Shoes, Injury, Misinformation, and a Soap Box

Time to get a little preachy.

On Tuesday mornings I go to a business networking meeting before I go to my office.  I've been a part of that group for a few years now.  The other day I was wearing my Trail Gloves to work for a change of pace.  I've been preaching foot strengthening and barefooting for a few months now, and a few people have actually been genuinely interested.  Not necessarily about running barefoot, but at least in strengthening their feet up to help with things like plantar fasciitis and the like.

Before the meeting a few of us were talking and someone asked, "how long until we hear that those are bad for your feet?"  They had seen brands like Earth Shoes come and go (and incidentally come back again after a hiatus of 20 years).  Another example is the current mess rocker shoe by Sketchers and a few others.  Those rocker soles came out in the 1990's from a company called MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology).  Sketchers say they will supposedly tone your flabby butt so it looks a little more like a Victoria's Secret model all without you having to do anything but hoof it to the kitchen for another bag of Cheetos.  Probably not happening.  MBT says that their shoes mimic the natural motion of walking over soft uneven ground, based on their observations of the Maasai people in Africa.  They supposedly cause better posture and function.  MBT says on their website, "When the body is unstable, the body is stronger".  That is nonsense.  Ask a person with a torn, unstable rotator cuff how strong their shoulder is.  Strangely enough a University of Wisconsin study even found no significant difference in muscle activity when comparing the "toning" shoes vs. a regular athletic shoe.

So how long until minimalist shoes are bad for you?  Depends on who you ask!  Some physicians, podiatrists, etc. are already screaming dire warnings about taking the $400 arch supports out of your motion control shoes.  They are quite sure your feet will literally fall into pieces and you will have to balance on the bloody stumps that used to be your ankles.  That position is interesting because you won't find a medical doctor, chiropractor, podiatrist, or shaman that will recommend putting your toddler in a hard-soled supportive shoe.  Why?  Because it interferes with normal foot development and function.  The question is, at what point do our feet become so frail that we need to constantly encase them in a shoe that prevents movement?

I like to take a different route with my patients.  I give them strengthening and self-massage activities to do at home to strengthen the muscles in their feet and promote good circulation and a self-supporting arch.  I do those same things at home.  I firmly believe that strengthening the foot to support itself is a better way to go.  Orthotics aren't bad, and shoes aren't bad.  They are tools, but we have started to look at them as armor for our frail feet, and our feet have become frail because of it.  At this point I must admit I used to promote orthotics and supportive shoes to everyone.  Why did I do this?  It is what you are taught in school.  You don't question your instructors.  You nod, smile, and move on to the next topic.  Critical thinking is removed.  Barefoot should be a no-brainer for chiropractors.  We constantly promote natural healing and movement.  How can we in good conscience then say that your feet need constant outside support for the rest of your life?  There are instances where orthotics are appropriate, but they should be used as a temporary device while the foot is remodeled and strengthened to function naturally. 

To ensure full disclosure, there are some people who shouldn't be walking around barefoot.  If a diabetic (or anyone) no longer has sensation in their feet, barefoot probably isn't appropriate.  If you can't feel damage happening, you need some protection.  That's common sense.  I don't think that rules out some barefoot activity in a safe environment, or minimalist shoes for periods of time either.  That answer must come on a case by case basis.

My answer to the question of how long until a minimalist shoe is bad for you is simple.  Never!  They are a tool and should be used appropriately by someone who is instructed in their use and will use them appropriately.  In a perfect world, that could be nearly anyone!  Who does the instruction?  Well, you can find someone who is using them already and get a little instruction from them.  If your shoe salesman can't answer your questions, find a different shoe salesman!  In reality, the best teacher is your own feet.  If it hurts, you are doing it wrong.  Start slowly and build up activity as you are able!

Run on, runners!

Visualization of Barefoot Running Form

So, last post I gave some tips on getting started with barefoot running.  I hope that you have tried a little barefoot walking outside and downloaded Jason Robillard's book (or at least read his ABC's post).  This time I want to dive in to the mechanics of the gait a little bit and give you the visualization clues I used to help me.

