Getting laced up with those Brooks Adreneline at 5:30a in Steamboat.
Born to Run
When this bestseller came out I called Chris McDougall and we visited for 15 minutes or so. I was working in Copper Canyon, Mexico, home land of the Raramuri Indians who are the subject of his book. They run in little flat sandals and are referred to as barefoot runners. As soon as the book hit the New York Times list, I was unable to reach the author. Since then I have only received very indirect communication from him in the form of criticism of our Raramuri Running Project designed to help the runners and their communities.
Are running shoes bad for your feet?
As I prepared for this 50 miler, I tried various running shoes and tweaked my gait a bit. I was trying to learn–and also was dealing with a pesky right Achilles. My sore Achilles was the result of something–was it overtraining, or improper shoes, or my stride? Actually I never figured it out. My achilles hurt the day I ran the 50 miler–but not exactly when I ran. More on that later.
In the process of working with the aching Achilles I picked up a few pointers/helps that were interesting and of great value on race day:
- I started wearing Brooks Adreneline shoes–wore two pair of them on race day. My friends Mike and Jed at Body N Sole in Savoy, Illinois put me in them and I am very grateful. They are a low cost, good support, lightweight, breathable, easy to use shoe and they got me there.
- Rachel Hills, a woman who does pilates, yoga, and fitness training in Champaign taught me how to stand and walk. She also got me to using a stretch that works the hamstrings, calves and lower back- excellent.
- I began to learn that patience is a key part of ultramarathon training. I paid attention to Bryon Powell and the excellent resource “Relentless Forward Progress“. Great resource for any one training for a 50 miler or 100 miler.