Garden Update

My Mittleider Grow Box garden is doing exceptionally well (once again!)

We harvested five cauliflower heads,
each as large or larger than a dinner plate.

We had a lot of edible pea pods that we have

been giving away. The plants grew to about 7

feet high and are still producing!

My corn is growing nicely, about 8 feet tall and tassling now.

I have an English cucumber plant (foreground, left) that is completely filled with blossoms and a few cucumbers already.

My tomato plants are doing really well, lots and lots of blossoms and growing tomatoes. This year I am not letting them grow completely out of control, but have been pinching off the growth tips when they get to a certain height, and I've been pinching off the "side runners" that always seem to develope. So my plants look and act very well behaved this year!

A friend of ours wanted to do a small grow box, so I went over this week and helped them mix the artificial soil and gave them some of my fertilizer to use for a couple of months.

Happily gardening (barefoot, of course!)

Ryan

Comments Heard

Oh, today during my run I passed two bicyclists who had stopped and were sitting on a ledge. When I approached them, one said "Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Like THAT!" The other guy said, "Hey, dude, you're our hero!" I wish I knew what they had been talking about
before I came along. It was so nice getting positive cheers as I ran that I started to go around my 3-mile loop a third time just for the encouragement, but they had moved on by then. On my run a different bicyclist passed me going the opposite direction and said, "Barefoot! That's awesome!"

Just to balance things out, two walking ladies saw me, looked down at my feet, and had looks of pure disgust on their faces seeing my bare feet.

Taking a look at my own feet, I guess I can't really blame them. They aren't the prettiest of feet - but I won't trade them away!


Ryan

Running Update

I went on a 6 mile run a week ago and got pretty sharp pains in my left foot (always the left foot!) I felt like I might be getting bone spurs or something that were pushing from the inside-out. But I completed my run without anything catastrophic happening.

Beginning of this week I went on an easy 3 mile run and my left foot was still hurting pretty badly. Same issue. Hmmmm. Still feels like my bones are poking me from the inside out. In retrospect, I suspect I was not really using very good form, too much putting my feet in front of me instead of beneath me. That makes it so my feet and body weight are not coming down towards the ground at a 90 degree angle, but at a sharper angle, which makes the force of my body weight move up the length of my foot. Hard to describe but easy to notice. It has to do with lateral force versus vertical force. I believe my feet get hurt really quickly when I expose them to much lateral force. Good form means not much lateral force and more vertical force, from which my feet do just fine.

So today I decided to just go very slowly and really follow good form on the same 3 mile course. I eased into it gradually, keeping myself strictly to form. Feet placed directly beneath me. Body poised forward, hovering over my thighs. Shins vertical to the ground. Ankles bent, landing on front of feet. It got easier and easier as I went along and pretty soon I was running along at a nice pace, even passing quite a few other runners. Still focusing on form and easy foot-falls.

I got done with the 3 mile loop and decided I was feeling pretty good, so I ran it again. I stopped at one point to work on ankle flexes, which made finishing the rest of the run easier.

Nice thing... left foot came out just fine! Just a slight achiness on the old problem spots, but a whole lot better than my last two runs were!

Bottom line: Form, form, form! You can't take a vacation from good form.

Happy again,

Ryan

Not Much to Say

My goodness! A whole month flew past and I haven't posted anything! I have been doing lots of little fun running, no races, nothing major. I went on vacation to Glacier National Park and hiked a few trails, partially barefoot, and got to stick my feet in numerous cold lakes and streams!

A chat-buddy, Brett Williams from Salt Lake City, ran a marathon recently, his first. I had to post this pic of him - its just a great shot! Now those are feet to be proud of!


I went to Lincoln City, Oregon this past week and ran about 5 miles on the flat sandy beach. The movement of the sand under my feet gave me a blister! That surprised me because I thought the sand would be more forgiving than the cement and pavement I usually run on. Not a bad blister, just something unexpected. Today I ran 3 miles on sidewalks and noticed a hot spot on my left foot - an old blister still healing. I didn't even know that one was there! Oh the joys and surprises of running barefoot!