Foot Landing (Foot Strike)
The foot strike should be gentle, as light as possible.  Watch a cat walk or run, or study a ninja that lives in your neighborhood.  They hit the ground quietly, and sneak up on you.  In barefoot running, the natural way we run, we land on the ball of our foot first then the heel and toes come down as the calf stretches.  Sometimes it looks like your foot is landing completely flat.

I use this visual for the foot landing:  Picture how your feet and ankles move as you go up a flight of stairs.  You typically touch first at the ball of your foot, but as you load the leg, your heel comes down as the calf stretches.  There is a reflex that happens as your calf stretches to help turn on the quad and glute muscles to keep the knee and hip from collapsing.  When running, this same process happens but it happens a lot faster and is a little less exaggerated.

A few other visuals that might help:

• Pretend that you are running on hot coals, it will help decrease the force of your landing.  Same thing goes for liquid-hot magma.
• Concentrate on the foot that is moving up, and the force on the landing foot will decrease (not my favorite way, but its an option).
• Pretend that your running surface is loaded with springs and they push your foot up as soon as you set it down.

Knee Bend
To have the right knee bend, you should bend your knee.  How's that for you?  Not enough?  Fine.

The knee should never be completely straight in barefoot running.  As you land with your foot right below the hip, the knee is already bent to reduce force and it stays bent through the foot lift.  The knee bend is a major element of the shock absorbing system. 

What helped me:

• Pretend that as you are running your butt is getting lower to the ground like you are going to sit on an imaginary chair.
• Increasing your foot strike cadence will help with this too.  It decreases the amount of available time to straighten your leg out.  You can't straighten the knee if doing so will make you fall over.

Foot Lift
This is a simple idea, but is difficult in practice.  If you use your foot to push off and try to propel yourself forward you will get blisters and have a bad time.  This one took me a while to understand.  You have to lift your foot nearly as soon as it touches down on the ground.  Notice I didn't say you have to rock forward onto your toes and push off of the ground.  You have to literally pick your foot up off the ground in a fluid motion before you try to use those toes to push off.  Don't worry about what is moving you forward.  We will get to that.

My visual:

• I don't have one.  Just pick your foot up.
• The "running on liquid hot magma" visual may help you.  You don't want to keep your foot on liquid hot magma for very long.  
• Think about (or find a video on You Tube) of someone walking on hot coals.  If you step lightly and pick your foot up quickly you don't get burned.  If you dig in and try to propel yourself forward quickly, you get burned.  If you try to push off with your foot when running, you get blisters.  Same concept.

The Forward Lean
This is how you move forward when you can't push off.  Jason Robillard teaches a drill where your stand slightly away from a wall, keep your body straight, and lean forward at the ankles until your head touches the wall.  That teaches you a little about the forward lean.  This is another concept that I had a little trouble with until I realized that if everything else is correct, this one happens on its own.

What to do:

• Make sure you have a high cadence, your feet are landing below your hips, and you are stepping softly, and the forward lean will take care of itself.  If it doesn't, you will quickly realize you aren't moving forward.  You will either fix the problem or run in place.  Either way, have fun!

Have you tried barefoot running or do you have tips of your own?  Leave a comment below or put them on Facebook!

Barefoot Running Form - From "A" to "C"

I've wanted to do a semi-educational post for a while rather than just relaying my modest accomplishments, so here it is!  Hold on interwebs, we are rocketing to Planet Knowledge!

As is the case with all good knowledge, most of what I'll relay to you is stolen from others.  Mostly from Jason Robillard.  I hope he wont mind.  He seems pretty laid back, so we should be just fine.  You know what they say about the quiet ones though...

A couple weeks ago I got to meet Jason when he was in Rochester to present a barefoot running clinic.  I even got some proof:

Jason and I at Tradehome Shoes.

