Oh, Go Fly A Kite!

We've been pounded with heavy winds for the past several days. Thankfully, we didn't have any tornadoes even though the potential was there.

Ironically, a month ago, one of our Cub Scout leaders had planned to fly kites on our regular meeting night this week. I was glued to the weather channel worried the winds would carry the boys off with the kites. All day the winds were 24 mph with gusts as high as 36 mph. The wind advisory was scheduled to end a half hour before the meeting.

More ironically, as soon as the advisory was over, the wind was so dead it could barely be considered a breeze. We had to run the whole length of the field to get the kites to fly at all.

"Hey, are you supposed to be running in that boot?" I was asked.

"No, but the doc didn't say anything about flying kites," I called back.

We sprinted up and down that field for an hour having a complete blast. Two hours earlier, I had to scream at the soccer team just to get them to jog. Now, I was looking at a field full of boys begging for me to untangle their lines so they could run some more. The kites soaring higher and, really, not high at all.

Need a little variety in your runs? Need to run speed intervals? Try flying kites on a no breeze day. Putting play back into running. A super smiley way to run.

BRU article - "Play is the Process. Fitness is the Product"

Just thought I would re-post Jason's article from his site, Barefoot Running University, about making play integral to your daily life.  Seems to sum up our whole idea of "Run Smiley".

Let's get out there and play!

“Play Is The Process. Fitness is the Product.” Embrace Play to Revolutionize Your Running, Then Your Life

Fall Morning Haiku

November morning
Starry sky seduces me
Ran Smiley today

Ok, so I never claimed to be a poet =P

A Race Car

I checked for traffic before pulling out onto the track. The first few laps were slow as I made sure everything was running correctly and the rubber adequately warmed up.

The song I was listening to changed as I approached the green flag. It was just the kind of song that gets your adrenaline pumping, if your not already engaged in a heart pumping activity. I crossed that line and put the accelerator down.

I cruised around the first bend. I held onto my speed between turns 1 and 2. I felt like a sling-shot coming out of turn 2 heading down the back straight-a-way. As I entered turn 3, I knew I was pushing the laws of physics. Would the rubber hold?

It did and my confidence grew from there. Turn 4 was gone before I even realized I had entered it. I sped through the front straight-a-way gaining speed. My first lap complete.

Gently, I let up on my accelerator just enough to let the momentum and friction pull me through the first couple of turns without going careening off the track. I pulled out of the turn into the straight-a-way, my favorite section. I went faster. My second lap complete.

I was in a groove. I was fast in the straight-a-ways and tight in the turns. The spectators barely breathed as I went by. My time for each lap was consistent. I drove a well-oiled machine.

I was about to win the race car championship... or I was about to finish another run on an inside track at the gym. Who says watching the same scenery go by every 10th of a mile can't be fun?

A Barefoot Rose By Any Other Name

Run Smiley Method #33

Method #33 to make your runs more enjoyable: The Cheers Method

So, I have a friend who owns a local coffee shop. Jaszy's Java is located one block of Historic Route 66 in Wilmington, IL. It's a cheerful little shop with an owner who cares about what her customers want to drink, especially, if it's coffee or a smoothie. I recommend the not-so-berry berry smoothie, it's a Barefoot Rose custom smoothie.

Several of my recent runs went right past Jaszy's by design, either to take a picture or just wave hello.

You know that scene in Cheers when Norm walks into the bar, says hello and everyone yells back "Norm" in greeting?

Ok, maybe Darla, the owner, is the only one saying hello to me but it still perks up the run a bit.

So, if you can find a route that has a place where everybody knows your name, I recommend it.

A Barefoot Rose By Any Other Name

Autumn has such a nice ring to it

Fall is one of the best times of the year to run. Besides bringing a new pallet of colors into view, the late morning temperatures are more than bearable, they are pleasureable. The sun shines as often as in the summer but isn't as intense. The wardrobe options are plentiful because the weather usually only requires a t-shirt and shorts. Yes, fall allows you to sleep in on a Saturday morning without worrying if you have a heat stroke during your run.

So, that's what I did. I slept in on Saturday, started cooking a bushel of apples on the stove for applesauce and headed otu for a barefooted run. It was glorious. I gave it two big toes up for being just about the best weather ever.

Yesterday, I walked by a woman at the airport who was wearing a Chicago Marathon shirt and I could see the ribbon of her metal around her neck. I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Great Job." She thanked me.

A Barefoot Rose By Any Other Name

NYC Barefoot Party *cough* I mean Run reports

I normally would just copy and paste the whole report into Run Smiley.  However, the weekend was SO awesome it took 3 blog posts to cover it all.  So here are the links to my posts.


Grab some wine - in fact grab several and join me in the recount of the biggest party I have been to in years.


Part One
Part Two
Part Three


Enjoy!

Run Smiley Virtual Map

Did you run smiley last weekend but don't see your town on the map? You don't have to write a report. Just leave a comment below and I'll add your location.

Virtual (Spirit) Run 2011: Gold Coast, Australia

This weekend saw the launch of the first ever Naked Running Workshop. 

A group of 13 enthusiastic runners took part within the stunning surrounds of the Currumbin Valley Ecovillage (on the Gold Coast). 

Sorry, no nudity, only naked feet!

After spending time running, talking, running, eating then talking some more, the announcement was made to the group that we would be taking part in an Official Run Smiley event - a Virtual Run to be held in conjunction with the NYC Barefoot Run.

I found out this type of run is also called a 'Spirit Run'. After attaching the official event bibs, we were on our way, running 'in spirit' with our barefoot brothers and sisters in New York. Such a great concept, and one I have subscribed to for years but never had a name for it.

For many of the group this was a breakthrough barefoot running experience, making it all the more special. We were blessed with new, smooth roads and paths along with wide open grassy spaces to hang out with the resident kangaroos.


