A brief history

For the past two years I have struggled not only with my running but also with my health as my body was continuously injured. Many times I felt that I would have to give up my passion for running and really any type of exercise to include fast walking. Dating back to the summer of 2005 I can pinpoint several injuries and sub sequential changes in running style due to those injuries. To understand where I am going with this barefoot project I must cover where I have been. Here is a timeline that briefly shows my experiences as a runner to include highlights, injuries, and gait changes.

1975-born

1989-began to run on a regular basis. I ran cross country through high school and ran several road races every year. My stride was light and compact, a midfoot striker with good posture. I credit this to being barefoot the majority of my adolescence.

1993-started to run longer distances to prepare for my first marathon (Burlington Vt.) at 17 years old. Training was of course inadequate but I did manage to finish before the clock hit four hours. Boy was i sore. I think my first real experience with how changing your gait can destroy your body.

1998-several years of training for shorter races with some degree of success have gone by without the urge to revisit a marathon until 98'. Trained for a finished the Marine Corps Marathon in roughly 3:36 (can't remember exactly). This one did not hurt all that much due to the higher volume of training which allowed me to hold my naturally good form for most of the race.

2004-Beginning to dabble into mountain and trail running and that leads to another marathon finish in Bristol NH (3:45?). My stride begins to change I believe heel striking more. Possibly due to a number of factors including mountain running, tighter muscles due to lack of stretching, and being heavier.

mid 2005-lose all my extra weight but didn't lose the heel strike. Hurt my back playing golf.

late 2005-ran stowe Vt. in 3:36 and decided to complete my first (and only to date) ultra marathon at the Pisgah Trail 50K in NH (5:35?). Body continues to tighten as my mileage increase probably protecting my back due to injury, heel striking, and lack of stretching/loosening exercises.

early 2006-Ran Bank of America Marathon in Tampa (broke 4). Ill prepared to do anything but finish.

mid 2006-re injured back playing golf. Took a few days off and went right back to running without changing my approach to anything.

late 2006-trained as hard as I ever have to run the NYC marathon despite my back problems. Began to notice that my right foot severely turned out upon landing while running. Probably to take pressure off my back my body twisted my hips (one forward and one back). Ran race very hard and finished 3:11:00. One second from qualifying was heartbreaking but little did I know this was just the beginning of my troubles. After The race I began to experience odd feelings in my left calf and knee as well as extreme tightness in my right leg and lower/mid back.

Early 2007-Fell off an extension ladder roughly 30 feet. My left leg landed hard on the ladder making me walk with a pronounced limp for a couple of months. During this time my right leg got stronger (and tighter) and the left got weaker. The twisting of my hips became more exaggerated and my back was tight and painful all the time.

I believe that this information is all the pertinent history to account for my inability to run from early 2007 until early August 2008. In my next two blogs I will cover my injured time and my period of awakening so to speak (post august 2008). The period in which I attempted to train while injured is important to examine all the strategies attempted that did not work (my poor fiance' put up with this far too long). Subsequently, August of this year is when things began to change for me and I will examine the steps I took that snowballed me back in the direction of healthy running. After that we can get down to the meat and potatoes of why you might be interested in this blog...........the barefoot project!