Jason presented the new, simplified barefoot instruction program he and the folks at Merrell developed.  They call it BareForm Running and teach it via "The ABC's".  You can (and should) read the post on his blog about it  here, but I'll summarize quickly:

A= Align Posture.  Stand tall with a slight forward lean at the ankles, knees slightly bent.
B= Balanced Foot Strike.  Feet land under the hips, almost flat.
C= Cadence.  180 steps per minute.  A fast cadence helps ensure the balanced foot strike.

That is honestly enough to get you started.  You can check out his book to get some more details on form and such but the ABC's will get you going.  He is still giving his book away, or you can find it on Amazon if you want the hard copy.  I have the hard copy.  I like circling and highlighting things.

So, here are some tips and things I've learned the easy way (from others) and mastered the hard way (practice).

•  It is true that barefoot running leads to a forefoot or midfoot landing, rather than landing on the heel.  That does not mean that the heel doesn't touch the ground.  In fact, the heel and toes touch the ground a split second after the ball of your foot does.  Your foot lands almost flat.  This was a concept that I struggled with in the beginning and it caused me some problems, namely Achilles Tendonitis.  I was staying on the ball of my foot the whole time rather than letting my heel come down.  Which leads me to my next point...

• If you are thinking about trying barefoot running, go barefoot.  Don't try to change your form while wearing the same running shoes you have been wearing, which is exactly where I went wrong.  I developed my Achilles problems after doing a 5K wearing my New Balance shoes, but running "on my toes" the whole time.  At the time, that was how I understood barefoot form.  Had I taken my shoes off, and continued to run "on my toes", I would have soon gotten blisters or some severe foot pain and had to stop running.  My feet would have told me pretty quickly that I was doing something wrong.  I had shoes on though, so I missed the message.  You should save the minimalist shoes for non-barefoot friendly terrain too.  Go barefoot and learn faster.  Once you have good form, those minimalist shoes like the Merrell Trail Glove or Vibram Five Fingers are great for hostile environments.

• Do a lot of barefoot walking outside.  No amount of walking around the house barefoot can prepare you for the sidewalk down the street that is littered with acorn or walnut shells.  Squirrels by nature are evil creatures and they hate people, especially barefoot people.  Their primary means of attack is covering sidewalks with sharp pieces of debris.  Walking barefoot outside will help desensitize your feet to the small debris that will likely be in your way.  It may also give you a clue on routes to avoid when you are out running barefoot.  Your feet become accustomed to little rocks and debris, but not if you stay on carpet.

• Speaking of soft surfaces, don't try to start on grass.  Find some pavement or a smooth gravel or dirt trail.  Grass is a reward for good form.  Running on a hard surface will give you more feedback and allow your form to improve faster.  I have found that when I'm running on grass I tend to start heel-striking right away.  When I got lost on a run a few weeks ago, I veered on to the grass for a bit when my feet started to get sore and I immediately started to land on my heels.  

• Start small and work up from there.  If you are already a runner, don't go out and just do your normal mileage barefoot.  That will likely hurt.  There are a few superheros out there that can transition really quickly with no ill-effects, but most of us need to build distance and speed with a healthy dose of time.

There's a few tips to get you started.  The only way to learn is to go out and practice.  Kick those shoes off and take a walk around the block.  Bring your dog with you.  He will appreciate the walk, and you just might start to remember that being barefoot is fun!  My next post will give some visualization tips on proper running form.  I need some things explained to me a few times in a few ways before I really understand so my hope is to get you thinking about form in different ways to find the best way for you.

Questions, thoughts, or just want to tell me to buzz off?  Leave a comment below or search Barefoot Chiropractor on Facebook.  Look for the picture of my feet!

Merrell Trail Glove Review

All the cool kids do reviews of stuff so I thought I had better do it too.  It is my hope that this review will gain me a lot of cool points.  What are cool points you say?  Well, if you have to ask, you don't have any.  But reading this review will get you a starter set of one cool point and an Abercrombie baseball cap (subject to availability) that you can wear everywhere you go.  That is how you start collecting cool points.  With enough cool points you can earn free stays at Marriott Hotels (subject to participation).  Sharing this post with a friend will net you two bonus cool points.  You know you want them.  But I digress...

