On the road again....

Hola Comrades,

I'm back to daily barefootn' after 12 days of letting my cut close up. The cut toe is still a p.i.t.a. and still unhappy, but it's ok to run on. I'm looking forward to logging some big miles and hitting some races!

I am now readying myself for the 10k trail races coming up.. but still no speedwork while healing. SO the goal will to be just go out and have fun on race day and get a trail race under the belt while bf.

My diet is going well...down to 167lbs @ 6 1/2 ft. getting stronger and lighter is good.

the barefoot 10k

This week I let up a bit on the miles as I decided to do the Santa Monica 10k barefoot. On race day I woke up at 6:30am without an alarm which is shocking to me. So I had some toast with some jam on it and some green tea and a banana and was off. We got at the race site with only 15 mins. to race time and I hadn't registered yet! So Amy let me out of the car and I ran to the starting line. I got there and apparently registraion wasnt at the start, there are a ton of people I am wading through. I am getting nervous about not making it in time. So as I am scanning for the registration I walk straight into a tire spike strip and totally SLASH and gash my left foot between the big and 2nd toe!! It hurt and was bleeding quite profusely. I finally find the registration stand and I am off to the starting line with blood foot. How the hell am I gonna run 6.2 miles in barefeet? But no way did I come here to cut my toe off and go home to the ER. I came to run and run I shall! I am lined up at the back of the pack at this point. I don't have a time goal anyhow, I have done exactly zero speed training.

BAM! We are off and I am happy to be moving, albeit at a turtle like pace. The first mile was a circus like sea of waddling folks. It must have been a 10 minute pace at best. I said ok I'm having fun and happy my body feels ok. Mile 2 comes and I see another barefooter, I give him a hollar as I pass him by. Mile 3 comes and At this point I decide it's time to get up and go. Body is feeling surprisingly good, I can't feel any pain in the blood foot. I start cranking up the pace and I am passing people left and right, one good thing about starting in the back, I never got passed once! I see Sammy Kosgei running straight at me at around mile 3.5 as he has made the turn around and is running like a deer! I screamed for him as he flew by in his Nike Free's. mile 4 is just after the turnaround and I am now running faster than I have in like 6 months. The surface of the streets were surprisingly nice on the feet and I am really enjoying the awareness of my body in my first barefoot race! Mile 5 comes and I up it one more time, down ocean ave. I let fly! This mile has to make up for the horrendously slow 1st mile. And it does. I am running all out from this point to the end. I don't think I have ever un this fast barefoot. Mile 6 I can see the finish and I now enter my sprint to the finish. I finish happy in 50:21. This was my first official 10k ever. I have run faster than this in training in shoes but never ran 6.26 miles this fast in barefeet. I am ok with this time, though it will undoubtedly be improved upon next time. I also will not start at the back and cut my foot off before the next race. Now as I wait to find out my time my foot started to really rebel. The gash was not happy and it started some gross inflammation and puffiness. This is gonna take awhile to heal as it looks like someone tried to amputate my toe with a hand saw. God willing I plan to run the malibu canyon trail 10k barefoot in Oct.!

















Mon. -1:10 Easy in Lunas and bf on the trails next to the tracks in the desert. ALso some laps on the concrete loop bf.
Thurs.- 1:00 Easy barefoot in da hood. The homies said "yo that is good for your organs!" and " yo that is hardcore" in response to my barefeet.
Fri.-1:00 Hills barefoot felt great...my technique is really coming together. I weighed myself today..I am at 171lbs...I started a bit of a diet to get down to 160lbs. We'll see how that goes. I am hungry!
Sun.- RACE 1st barefoot race and 1st 10k ever.

Miles a plenty and Luna Love

I did 52 miles this week! I cant believe I have gotten up here running in nothing but barefeet and sandals. Amazing. I sometimes have to remind myself that I'm running this many miles as it feels so much easier than it used to.

I want to get up to the 70 mpw before this possible Ultra race in October... we shall see. I suppose 60 would suffice. I ran alot of these miles in the Mojave Desert.

The week Looked like this:

Monday- EASY 1:03 barefoot..sidewalks into the Hood South LA. They Homey's said "That's good for your organs" and "That's harcore right there" I love the hood

Tuesday-TEMPO 1:05 in Luna Sandals on the trails. warmed up easy and ran 3 mile-ish hard.

Weds.-EASY 1:06 barefoot on the streets of Bev. Hills.. I started to really feel light on my feet..form is getting better.

Thurs.-MEDIUM 1:00 barefoot on streets,sidewalks. After warming up I did some strides down the middle of the road. Working on running fast with no tension.

Fri.-EASY barefoot 1:00 on the concrete loop at freedom park in Palm desert. The white concrete loop was amazingly cool despite the 95 degree temp.

Sat. LONG RUN 2:00 Luna Sandals and barefeet along the train tracks in the middle of the Mojave desert..I eventually veered off into the sand and found some hard pack that was so hard and smooth I had to kick off the sandals and barefoot it. Felt great...I carry the sandals in my waist strap of my back pack like BF Ted. That way I can quicly slip the sandals on and off. I used the Hemp laces on the Luna Sandals without socks and they performed perfectly. No blisters and they felt very clos to barefoot excepth that they allowed me to run a long section of hardcore gravel without much discomfort. I also wore my Zensah calf sleeves. It was freakn hot.

Sun.- EASY 1:10 in Lunas and Barefeet... I went back to the same setting as yesterday and repeated the same performace but shorter.