Ryan

Easy Run

Yesterday I went for an easy run in Portland along the waterfront. I was just going to see how my feet (and left ankle) were doing after my race last Friday. They felt fine. I find that I can more easily get into the correct running form now. Before it seemed like a hit & miss deal, sometimes I was "there;" other times I was just hurting myself. Now my running is more consistently correct and feels more comfortable. Yesterday I did quite a bit of walking, because in the past walking has caused my feet more abrasion than running. My walking yesterday did not have any adverse effect that I could tell. So now my challenge is to start picking up more distances and getting in better shape until I can run a marathon some day!

Ryan

Fremont 5K - Seattle

Friday I went up to Seattle to join with another barefooter named Jon to run the Fremont 5K. This was my first ever official barefoot competition! I am so used to running just for the fun of it that I completely forgot to time myself or to even look at the 'official' time when I came back in! I got my results emailed to me and it turns out my "gun time" was 26:35, or an official pace of 8.5 minutes per mile. My actual start time was some 30-40 seconds behind the gun time, because it takes that long for the crowd to shuffle forward to the beginning line. I figure my actual pace was closer to 8.3 minutes per mile.

This is me coming across the finish line. Thanks to my wife, Diane, for taking my photo! My son who lives in Seattle joined us (shod) and he decided he would run a pace faster than us. Jon and I stayed together for the first mile, but he was pacing himself so he would still be fresh for a 28-mile ultra marathon he was running the next morning! So I found myself looking to set my own happy pace, which was faster than Jon's. I picked up some speed as I fell into my groove and started passing quite a few of the other runners. My time going out was probably around 10 minutes per mile, and my time returning was probably closer to 8.0 minutes or faster. This sounds like one of those awful math tests we used to get: (If Ryan ran 10 minutes per mile for the first 1.3 miles and finished a 3.1 mile course in a total of 26 minutes 35 seconds, how fast was he running the latter part of the course?)

My appreciation to Jon and his friends who gave me lots of encouragement the first part of the race. He kept on shouting, "Hey! Isn't that Barefoot Ryan I see? How does he run without any shoes on?" I guess having bare feet wasn't enough of an attention getter!

Since this was just a fun run, I had some fun on the course. For the first 1 1/2 miles they kept runners separated from automobiles by a row of orange cones. The surface near the cones was pretty smooth, so I ran a little "slalom" couse by zig-zagging around the cones. At one point I was leaping over them like a hurdler. All in good fun.
Jon and I posing with our custom-designed "running gear"!

See you out there, somewhere!

Ryan

Running Experiments

Yesterday I went down to Portland to test out my sore ankle that I got on a not-so-good run last week. I was in a hurry, wasn't relaxing into my run enough, and crossed a section of very gravelly pavement so that I was kind of running up on my tip toes trying to find bare spots between the gravel. For all my efforts I ended up with a sore tendon at the base of my left ankle.

So yesterday I started off very slowly for one block, seeing if it would hold up. It did. So I kept on going. I ran three blocks down to the smoooooth sidewalks along the Willamette River in Portland. It felt so goooood to be running!

I really made sure my form was impeccable so as to not injure my ankle worse. There were two ladies behind me running in shoes. I didn't want them to overtake me (male pride? competive spirit?) So I leaned into it and sped up.

I found myself wanting to experiment with leaning and foot placement. So I watched to make sure my feet were still landing beneath my waist, making sure I wasn't pushing off or twisting at all, and noticing how they felt. They felt great. I noticed that the distance between my foot placements (stride) was pretty far, despite my quick cadence. Interesting what leaning can accomplish. I felt I had good knee bend, like my legs were "S" shaped and like my legs and feet were lifting well behind me. I was passing quite a few walkers and slower runners. Nice. It felt like I had more freedom and less contact with the ground.

Then I saw some guy about 50 yards ahead of me moving at about the same speed I was. How hard would it be to catch him? More experimenting. I leaned even more. It felt precarious. I was "on the edge!" Checked my foot placement. Good. Checked for foot stability. Good. Checked for ankle comfort. Good. Checked my leg movement. Wings! I was flying! I caught up to the guy in seconds and kept on going. I ran on like this for about 1/2 mile more, passing all kinds of people. Is there a speed limit on this sidewalk?

Then I decided I should be careful and not risk hurting my ankle, even though my feet felt much more comfortable running this way than they do even when I walk. I finally stopped to reload with water and to stretch a little. Some of the people I had passed earlier caught up and were staring at me with big eyes. I know, the crazy barefoot guy.

