From Barefoot Dan:
I hope everyone is surviving the cold weather out there. It has been a VERY COLD February here in Indiana. I have been struggling just to get a few miles per week (so far only 3 miles this week!) I've been enjoying the downtime however and used the month to more fully recover from the marathon last month in the Canary Islands.
I recieved a copy of photos from the local newspaper in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, which were taken in the late stages of the marathon, somewhere around mile 21, I think,...of course, right when I was at my worst! The photographer was on a motorcycle and he took both pictures within two strides of each other but one was sent in Black and White and the other in Color. I thought they came out pretty well considering how bad I felt at the time.
I definitely wasn't feeling like posing, so the pictures show a pretty realistic image of the tight (not relaxed) upper body and the concentration and downward gaze toward the pavement. This is what happens late in the race as the form begins to erode. This was why the post race massage had felt so good on my neck and shoulders since they had been tensed up for the past couple of hours! The photo does however show the forward lean of my barefoot stride as opposed to the backward lean of the heel striker running beside me. That is the nice thing about barefoot running...even when you are tired your form can't get TOO bad because you don't EVER want to strike your heel first (because it HURTS!) and therefore the forward lean comes naturally, even when exhausted! The black and white photo at the end of the blog shows the difference in the lean a little more clearly.
After being back home for a week or so, I was able to work a piece of glass out of my heel. I had just finished an 8 mile run after work and was sitting in the hot tub and just kept rubbing and squeezing on my heel until this "little" sliver of glass popped out. It felt much better once it was out and the red spot healed up quickly over the next two days. Now, I have pulled glass out before, but this seemed to be a record breaker...16 days AFTER the fact! The body is pretty amazing in its ability to heal and recover. I think this is also the largest piece of glass I've ever removed and I'm pretty happy to have it out! The heel had been pretty sore so I was fairly sure there was something in there and that is why I squeezed so hard to get it out...the hot water of the hot tub seemed to loosen everything up.
http://barefootdan.blogspot.com.es/2015_02_01_archive.html
