Barefoot Running

Its been publicized a lot recently, and it seems there are two very vocal camps rising around the issue of barefoot running; I want to talk about that, and why it is that I do it. Several people around me have told me that I am going to hurt myself, and so this post it being written primarily for them.

I began my minimalist journey in 2007 after the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendance 6 day race in New York City. It was my second 6 day race, I had competed in the same event the year before at the age of 20, and I was amazed when I saw one of the runners running around in little Vibram Five Fingers so I started researching barefoot running then, and soon had a pair of my own.

I've had a few problems since then, but I know where I went wrong, and if I could go back and do it all over again, I'm certain I would have had better results transitioning. It has now been a full year and a half since I last ran in actual shoes, and I have begun running completely barefoot recently, and before I go into why I have chosen this for my own running.

When I was researching barefoot/minimalist running, I looked all over the place; not just Barefoot Ted's site, Barefoot Ken Bob's site, other pro-barefoot sites, and in Born to Run (though a brilliant book); but I also spent hours looking at RunningBarefootIsBad.com, and some openly anti-barefoot running sites and magazine articles as well. Why? Because an intelligent decision can only be made when all sides are presented

What you wear on your feet is not nearly as important as what you do with your feet. If a person is running well with shoes, is staying healthy and injury free, there is no reason to change what they are doing. Its the people who have repeated problems that instead of more technology, I believe they need to learn to run differently, and barefoot running is one method to teach one's self to run with good form. I've also tried Chi Running, which worked well for me until I got tired; still being in shoes that are built for heel striking, it was an easy thing to revert back to whenever I lost focus, or got tired on a long run.

When Barefoot running, heel striking is something you simply don't do, whether or not you are tired; it is for this reason that I have shed my shoes completely to train myself good form, and I plan to return to the 6 day race in 2011 wearing Huaraches (indigenous sandals). Some may think I am crazy for doing this, but I'll try to explain myself.

I know what happens when I run the 6 day in regular shoes, and I'll tell you the steps:

-I start off well and focus on form, but after a time I become tired, and I revert to heel striking.

-The rolling motion from heel to toe creates friction at the front of my foot and soon blisters (often blood blisters) form and are pushed between my toes.

-Other blisters form around the parimeter of my feet and sometimes deep under calouses in the middle of the pads of my feet

-I move more dramatically onto my heels and the tension in my legs have soon caused severe shin splints

-The heel striking/ over-striding causes additional shock to my knees, ankles, and hips, and become very swollen; my ankles resembling very bad sprains

-Soon the entire rear half of my feet are severely bruised because of the pounding on my heel, causing not only very uncomfortable movement, but also very swollen feet and a need for bigger shoes

That is what I delt with my past two 6 day races, and with the Huaraches, I believe that domino effect will not be set off to begin with, but that is simply a hypothesis that I need to test. Watch for me to be running around barefoot and in Huaraches, I am officially training for the 6 day race, and I am hoping to far surpass my previous best of 315miles.

Self-Transcendence Multiday Races Finished

Congratulations to everyone who took part in this years Self-Transcendence 6 and 10 day races!

John Geesler, Kaneenika Janakova, Dipali Cunningham, and Wolfgang Schwerk

This years champions were....

Wolfgang Schwerk (Germany) is the overall Men's 10day Champion with a distance of 829miles!!!! This in and of itself is absolutly incredible, but taking into concideration his win at the Athens International Ultramarathon Fesival just last month (1.012,00km / 628.8mi in 7 days) he is an absolute machine!

He was the favorite going into the race. His resume includes holding 70 records for distances over 1,300mi including the world record for the world's longest certified race: 3,100mi in 41 days 8hrs! He has also completed 627mi within 6 days to become only the 13th person to break 600 in 6 within the last 150yrs! His 24hr PR is also outageously fast: 171mi in 24hrs! Congratulations!!!!

In second place with an impressive resume of his own is his countryman Achim Heukemes with 701miles! Heukemes has a 1,000 mi PR of 11 days,18 hours, and has run over 150 miles for 24 hours. He has even run 2838 miles in the Trans Australia Race Stage Race!

Vladimir Balatsky of Ukraine rounds out the top three men with 660mi. He broke last years Distance by 7 miles.