When I tell people I run barefoot they always say, "Oh!  You mean in those toe shoes?"  I reply "No.  No shoes.  Barefoot."  Then I go on to say I do have a pair of minimal shoes that I wear sometimes when conditions call for it.  Those shoes are the purpose for this post.


A few years ago, humans started walking the earth.  We mostly ate stuff that we found growing in the dirt or on trees, and occasionally we bagged a deer for dinner.  Before the invention of the .270 caliber rifle we used spears to get those deer but before that we actually ran those babies down.  Its called persistance hunting and some tribes still do it today.  You see, deer can't breathe or pant all that well when they are on the run and will quickly overheat if kept running for too long, allowing your caveman ancestors the chance to stick a stone knife in the deer and have venison for supper.  Our feet allowed for that awesome running ability and shoes didn't come into the picture for quite a while.  Even when Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile his shoes were little more than a few strips of leather and some spikes.


Vibram put their Five Fingers shoes (the "Toe Shoes") on the market in 2005 and the minimalist shoe market has been expanding ever since.  Merrell Released the Trail Glove in February 2011 and were the first major name shoe company to release a zero-drop shoe.  I purchased a pair because I wanted to get going on my transition to barefoot running without taking as much time to desensitize my feet.  (You can read some of that adventure here.)  These are my first minimalist shoe, so this is my first review.  Bear with me.


These shoes are pretty sweet looking.  Price is about $110 retail and you can find retailers on their website, or buy direct from there.  I would suggest going to a retailer and trying them on.  The fit isn't custom, but it will be snug to your foot and you want them to fit correctly.  Sockless is the preferred method for this shoe.

There is a few different choices of color scheme.  I liked this one called "Dark Olive and Kryptonite".  I wonder if they had to license the word Kryptonite.  Inquiring minds want to know.  The uppers are mostly a super-breathable mesh, bonded to the sole.  The mesh keeps your feet cool, and would help the shoes stay a little drier if you are running in wet conditions.

Side views of the shoes.  You can see how thin the sole is, and how flat they are.  Zero-drop!  The average running shoe has a 12mm drop from heel to toe.

The soles are by Vibram.  That means a long life, like thousands of miles long.  You can see how the toe of the shoe curls up a little.  That is called toe spring and I'm assuming it is just due to the molding of the sole.  Not to worry though.  The soles are so flexible that they flatten out when you put them on.  The sole material comes up the front of the shoe to protect the tips of your toes in case you kick rocks on the trail.  Smart.

Here is one of the shoes rolled up.  If you are going to review a minimalist shoe properly, you have to do this.  It proves that the shoe can be rolled up, I guess. 

Here is the shoe on my dog.  Dogs love them, because Merrell doesn't test their products on animals. For the record, I have a big dog not freakishly small feet.

I started wearing these around just casually before I started running in them.  I love the way they fit close to your foot but they never restrict movement at all.  The large toe box isn't clunky in the least.  Running in them is also very comfortable, if using proper form.  I've seen some blog posts where people had a seam inside the shoe or something rubbing on their foot and they have a big hole in their skin by the end of a run.  I haven't had that happen to me.  The seams are very smooth inside.  The nail on my big toe does hit right behind the rubber at the front of the shoe on the mesh upper and I was worried that might cause some issues but it hasn't yet.  I have worn them to work a few times and one day wore them for 15 hours straight through the work day and part of Relay for Life.  They were comfortable all day.


If you have read some of my previous posts you know that I was trying to move to a forefoot strike before making "the big switch" so I was still running in a pair of New Balance shoes.  I finally put these shoes on for a run after my NB's got soaked on a run in the rain and were still wet the next time I was heading out.  I took the Trail Gloves out for a run that day, and I haven't put the NB's on since.  I was going to use the NB's for the Warrior Dash, but I ended up using the Trail Gloves instead.  Smart.  They cleaned up easily.  A few rinses in the hotel shower and then tossed them in the washing machine in an old pillow case when I got home.  Air dry them and POOF! Clean shoes.


