I made these myself! Seriously! Now, if you've read "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, then no explanation is necessary. For the rest of you, these are (a modern version of) huarache sandals for barefoot running. They provide a little protection for the bottom of the feet while still allowing for barefoot running form and the ground feedback that barefoot runners appreciate. Huarache sandals are worn by the Tarahumara (Raramuri) Indians who are highlighted in the above mentioned book. I suspect that the Tarahumara, however, do not use neon-green poly lacing nor do they tie their extra lacing into a fancy design on the top of their feet. I also suspect their soles are not made by Vibram. Nonetheless...I ordered a DIY kit from http://www.invisibleshoe.com/ after inquiring about the legitimacy of the company on the Runners World Barefoot Forum. Assured that they were legit, I ordered the kit which contains an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of 4mm Vibram cherry sole material and (2) 6 ft. laces. That's it. They have excellent videos and written instructions on their website about how to make the huaraches and tie them. For a little more, they'll do the work for you. But I wasn't willing to wait. And I like to do things myself. I walked around in them all day yesterday and Ben (my hubby) kept saying, "Those have soft-tissue injury written all over them.". Pishaw. His doubt just makes me want to run in them all the more.
I ran the first mile of my 5+ mile run in my huaraches today. Sure is different than my VFF's! I have some adjustments to make such as trimming the sole a little and tweaking the tightness of the laces. I was able to attach the Nike+ sensor by strapping the shoe pocket around the thong part of the lacing. The run in the huaraches went well overall, but it took a little while to find a comfortable, efficient form and the knot on the bottom was distracting. It was freezing out today ( in the 20's with windchill), so I wore Injinji toesocks over my Injinji sock liners with the huaraches. My feet were not cold at all. Wish I could say the same about my face - at one point my eyes were frozen open from the wind.
After mile one I removed the huaraches and the outer sock layer and slipped my Vibram Bikilas over my sock liners. No sense in doing too much too soon. I attached the Nike+ sensor by removing it from the shoe pocket and strapping it down with the velcro strap on my Bikilas. It worked last time. Then, somewhere in mile two I hear in my headset "workout interrupted" or some b.s. but it was another 30 seconds before it actually registered with my aging brain. I looked down at where I had placed my Nike+ sensor and.....CRAP! The sensor fell out somewhere between mile one and mile twoish. 20 minutes of walking-back-and-forth later, our running buddy found the mostly white sensor in the white snow along the curb. I kept telling them that it was alright (even though I was p'ed off) and that it must be a sign that it was time to get a GPS but the hubby wasn't ready to let $29 literally go down the drain. After putting the sensor back into the shoe pocket and safely securing it to the shoe strap, like I should have done in the first place, we were back on the road.
Probably the most memorable experience from today's run was something I have never done on a local run before. On the trail, the nearest pit stop is always just a tree away, but whatcha gonna do in the neighborhood? I always empty the bladder just before I head out, but I guess there was something in the water 'cause around mile three I HAD to go. On this route we pass by the Doctor's Office Building at the Reading Hospital where runners are accomodated during the Reading Hospital Run so I took a chance...but it was locked (being Sunday and all). So the hubby suggested the emergency room. Really? Well, it could be an emergency if I don't get to go soon. What a sight we must have been. Two sweaty dudes in tights, a chick in shoes with toes, and a tike in the middle of winter in a bike/running stroller (no worries folks - completely surrounded by wind-blocking material and smothered in blankets). I guess they see it all in this area, because without pause the friendly guy at the door gave me directions to the bathroom and the security guard barely noticed me.
The rest of the run was relatively uneventful. Other than the frozen eyeballs. A couple of times I had to run with my eyes closed for a few seconds to warm the eyeballs up enough to see... pretty cool running with the eyes closed actually. Glasses next time maybe? The run ended up being somewhere between 5 and 6 miles around Wyomissing. Not including the walking aroung looking for the sensor (I hate Nike). If you read my last post you may be wondering why we were in Wyomissing and not at Grings Mill. The trail is not stroller-friendly in the snow. Just felt I should explain myself on that one.
Next run will be Tuesday morning. Just a short two miler so that I can save my legs for running with the Pagoda Pacers Wed night, weather permitting. WooHoo!
Happy Running!
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