Running with my shoes off

On Saturday I decided to run on the UB trail that goes along the Erie Canal. It was a gorgeous day, and I got started early enough that it was pretty cool. Since I got an early start, and I had two 10oz bottles strapped on, I decided to go for my longest run yet, 14 miles.


Since a couple of weeks before the marathon I have been running using the Jeff Galloway walk run method. It is pretty simple, you run for about 4 minutes, then you rest from anywhere to 35 seconds to a minute, depending on how fast you want to run your next marathon (8 or 9 minute miles.) I'm a big fan of this style of running, because it keeps me fresh throughout the whole run. It was tested Saturday though, as I was trying my longest run since the Half Marathon I completed this past May.

The first small problem surfaced at mile 8, when the sun started beating down and I realized that my supply of gatorade in my water bottles was almost gone. The next 6 miles would likely take me over an hour, so I started to panic a little bit. What if I couldn't find water anywhere? I hadn't passed a single drinking fountain, but fortunately there was a restroom at Elicott Street Park that I was able to use to fill one of the bottles with water.

Once I had enough fluids, I was pretty confident that I could finish the run. At mile 10 I thought, "man, I could run at this pace all day." Just two miles later, I realized I had a long way to go to train for the marathon this fall in St. George. It suddenly felt like someone was poking me in the bottom of my foot with an ice-pick, right in front of my heel. I tried to walk it off. No good. I tried to stop, and stretch - it didn't help.

Then, I remembered the lessons from the book, Born to Run. Maybe it wasn't the 12 miles that was hurting my feet. Maybe it was my $120 pair of thick, padded shoes. I had tried everything else, and I was still 2 miles from my car. So I stripped off my shoes and socks and held them in my left hand as I ran on the grass next to the running trail. The pain was gone. I was still exhausted, and my muscles were shot, but I was able to finish the run without anymore pain in my foot. I think I'm ready to make the switch to some minimalist footwear. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it.


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