It was great to feel connected to the rest of the Run Smiley tribe, and also to those lucky enough to run in NYC. Would love to get over there next year and test out the Barefoot Ted rickshaw service!

A big thanks for organising the Virtual Run and lots of smiles and high-fives to you all from down here in Oz! :)

Run Smiley Virtual Run: Baker's Dozen Beer Run, Marshall, MI

This September 24th was the inaugural Baker's Dozen Beer Run, a half marathon fun run in Marshall, Michigan.  The organizers said they wanted to incorporate their favorite Marshall businesses, Louie's Bakery and Dark Horse Brewery.  The "race" started at the Bakery and the finish line was at the Brewery, so it was a very cool concept.  As luck would have it, all my brethren in the Run Smiley Collective were in New York for the New York Barefoot Run and had designated this weekend as our first official "Virtual Run" so I rolled in with my "Run Smiley Participant" bib pinned to my shorts.

I had suggested the event as a low cost ($15 entry) meet-up for the Michigan Chapter of the Barefoot Runners Society, but registration closed pretty early and Colleen and I were the only ones who were able to sign up.  This would prove to be a good thing, which I'll get to in a minute.  I did get to see a few friends from last winter's Beyond Group (Sarah and Lori) though, and found out they would be acting as pacers for a couple of the half marathon pace groups this coming winter.  Turns out Sarah is going to be my half marathon distance partner in the 11:30-12:00 group, so that was pretty cool!

Anyway, at the start I was a little sad none of my barefoot buddies were there, but I got some consolation in the form of a delicious custard filled donut from Louie's.  Everyone thought I was completely nuts for eating the thing minutes before the start of the race, and maybe I was, but I'm a sucker for the things and I have a tendency to use bizarre fuel before long runs.  My breakfast had been a fried egg sandwich with mayo and some chili on a slice of toast, shit on a shingle style, and everyone thought that was nuts too!

Breakfast of Champions!

The run started at 8:00AM and we positioned ourselves near the back of the group.  This would keep me out of the way of the faster folks but force me to pass a lot of people early, and the streets near the starting line were fairly narrow (think single lane boulevard-style roads).  About a half mile in I would meet up with Nikki, who I'd met at the Kalamazoo Marathon back in may where she had been working the Kalamazoo Area Runners tent.  We had to reintroduce ourselves, as we'd both long since forgotten each others names (if we'd actually told each other at the time).  Turns out we were aiming for more or less similar paces and we hung out chit-chatting for a few miles.

The course wound through the neighborhoods on the north side of Marshall before heading out into the country.  As soon as we left city limits we were on chip seal roads, which was something I had assumed would happen but was determined to handle as best I could (and also why I had my bedrocks in my belt, just in case it got too rough).  From mile 2 to 4 the chip seal was manageable and appeared to be relatively old.  If this was the worst I had to deal with I would have no problems.

The marker for mile 3 had the "kick you in the nuts" message of "Almost Done!"  I know it was supposed to be a joke, but the last thing someone with another 10 miles to run wants to see is an "Almost Done!" at mile 3.  I took it for what it was though and jokingly said "What kind of jerk says that?!" and had a big laugh.


At about 3.75 miles in things got a bit ugly for me.  I had been eating some Honey Stingers and dropped the package on the ground, so I took a minute to stop and take a couple pictures, and in doing so lost Nikki and the other couple people we had been pacing with.  Getting back running again it dawned on me that I was about to enter some freshly chip sealed road.  Yeah that sound you heard was the dramatic "dun dun duuuunnnnn"!  I was terrified, but decided to give it a shot and see how bad it was.  It was too early to put the sandals on (it would feel like failure) so I soldiered on wondering what Colleen would think when she reached this area.  I figured something like "I bet Troy didn't like that!" or "I wonder if he put his sandals on?"  I would later find out it was more like "Uh Oh, I bet he just ran through that tearing his feet to shreds."  Fortunately for me it would only last about a quarter mile before we turned onto a smoother road, so I did soldier on through it knowing it would soon be over and hoping there wasn't much more of it over the rest of the course.  I would be disappointed.

Fresh chip seal road!  Egad!

Nikki and the group remained in my sights the whole time, despite slowing my pace somewhat over the chip seal, and when I got the chance, either on grass or once I got back on smooth road, I did my best to persistence-hunt her group and see if I could catch up without burning myself out (I had just finished mile 5 when the chip seal ended).  I finally caught up shortly after the chip seal ended on what would be the first real downhill of the course (up to this point it had all been more or less flat or gently uphill).  I've mentioned before that I've been working on the "No Brakes!" method of running downhills, and apparently I was on my game today.  I caught up to Nikki and the group and went flying past yelling "Heads up! No brakes!"  They'd never catch up with me again, but I spent the rest of the race assuming they would.

I spent the next mile cheering for the crowds and chit-chatting the people I passed.  Conversations were usually short, along the lines of "How're you doing?  Having fun?" and one or two chatted about barefoot running and its potential benefits.  I crossed I-94 around the 6.5 mile mark and made a point to hoot and holler at the cars going by, getting a couple cars to honk and wave, which felt great!  Shortly after clearing the freeway I met up with my friends Sarah and Lori again, who were actually running as part of a relay team.  They gave me some cheers and said one of their team members was right behind me and they'd catch up with me later.  They had 4 members, so every 5k they were handing off and Sarah would be handling their last leg at about 10 miles.

I spent the next mile or so pretty much alone and got passed by the first of the cyclists, who had started at 8:45, somewhere around mile 7.  This section of the course wound through some more country neighborhoods, and there was a really big crowd at the mile 8 aid station.  They were very nice and topped off my water bottle for me.  There were lots of cyclists coming through by now, and the serious ones were long gone and we started seeing the casuals who were there for fun along with some people who had started out running and had stashed their bikes along the course.