I typically run on streets and paved trails, which is not technically what these shoes are designed for.  There are some lugs for traction under your toes, but they don't interfere on the pavement especially for someone like me who is newer to barefoot and minimalist running.  Some of the more seasoned barefooters don't like these shoes for pavement because of the bumpy sole.

I haven't run in them since the Warrior Dash, but it is starting to get dark a little earlier at night so my runs during the week will soon be in these shoes unless I can get out in the daytime.  I love running in them and they are as close to barefoot as you can get without being barefoot.  If you step on rocks, you will feel it through the shoe.  The pain will be significantly less however.  If you are interested in getting started in barefooting, but aren't ready to give up the shoes yet, these are a great choice.  Give them a try!


Merrell has a bunch of new minimal shoe styles coming out next year.  If you happen to be a Merrell executive, I'd love to help review them.  I know you were impressed by this review, so let's make it happen.  For a sneak peak of some of the upcoming styles, see what Last Place Jason had to say.  Personally I'd love to get my mitts on a pair of Rapid Gloves.  I think they look pretty sweet.


Run on, Runners!

Call me Magellan

When you are learning barefoot running form you should never increase your mileage by more then 10-15% per week.  Or, you can do what I did Wednesday night and just go ahead and double your longest ever barefoot run all at once.  Whatever.

Wednesday night involved a group barefoot run by an intrepid bunch of superheros from the greater Rochester area (Katie, Terra, Shalina, Jamey, Amos, and me) and two intrepid traveling superheros from parts unknown who wander the Earth and get into adventures (Jason and Shelly Robillard).  Jason and Shelly were in town for a little barefoot evangelism before heading to Minneapolis for the Naked Foot 5K this weekend.  We gathered at Tradehome Shoes at 7:00 PM and took off from the mall and towards Silver Lake.  I estimated that I would be home by 8:00 PM after a 30 minute run.  (That's called foreshadowing, people.)

It was a great night for a run.  I could tell that the miles were going to fly by.  I got to talk with Jason a lot and got some questions answered about barefooting.  I also got to talk to Amos a little for the first time that night.  Always good to make new friends!  We quickly got to our first scheduled stop for people who wanted to do a 5 mile loop and Amos, Shalina, and Terra peeled off and headed back to the mall.  Amos has been barefooting for a few months but this was Shalina and Terra's first barefoot run so I'm pretty impressed with their performance.  My first barefoot run was .3 miles.  They went five.  That's hardcore.  I hope they are feeling OK today.  I'm not worried about Amos.  He has a mohawk.  He will be fine.

I was planning to turn back to the mall at this point as well, but I was feeling pretty damn good.  The decision was made for me when Jamey said he was going to keep going.  I couldn't turn back if he was going to keep running! So off we went!  We kept on the asphalt and concrete trails that lead from Soldier's Field to Silver Lake.  Some time during the run to Silver Lake I mentioned to Jason that my furthest barefoot run to date was 3.4 miles.  He was quiet for a second and said "well, I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you to build miles slowly" or something like that.  Kudos to him for trying, but I was having too much fun to stop!

We finally made it to Silver Lake and it was at this point that I started to feel a little tenderness in my feet.  I decided the prudent thing to do would be to turn back.  The rest of the group was going to round Silver Lake before heading back to the mall for a total of just over nine miles, way further than I wanted to go. 
I let everyone know that I was turning back and I'd see them at the mall.  I mapped this first leg later and found out I turned around at 3.8 miles.  Already .4 miles further than I had ever gone barefoot!

I turned around and started back the way we had come.  There is a bridge that crosses Silver Lake at the narrowest point and just after the bridge I heard someone trotting up behind me.  He fell into pace next to me and said "Barefoot running, huh?"  This was the start to a pretty good conversation where I found out that he used to coach cross country for one of the Rochester Schools and promoted barefoot running to his athletes.  We kept talking and running and pretty soon things were no longer looking familiar to me.  Then I saw a trail marker that said Quarry Hill Trail 1 Mile.  I was no longer heading in the right direction.  I found out later this was at mile 5.  I went off course at mile 4.4!  Luckily I had my phone with me so I brought up a map and figured out where I was.  I made it back to 11th street, and then to 4th street Southeast.  A few blocks down 4th St. and I was back to the point where we exited the trail briefly earlier to cross the river at street level.  I made it back on to the trail and headed South towards the mall.  Little did I know...

