However I was reminded yet again that running minimal is not without its risks.  My achilles was a bit sore at the beginning of a training run last week and rather than going shorter or easier, I went all out for a 7 miler – bad call.  Stretching your Achilles Tendon gradually and safely is probably the most important change that happens when you start running minimal or barefoot.  You have to carefully increase distance and pace, as is often preached in marathon training.  The difference is that you are much more impacted by the changes.  Anyhow, I’m still resting a few days and my AT is feeling better and better so I will be back at it in no time.

I still like my New Balance 790s and will be wearing those some of the time.  I will likely still race in these at Superior.  But Feelmax, huaraches, and Vibram FiveFingers are the staple diet for me.

Another amusing change that happens when you run minimal is that your feet get bigger.  It’s a combination of letting them get more stretched, building muscles, and increases the pads on the soles (soles are not tougher from barefooting, just thicker).  I’m glad I ordered a larger pair of 790s awhile back, because my toes are bumping the front of my current pair where I used to have room.  As your toes spread, FiveFingers also get much easier to put on.  Many people say they initially had to struggle into them, but after a year or more they are able to slip into them standing up.

I have put about 20 miles in, over a variety of terrain.  I did 8 miles of gravel road and trail last weekend, and the rest on asphalt, concrete, and grass next to sidewalks.  I am loving these!  It’s just a blast when the weather is nice to feel the sun and wind on the tops of your feet.  I also don’t mind the extra bit of sole protection over pure barefoot.  The only downside to these is that fact anyone who looks at you thinks you are a freak – it’s a good thing I’m used to that.  Actually, most people don’t even make eye contact because they are staring at your feet.  These are definitely keepers.

I also received another style of Feelmax shoes for testing.  They look fantastic and felt great around the house, I can’t wait to hit the trails with them.   More details soon (hopefully).

I also managed to get my highest running mileage week in since taking an injury break last November – 25 miles and a long run of 9 miles.

image credit: star5112 at flickr

Running in Cozumel was a great time – got to run with friends whom I normally don’t run with, which was even better.  We usually just ran a service road towards town (we stayed on the North end, so this meant going South).  I convinced everyone to head North on the first day and that turned out to be a fun adventure.  Within .5 mile the road turned into dirt with tons of potholes and no evident civilization other than pickup trucks full of day labors.  Our reward at the end of 2.2 miles was a sewage treatment facility!  We turned back, and I had no more say in running routes.

I repatriated my huaraches, putting on 16 total miles in them.  This was the first time I have run in them without Injinjis.  They were great!  I’m going to love these in the summer.  It was nice to have cool feet in the hot weather, and not look quite as odd since we were near the beach (OK, I still looked very odd).

The banner run of the week was a 9 mile from our hotel (El Cozumeleno) down to Chankanab park.  This was a ton of fun – my longest run post-injury.  It was also fun to talk convince my buddy Matt mid-run that we could first turn out a 4-mile out-and-back route into a point-to-point, and then stretch the planned 8 into 9 to make a true destination run.  Good times!  Also fun to run with light gear in the heat after all this bundled up cold weather running.