Barefoot Pat' Blog

In March, I found a setting to tie my Huaraches and avoid the string rubbing! I noticed that even though I have a neutral and silent stride and can run miles barefoot, I could not solve the issue of the rubbing of the string between my 1st and 2nd toe. In fact, the blisters came after 5-8 k, and not between the toes, which would be a sign of overstriding, but BELOW the toes. Plus, I also made a terrible flapping sound when running. So I checked my stride on video and found that I dorsiflex a lot, i.e. my toes are bent a lot upwards before landing. When I do that when still, I can clearly see the strings touching hard the skin far below the 1st and 2nd toe. OK so that explains the rubbing and the huge blisters in some cases. Then, I checked on internet photos of sandals worn by the Tarahumaras. Shit, if these guys can run 100 miles in sandals, there must be a solution. And in some photos I noticed that they wear their sandals with the string between the toes attached more forward...

This morning I had my annual bike stress test to check my heart. Same as last year, 260 W, 164 bpm, residual ascending ST depression, less than 1 mm, not increasing with HR. So, on with the training, with shoes or barefoot, on roads or trails, on flat surface or in mountains, on bike, in water, rivers, lakes. Next events to come in 2013: Geneva Half, Annecy Tri, NYC Marathon. And for 2014, Ecotrail Paris ? Marathon Paris ? Marathon Londres ? Trail de l'Ardeche ? Patrick

Tuesday 5 March 2013 First run (9 km) after 15 days of forced rest because my huge blister did not heal fast enough. I had to run with a Compeed, that went off only after in the shower. The good news is that I can run now, with shoes. The epiderm is slowly forming. But it is several weeks from now before I can run barefoot.

Last Sunday, just before my 54th birthday, I tried one last tying style with my Huaraches. The goal was to find a lacing with minimal rubbing of the string between the toes. Also, I forgot totally about speed and concentrated on light, easy and sound-less stride. It was beautiful outside but quite chilly. I checked every 2 kms or so whether my string was creating a blister. Last time I tried, after 8 km in melted snow, I had a tiny blister on each foot. Nothing serious but I aimed at eliminating ALL rubbing for longer runs. I did not feel anything and could not see any blister, so I decided to go for my usual 12.4 km (always with shoes before). When I came back home, I found out that I had 2 huge blisters, one on the right foot, all swollen with blood, one on the left foot, with the skin peeled off. From the shower after the run until today (tuesday 19), it hurts as bad as it looks. I did not feel anything probably because of the cold weather (around 0°C). I did not see any...

I just received my Huaraches (running sandals made as the Tarahumara Indians make them for decades) from Invisibleshoe.com and tested them. I tried first the slip-on-slip-off tying style (check there ), so I do not have to use neurons each time I put them on. I ran first on a race track (short distance break-in) and then on the road (9 km) in the rain. The short run was filmed by a friend to document my running style with them, in case there was a problem. The movie is at this link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Penvmzqs9mw The long run was in "mild" weather, i.e. rain and 5°C. Almost one hour run. I noticed 2 things. First, a quite loud flapping sound, and second, during the shower, I found out that I had one blister on each foot, right below the space between the first toes. Not in front between the toes but below ?! From looking at the video on the race track, I tried to reproduce the bending of the ball of my foot when I land while running, but this time ...

When I woke up last Sunday, i.e. one week before the NYC marathon, I decided not to go to for it. En me réveillant dimanche dernier, j'ai pris la décision de ne pas aller courir le Marathon de New York. Indeed, I was still tired and coughing. My goal was to be in shape to run 10-15 k one week before the NYC Marathon, otherwise, it would be not safe to go there, wait 5 hours in the cold, run another 4 h or so and then wait for 1 h to get dry clothes. Mon objectif était d'être en pleine forme pour courir 10 à 15 k une semaine avant. Or, ce dimanche en me levant, j'étais encore fatigué et je toussais. Donc, la santé d'abord. Surtout que le marathon de New York implique de se lever vers 5h du matin, aller en bus ou en ferry sur Staten Island vers 6h, attendre dans le vent et le froid jusuq'à 10h30, ensuite courir pendant plus de 4h dans mon cas, et marcher après pendant au moins 30 minutes dans Central Park pour retrouver la personne qui a un sac avec des affaires s...

Berlin Marathon, 30 September 2012 5 days before the Berlin Marathon, while I was in top shape, I got some nasty respiratory virus. After one night wetting the bed and shivering, I slowly recovered but was coughing real hard. On the morning of the Marathon, Sunday 30 September, I woke up at 7h00 and decided I was OK. Outside temperature 6°C, wind 25 kph, in the shade for 2 hours since the course was mainly East-West during the first 20k. I was coughing so often, it was burning so hard in my chest that I was about to give up. And then I stopped coughing. I finished in 4h25, with a 137 bpm average. I resumed coughing 5 minutes after the finish line. Here is a cut of my videos: And here are some photos:  before start in my disposable paper top and pants 5 days after, I was still coughing with a bit of fever, so I started Augmentin plus Mucomyst. I went to Chicago for our annual Chicago Diabetes Project meeting. Once back, I was still coughing an...