There are two separate trails that converge at that spot.  One heads towards Soldier's Field and the mall, one heads towards Southeast Rochester and Cub Foods.  Guess which one I was on.

At this point it was dark and I was able to convince myself that I was on the right trail, even though I knew I probably wasn't.  Anyway, I was headed South and that was the way I needed to go.  My feet were starting to get pretty sore so I got off the trail and started running in the grass to save them a little.  Eventually I started to see the big halogen lights of a parking lot and some red sinage that I couldn't really make out.  I was pretty jazzed up about this because I thought it was the red sign of Hy-Vee Grocery store that is just east of the mall.  I soon realized that it was not Hy-Vee and I was pretty far from where I should be.  I exited the trail onto 12th St SE/Hwy 14 and started heading West toward the mall.  I called Jamey to leave a message that I was not going to be back by the time he was and to please not take my car keys that were clipped to his backpack in the store.  I also called Sara to let her know why I was so late and that I was OK.  I don't think she was very impressed with my location or the fact that I was walking through SE Rochester in the dark with no shoes.  I told her I was fine and I would get a hold of Jamey for a ride.

The truth is that I was fine.  My feet were sore but not bloody or anything.  The biggest trouble now was that all of the sidewalk on this street is torn up for road construction which meant I was traversing asphalt that had recently been milled and was littered with tiny and not so tiny chunks of debris.  In the dark.  With no shoes.  Oh, and no wallet.  Oh, and a phone that had one bar of battery left.  Huh.

I did get in touch with Jamey and I stopped at Kwik Trip to wait for him.  He thought it was pretty funny, and really it was.  Upon later mapping the route I took, I ran 7.03 miles last night, and walked .66 miles through road construction barefoot.  I can't believe I wasn't picked up by a cop or seriously injured.  It was an adventure though, so no regrets!

The damage to my feet was minimal.  I had one small blister on my left big toe that popped, and a blister on the ball of my left foot that is too deep to pop.  I've had those before and they heal well and quickly because they are so deep.  I had a little pain on the top of my right foot and both feet were pretty tender today, though they are pretty good now.  Seven miles.  Success!

Day Off

I've been running every other day for the last three weeks now.  That's a much better schedule than I was able to do between my injury in June and the Warrior Dash.  The Warrior Dash on July 23rd was the last time I've worn shoes to run and I've been steadily increasing my distance even since.  In fact, my first barefoot run was only one mile just to see if I could do it.  I went out last Saturday evening and did 3.4 miles!  That was my third 5K distance last week.  I guess you could say that its been going pretty well.  I've been careful to not do too much and to just listen to my feet while I am out and the miles have come pretty naturally.  i'm pretty psyched up about my results so far.  I might even be wicked psyched.

I haven't had any new blisters for quite a while, but I'm still having trouble picking my left foot up and preventing a hard push-off.  I've literally been scraping the skin of my left big toe away on each run.  So I figured a day off is warranted.  I pretty much always have some soreness in my feet the morning after a run too.  I'm just assuming that is normal after doing 3+ miles barefoot on asphalt and concrete when you are still new at it.  I'll find out for sure on Wednesday when I get to ask Jason Robillard in person!  Tradehome Shoes and Merrell are sponsoring Jason to come and give a barefoot clinic in Rochester before is appearance at the Naked Foot 5K in Minneapolis on August 20th.  The Robillard's are rolling into Rochester on Wednesday and there is a group run scheduled for that night.  Here are the event detail links for the "Barefoot Week" in Minnesota.  (I just dubbed it "Barefoot Week".  I'm probably the only one, but whatever.)

