One year down!

First off, before I even start, I want to send a HUGE Thank You to my wonderfull, amazing, beautiful wife for not only putting up with my ass, but for supporting me as well! Thanks honey, I couldnt have made it here without your support!


Well, today, October the 14th, I celebrate as my one year anniversary of running Barefoot! Thats right! A year ago today I ditched the shoes and rid myself of all types of aches and pains such as;

-Cronic Shin Splints!
I had been trying to get back into running again in 2010 since I finally had a job that would allow it. Unfortunatley I only ran for about 5 out of 10 months due to shin splints. They were so.bad that I would take a month off at a time with constant icing, stretching, and massaging and yet as soon as I ran again they would come right back. I finally went and saw a Dr and he just told me the usual bullshit of "take a month off and these anti inflamatory pills, then start back slowly..." Needless to say, that didnt help matters any.

-Constant lower back pain.
I felt like I was always suffering from a pinched nerve in my lower back. Like I had lifted something the wrong way or something and whenever I would bend over I would get these sharp stabbing pains in my lower back approximatley where my love handles are.

-Stiff ankles
My ankles always felt stiff in the mornings. It would hurt to walk for a few minutes untill they loosened up some.

-Fatigue.
I would only run 2~3 miles per run, but I always felt tired afterwards. It would take me an hour or two before I felt "recovered" from my runs.

-Ingrown Toenails.
I suffered from CONSTANT ingrown toenails. Both big toes and on occasion on my little toes as well. Since going BF Ive only had one ingrown toenail, and that was from running in my Vibrams, which isnt running barefoot.


Now thats all behind me!!! I can run without feeling any discomfort, and I can also go about the rest of my day feeling fine with no aches or pains!

Ive been through several stages and tried a few different training methods. Ive ran fast and hard for all my training runs, Ive been a vegatarian, Ive used compression sleeves, eaten while running, ran while fasted, done speed work, and now Im using a lot of these things in conjunction with the Maffetone method of running slow (and I like it the best so far!).

Ive ran on Asphalt, grass, dirt, cement, chip seal, concrete, crushed lime stone, synthetic tracks, brick roads, side walks, country roads, trails, and sand. Ive stepped on amd in a large assortment of dead animals. Ive also ran through large areas that were covered in broken glass. Yet Ive never seen any hypodermic needles....

So heres my PR's for my first full year of BFR. Keep in mind I only ever really "trained" for a half marathon...
Mile - 6:23
5k - 20:42
Half Marathon - 1:42:37

Ive only ran 1 5k race and 4 half marathons. In my next year I hope to drop all 3 of those times along with adding a PR for a 50 Mile for sure, and hopefully a few other distances as well!

Oh, my total mileage for my first year is 743.89 WONDERFULL miles. I feel like I have fallen in love with running all over again and I very seldomly ever have a bad run anymore.

So heres to a great first year!!! I hope for many many more!!!

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