In fourth is Glen Turner of Boulder, Colorado with 647mi.... I just had to include him on here to tell you what is coming up next for him.... This summer, Glen will be embarking on a 3 year, 25,000mi run around the world.... you can check it out at http://www.worldrun.org/

In the women's race... Kaneenika Janakova is the Women's champion with 667mi. Her previous PRs are 422 mi in the 6day, 700 miles in 10 days, 19 hrs, and 1,000 miles in 15 days, 19 hrs. Not only are these her Personal Records...they also are Slovakian national records.

Second place woman is Ivana Nemcova with 634mi. Her previous record was 507mi; 127mi improvement!

Lenka Svecova (Czech Republic) finished third with 465mi. Her bests include 1000 miles in 15 days 15 hrs, 635 miles for ten days (split), and 413 miles for 6 days - all national records.

In the 6day:

John Geesler (USA) is the Men's Champion with 433 miles! John's bests include the US record of 248 mi in 48 hrs, his age-group record of 157.9mi in 24 hrs, and in 2005 he ran 300mi within 3 days!

Igor Mudryk (Ukraine) came in second in the 6 day with 420 mi! His previous 10 day PR was 533mi.

Pranjal Milovnik of Slovakia finished third with 375mi. He has previously run 622 mi for the 10day and 392 in the 6 day. He also has completed the 3,100 mi race 3 times with a PR of 51 days 16hrs.

In the Women's 6 day....

Dipali Cunningham, an incredible runner and World Record holder from Australia, won with 467miles; she came out the overall wimmer in the 6 day.

"Dipali is one of the world's best women ultra-distance runners. She has won 19 of the 22 multiday events she has entered since 1992, including five overall victories. In the spring of 2001 she set a new women’s world record on the road for six days with 510 miles, defeating all the men in that race. In 2001 she ran 700 miles in 9 days 11 hours, the third fastest all-time for women. In 1998 she set a women’s world best on the road for six-days with 504 miles, despite heavy rains at Wards Island Park. In 1999 she won the 700 mile race overall in 10 days, 21 hours. She is ranked third in the world for 700 miles, and third for 1000 miles, having dominated the women's 1000 mile race in 1997 in 13 days, 20 hours. She has won all ten Six Day titles in our spring-time event. She is also the women’s course record holder for the Ten Day with 723 miles.In 2004,Dipali set a new women’s age group 45-49 world best for six days with 479 miles. Later in the fall, she won the 700 mile race overall, her eighth victory in that event.*" Excerpt From Race Website

Second place is Barbara Sorrell of the USA with 319 miles in her first ever Miltiday!

Third place is Uljana Jevdokimova if Finland. In this, her second miltiday, she finished 276 miles; 31miles petter than in her previous race.









For full results, check out the following links...
Race Home Page
Daily Results
Photo Gallery

Self-Transcendence Six and Ten Day Race 2008 - April 23 to May 3

Those of you who know me know I am fascinated with Multiday racing, especially the 6 day event. I love the history of the 6 day race: New York Times Article posted Dec. 2 1888 covering George Littlewood's World Record Performance; and more recent events: Yiannis Kouros running 643 miles in 6 days on 3 hours of sleep in 2005. If you also love the history of this sport, This Article is another must-read.

But back to why I am posting this.... In spite of my love of the 6 day, I am not competing this coming week. Some have asked me why, and I have to say it is that although I love the 6 day, I really want to be focusing on the 24hr race to improve at that distance, but I do plan to compete in a 6 day every-other year, so you can expect me back next year; this year I have to be content to sit on the sidelines.

I was originally worried about the turnout at this year's event because of Sri Chinmoy's death this past year; he was a spiritual guide for the majority of the runners, and the race was put together by his organization, however there is a large gathering of runners back in New York right now to run, including some remarkable runners......

All Bios of the runners can be read at http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/us/ultras/6-10-day-race/6-10-day-race-2008/runners_bios, and believe me..... they are worth reading.

The array of runners includes some World Record holders, several National Record holders, and just some downright crazy people.... now you've got me feeling sentimental....

The 10 day race began Wednesday April 23rd at Noon EST, and the 6 day race is scheduled to join them Sunday April 27th also at Noon EST. Both Races will Conclude May 3rd at Noon, and you can expect updates from me throughout the race.... I may be across the country, but I am watching the website like a hawk, and have even spent some time on the phone with some of the racers.

Anyway.... Check out the Following links to learn more...

Race Home Page

Daily Results

Photo Gallery