Running for the Common Folk

Have you ever noticed how many successful shod runners think that barefoot running is crazy?  Even when many of them have knees that are blown, need to be replaced and actually have someone in their life that they can call "their surgeon".  As in, "His surgeon told him that he'd have to give up running or else give up his knees"... Things like that.

It's always amazing to me how so many barefoot/minimalist runners aren't SO much about their finishing times and more about the joy - and how the shod folk just lived and ran by their watches.

But then the AHA came!! What if it's because many of the successful shod runners are actually athletes!!  They are actually able to be successfully competitive!!  I personally could train forever and never actually be competitive with these people - I just don't have the genetics.  Now, this isn't to say that there aren't barefoot runners out there who are athletic and really successful runners - obviously there are many!!

But what if barefoot running gives the rest of us a chance to run? Our goals may never be to WIN our age class or a race, but that doesn't mean that we can't run.

I wonder whether this is a huge opportunity to change the entire intention of running - whole new paradigm. Sports like running have always been centred around the top athletes, the top times, who WON, who placed - on the athletic perspective.

But what if barefooting and minimalist running brings in the "Running for the Sheer Joy of it". 

We watched a local triathlon today.  Nearly every person looked like they were going to die.  They looked unhappy, angry, and sick (and having done a triathlon before, I truly understand all of these emotions).  Until Aleksandar came running in and he had a huge smile on his face - his intention was to just go out and do the triathlon like a training day - not get all serious about "racing" it. And he truly looked like he was having a great time.

I think that it would be truly brilliant if all of us "common folk" actually ran for the sheer joy of it!!  We can still participate in races because the events are so much fun - great people, great energy, and great snacks!! But if the intention was just fun, how would that change everything?

Would more people run? If it was truly just fun?

Could barefooting actually return running to the people?  Not just the elite?

Sounds kind of corny. But I like it!!

Updates and the Road Ahead

By way of undating and filling in the gap that has elapsed since June:

- Next Barefoot Running clinic Saturday August 13, 2011 @eastststation (9-noon)
- Anyone know how to post a power-point presentation to this blog (comment below)
- Katrina and husband Wayne are doubling distances and steadily moving toward Disney
- My own "training" has evolved to flow when and where life allows (no more schedules)
- Planning to run the Maitland Trail End to End this fall - anyone is welcome (comment below)
- Trying to finalize details for a 100mile "ultra" run soon.
- Signed up to do TRX instructor training in August.
- Hoping to keep posting weekly.

Reborn: from "Runner" to "Barefoot Runner"

There have been many new adventures underfoot, not the least of which has been discovering the world anew through the experiences of "barefoot Milan". While I have been "forefoot running" for over a year, my own adventures in full barefoot (unshod) running coincidentally began around the same time my son Milan was born. Like a newborn's learning which ocurs in leaps and bounds, bearing my feet to the streets of Goderich has completely blown open my experience and relationship to running - which is to say I do NOT consider myself a "runner", but more correctly a "barefoot runner". While there are similarities in these two tribes the differences are more pronounced.

"Runners" are a driven, focused and dedicated tribe, often seeking to overcome "perceived" short-comings and weaknesses experienced within their anatomy and physiology in search of elusive "times", "paces" and "splits" while covering specifically measured distances (5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon also known as "26.2" for the indoctrinated). This is to say the "runner" lives within the carefully circumscribed and quantitative world of schedules, plans and training that can be detailed in numbers and other "measurables". This external focus has discrete advantages that have been laregly responsible for the meteoric rise of this "tribe" in preceeding generations - namely the ability to "improve" one's ability to run. The disadvantage has been the almost equally meteoric rise in the numebr of casualties resultant from this external focus on achieving discrete goals at the expense of feet, knees and hips employed in the task. Along the way the runner employs all matter of technology toward their goals - stability running shoes, knee braces, cushioning, anti-inflammatories, massage devices, interval timers, GPS tracking devices, high-tech fiber clothing, hydration systems, nutrition formulas ..etc. Whatever the "technology" its purpose is to improve, correct or aid in bringing the runner closer to their "goal". Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the tribe of the runner. I have great admiration for the 4 minute mile, the 2 hour marathon, the sub 6min/mile pace and all manner of covering all measure of distance in times that confound rational explanation. These "runners" are a rare few unfortunately and my concern lies with the marose carnage of those who fail along the way requiring surgeries, prosthesies and lives encumbered by disability, pain and alienation of the very anatomy and physiology they counted on.

I am NOT a "runner", but I have many friends who are runners, and there are many runners I admire for their accomplishements and physiologic ability. I do not ever see myself in their "ranks" but am grateful for their collective experience and wisdom which has informed and often inspired me.