It was about this point in the race I realized that I'd had a smile on my face pretty much the whole time.  The crowds had been great and I think I had only passed one person who wasn't out there having a good time (some grumpy old man who didn't even respond when I said Hi! How's it going?").  I had been thanking just about everyone on the sidelines for coming out and cheering at kids who were playing in the yards i passed and was feeling great.  On top of it we had expected cold and cloudy weather with a chance of rain, and the skies were cloudless and the weather was fantastic!  No wonder i couldn't wipe the smile off my face!

I passed Sarah near the 10 mile mark and wandered into the final 5k of the course.  The next mile would be almost as tough as the other fresh chip seal areas, testing my smile a little bit, but I got a lot of kudos from the cyclists through this area, some cheers from an aid station and another round of waves and honks from the cars on I-94 as I crossed back to the south and it kept me going strong.  I would finish the section with a nice long "No Brakes!" downhill section before hitting the city limits and settling into the final mile and a half through town.

There were few runners around me at this point but still a fair number of cyclists.  I spent my time chatting with the police and fire department personnel who were out doing traffic control and after a few twists and turns through some neighborhood streets I found myself hitting the final few hundred feet.  I had to cross some tricky railroad tracks that made me (cynically) wonder if I would pick up some splinters this close to the finish line.  The crowd at the finish line was great and there was a lot of cheering as I crossed the line at 2:18:15.  I was expecting to finish around 2:36, so beating that by 18 minutes was huge!

Nikki and Sarah would finish within a few minutes of me and I spent a couple minutes cooling down and chatting with other finishers.  One woman asked me if I'd run the whole thing barefoot and I said "yeah" and she followed that up with "How are your feet?"  I replied with (thanks to John Yohe, from whom I stole this reply) "Great!  How are yours!" with a big smile on my face.  We had a big laugh and she said she was on a bike so hers were just fine.  After hanging out for a few minutes I remembered Colleen had wanted me to come out and pace her to the finish, so I strapped on my sandals (my feet were a little tired at this point and I was ready to give them a rest) and started walking.

I was expecting her to be running around a 15 minute mile, so I checked the time and guesstimated about where I would meet up with her.  While walking back a lady on a bike stopped me to take my picture, as her daughter runs (or had run) in FiveFingers and she wanted to show her that some one had (been foolish enough) run the race totally barefoot.  I obliged and we chatted for a minute before heading our separate ways.  I stopped to talk to the police officers on the way back and stopped at the last aid station to talk to the volunteers too.  They must have had something to do with the course planning and gave me an interesting bit of trivia: when they finalized the course none of the freshly chip sealed roads had been treated yet.  Those roads were done within the last week!  Inwardly I congratulated myself on handling as much as I did, considering how fresh the treatment had been.

I met up with Colleen at about the mile 12 marker, right on time.  I was impressed that she looked as good as she did.  Having run a 10 miler with her a few weeks ago I expected her to be a little tired and ready to be done, but she was trucking along and still had a positive attitude so I was really glad she was doing so well.  We headed back the way I came, and I talked and talked in an effort to make sure to distract her from the mile she had to go.  Apparently the police had gone home in the last 10 minutes or so, because when I looked for the guys I had used to mark the turns they were gone and I led Colleen down the wrong road.  This proved to be a huge mistake, as the road we had to take to get back on course led to a bunch of tents and whatnot that was setup for some other event (Hispanic Festival, I think), and Colleen thought it was the finish line.  When she learned it wasn't she kind of hit the floor a little bit with a simple "I'm done."

She got going after a minute though, with some semi-gentle prodding from me about how we were only a turn or so away from the finish line.  The damage had been done though and her mood wouldn't really improve until we finished.  The tracks gave her some problems, as the footing wasn't great, but she crossed the line at 3:18:42 and immediately broke into tears.  I totally understood, having gone through the same thing in May when I finished the Kalamazoo Marathon, so I didn't say anything and just attended to my hugging duties (because that's what everyone needs when they finish something like this the first time).

In lieu of medals, we got free pints of beer from Dark Horse, which was excellent beer!  We hung out, drank beer, stretched, took pictures and chatted with other runners for a while.  It was a lot of fun and our only regret was that there weren't donuts at the end because we could have really used one at that point!  It was a great event with great people and I'm hoping to make it back next year!

Paradigms (and other Big Words)

(Originally posted on my blog, ...when i talk about running.)

After being very active here at the Run:) Collective, I've been pretty quiet lately -- I teach high school, and the start of the school year has really put the brakes on my blogging. But with a significant number of the Collective winging into my home city for the weekend, I've been inspired to muse a little. . .

Tomorrow is the kick-off to the second annual NYC Barefoot Run, a two day event that Christopher McDougal bills as, "The Woodstock of wild human animal mayhem," though I suspect might be overselling it a bit. If the bloggers I know who are coming are any indication, it will be more like, "The SanDiego Comic Con of slightly flamboyant weirdos who don't like to wear shoes." Let's just say that I agreed to be the local recipient for a shipment of yellow and orange tutus, and that one of my colleagues is flying out in a spartan costume, complete with a crimson cape -- you be the judge of which description sounds more apt.

I thought of going to the run last year, but the weekend didn't work for some reason or other, and I was toying with the idea of going this year when I found out that most of the members of my blogging group, The Run Smiley Collective, were flying out for the weekend. That pushed me into committing. As someone who is vaguely suspicious of on-line communication and social-networking, I continue to heavily emphasize the air-quotes whenever I mention one of my blogging "friends." I feel a bit weird referring to people I have never met in person, spoken to on the phone, or even exchanged text-messages with as friends, but over the last 8 months or so I've really enjoyed getting to know this somewhat sprawling, ill-defined, and eclectic group of runners and writers. I'm really looking forward to finally meeting many of them face-to-face.