I finished up going much more slowly, cooling off (recovering from a cold and fever the previous 3 days). I ran through some rougher surfaces, keeping my form, no problem. I met up with a lady who asked me a lot of questions about barefooting as we cooled off and walked back to our starting points. We had a nice discussion about form and technique, time needed to adapt, do I run in winter?, how far do I run? what are my goals? We compared running injuries, etc. All in all a very happy run.

Ryan
Vancouver Barefoot

Roughing It

I ran yesterday along a new route, about 5 miles, across the bridge connecting Washington State and Oregon. The surface was mostly rough with some stretches of really rough. We have cement sidewalks here in the Northwest with a corrugated pattern etched in, probably to help friction when the slime and mold grow. The corrugated edges are usually very rough and sharp.

I ran over them by really focusing on my form, being careful not to reach my feet out too far in front, and relaxing-relaxing-relaxing. It worked! Surfaces that used to slow me down and make me walk were manageable and I didn't have to stop at all.

The highlight of my run came when I passed a lady escorting two blind people, teaching them how to maneuver in a downtown city setting. She saw me and yelled, "ARE YOU CRAZY???" She was pretty upset for some reason. I guess working with the blind makes you very concerned about hazards, and going barefoot was out of reach of her acceptance levels. I replied to her, with a big smile, "Nope! I'm happy!"

A bike rider saw me running across the bridge that connects Washington and Oregon. He asked me if I swam the river and was running back. That would justify my bare feet, I suppose. I told him, Nope, I'm just running!



Ryan

Repeat Performance

After my motivating, successful run last Friday I decided to run the same course again last Monday, the 22nd. It was almost as good as last time. I actually ran a little bit further, just over 9 miles, and again, by concentrating on proper form, I had an enjoyable run. I felt just a little bit more tenderness on the soles of my feet due to a little skin erasure. I could feel that my form was not quite all there during some portions of my run, but mostly it went according to plan.

I was so excited by my recent successful runs that I got on a great website called MapMyRun.com and plotted out a number of different courses - some I have already run and others I would like to try. As I look forward to someday running a barefoot marathon, I plotted some longer courses - dreaming. You can see my courses by going to MapMyRun.com and checking out the courses for Vancouver, Washington. Not all of them are mine. There were a couple of others entered by other runners here. Wintler Park I is the course I've been running lately.


More and more, happily running barefoot in Vancouver!

Ryan

Core Concepts

Another barefoot runner posted this comment about chi-running, or running from the "core."
I really like its concepts.

==================================================================

The subtleties of barefooting continue to reveal themselves; of late, the key seems to be in the core - or should I say "cores":

1) The core of our strength, in the navel just below the belly button

The basic "chi" form of engaging the core allows the very foundation of your strength to gently (and, ideally, quickly) pulse the hips alternately side to side and ever so slightly upward (I often envision the super-quick stride of the legendary "Pre" in the film "Without Limits." One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three...). This centrally-sourced motion swings the upper legs; along with a bended knee, it creates the sought-after "lift" of the feet.

2) The core of the Earth, to which we gravitate in a forward fall

Core strength, combined with lean from the ankles up, generates forward motion.

From time to time, I catch my self focusing on "lifting my feet," per se, or arm swing to facilitate rapid [foot] turnover. I just redirect my focus to the cores, and I'm flying again; distractions such as push-off abrasions, road conditions, or torquing ankles, achilles, or knees seem to melt magically away.

I LOVE this game!

Brett

===================================================================

Isn't that a great post?

Agony of Da Feet -- Euphoria of Success

Last Wednesday I tried running a new route I fashioned from my work down along the Columbia River. It was about 8.5 miles. I got to my turn around point and my feet just started aching. I ended up walking a good part of the way back, aiming for as much grass as I could for
relief, but even walking became very difficult and painful, grass or not. My skin was fine, it just felt like my bones were tired and over-stimulated. That was the 'agony of da feet.' Very disappointing.

Today I decided to re-do the same route - the old idea of "if you get bucked off, climb back on and show him who's boss!" I really focused on form: bent knees, putting my feet down beneath me, gentle BHB, etc. I decided to skip the grass and stick to the sidewalks/pavement, rough or not.

