Winter is always a challenge for me in running barefoot or with minimal huaraches sandals. It just does not suite a warm weather runner who is used to running the wee morning hours in 60 to 70 degree temperatures. Additionally my dog seems to abandon any seriousness about running with anything less than 30 degrees.
Well having said that I have found that my bare-footing is much more tolerable when I am wearing huaraches. It seems that the 6mm of insulation on the bottom of my feet is just what I need to go for an hour or so.
I have also found a new way to tie my sandals that seem to fit my size 13 feet much better. I have the cord cross over the top of my arch. This method just makes the sandal feel incredibly secure to my foot. The only challenge that I still have is when running down through thawing river beds and the collection of mud on my sandal which causes that sandal to slide all over the place and eventually forces me to stop and clear the mud off of the bottom of the rubber vibram sole.
Now it has been a while since I have had a chance to post. I got married to the most amazing woman and created a merged family of seven children.
In the course of these other pursuits I have put a few pounds and am somewhere between 230 and 235lbs – I think I have not stepped onto a scale. So the bottom line is that I am not quite in the shape that I would like to be in. I am going to start cutting back on my animal products and get more consistent miles into the desert to slim up and get a bit tougher. I have quite a few things on my adventure agenda in the coming months.
As you can see I have been eating quite well this winter and have put on 10lbs of insulation. YES! I love food.
Figure 1: Me after a cold minimal shoe desert run.
Got to go and get the day on.
Michael Carroll
Here I am researching my morton’s neuroma in my right foot, come across your blog and I think I know you from high school. Go Jaguars?