So in anticipation of this weekend, I've been thinking a lot about barefoot running. Most of my fellow Run Smiley bloggers coming in are serious bare-footers. Jason Robillard is one of the keynote speakers, finished the Western States 100 in just a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves, and recently quit his job to travel around the country with his wife and kids in an RV to teach and promote barefoot running. Kate, Christopher, and Jesse are being flown in by Merrell to speak on a panel discussion of barefoot runners. These people run barefoot all the time, in all kinds of weather, on all kinds of terrain.

Then there's me. I've run barefoot a few times, and honestly at this point don't have any real desire to become a full-time "barefoot runner." I don't have any lingering injuries that running barefoot might cure, and I am very happy with my minimalist shoes. So why am I going to this thing, other than its in my back-yard?

***

That's what I've been musing about, and I realize its all about paradigm shifts. If you've ever been within 50 miles of a liberal-arts campus, you know the bumper-sticker: "Subvert the Dominant Paradigm." Meaning: question the way things are normally done, don't accept the world uncritically, work to change assumptions and underlying values when they are harmful or even just baseless. And in a small sense, thinking about barefoot running and minimalist footwear has reinforced that for me.

I've been running to and from work in my Softstar Dash's (review coming soon!), and if you haven't seen them, they are are essentially a simple rubber sole with a thin leather upper -- think a somewhat unattractive, very flexible bowling shoe. When I tell my coworkers that, "Yes, I did just run to work in these," they look at me like I'm insane, like something like that is impossible. Paradigm Assumption: you need 30 millimeters of rubber and gel pockets and a wedge of EVA foam to run? Question: why?

Ah, that dangerous, empowering, revolutionary word: "why?" And in something so simple -- why do we all wear running shoes? While reading about and following the minimalist foot discussion, there was one "why" that always bothered me: if heel striking is so detrimental, why did shoe companies ever add built-up heels in the first place? And the most telling answer is: no one knows. Not the critics, not the companies. They just did, then it became an assumption, and assumptions become quote-unquote-fact.

Rather than demanding, "Justify to me why I need a supportive shoe," for nearly all runners the shoe is the assumption, the paradigm, and instead they ask why one would want to run without a supportive shoe? As if the shoe is the base-line, not the addition. And it really is the dominant paradigm, despite the "barefoot revolution." Since getting into minimal running 10 months ago, of the hundreds (if not thousands) of runners I've passed, I've noticed maybe a dozen runners in Vibrams, half a dozen in Minimus and Trail Gloves, and one in a pair of Inov8's. Not a single haurache, not a single Softstar, not a single barefoot runner.

***

Like I said, I'm not fully barefoot, but just to ask the questions seems important. As a society, we assume you must wear shoes at all times in public, but why do we wear shoes? Really, they are like gloves for our feet. Like gloves, they can be worn just for fashion, and like gloves, they can be worn to protect us from the weather and dangerous work-conditions. But no one today wears gloves every day -- but no one leaves the house barefoot. Walk down the sidewalk without shoes, walk into a department store barefoot, and you'll get stares, if not asked to leave If you seriously try to imagine doing that, I guarantee that most of you will feel uncomfortable, transgressive just thinking about it, right? But again: why? Most store floors are clean. Our feet are really no less dirty than our hands, no less likely to contract or spread germs or diseases, but there is something forbidden about them, as if they need to be hidden away from polite society. But walk into a store and tell that to the other customers, and you'd look like a lunatic.

Why?

I realize this is rising to the intellectual level of a sophomore in high-school discovering philosophy for the first time, but while running home the other day I had one of those blindingly-obvious epiphanies, like in Calvino's brilliant story "The Flash." One of those realizations where you realize that so many of the things we as a society do are just mindless reactions to "the way things are." We all wear shoes, without thinking about it. Now, I'm not actually going to go full-blown barefoot hippie-nut-job, but I think that just asking the question, realizing that it is a choice and not a given, is valuable. To be open to possibilities, and the non-objective nature of reality. To ask "why?"

Because why is an important question, and allowing oneself to ask that about anything, to question the anecdotes and conventional wisdom that most people accept as reality can lead to some very powerful places. From the industrial complexes that generate tons of nutrition-less food to a legal system that recently committed a murder in the state of Georgia, we are surrounded by powerless forces that are empowered merely by our willingness to accept them without question. I don't think that by wearing minimalist footwear I'm changing the world, or doing anything important or meaningful, but it's reminded me to question things. Skepticism, like all skills, takes practice, and heading out the door each morning is both a question and an answer to a question, asked of me and of the world. "Why?"

And running smiley does the same thing. It questions the way things are normally done: running is hard, running is difficult, running is work. Running involves shoes and Garmins and VO2-Max negative-split repeats. Instead, we say: "Shoes? No shoes? Who the hell cares?" How long did I run? No, the question is, "How happy did I run?" Wine? Dr. Who? Capes and toddlers, one-hundred miles or once around the block, its all running, and it all can make you smile. More things should make you smile. Jason urges you to quit your job -- or at least question why you haven't. Wear a kilt when you run. Ignore everything the nice man at the running shop tells you about pronation and motion control shoes. Climb a tree. Run in the rain. This Collective is an encyclopedia of bad advice that turns out to be really good for you.

Why run smiley? Why WOULDN'T you?

Shoeless, braless, SMILEY!

[Plenipotentiary and general admin monkey's Note: This is another great post from our representative in Nambia; Rev. Tracy.  Her blog can be found here: http://revruns.blogspot.com/]

After my marathon, I decided I would start running again when I felt like it. And I want the focus now to be on running barefoot and building up my barefoot mileage. The key to this is, I believe, going by feel—running when I feel like it, going how long or far I feel like going, and having fun! In other words, running smiley. I must admit however, that this is quite a challenge for me. I almost always have a plan that I am running to. “Do I run today or not? Let’s see what my plan says.” Now, I keep thinking, “oh I need to create a plan for transitioning to total barefoot running.” Even though all the advice I’ve read and received from those who are successfully running barefoot much longer distances than me is that I need to play, feel it out, follow my body, NOT have a plan. Oy! It’s insidious. Wish me luck.

