It’s been a very long time since my last post, so here goes.

I did in fact not even show up for any of the Dances With Dirt races (I originally had planned on running the 50k) in July. My only regret is that I have yet to go to Devil’s Lake State Park and was really looking forward to checking out the trails there. I was in absolutely no shape to be running any kind of race at that point, however. I am considering doing a shorter race there this summer, perhaps the half-marathon, or just heading up there for a weekend sometime.

My running was pretty much a complete bust all summer. I continue to struggle off and on with a strange lack of energy (in fact I currently have not run at all for over a week after a couple of terrible outings) which seems to pop up every time I get back into decent shape. I did manage to run Blackhawk Ridge again this fall. It went much, much better than my back-of-the-pack hike at Blue Mound in June but I was still about 15 minutes slower at Blackhawk than the year before, which was somewhat disappointing. It was nice to get out in a race and run the majority of it at a pretty steady effort and have some fun. Considering my sporadic training all summer I guess it went as well as can be expected. I would recommend everybody at some point head up to Wisconsin for a trail race. It’s a very laid back, “granola” kind of crowd at the trail races up there. They urinate pretty much anywhere they want and then afterwards they give away raw honey. It’s great!

It was also my second year of coaching the high school cross country team full-time this fall. We made some real progress in the program, with individuals medaling at meets on a pretty consistent basis. We still did not have enough kids go out to run as a team at any meets, though on the girls squad we will certainly have enough next season. My son Coop also qualified for the Sectional meet for the third straight year but unfortunately did not make it to the state meet. He is planning to run XC and track for the Monmouth Scots next year, which will be really exciting! Plus, his sister Claire will be a freshman next year so I will soon be coaching her. I have been truly blessed to have coached my kids in various sports and I am looking forward to four  years of XC with Claire!

Coaching cross country has been exceptionally interesting to me. My sports background is in the classic “ball sports”. I grew up playing basketball and baseball and my prior coaching experience had also been in those two sports. I have found since I have been coaching cross country that for the most part, you are dealing with a different type of student-athlete. The kids tend to be less aggressive than I am used to. They are also exceptionally smart and well-rounded, definitely not your stereotypical “jock” types. The team GPA was 3.87 in the first quarter for crying out loud! Nothing like the coach being the dumbest person at practice, right? Also, most of them are in multiple extra-curricular activities ranging from student council to band to Students Against Drunk Driving. Overall, they are a great bunch of nice kids that it is my privilege to be able to coach and get to know.

It’s curious how coaching has supplanted my own running in importance to a certain degree. I noticed how that once practice began my own running became less important but at the same time, got better! Not only did running with the kids re-energize me as the season moved along, but I believe my worries over my own running woes were replaced with worrying about my team. When I had a bad run or had to take a few days off because of my on and off fatigue issues, it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal because, I think, I was more concerned with how my eight runners were faring than my own issues. Even outside of the actual season itself I think it has altered how much attention I pay to my own running when you factor in the amount of time and energy devoted to recruiting kids to the program, researching training, etc. In short, coaching XC has become my “baby”. Instead of my number one running related goals being a my half-marathon p.r., for example, it has become building the cross country program and achieving certain goals within that program.

Now let’s talk shoes! This summer I retired both my Anton Krupicka-designed New Balance trail shoes and my New Balance 730 road shoes.  My new trail shoes are another pair of New Balance, the Minimus Trail 1010. This shoe has a bit more cushion than my previous pair, which unfortunately cuts down a bit on trail ground feel but does relieve the pounding a bit on longer runs.  They weigh in at about 7.5 ounces with a 4 mm drop, typical stats for a Minimus shoe. My road shoe is now an Altra Zero Drop (you might have noticed their commercials on TV lately) called The One. Terrible name, good shoe. It also has a bit more cushion than my last road shoe but is a true 0 drop shoe, which you have probably figured out by the companies name. I have been running in shoes with a pretty low drop and doing grass barefoot running for long enough that the zero drop did not really affect me much.  The One does seem a bit controlling for my taste. By that I mean, it feels like it is forcing my foot to land and pivot the way IT wants me to, rather than how my foot wants to naturally, though that sensation gets less and less as they get more broken in. That said, I haven’t had any injury issues with it and it is easier on my knees than my last pair of road shoes,  a pair of NB 730’s which were basically slippers with soles. The 730, now that I have retired them from road work, is pretty much the most comfy walking and workout shoes on the face of the earth!