The tribe of the barefoot runner shares the same fundamental premis of moving over land in a manner of locomotion that is faster and more economic than walking; however the similarity of the barefoot runner to the conventional runner often ends there. The barefoot runner is a strange and often solitary sort, often lacking the same community that commiserates around the trials of "running" that are common to "running groups" and "training" or "injury" forums. the tribe of the barefoot runner carefully and slowly endears themselves to the anatomy that marvelously makes their locomotion possible and magical. This formative bond developes slowly and often in complete ignorance of measured distance or time. Paramount is the "experience" of the bnarefoot runner: the experience of balance, of economy of movement, of tendons and muslces and their interplay with kinetic energy and gravity. the slightest of pain or discomfort is not to be overcome, rather listened to, learned from and internalized in a refinement of technique toward a fundamental experience of moving lightly almost effortlessly with ease and joy in an alchemy of anatomy, physiology and the desire to run the way we were born to run - free and unencumbered. Within this sanctum of experience the "less is more" philosophy reigns supreme. Unlike the tribe of the "runner", the number of barefoot runners grow slowly but steadily and is not mirrored by an equal (or even larger number) of casualties. To fully embrace barefoot running is to do so with the full view of one's life and with the intention to run for life.

I am a "barefoot runner" and intend to remain so for the duration of my life. My "runner" friends look at me quizically sometimes even with disdain. I have moved awayfrom measuring and planning and quietly and intently listen to what my feet have to share - to run more or to run less, faster or slower - all the while "keeping it light, keeping it effortless and turning my attention to the quick grace of movement..."

Like my son who is growing and evolving with his experiences, my own experiences with barefoot running is a kind of "rebirth" of sorts. Call me a zealot if you must, but either way I encourage you to open your mind and I hope your toes will follow.

Keep Rising.....

From Rock to Roadrunner: First Barefoot 5K

From Rock to Roadrunner: First Barefoot 5K: "Last Sunday was my first barefoot race!! And let me tell you, 5K never felt so good!! What amazes me is how much energy I have during th..."

First Barefoot 5K

Last Sunday was my first barefoot race!!  And let me tell you, 5K never felt so good!!


What amazes me is how much energy I have during the race. Admittedly, I don't run like a cheetah (or even a slow chihuahua) but I DO RUN!!!  This is still the amazing thing!! I run without pain and with more joy that I can possibly articulate!

Honestly, this barefoot running has completely blown my mind!!

I talk about it ALL OF THE TIME partly because it's cool and people do ask about it. But mostly because it feels like some kind of miraculous event has happened. I truly believed that I absolutely could not run. Why this is important is beyond me. But today, heading out of my house either barefoot or in my shoes, and looking forward to my run, it feels like a completely new reality - and a very cool one!!

The other reason that I love it is that it is healing something inside of me. It's like something got slowly disconnected inside of me over my life. Something between my mind, my body, whatever. It all sounds so corny and flaky. But it's true. There's something real and primal connecting itself. I don't know what it is. But I like it!! And God knows I don't seem to be able to be quiet about it!!

I can totally relate to the funny Barefoot Steve video in the previous post where people would almost think that it was some kind of religious cult where we have to change our name to "Barefoot Katrina" and stuff.  Oh well, I've had worse obsessions. :)

Here is the picture of the three barefooters at the Bayfield 5K.

Besides the personal joy of running barefoot, it was really fun to see the reactions of all of the shod-folk. It was blowing people's minds that we had no shoes. Besides the obvious "Doesn't that hurt" and "What about the stones", I also got "People spit on the street!", and "What if you come across a condom?". But mostly it was just shock and awe.

Later, I thought it was incredibly funny that we ALL ran barefoot as children. Running barefoot in the streets is not something foreign that only other animals do. WE do it! And yet, it was so phenomenally strange that people were literally shocked that we would and COULD do it. Quite a commotion - very fun!!

It was also cool that the three of us represented a real varied ability to run. I was definitely back-of-the-pack-girl. (Not complaining - just reality). Aleksandar (on the left) was definitely one of the faster-to-mid runners. And Matt (on the right) took off like a shot pushing a baby stroller!!  Very cool.

Nothing too serious today, just a funny little animated clip on what it means to be a barefoot runner. Enjoy:

http://youtu.be/theHXQP9Bo0

Barefoot 5K tomorrow with K in Bayfield. Spreading the barefoot "gospel" far and wide.

Keep Rising.....

Barefoot Running - Step by Step

Thanks to Aleksandar for recommending the book "Barefoot Running - Step by Step" by Barefoot Ken Bob!!  It is a great book that I highly recommend to anyone who would like the inside scoop on barefoot running!!

In the same way that "Born to Run" inspired me (and brainwashed me) to believe that I actually could run (and would want to), this book truly makes me want to run barefoot - for all the right reasons!!

So, inspired, I headed out this morning for a barefoot run - maybe 3.5 km.  I have to say that I LOVE IT!!! It's like I can feel more spring in my foot than with shoes. Strangely, I didn't get winded at all - VERY STRANGE!

Alas, the soles of my feet are quite sore right now. According to Barefoot Ken Bob, I need to work on my technique - bending my knees more and lifting the foot just before it lands - kind of like an airplane coming in for a landing.

But overall, it was really an awesome experience. I think that I will be erring on the side of barefoot - at least as long as our Canadian weather allows. :)