Surveying your route

macdiver

Barefooters
Dec 22, 2010
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268
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I learned an important lesson today about the necessity of driving a new route first. I used map my run to develop a new 9 mile loop for todays run. Turns out that miles 6 & 7 were chip seal. Oh joy./sites/all/modules/smileys/packs/Roving/shock.png



I ended up running on the double yellow line. There was no white line at the edge of the road. The road also had a drainage ditch on both sides with no grass shoulder to run on. Fortunately only one car passed me while I was running in the middle of the road. I moved over to let them pass.
 
Aw man, that sucks!There is

Aw man, that sucks!

There is a feature on mapmyrun.com (not sure how to find it now on the new Beta site, though...) that is a fly-through satellite image of your route. It works ok.



I totally feel you though...I went for a nice run the other day and ended up walking gingerly on gravel for 1/2 a mile. Lol. Chalk it up to some tender feet & experience.
 
Good advice.  Let us know how

Good advice. Let us know how your feet feel tomorrow.
 
Or just carry some huarches

Or just carry some huarches with you. I do this whenver I run outside of my short five miler super nice pavement no road running lazy route. After having to do some middle of the road sprints due to impromtu construction (which left tiny asphalt pebbles all over the paved road OUCH!) I don't tend to risk going much of anywhere without a safety net.
 
I love ajb's idea. Huaraches

I love ajb's idea. Huaraches are so light & easy to carry in a waistband, etc.
 
i'm with gentile.  It's fun

i'm with gentile. It's fun to just go out and not know what you're going to encounter. There's usually some way to adapt, like you did macdiver: by running on the yellow lines. During the late fall I was running on a lot of leaf litter.

However, on new routes far away from home, I do carry Zems rolled up in my pockets. The weird thing is that I've NEVER resorted to them, but in case of an especially nasty gravel road, they provide some peace of mind.
 
I think if you are a new

I think if you are a new barefoot runner, it is good to survey your route. If you are a seasoned veteran, then throw caution to the wind and enjoy your adventure. MacD is new to this, you guys, so maybe it's best for him to survey his route. But then again, Mary, had one of the best runs she ever had when she got lost, and she was new to it then too.
 
 For: TJFrom: Everyone

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For: TJ

From: Everyone
 
I think I will carry some

I think I will carry some sort of foot protection once I get it.. because I live on a gravel road and part of my route is going to be gravel.. and if the roads are fresh graded they will be an issue.. I never know when things will be fresh graded until I get there.
 
Y U M !

Y U M !
 
Barefoot TJ wrote:I think if

Barefoot TJ said:
I think if you are a new barefoot runner, it is good to survey your route. If you are a seasoned veteran, then throw caution to the wind and enjoy your adventure. MacD is new to this, you guys, so maybe it's best for him to survey his route. But then again, Mary, had one of the best runs she ever had when she got lost, and she was new to it then too.



I'm not sure if I'll ever be experienced enough to run on chip seal. I've run on packed gravel trails with out any problem. At least in this area, they seem to use the pointiest gravel with all the points up for chip seal. Fortunately, NJ does not use chip seal much. It can not handle the normal nj traffic.



Carrying "shoes" of some sort seems to be a good idea if I'm doing an unkown run.
 
Carrying footwear when you're

Carrying footwear when you're unsure or new is good advice too. The thing is, once you've done this a while, you start to build up more confidence and choose to carry the footwear less often.
 
I usually carry some kind of

I usually carry some kind of rescue shoe unless I know the route is free of hazards.

Chip and seal isn't too bad if you can relax your feet and spread your weight out over it well... Not that it gets comfortable, but it does make it ok to run on . But that's just me and I tend to punish myself sometimes ;)
 
My distances are just getting

My distances are just getting to the point where I am venturing out of my neighborhood, so I started carrying VFFs with me, just in case. I have yet to use them, but it is nice to have them. I also started carrying tweezers and super-glue after a run-in with a nasty goat-head a few weeks ago. Hate those things.
 
HAHA... Not yet... I don't

HAHA... Not yet... I don't know what they are really called, I've always called them "goat-heads"... Nasty little stickers that have at least 2 or 3 spikes just waiting to tear up whatever comes across their path - bike tires, feet, etc. Very strong and sturdy, and sharp as a needle, they don't break when you step on them, they pierce the skin. Then, sometimes, depending on how nasty they are feeling, they will break off and leave a piece of nastiness behind. Pure evil.