South Australia Run

[Neil_D]

Well, it has arrived, International Barefoot Running Day (IBRD) the first attempt at getting everyone out for a barefoot run on the same day.

The forecast was not looking good over the weekend, the rain started on the Friday night and went into Saturday morning but then cleared and just left grey cloud.

Would the rain hold off for Sunday was the question I had on my mind as I went to bed on Saturday night.

The answer came on Sunday morning, no, it was pouring down. Maybe it would ease off and stop by 10am I hoped.

I got a call from a friend of mine who said he was at the meeting place early, I threw some gear into a bag and set off for Grange.

The rain was coming down quite hard, the cars wipers were going and I had my headlights on. I parked up in the car park near the cafe. The rain was coming down steadily. I saw my friend getting out of his car and we looked around for some shelter. There was a plastic sun shade on the grass by the beach so we headed over there and waited to see if any others would turn up.



Shortly after David turned up with some VFF's, he was still fairly new to barefoot/minimalist running and was trying to get a feel for it. A little later Andrew and another Andrew turned up, one rather bravely cycling the 13km from the city in the pouring rain.

More people started to show up shoeless and I thought wow, news must have travelled further, around 10 others were now sheltering under the roof. But, no, they were not here for the IBRD they were just there for soccer training on the beach.

After introductions and a bit of background information swapping we all agreed that we could cope with the 2km of road run and 2km of beach.



It was actually very enjoyable running through the rain and puddles, it wasn't cold, it was around 16C and by the time we got to Henley the rain has eased off. Everyone got there in one piece without any injuries.

A brief rest there then onto the different surface of the beach. The tide was out and it felt great running up the beach in a group.

All 5 of us made it back in one piece, there may be the odd stiff calf next week but all enjoyed it and we rewarded ourself with a coffee at the local cafe before heading home.

I have a few photos but will have to work out how to post them.



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'm only looking at the

I'm only looking at the positives, and they are beautiful! Thank you! Glad you guys enjoyed it. Can't wait for the pictures!

 

[barefootmarc]

Well done for getting things

Well done for getting things rolling. I took a "Brit with Grit" like you get it started in your area. The great thing is you have the pics and the stories for next year. By the way your suggestions for running on sand have helped. I was 10K and pain free and feeling great today. I was inspired by a barefoot runner who was the first to turn up for our IBRD on Siesta Key. He is 80 and doing 10K at least once a week. Take care fellow Pom.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I would love to know more

I would love to know more about him, Marc. That is truly inspirational. Got any photos and a story?

 

[Neil_D]

I was actually a little

I was actually a little disappointed that the run was ignored by a radio station I sent info to and also the local road runners club. It seems that conservatism and resistance is still the norm at this point.

We will have to build on this very small base for next year. A couple of photos are below.



Neil

IBRD: Chris, David, Neil & Andrew, at a very wet Grange beach

IBRD Chris, David, Andrew & Andrew, Grange beach

 

[Paleo]

Guys, you look drenched, but

Guys, you look drenched, but happy! Thanks for making it happen in Australia, despite the weather. Since the Canberra event started 2 hours earlier, you were probably the second event to start off what has turned out to be a great international success.

I have added your count to my list and will surely comment about the rain in my reportage of IBRD.

Cheers

Paleo

 

[Neil_D]

Hi Marc,Good to hear that

Hi Marc,

Good to hear that your beach running is going well and the ankles have improved. You will be moving into summer soon while we are heading into winter. I don't know how I ever put up with English winters, even the short mild Australian ones are too much for me.

Going to have to search the forums for how to remove splinters (or something) from my foot, I picked it up around 2 weeks ago on a race on Easter Friday. Can't see anything but it can be painful to stand on. It's not a bruise or anything like that but a definite intruder lurking in the pad of my forefoot.



Neil

 

[David P]

Hi Neil,Thanks again for

Hi Neil,

Thanks again for organising this run. Had a great time, and even though the run was further than I'd run barefoot/minimalist before, I was only slightly sore the next day. So onward and upward from here!

Cheers,

David

 

[Neil_D]

Hi David,Feel free to

Hi David,

Feel free to contact me if you want to go for a run along the beach or road. It's always harder to get motivated during the cold winter months.

I had a short run tonight but my very persistant splinter (I think) made me keep it short, the same on as we ran on the Sunday.



Cheers



Neil

 

[Paleo]

Hi Neil,here is my

Hi Neil,

here is my remedy/procedure for splinters (or, in my case, usually sand particles).

Do the following steps yourself. Getting a loved one to help might seem easier, since the bottom of the foot is a bit hard to work on, but it has two disadvantages: a. Your loved one will be afraid to hurt you. b. You can anticipate the pain and fine tune the work much, much better if you do it yourself.

1. soak your feet somehow (in my case, a 5-10 min. shower usually is sufficient). This step is not critical.

2. find a place with really good light, and, if you have one, pull out your magnifying glass. The challenge here will be finding a lighted situation where you can pull your foot close enough to operate.

3. outfit yourself with a needle or sharp pin, tweezers, and a pair of nail/skin scissors.

4. In a combination of the needle and the skin scissors, widen the area around the splinter. I am only talking about cutting the edges off of the hole where the splinter must have gone in. The needle helps to pull the hole open. Use the magnifying glass to verify the situation.

5. If you can see the splinter directly (i.e. it is no longer buried by skin), you can try with the tweezers or the needle to pull it out (you'll use the needle like a fulcrum). Usually, however, the tweezers are usually too big and therefore useless until the very last stage.

6. Here is the real key: Occasionally, press the skin surrounding the hole down into the foot. This action thus pushes splinter back out. But, it only helps to do this when you can verify that the splinter is no longer buried under skin (hence step 4).

7. Repeat steps 4-6 until you get it out.

8. If the situation is really painful, drink a pint of your favority brew while you work. It won't help that much with the pain, but it somehow makes the work less tedious.



I had a really pesky micro piece of glass (1mm X 2mm X 0.5 mm). It was clear glass and it was in the long way--i.e. the 0.5 side facing up. I could literally not see it until it was out of my foot. But, the needle helped verify that something hard was indeed in my foot, thus confirming what the pain was telling me--something needed to be removed.



Best of Luck,

Jamie

 

[RunningTim]

Any plans for a repeat run

Any plans for a repeat run this IBRD?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

It would probably be best to

It would probably be best to PM or email the Chapter President/s for any Australia locations to find out, since we're just starting to organize and publish this info. Thanks!

 

[BadMamaJamma]

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