Today I was euphoric! I thoroughly enjoyed the run. I found myself just rolling along easily clicking off the miles, gentle rain making some nice puddles along the way. I arrived back at my work feeling very comfortable, my feet still feeling fresh. I felt like I could have kept running all day long! After the run, my feet feel absolutely no pain at all - just warm, happy tingling.

I'm convinced the difference was staying true to good form. There are subtle nuances, only different by fractions of an inch or slight variations of an angle, that make all the difference. Its easy to slip back into old habits because they can be so close to the correct form that they seem 'close' to right, but not 'quite' right. If I'm not careful I end up getting hurt by allowing my form to be just so slightly off and going too far that way.

Today I realized one problem I have to watch out for is allowing my shoulders to be too far back in relation to my waist. I tend to do this if I'm tired or if I'm on really rough surfaces. In my mind, its "un-cocking the gun" - losing the forward lean that gives me automatic propulsion. I then end up having to reach forward and "pull" with my legs and feet to keep moving forward, which makes my feet slap the ground with too much force and create shearing effects - wreaking havoc on my feet. Several times today I had to remind myself to "cock the gun" - pull my shoulders forward of my waist, keep my knees bent, put my feet down gently in BHB fashion. It worked. I had a great run, no discomfort, no damage, no skin erasure, no aching bones in my feet, and a feeling that I could have just kept on going and going.

Its days like last Wednesday that had me thinking I might have to go back to wearing shoes.

But its days like Today that make me think a marathon just might be in sight! Mark me down as one happy runner!

Ryan

Running "Socks"

My previous post mentioned some running socks I made to help protect my feet when I don't want to be quite-barefoot. You can make a pair yourself like I did...

I bought a $12 pair of 5-fingered socks at REI and a can of plasticene at the hardware store (the stuff you dip tool handles in to coat them) about $6.

I slathered lotion on the soles of my feet to keep the paint from sticking to my skin (next time I'll use Vaseline), then I put the socks on and stood in a flat pan with some plasticene paint poured on the bottom of the pan. It took some doing to get the stuff to soak in to the fabric. This gave me painted surfaces on the soles of the socks across the pads of the toes, the ball of the foot, and the heel.

My socks are a light khaki green/tan color and I used black plasticene paint.

The plasticene does not offer much padding at all, its there mostly to protect the fabric from wearing out too quickly. I'll have to reapply it from time to time as the original coating starts wearing thin.

I thought it would be interesting to sew a bunch of zig-zag patterns across the soles of the socks with Kevlar thread (available at my local fly-fishing and tackle store) for additional strength. Next time! -- Ryan

A Nice Run!

Yesterday I went down to Portland for a run around the riverbanks of the Willamette River - verrrry nice surfaces. Then I decided to cut up into the city and find me one of those Immigration Marches.

Along the way I ran to REI and stopped in to see if they had any Vibram 5-Fingers. They didn't. I showed them my home-made version that I fashioned from 5-toed socks and platicene. They were impressed but didn't think they would start selling them any time soon.

I ran around and eventually heard drums and shouting, so I steered towards the parade. I was secretly hoping some news reporter would see the crazy barefoot guy and grab some footage of me. Didn't happen. I did entertain a lot of police who seemed to get a kick out of seeing me. The parade marchers were predictably noisy and respectfully gave way to let me run past them.

It was back to the river front sidewalks where I actually wore my personally-made 5-fingers for the first time just to see how they felt. I actually liked wearing them! Just enough shielding to help keep the skin from abrasions. A nice break.

I also experimented with some form techniques and think (once again) that I have crossed a new milestone in my development. I've learned that barefoot running requires some very subtle changes that are elusive to me. This time I concentrated on picking up my feet and setting them down like I was squashing bugs gently. Weird concept, I know, but it worked. The difference is in how I lifted my feet by raising my knees instead of by swinging my feet forward in an arc.

All in all, a very nice 6 or 7 mile run.

Ryan

Great Running Barefoot Pics

A barefoot runner named Rick Roeber, Lee's Summit, Missouri, ran the St. Louis Marathon on the 9th. He posted some pictures of himself on his website. One of them showed excellent running form! I'm posting it here for analysis.

These are the good things I see in his form: Straight body, torso and head erect, forward lean, knees bent, feet closely bunched together, ankle flexed, whole body relaxed, and happy! What a great example of good form! Way to go, Rick!

