Strengthening, Protection, and Sensory Perception along the Mexican Riviera

This last week I took a cruise down the Mexican Riviera where I was able to get in some fantastic runs and gain some additional insight on the benefits of natural running.  On my last run (after a week of barefoot beat-downs) I began to ponder how I would have possibly accomplished many of the *feets* of the previous week without my ability to run naturally.  The ability to be in close contact with the ground was the key element in letting my body react to the unique situations I was placed in that allowed me to do the wonderful things I did.

Run #1: Foot Strengthening

My first run was a rocky, rooty, sandy, nasty trail adventure running from Boca to Las Animas near Puerto Vallarta.  My traveling companions and I traversed the rough but beautiful terrain over to Las Animas and back.  The “All-Day” trip took us just over 3 hours and included plenty of stops, a volleyball game, some cliff jumping, and refueling in Las Animas.  My sister and I ran the entire way in our Five Fingers and the rest of the group (save 1) used modified Zero Drop (no elevated heel) running shoes.   Running over to Las Animas was great until I was flying up some rocky terrain and hammered my pinky toe with a snag on something.   For that I got a red pinky toe with a big indentation in it for a week.  That said, the joy of being able to cruise along insane terrain in nothing but little gloves for my feet was insatiable!  To be fair, I was arguably the fastest runner in the group, and I had the luxury of not being pressed—had I needed to go for speed, I would have put on my Zero Drop trail shoes with a nice rock plate and some killer traction to tackle the task.

I took on the challenge of super rocky terrain as a foot strengthening exercise.   It worked.  By the time I was done my feet were pretty hammered.  On terrain that rough you can deflect weight and defer a lot but occasionally your feet are going to get a bit of a beat down.  On the run, my feet were getting hammered by sharp rocks and I kept thinking to myself the oft repeated phrase “feet like a good beating.”  I mused to my companions about the theories of barefoot and acupuncture and how running on rough terrain stimulates nerve endings therefore benefiting different parts of the body.  I was in the middle of saying that I bought it but I wasn’t sure how much when one of my companions piped in “I believe it.”  Nobody else protested.   That night and the next day, my feet ached from being pushed so hard on tough terrain.  But I smiled as it was a good ache.   Like I heard on a popular TV show lately, “a little pain is a good thing, that’s why they put hot sauce on tacos!”

Run #2: A Little Protection Goes a Long Way

In Mazatlan the following day (port #2) we were in a big time crunch.  As I gazed off the deck of the ship at the highest natural lighthouse in the world, I was absolutely convinced there was no way we could possibly make it there and back in the time we had.   My feet were still pretty tender as I laced up my zero drop trail shoes (a thin 6mm flat slab of “cushioning”, some gnarly tread, and a ballistic rock protection plate) and headed for the gangway to meet up with the rest of the group.   We started running and my sister (also with tender feet and zero’d shoes) and I broke away from the group weaving through the street vendors and taxi’s.  Amazingly we made the distance to the base of the lighthouse 3 times faster than I was expecting.  I realized what a blessing that rock plate and 6 mm of cushion was for my feet.  As I always tell people, “cushioning is for feet, not for joints.”  Just that 1mm piece of plastic and 6mm of spenco foam allowed me to fly down the streets and engage the mountain with the utmost confidence and with no worries about my tender feet.  I hit a runner’s high during the ascent, buried my collegiate track running sister, and exploded to the top of the tallest lighthouse in the world.   Due to the rock plate, protection for my feet, and rock solid steady ankles due to the fact that my heel was in a neutral barefoot position, I was able to bomb back down the mountain with confidence and cover the distance back to the ship in no time.   There is still very much a place and need in this world for shoes, even among the barefoot running crowd.

Run #3:  Sensory Perception

We had to skip our stop in Cabo San Lucas due to a weather threat of waves as high as 29.5 feet.   This caused a re-write of our plans.  I ended up playing tennis on a lurching ship going over big waves.  Being able to sense and grip the ground was paramount to being able to do this successfully.  Although I jumped up high to block a net shot once and came down to find no ground underneath my feet, thus causing me to find myself sprawled out on the ground wondering what happened, the ability to sense and grip the ground in my Vibram’s was the only thing that made playing possible.   As we played (in our Vibram’s), we had a conversation about how what we were doing would be absolutely impossible in regular tennis shoes.   Those brave enough to come up on deck near the front of the boat marveled at what we were doing and even took pictures.

That night, I was itching to run!  Unfortunately the boat was rocking and lurching up and down in the biggest waves of the trip and the “track” was closed (and lame anyway) and the doors to the outside decks were closed.  I went to the gym and then started running stairs and hallways around the ship in my Five Fingers.   By some odd fate of luck, I stumbled upon an unlocked door out on to the 7th deck, which happened to have signs telling me it was 3 laps to the mile.   I started slowly and tentatively, which was a normal reaction considering we were in the middle of a monsoon with a wet, slippery deck and a crazily rocking boat.  People started pointing fingers out the windows at me and my “shoes” as I ran by.  I kept expecting a crew member to come curse me out and kick me off at any moment.  My confidence soared as I increased my speed and my razor-siped soles gripped the constantly shifting wet boat deck.     Next thing I know, I’m flying around the boat on a total runner’s high with reckless abandon, paying no attention to the fact that the waves are growing dangerously close to the deck I’m running on.  As I come off my high and start to be conscious of my surroundings, it occurs to me that the only thing between me and a black, churning sea is a 3 foot high rail with a couple of bars I could easily slip through.  I realize how one bad shift of the boat knocking me off my feet or one sneaker wave (no pun intended) would be the end of me—no one would ever see me slip in to the black sea and no one would hear my cry for help.  At that moment, I also realized that if I was wearing thick, elevated heel cushioned running shoes that robbed me of my sensory perception and made my feet unstable with every step, I’d already be there…

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 1:21 am and is filed under Minimalist Shoes, Running Shoes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.