The coolest footwear I acquired recently is a pair of Xero Shoes running sandals. Yes, you read that correctly. Running sandals. They are inspired by sandals worn by the Tarahumara Indians featured in the best-selling book (and in my opinion, the running Bible) Born To Run. The are essentially a durable flip flop that is well secured at the heel. Obviously super-light and super-thin, they are the next best thing to running barefooted. I wore them for short trail jaunts a few times before the weather turned and loved them. They make even my stable of  light-weight shoes feel like work boots in comparison. I would definitely never wear them on any man-made surface and you have to be pretty careful with tree roots and the like when on the trails. You would not want to go around crashing your toes into anything with them on! But the ground feel is way out of this world.

This leads me into my philosophy on minimal/barefoot running. I believe that running in as little shoe (and by that I mean cushioning, weight, and especially drop) as possible is the best way to discover your true, natural running form. That said, you always have to take into account the surface you are running on. Asphalt, cement, etc. are man-made surfaces. I don’t believe that the human body was meant to run on an unnatural surface, let alone without any protection. These surfaces are hard and unrelenting and only the most talented, light-footed runner can run much on these surfaces with little or no footwear without consequences from that kind of pounding. But, I don’t feel arch support or excessive cushioning is necessary in a road shoe. The more cushioning there is, the more a runner tends to drive their foot and heel into the ground, negating most of the benefits of the footwear’s cushioning. And pronation control? Crap. Let your foot land the way it wants to.

Now, running off road is another thing entirely. Here is an experiment. Go to your local school or park where there is a large grassy area. Run for a few minutes in your regular running shoes in the grass. You will likely feel pretty awkward. The little bumps and undulations of the surface will probably make you feel like your ankles might roll and you might feel like you have no rhythm. Now take your shoes off and run a few minutes. I guarantee you will feel more sure-footed and natural than you did in your shoes. The sensation of awkwardness will mostly go away and without a stack of cushioning between the grass and your foot your ankles will feel more solid and that “rolling” sensation will pretty much be gone. If you are a heavy heel striker you will be forced to run more naturally, landing instead on your midfoot or forefoot. Just don’t get carried away, you will be using muscles in your lower legs that have been strapped into clunky shoes for most of your life. If you over-do it you will pay!

Trail running. Now, ideally, a person would go barefoot on trails like they can in a grassy park. While appealing from a ground feel perspective, this would be a bad idea. Unlike your local school or park, trails typically have a  lot of sharp rocks, roots, etc. It would be unwise to tackle this surface without some sort of protection, however minimal. Where do you think the moccasin came from? I guarantee some Native American hundreds of years ago gouged his foot one too many times and started brain-storming! You can get away with a road shoe on trails, but if you want to do it right most trail shoes have some sort of rock plate protection and, most importantly, almost always have protection across the front of the toes for those times when you don’t quite get your foot all the way over that root! I prefer to go as minimal, with a small or zero drop, with trail shoes as possible. I want to be protected but I also want to be able to feel the dirt, the rocks, and mud as much as I can. It’s a big part of the experience of trail running. Locking your foot up in a clunky shoe and muting your ground feel is akin to blaring your iPod and drowning out the sounds of nature. You might as well just run your neighborhood streets because you are cheating yourself out of the full experience.

Well, do your best to get through another Midwest winter! Talk at you soon...