His form reminds me of something else I wrote about running form. I keep noticing forms in the sense of triangles while running. I see shod runners and notice they seem to run as if their head were the apex of a triangle and their feet define the base of the triangle. In other words, their forward stride and backward strides seem to equal eachother so their head is near-center.

However, when I run, I envision that I am an upside-down triangle. My feet are the apex because I'm keeping them centered beneath my torso, trying to keep them confined to mostly up and down movement. If the plane of my body is back towards the rear wall of the triangle, then I'm only running in place. But if I move the plane of my body forward towards the front wall of the triangle, the triangle wants to tip over, and that forward pull moves me forward as I run.

Putting it another way, shod runners make their broad leg movements the source of their locomotion. I make my forward body angle the source of my locomotion. I have experimented with speeding up/slowing down just by changing the angle of my lean. Its kinda cool.

Ryan

Aha! Self Discovery Moment

Someone wrote on the Running Barefoot discussion board something about how hard it is to run downhill without getting foot problems. I replied with this:

Running downhill requires much less 'lean' than running on flat surfaces or uphill. Think less of leaning forward and more of placing your feet beneath your body with even quicker steps. If you "run in place" on a downhill slope, you will automatically move forward. If you wanted to stay in one place, you'd almost have to think about running 'backwards'. If you are extending your feet out in front of you thinking you need to 'brake', then you ARE creating extra friction on your soles. Keep those feet beneath you. Slow down by taking shorter steps and quicker sequences.

Calf cramping may be due to using a greater range of motion in those muscles and tendons. This can be compounded if you are still pushing off. For myself, I found that when I allowed myself to reach my foot too far forward with each stride, I tended to push off with the trailing foot to give me more 'air time' so I could have time to get my foot 'up there'. This led to the old running sequence of pushing off, leaping forward, and harsh slapping or pounding the ground with my forward foot. I still fight that tendency!

Now, I think about simply picking up my foot by lifting my heel towards my butt and putting my foot down directly beneath my body. Quicker sequence. Smaller steps. Forward progress is achieved by leaning from the ankles.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I just realized something else I'm doing wrong!

(ALERT! Self discovery moment here!)

If I am afraid of stepping on gravel, sticks or glass I tend to carefully watch the surface where I will put each foot. Its like I am 'aiming' for clear spots. But in order to 'aim' I need to see where my foot is going to land. Its best to run with my head up instead of crooning forward from my neck or my waist, so in order to watch my foot actually landing I have to reach my foot a little forward so its in my field of vision. Then I'm no longer running with good form - my feet are no longer being placed directly under my body, and I suffer for it.

My best runs have been when I've abandoned my fear of stepping on things, stopped looking directly at my feet and kept my feet directly under my body. I am then concentrating on *lifting* my feet instead of *placing* my feet. I still generally watch where I am going, but my visual focus is not on that spot 18 inches or even 12 inches in front of my foot. Its more like 10 to 20 feet out (3 - 5 meters). In fact, I cannot even see my feet landing when they are properly directly beneath my body!

Whew! Who knew that running would be so much mental as it is physical?

HINT: To help me get over the fear of stepping on things and the fear of pain while running, I use a technique called "EFT" - Emotional Freedom Technique. Learn about it for free here: www.emofree.com

Truly break-through information and help!!

New Barefoot PB

PB means 'personal best'. Yesterday I went out for a run in downtown Vancouver, Washington. I have a loop-type course I like to run that is 4 miles. I ran it and was feeling pretty good! In the past I've had a lot of issues with rubbing skin on my feet a little thin, due to incorrect form. Plus I thought I got a piece of glass in my left foot about 2 weeks ago, went in to the doctor for exploratory, found nothing, so my foot's been healing from that fun experience.

I was happy to run the four miles without any real issues happening! So I decided to keep going and run it again. The second time was even better than the first! I was more relaxed, not thinking about 'running' as much as I was thinking about my form. There's this one section of wild field I chose to run through, full of weeds and grasses, pretty lumpy. In order to avoid any surprises, I had to really pick up my heels and be careful to place my feet down beneath my body - not out in front. This was a much needed hamstring exercise for me. When I got back onto the sidewalk I kept this form up and felt like it really helped my running technique!

So I finished the second loop (8 miles) and thought "Hey, let's do it again!" So I ran it again. My feet were starting to get a little tender, so I was really concentrating on form, form, form! I felt pretty good throughout the next 3 miles, including through the field again. But around mile 11 I got tired and my form suffered because of it. I completed the 12 mile run, not in the best time, but still something to make me happy and proud.