By Saturday morning, I really had no more residual aches or pains from the marathon. Also, the heat has returned to Katima rather suddenly and I was looking forward to getting out in the heat. I really do not like running when my feet are numb. No, not at all. So, after enjoying a tall cup of coffee, while getting dressed, I recalled a conversation I had with Caity McCardell of Run Barefoot Girl (www.RunBarefootGirl.com) about wearing bras. Do we need sports bras?

Well, when I was on the cross-country team in high school, there were no such things as sports bras. We wore our regular bras – nasty things for running with metal hooks and things that caused bad chafing. And there was no Body Glide back then either. Several of my friends and I stopped wearing bras while running. And it worked fine. And our boobs did not fall down (neither then, when they were young and perky, nor as we grew older—at least mine did not). I went back to wearing a bra shortly after that when a) sports bras were created and b) I was living in cities where men were obnoxious jerks. Most of my 20s were a time of buying into, or at least conforming (as best as I was able) to, societal expectations. Then I went to Africa where a lot of women, probably the majority (all those in rural areas and some in urban areas), do not wear bras. And because breasts are viewed as baby feeding mechanisms rather than sexual objects (and I’m significantly less well-endowed than many of my African sisters) my going braless drew no attention. So I stopped wearing a bra. I never found them comfortable and the less I wore them, the less comfortable I was whenever I tried to wear one. But I continue to wear sports bras and am always on the hunt for one that is comfortable and does not chafe—a seemingly endless chase.

So there I am about to go out and run barefoot, remembering this whole conversation about bras. Could I run without a bra? Wouldn’t I bounce? Would it hurt? Would I feel self-conscious? This would be a good day to try. I had no agenda. It would be fine if I just ran a couple of miles. I ran in place a bit in my room and it didn’t hurt. I ran in front of a mirror and it didn’t look too bad (Lord knows I did NOT want to look ridiculous!). Okay, let’s try this. I set out in nothing but shorts and a tank top (with my watch, sunglasses and iPod—I do still have my attachments).

It felt great to run barefoot. The ground felt neither cold nor warm and I felt my posture & form were good. (I used the Shelly Robillard test—my necklace wasn’t bouncing around. Another benefit—neither were my breasts!) I had decided that I was going to run totally on the road, on the asphalt, which is new for me. I’ve run as much as 6 miles barefoot, but 5.5 of those miles were on the sandy trail. I had some fear of the road—that it would be too hard, there would be too much impact, but all the barefoot experts said the best way to learn good form and the right way to run was to run on the road. After half a mile or so I noticed how light I was running, how I felt no impact. I was just rolling along. And I felt so free, so relaxed. I was just there, everything was as it should be, I didn’t need this or that to be able to run. There was something about running without a bra that felt so liberating. I was not expecting that. I felt more present, more confident, more open (and less anxious, cautious, guarded). And my feet felt totally fine.

I decided to run 4 miles, though part of me thought, “oh, or maybe 5.” But I turned around at 2 miles and changed to the other side of the road which is rougher. I started to feel a sort of pain on the outside of the ball of my right foot. I knew that this was a contact spot when I walked as well because it was one of the places on my feet that gets dirty. I tried to change the way my foot was landing and think more consciously about lifting my feet (rather than pushing off). I was doing okay until about 3.5 miles when clearly I was starting to get a blister on that spot (and on the top of the 4^th toe on my left foot). All the advice says I should have stopped right then and walked home. I did in fact stop once or twice and feel around (to make sure it was a pebble or something) and I walked a few paces which didn’t really hurt at all, but then I ran because, well, I was out for a run.Besides it was only a half mile more to go.

In the end, my feet were a bit sore for the rest of the day and I was thinking I was stupid. (I don’t think of myself as particularly stubborn by nature, but I certainly can be about running.) The spot didn’t turn into a big blister I could pop, but the skin is tender. The general rule of thumb is to run barefoot every other day if everything is working well, so I resisted the urge to run today, even though I think I could have. I’ll see how the feet are tomorrow, but I think I dodged a bullet. Lucky me.

The World Wide Festival of Races is in 5 weeks and I would LOVE to run a half-marathon that weekend totally barefoot. That could be way too ambitious and it could be possible. We shall see. Stay tuned. . .

Race Report: Naked Foot 5k, Grand Rapids MI

This was the smiliest race I've been to!  It was less about the race itself and more about the people who were there and the fun to be had!  I just had to share!  -Troy "BarefootRoot"

Photo Credit:  The last 2 photos here are courtesy of Johnny and Dee Jeffery!  You guys rock!


This past Sunday I attended the Merrell Naked Foot 5k in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The early returns are already in from John Yohe and Johnny Jeffery, so we obviously saved the "best" for last.  The other guys had better photos though, so they get extra points for being awesome.  The event appears to have been a huge success, as I am told there were nearly 250 people in attendance!

I woke up at about 4:30AM to get ready.  Colleen and the kids had gotten home about 1:00AM from Grandpa and Grandma's house, so the car was still fully packed and I was glad I had given myself extra time to unload it.  Once emptied, I loaded up our massive double stroller.  The plan was that I would push the kids through the race since they had insisted on coming back so Mirei could run in the kids 1k fun run.  At 6:00AM I got the kids out of bed, got them dressed and hit the road at about 6:40AM.

The kids were extremely sleepy, since while they had slept a bit in the car the night before, they had only been in bed for about 5 hours when I roused them.  Oren fell asleep pretty quickly once we got going, but Mirei stayed awake, promising me she would be ready for her race (which she'd been talking about all week).  We rolled into Riverside Park in Grand Rapids at about 7:40AM to a sparse crowd of early birds.

