I'm baaaaack!

Actually, I never quite left the barefoot running scene, just haven't been that visible. Not running races because basically I'm poor. Also, being a fire lookout doesn't lend itself to running: this last summer I 'ran' but it was basically run downhill, then hike back up. Which is not nothing.

Also too, I suffered a non-running related injury that I've been working through this last year. I could go into the details about how once again doctors were useless and I had to heal myself, but you probably already know that. So, I've been nursing myself, doing short runs. I would like to get back to marathon mode, but it's been some years, and right now, a 5K sounds good.

I usually don't do many short races—paying $30 to run a distance I'd usually do on my own seems a waste. Except when it's fun, and I'm with a friend, and it's not really a race...

This is a race report that I posted in my online fitness journal. I ran this Saturday in my Xero Genesis sandals. It is a little wordy.

At 3 am, my dog woke me frightened of the rain. Normally he only gets scared of thunderstorms or heavy winds but this time it was raining hard enough he was scared. My first thought was I hope it doesn't rain the whole race. Second thought was it is going to be muddy.

I got to the park around 7:30 to pick up my race packet. After getting my packet, I went back to my car to get my backpack and take off the nice warm clothes. It wasn't too cold. Per my car it was 52 degrees when I got to the park. As I walked back to the registration area it began to drizzle. It continued drizzling while we received the pre-race instructions. The following is a description of the course which was essientially what the pre-race...

Yesterday was my second year doing the Mankato, MN Marathon. Just like last year I did it unshod. My primary goal was just to beat last year's time of 4:28, which was also my first completed marathon. Prior to that I'd attempted to finish the Maah Daah Hey Trail Run marathon distance and DNF'd at mile 20. My secondary goal was to break 4:00. I failed both.

It was a shame because I had a PB for the first 1/2 at 1:59 so I can at least finally say I've run a sub-2hr 1/2. I really want to race a 1/2 again sometime to see just how fast I can do that when I'm not pacing myself to do a 2nd one right after it.

This was also the 3rd marathon+ distance I'd done since July 7 when...