What is happening to me?

During the 100 mile relay race I participated in (Aug 15th), my left foot reset itself after years of being clubbed. Since that happened the left side of my body has been able to move with greater flexibility and dexterity. Unfortunately that means more growing pains for me. A whole new world of possibilities is opening up before my eyes. As the left grows stronger and more flexible, the right is able to relax more. The ultimate goal that I have been striving for, symmetry, is close and getting closer daily. I can only hope that most of the growing pains are over by Sept 18th during the Reach the Beach Relay and later during the Maine Marathon. When symmetry is attained I will finally be able to start training again. I can only pray it is soon.
Barefoot Ben

100 on 100 relay

Tellman, Tim, and I embarked on an incredible journey beginning early Saturday morning in Stowe Vermont. The three of us each learned an important lesson and found the outer limits to our current capabilities. I can honestly say it was one of the funnest days of my life and I for one can't wait until next year. Unfortunately we felt compelled to stop at mile 82 for several reasons but this only stoked the fires for next year's competition. Tellman and I both ran father barefoot in one day than ever before at 27 and 23 respectively. Tim was close at 33 (he has done 35). I was forced to stop during my 5th leg due to a problem with my left foot that I was actually happy about. This left Tellman and Tim to not only finish their own legs but also try to split up my last leg. Once we realized that we had fallen behind the time cut off and were to be moved ahead, we decided to call it quits.

The problem with my left foot has been a long time coming. In 2005 I believe I broke my foot and never had it checked out as I didn't have health insurance. After hobbling around for weeks my body compensated by healing improperly. My left toe ended up being tied to my second toe and that was probably the least of my problems. Anyways, during the 3rd leg of the relay my foot popped and my two toes were separated. What felt great at first turned into a nightmare over the next two legs as eventually I was unable to even walk without pain. I assume that once my foot loosened up into it's proper position the tendons were not used to the stretching motion of running. Wow, it became painful and I was so happy that this finally occurred as I could feel it needed to happen for months now as my form was changing from barefooting.

In the coming days I will be posting some video of the race which is absolutely awesome!

Two Fundraisers

In the next two months i will be participating in two fundraiser runs. Both are pretty challenging. The first is the 100 on 100 in Vermont. This is a relay race travelling route 100 in Vermont from Stowe to Ludlow. I will be relaying in the ultra category with my two friends, Tellman Knudsen and Tim Bourrassa. All three of us will be barefoot trading off running duties on August 15th starting at 6 in the morning. This will benefit Tellman's cause @ RunTellmanRun.com .
The second fundraiser will be a barefoot marathon at the Maine Marathon on Oct. 4th. It will be my first attempt at a barefoot marathon and I am excited. I will be running and fundraising for The Center for Grieving Children. The link is:
http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1226&AID=703&PID=89790
I will be blogging about each experience soon.
Barefoot Ben