretty good too), and I've found a few local places that sell free range/grass fed meat, organic eggs, etc. Also found some awesome wheat berry and quinoa recipes :)

I've been enjoying watching the Olympics, though I seem to hear the results before I get to see the events, which kind of spoils it. I used to participate in alpine ski racing (the major source of my current knee problems), so those events are my favorite.

Still not sure what races I'll be doing this year - the column on the right side of the page will most likely change. Probably at the last minute in many cases. North Country 50 mile is the only race I've officially entered at this point, and I'll combine that with a family visit.

Can't wait for spring!

Tenderfoot

As I mentioned in my Trail Mix report, I had some trouble with the muscles in my feet cramping during Saturday's trail race. Not my calves - my feet. I believe that this was caused by fatigue of muscles that simply don't get used very efficiently when running exclusively on paved paths or the hamster wheel, especially when constantly encased in shoes. There is a fair amount of peer reviewed research to support the notion that today's running shoes may contribute to many of the overuse injuries incurred by runners (feel free to do your own research using the Highwire link provided under "training aids"), and running barefoot allows your body to work the way it was designed. In the past I've never had problems transitioning from asphalt to dirt, probably because I was rock climbing on a regular basis (very effective strengthener of intrinsic muscles in feet!). Since I haven't been climbing much at all this past year and Trail Mix was only my second time off road this spring, things didn't go heavenly on Saturday as far as the tootsies were concerned. Anyhoo, I already knew about the potential benefits of running barefoot, but was too chicken to actually try going sans shoes outdoors - until I found out about Vibram Five Fingers KSO's from Keith.

Vibram Five Fingers KSO with Injinji socks

Took 'em out for their maiden voyage on the dirt paths at Bredesen Park this afternoon, and...WooHoo! Got to run through puddles, on soft dirt, asphalt, over twigs (ouch) and rocks (ouch), grass, etc. Still have tender feet! I only went about 2 and a half miles - my forefeet were starting to feel mildly bruised, but I expect that I just need to get used to actually feeling the terrain that I'm running on. Calves weren't tired at all. And my feet felt light as air (unlike Saturday at Trail Mix wearing clunkers that collected mud).

Oh, and the trees are budding, and turtles are popping up on logs in the ponds. It's officially spring!