Group Run

Barefoot Clinic

Naked Foot 5K

On interesting thing that has happened over the past few weeks is the change in how I view rocks on the trail.  When I first kicked off the shoes in July, a rock was any size of pebble on the trail that might be bigger than a grain of sand.  On my Thursday run, I missed spotting one that was your average sized river rock for landscaping and I hit it with the arch of my foot.  I must have been really spaced out at that point to miss a rock that size, but I'm still amazed at my reaction.  The instant I hit it, my whole body reacted and my foot came right off of it.  I hadn't even hit it hard enough to cause a sensation of pain, just a sensation of something that wasn't supposed to be there.  Our bodies can be pretty amazing when we let them!

A Nail on the Trail

Last night was supposed to be a run night but I was not into it at all.  I was really busy at work Monday and Tuesday and I was kind of tired so I almost skipped it.  It turns out that I'm glad I didn't.

I knew I wouldn't regret getting out to run so I just put on some running clothes as soon as I got home.  We had some dinner and got the offspring to bed and I headed out right away.  I was not feeling it so I decided to take a different route than normal.  I figured if I took one of the usual routes I would know exactly what distance I had ran and I could have talked myself into quitting early.  I took off down the trail that runs through the park near our house and headed towards Silver Lake thinking I would go until I wanted to turn around and head home.  I really expected to "bonk" after about a mile but I decided that was fine if it happened.  It was a good plan.

For the record, I learned the term "bonk" from Super Mario.  Check his blog out here.  He is a multi-sport athlete, training for the Wisconsin Ironman.  He is also the reining champion of the Gilman Memorial Turkey Trot - probably the most important race of his career thus far.  As I understand it, "bonking" would be to pretty much run out of gas.  It is not the same as "boink", which is of course the sound of scientific progress.  (Calvin and Hobbes? Anyone?)
 
After about half a mile I had hit a good stride and my breathing was perfect with my cadence.  That's a pretty normal progression for me, but I'm always glad when I hit it.  When my breathing and cadence are in rhythm I feel like I can run forever (even though I can't).  I pulled a Forrest Gump and just kept running.  I even overtook and passed someone!  After a while, I decided that I had run far enough down the trail so I made note of my location and turned around for home.

A cool thing happened on my way home.  A kid on a bike rode by me in the opposite direction and as soon as he went by I heard him hit the brakes on his BMX bike, doing that cool sideways skidding stop that was so awesome to do when I was his age.  Especially when you were on gravel and could pull off a complete 180 or more.  Fresh concrete was good too since you could leave a nice black skid mark.  He caught up to me and rode along side watching me run for a few seconds, and then blurted out "Doesn't that hurt?"  Because I'm an egomaniac I of course answered "Not really.  It just takes some practice" and I smiled at him.  He kept riding along so I asked him if if looked like it hurt.  "Yep!" was all he said and he turned off the trail onto a side street.

Since I had just bragged to a 10 year old, I decided that I couldn't give up and had to run the rest of the way home.  I was still feeling good anyway so that was fine.  It was at about this time that I discovered a nail lying on the trail.  Luckily, I spotted it with my eyes and didn't find it with my bare foot.  Good times.

The rest of the run was uneventful.  I made it home, brought some food to the cat that lives in my yard, and grabbed my laptop to join my lovely wife on the patio and map my run to find the distance.  I use a website to map my runs.  Get this, it's called mapmyrun.com.  Catchy, huh?  There is a lot of mumbo-jumbo on there, but I just map my runs on it to find the distance.

My dear wife asked me how the run went (as she always does) and I replied "Really good!" (As I sometimes do.)  I told her that I hoped it was three miles, but it was likely only two.  I really felt too good to have gone any further than that.  I sat down and drew out my route, ignoring the mile counter the whole time so that the end would be a surprise.  Total miles: 3.1!  A complete 5K run!  And it felt good! 

So that is the story of my first barefoot 5K.  Unbelievable in my mind.  That half marathon next May isn't looking so daunting now.  Only 10 miles further!