Now, to just do it again, stronger and with better form throughout!!

Run On!!

Hello, Spring!

It appears Spring is really going to stick around this time. We had some unusually warm weather a while back followed by some very cold, nasty weather. But things are looking good out there lately. I'm starting to "refurbish" my garden by adding fresh sawdust and peat moss. The old stuff gradually rots away and my garden level starts looking only about 1/2 full. That's probably because its half sand. So I add more organic material to it and fluff it up a bunch each Spring. I've already added one helping of fertilizer and soil sweetener and one helping of bug pellets, getting it ready to plant.

With my running, I thought I got a piece of glass in my foot almost 2 weeks ago. I waited about four days to see if it got better, but I kept on feeling something poking me in my foot, so I went in to the doctors to see if he could get it out. He did lots of probing and mangling but couldn't find any "foreign body" in my foot. Thanks a lot! $225 later and now I'm healing from a much bigger hole in my foot. I just started running again a couple of days ago, slowly, and I can feel the scar tissue like a lump in my foot. I think it will gradually work its way out with use. I can't feel the sharp sensation I felt earlier, so maybe the doc did something good after all.

I got an urge to play guitar and last week I went out and bought a used12-string Alvarez, then took it in to a shop and they told me it had some serious problems. I shouldn't have bought it. But while in the shop they showed me a very nice 6 string guitar that I ended up buying with a case, something to learn on. I'm checking out getting the 12-string repaired, hopefully it can be done without costing me too much. I think I still want to sell it.

This Week's Running Progress

Trying to get back into things after resting my feet to let them recover from some small things, I went running four days in a row. It would have been five except last Monday was frigid here, more than I wanted to tackle. Tuesday, four miles. Wednesday, four miles. Thursday, four miles plus a little bit. Today, Friday, 6 miles. I was afraid that running every day would leave my feet raw, but it hasn't! The area I have been running has some very harsh sidewalks. In order to prevent soem foot pain and a recurring blood blister on my left Big Toe, I've really been concentrating on my form. It paid off! No problems, even through the rough stuff. And my feet did not feel stiff and crampy after my runs. So I must be doing something right.

FYI the form I'm working on maintaining is this: Keeping knees bent more. Keeping feet right beneath the body. My rule is to not put my toes in front of my thighs. Maintaining an even height - no bobbing up and down. Keeping my cadence high, 180 per minute. Plus a new thing. I decided that my left foot has been pointed too far to the inside, so I'm focusing on keeping it pointed slightly outward. Since thinking about this an ankle pain I've had for the past month has not been bothering me this week at all. Plus I have not gotten the blood blister on my left Big Toe like I did before. I have been trying to focus more on form than on speed, yet my times are not all that bad.

A very good running week! Now, to increase my distances and to run each day!

Vancouver Barefoot

Update

Well, I went out running yesterday in beautiful sunny weather and ran for only about three miles. I was pressed for time plus I didn't want to push my feet to where they might get injured, so I took it easy with several walking breaks along the way. It was a very pleasant experience, my feet handled it very well. Saturday's little cuts did not bother me at all.

I tried to out today, but work was wayyy to pressing and I didn't have time, plus our temperature took a dive and it has been much colder all day today.

I still might get out later today, just because I want to set up a pattern of daily running again.

Happy trails!

Ryan
Vancouver Barefoot

Running Pics

I finally got a couple of pics of me dressed for barefoot running! Here they are...


I went out running last weekend and did 8 miles. The course I followed started and ended really badly. The first and last 2 miles were covered with lots and lots of tiny gravel on the sidewalks, leftovers from when they sanded the streets for ice a couple of months ago. The gravel ends up getting knocked up on the sidewalk and nobody ever cleans those off! The back half of the course was very nice, an asphalt bike path that was relatively clear and smooth.

Between work, church, and temple service, I end up wearing shoes most of the time, so my feet get kind of soft in between runs. This didn't help my Saturday success much. I got a few little cuts on my right foot. Strange, its usually my left foot that gets the most damage.

I'm thinking I need to run more frequently, not necessarily longer. So, I'm going out today (Wed) for the first time since Saturday's run.

Ardidub
Barefoot in Vancouver