I'm back!

Danjo

Barefooters
Sep 6, 2010
342
1
18
So mileage reporting means talk about whatever I've been up to since the last time you guys heard from me right? I thought so.

So I don't know if anyone remembers or cares, but I did run Cross Country barefoot/minimal this past year, after a last minute decision in august to join the team. I had a lot of trouble with pain in my feet, due I believe to the stress of jumping into the season with little to no summer preparation. However I got that cleared up by the end of the season, and I managed to make Varsity for the final race of my high school career. (Our team is actually really competitive so this is something I'm really proud of. I didn't place in that race, but our team did win by a landslide in that race, which was for the district title.) I did the whole season in a pair of zems 360 split toes, which are the only minimal shoes I've worn so far that I can actually run in. The round toe ones I got just don't fit me that well, so I don't run in them.

Didn't do much by way of athletics for the rest of the school year, but I was busy taking practically a double load of advanced courses, so I didn't really have time. Surprised I survived at all.

Now that its summer I'm getting my fat self (okay, not fat, but my core muscles were starting to get saggy before) back into shape. I've been hitting the gym about 4-5 times a week, finally working those upper body muscles. I'm also going to morning practices with my old high school Cross Country team to get me running again until I can regain my self motivation.

On Memorial Day my best friend and I kicked off our summer 14er campaign (he wants to do 16 more by the end of the summer, I'll maybe do half that) with a nice climb on Mt. Sneffels. Don't let the name fool you, its quite the beastly mountain. I managed to make the summit in my Zems, but I was honestly afraid I was going to die, so I threw some running shoes on for part of the way back down. The zems actually did really well, though I'm sure anyone with less experienced feet would have been hurting.

But a word for anyone who's crazy and a bit stubborn like me, snow fields are not the place for minimal footwear. Yes I made it to the top, but it was really stupid of me to not change my shoes. Footwear As Tools guys, remember that. Its just not really possible to kick in to snow in anything that thin. When I had my TRS on the way down, the descent was considerably easier and less scary. I put the zems back on as soon as we got off the snow, and the rest of the way down was easy breezy.

I'll be planning on doing the rest of the mountains this summer in those zems, or maybe barefoot when my feet are up to it and the gravel isn't too bad, but now I'll know to change my shoes when I need to. I'm also planning on doing Mt. Massive 100% barefoot later in July.

These shoes are holding up really well, considering they probably did about 500 miles in Cross Country, and have now summited one mountain.
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As you can see some of the tread is falling off on the toes, but thats not a huge deal. The upper has separated from the sole on the inside of the toe split, on the big side on both shoes, which is annoying if I'm in snow or water, but after this mileage I can't complain. I also have a hole in the upper of the right shoes from a stick or something stabbing through.
 
Oh, there you are. ;) You've grown taller, and you've nearly shaved your head! I didn't recognize you. Hee. So, how do you like the new site and forum?
 
Well my hair right now is longer than it is in my picture, but I'm actually thinking of shaving it off again. I'd had pretty much the same hair since like 7th grade, and I was just getting sick of it. The only problem is I have no idea what to do with it. And I'm not actually that much taller, you can just actually tell how tall I am in my little avatar picture now. I'm 6'2", and I was already about 6'1" four years ago.

I like the new setup, though I haven't fully explored it yet. And I'm not sure if its just me being stupid but I've had to reset my password both of the past two times I've logged in. Maybe I should just write it down somewhere, I've gotten entirely too many to remember over the last year.

I'll probably pop in again whenever I get around to climbing another mountain, but I won't promise much, because I'm working almost 40 hours a week as a lifeguard/swim instructor all summer. Oh, and an update on the shoes, the entire toe split came undone on the right shoe the other day while playing basketball. Now it'll pop up and kinda unfold, and I have to fold it back down between my toes. And I picked up a couple pebbles this morning when I went for a run. I'm thinking about sewing the upper back on.