Most of the sponsor booths were all set up, including Merrell, The Hadley Clinic, Gazelle Sports and what I believe was either Forest Hills Foods or Harvest Health Foods (Unfortunately that booth would stay pretty busy all morning and I never really got a chance to see exactly which it was).  There was also some tents where some massage therapists were setting up, but I never found out who they were nor was I able to actually take advantage of their services.

I wandered over to Scott Hadley's booth, where we chit-chatted and I got to meet Brandon Mulnix, a local ultra runner who had run 50 miles the day before with his jaw wired shut!  Dude's got cahones!  I made my best effort to plant myself and the kids in an open space near registration and to look conspicuous, but quickly realized I should have made a sign or something.  There were a lot of people filtering in, and while I knew a few people who were coming most of the folks I wanted to meet up with were unknowns.  This was a weird problem for me, as I can normally find my barefoot peeps at an event just by looking for the other 1-2 people with no shoes on, but EVERYBODY was either barefoot or in some kind of minimal shoe and the size of the crowd made it impossible to pick any faces out.  I would eventually hook up with John Yohe, Johnny Jeffery and his family, Ken Jones and Eric Cooper, but the other 4+ members of the Michigan Chapter were folks I just didn't know.

This is the load I had to push!

As the crowd got bigger and bigger, we began to get ready for the kids 1k.  Mirei had been complaining about the cold all morning, and still wasn't looking all that awake.  I had a bad feeling she wasn't up to it but she said she would run in it.  She insisted I run with her (while pushing Oren in the stroller), so we lined up in the back.  The gun went off for the kids and we headed out.  Mirei got off to a bad start, nearly walking through the starting gate, still complaining of the cold.  As the other kids left us in their dust she actually slowed to a walk, which made me really frustrated.  Colleen and I had gone to great lengths to make sure she was around to run in this race and she was totally flaking out on me.  Once we got into the sunshine she perked up and finished strong, but still finished pretty much last.  I was disappointed because I know how well she runs, but she just wasn't feeling it I guess and I had to let it go.

After the kids race we hung out and watched the 1 mile run, which had only a few participants (I think someone said there were 10-12 people in it).  It was a nice run topped off with a triumphant finish by a heavy lady who had run with a young girl.  She looked pretty happy to have finished and the crowd gave her a huge round of applause when she crossed the finish line.

Now for the main event: the 5k.  Johnny's wife Dee offered to watch the kids while I ran, but Mirei decided she had to ride in the stroller.  The others commented on how bumpy it would be and I could only shrug.  Since I was one of only 2 strollers there and the only double stroller, I made my way to the back where I lined up next to Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton, and we chatted for a moment while the race got underway.  The gate was way too small for the assembled crowd, and everyone kind of walked through the gate before taking off onto the course.

The first leg was grassy park lawn with large trees here and there.  I came out faster than many of the people ahead of me, so there was a lot of dodging people and trees until we hit the first section of paved bike trail.  The grass was wet and the ground was kind of squishy, making the stroller hard to push (not to mention I am terrified of running in grass because of what it could hide), so I was glad for some pavement to run on.  I settled into a pretty good pace, passing several people.  I was surprised to see the number of people running in traditional trainers, but quickly realized they were in a distinct minority.  That realization made me feel pretty damn good.

Whoever came up with the course did a good job of finding a good variety of surfaces, as we eventually turned back off the bike path and onto the lawn once more.  This stretch led down by the Grand River and took us through some squishy mud.  It felt good to tromp through the stuff, but the stroller wasn't playing nice with the surface.  After a little more lawn area we got back up on the bike path and crossed a timber decked bridge, so I was making sure to watch for protruding nails or anything that said "splinter" on it.  The course would eventually turn off onto a road, requiring some careful negotiation of the concrete curb-stops along the edge of the road (my stroller was far too wide and I needed to slow down and lift the back wheels over the blocks).

I was keeping a pretty steady pace, moving pretty quickly considering I was pushing nearly 100 pounds of kid and stroller.  I was dismayed to learn that the back half of the course would be back on the grass though.  I kept hoping for some more pavement but never got any.

I did my best to hold the pace I had at the halfway point, slowly persistence-hunting the people in front of me while I barreled through the wet grass and mushy ground.  The stroller was bouncing all over the place and my legs were burning.  Anyone who's ever run while pushing a stroller knows that it's about twice as hard as running alone.  Add grass and soft ground to the equation and it's closer to ten times more difficult than running solo.  Eventually my legs would get the better off me and I would walk for about a minute.  I can't remember the last time I walked in a 5k, but there I was.  I wasn't feeling all that impressive, but I knew I needed some rest if I wanted to finish strong.

The course would wind around some baseball fields and around the parking lot before heading into the final stretch to the finish line.  Once I had it in my sights I told the kids to hang on and went for an all-out sprint to the finish, determined to pass at least a couple more people.  With the stroller catching air off every root and my legs flying beneath me the crowd cheered as the stroller and I flew across the finish line in just over 30 minutes.  As hard as the run had been I was all smiles at the finish, knowing I was the only one bold enough (or stupid enough) to tackle the course with the kind of load I was pushing.

When all was said and done, there was plenty of mingling with all my barefoot friends, comparing notes on the course, finish times, and how many shoddies we saw.  Many of us would head over for a clinic by Jason Robillard while the kids finally got out of the stroller to go play.  Jason said he'd been working to simplify his teaching method, and his ABC's method certainly accomplished that well.  It was well worth seeing.

Left to right: Me, Scott, Ken, John, Jason and Johnny.  Yes, that pose is mandatory!

After the clinic we tried to gather as many of our Michigan Chapter members as we could, and managed to get myself, John, Johnny, Ken Jones, Scott and Jason into a fun group photo.  Meeting Jason was a great thing for me, as he complimented me on my efforts as Michigan Chapter President.  It feels real good to have one of the guys you look up to give you the thumbs-up.  Afterward we all headed for our cars, and on the way got another photo-op with Ken Bob, which was also an honor.  I consider him an honorary Michigan Chapter member as he grew up here.  I'm not sure what kinds of questions he gets from the people he meets, but the one thing I asked him was where exactly he was from (he mentions the Traverse City area in his book) and was pleased to learn he was from Grawn, a little town I remember because my mom and dad grew up in nearby towns themselves.  When I mentioned my dad was from Mesick he said "yeah, it makes Mesick too..." and went on to say "The main thing I remember is playing my only night game in pee wee baseball there and getting hit in the face by a pitch."

Left to right: Johnny, Ken Bob, Ken, John and Me

After the final photos were taken we all headed for our cars.  We all had a great time and met a lot of great people we had spoken to online but had never met in person.  It was definitely a great way to recharge the batteries as far as my duties as Chapter Prez.  Being able to see all those guys in one place and having such a good time makes it all worthwhile.

Running with the Doctor

[Also published on http://barefootkatiek.blogspot.com/]


Yesterday I ran with the "Doctor", my "Doctor".

Let me first explain, I am a category one British Nerd.  As a consequence I am a fan of Doctor Who - let's add Torchwood too (except for this year, but that's a whole difference essay).

Yesterday, was the first episode of the second half of the sixth season.  Yep, it doesn't make sense to any of us either, but let's just say there are quite a few of us [Category One Nerds] who were pretty excited about it.  So many questions, so many plots... Do they kill Hitler? Do they find Melody? Does RiverSong come back? Will Amy become all lame-arse because she is now a "Mother"? The usual life-death questions.

So in celebration for, 1) I can now run and 2) Doctor Who was back, I made an effort to run with the "Doctor" yesterday.  I have a pretty eclectic play-list on my ipod and it get's weirder every year. I do run without music on the technical trails. If I do wear my iPod, it's usually on an easy, well-known trail.  I usually only have one earbud in and it's on very low.  I can still hear my footfalls.  It's more of a background beat than anything I consciously listen to.  Quite often it set's the mood of what could be a mundane run.  I have my warm-up music (Bowie) and I have my fartlek music (currently Arcade fire and the Killers).  I have my mental reset music (snow patrol).  I have my happy music (Noah and the Whale and Mumford and Sons). I also have a fantasy tune.  This is a fast sprint with a grin - where I run with the biggest smile and as I quick as I can.  It's a narrow margin if I don't kill myself as I fall over a tree root.

It's this:

It's called "I am the Doctor" and it's the 11th Doctor's theme tune.  I do not have any other orchestral music on my iPod except this, but this is one of my favourite tracks.  When this comes on, I run over my bit of trail as fast as I can.  I pretend there are aliens in the sky and that the sky is a funny shade of purple.  I imagine that we are being chased and shot at. I dash from bush to tree and try to hide from deadly ray blasts. I see explosions and debris flying in the air.  For 4 minutes I am transported and I am running for my life.  I skip and I dance over the roots and gravel and if I had a "sonic screwdriver" I am sure there would be a few trees without leaves and quite a few squirrels scared "poo-less".

This is my unbidden fun track.  I know that no-one would understand what's going in my head when this comes on, but that's fine.

So yesterday I ran from the Soltaran, the Darleks and the Cybermen.  Okay, my knee didn't like it and I developed a kick-arse blister on my funky toe.  My 3 mile run only ended up being 2 miles before I accepted defeat.  However I DO NOT care.  I got to play this and for 4 minutes I was 7 years old and hiding behind the sofa, imagining what it would be like to be with "Doctor Who" on his travels in the TARDIS.  I was having the best time.  Many people would count the fact I had a "technically" bad run as something to be upset about.  I don't - I got to run with the "Doctor".

So, Run. Basically Run.

[Note: Fantastic episode last night.  Just want to know, WTF happened to Hitler? Is he still locked in the cupboard?]

I thought this was another perfect look at how to Run Smiley (even though I don't wear socks)

You can find the original post at Ben Does Life

Brooke is doing her first half marathon in a month and a half

Ben: What's your goal for the half marathon

Brooke: To wear really fun socks

This is from Ben, made famous by making a great YouTube video about his weight loss journey. He was miserable and then he found running. And he kept running. He runs and he has fun. His friends have fun. They get together and Do Life by running and enjoying it!

Good Luck, Brooke. I hope you have the most fun socks of all and that you smile while you run.

We have shirts, now we have TUTU's

yep, you heard me. TUTU's. If you hadn't heard running TUTU's are all the rage and will the next big hit in 2012 - You heard it here first!

The kind ladies at Glam-runner, have joined in and at our request have made us some special edition "RUN SMILEY" TUTU's.

When you wear these, you can't but smile!  Even better, all the proceeds go to the charity "Girls on the Run"

See below... for the winning TUTU as voted for by the collective.

La-Z-boy

Do you ever sit down in the evening in your comfortable chair, perhaps the La-Z-boy, pull that handle to prop your feet up into the air then experience the involuntary sigh? I love that sigh.

The other night I was allotted an evening run with no time constraints. Stepping onto the road, I wasn't certain how far I would run but I figured it would be worth giving a long run a shot. The plan was to run a "circle" around town where I could add or subtract neighborhoods as the mood struck me.

I fancy long runs where I can settle into my body and relax through the motion of my legs. I let the bones, joints and muscles work together to oil the gears. I breathe but I don't force the breath.

I scooched my rear-end back into the plush chair and sighed as my feet rose into the air. I linked my fingers together, raised them over my head and cradled it.

Don't get confused. I'm not jumping back and forth in the story here. I was still running at this point. It's just that everytime I thought about relaxing into the run, I had the vision of sitting in a La-Z-boy chair. I'd mentally place my hands behind my head; my feet were in the air; a gentle sigh escaping into the passing breeze. As though running had become as irrisponsible (in the good way) and fun as watching the game or a chick flick on TV while stretched out in a La-Z-boy...only...only better.

This past year when I would cross mile four, I would begin to feel a tightening of my calf muscles and aching in my thighs. The signs of stressing my body to achieve longer distances. Only during this run, I reached down inside and pulled that mental foot-rest handle. I remembered that I was just there to relax and enjoy. My feet never got hot, beaten or swollen. My calves just rolled with it. Thighs? Did I even have thighs? Even better than the chair was that I had an energized runner's high to keep me peppy through the rest of the evening.

I had stretched my arms overhead, linked my fingers and cradled my head as I La-Z-boy'd myself right through five miles.

A shot looking back at the lazy mill race running along South Island park.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Barefoot At The Movies

When the Born To Run movie comes out, do you think they will let us walk into the theater in our barefeet?

Christopher McDougall should make it manditory.


Hey, Christopher McDougall, not only do we, here at the Run Smiley Collective, think that we were born to run. We think we were born to run with a smile on our face!

I second the invitation given by our Plenipotentiary. Christopher McDougall, come run and have a beer with us. We might even have a Barbarian Horde in your honor.

(Fantastic idea, by the way, Dirtbag)

The Barbarian Horde 1K

I have had a brilliant idea and I must share it with the world!
The Barbarian Horde 1K.
Here's how it works:
As people register for the Barbarian Horde 1K they are split into two teams. Call them the Barbarians and the Vikings, though I'm open to suggestions. Pre-race preparation should include face and body painting, costume design (kilts and bare feet encouraged),  as well as repeated watching of Braveheart and any other movie with a massive, foot soldier-waged, edged-weapon battle in it.
As participants arrive they are sent to one of two sides of a 200m field, the side of the field determined by their registration. Once there, they are rallied by their Horde Leader, an arm-waving, nearly-unintelligible encouragement-yelling crazy person, until they are whipped into a frenzy.
Then, on shouted count between the two Horde Leaders (or possibly tossed sword), both side run screaming for the center of the field, 100 meters away. As they meet in the middle the goal is to run straight through, high-fiving as many of the opposing horde as possible, thus "killing" them, and then complete the run all the way to the other side's start point. A key point of all of this is everyone must be screaming, shouting, and hollering war cries the entire time they are in motion.You are, after all, a Barbarian Horde. Also, no weapons of any kind, even foam, would be allowed. This is supposed to be fun, with danger kept to a minimal.
Once both sides have recovered from Wave One, the entire thing is repeated. In order to reach a true 1k there would have to be five waves of attack (200m x 5 = 1000m = close enough). If both sides agree to an accord before that happens, after all running full tilt while screaming is hard work, the Barbarian Horde 1k can end early.
The post-race meal will not be normal fare. It will need to be some type of burnt meat product wrapped in charred animal flesh. Prizes will be given for Most Enthusiastic Barbarian, Best War Cry, Best Barbarian Outfit, and Scariest Barbarian To See Coming At You Full Speed.
I'm convinced this would be a ton of fun. Assuming everyone played cool and didn't try to purposely deck anyone in the melee (and signed injury wavers), wouldn't you get in on this?

Run Smiley Fartleks

Last Saturday was my 20 year high school reunion. I wasn't able to attend the 10 year reunion so I hadn't seen many of my classmates since graduation. I had been looking forward to this reunion for a year or longer. As you can imagine, I got a little nervous excited as well.

Saturday morning approached me bright and early. My son and I had our first soccer game at 9:00 am then we would head up to Michigan to my hometown. But, at the moment, it was only 6:00 am. I didn't have much time with needing to get ready for the day, clean the house, pack the car and eat breakfast. Although running wasn't on my list of compulsory things to do before the soccer game, it was on my list of things I want to do before heading to my 20 year reunion.

I headed out for the shortest run of the entire summer. This run was 1.08 miles to be exact. Although I was out to run smiley and build a little confidence for the day, I just felt the need. For speed. (said as heard in Top Gun) I suppose that is the good thing about running short distances. You don't have to worry about keeping some reserves in the gas tank for when you reach miles 3 - 10.

I ran. I ran faster. I kept running fast.

My legs turned over with ease. My feet fluttered across the ground. I matched my breath with the heartbeat of the earth. Cool breezes, so rare in August, flowed over my bare shoulders whisking away the sweat.

When I didn't think I could keep up the pace for another step, I slowed down to a jog. I controlled by breath and took stock of my feet and legs. I felt alive and energized.

A short distance later, I pushed forward again. I let my body go as fast as it could handle. I let my body go as far as it could handle. I let my body do everything that came natural. I sucked in oxygen and pumped healthy blood to my extremities. I let my heart do a dance; a jig, if you will.

The time came again when I reined in and interviewed my body parts then sped up again. Before I knew it, my mile was done and gone. I walked back into the house feeling as though I was 18 years old still.

I didn't intend to run fartleks but it's what felt smiley. I ran fast to feel good. I ran slow to feel good. Then I did it again. I didn't have a Garmin, a watch, or a GPS to tell me when the interval was over. I listened to my body and fartlek'd when it felt good to do so. I turned a 1 mile run into the ultimate challenge that I crushed.

I ran smiley fartleks.

A Rose By Any Other Name

On an after note: It took me all of one minute speaking with one of my sweetest friends from high school to try to convince her to check out the Run Smiley Collective. She ran the Kalamazoo Marathon last spring. She was telling me how she and her husband basically run out of obligation to their bodies. I really hope she comes to check us out. So, hello, Melissa, welcome! Have a nice read and a smiley run.