Post workover portrait (it shows) I recently had the amazing opportunity to talk with Caity McCardell for the RunBarefootGirl.com podcast interview series. Too lazy to read my blog? Listen to the interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thanks to Global Weirding I had the best barefoot run in the rain today. Not very far. Just to the gym and back. It was a very wet run and it was absolutely fabulous! Even the boring asphalt felt amazing. And the puddles!! They felt so good. The ground was warm, but the water on top was tepid. All the sharp and jabbies were washed away. Really. It felt a lot smoother to run on. The temperature was perfect. This storm we are having right now is pretty tropical in nature so the air was too warm for a rain jacket, but I wore one anyway. For two reasons. One, because it had perfect pockets on the inside to fit my shoes (which are required at the gym) and two, well... I didn't want to walk into the gym looking like I just participated in a ...

Running minimal and barefoot Ever get the feeling your legs are on autopilot? Yeah. I got that feeling on my last run. And my bladder too. If you're a mom and you've given birth, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Guess its time to up the kegel workout. Maybe I'll add it to my workover circuits. That may be TMI to most of you, but, hey, I'm just being honest here. And while I'm being honest I might as well share with you that it is completely possible to get "rug burn" on your ass if you do 160 sit-ups. Yup. Ass burn. Its not pretty. Its pretty uncomfortable. I'm currently recovering from that one. Ow. So my last run was 8.3 miles. Six of those miles were in my Pace Gloves and the rest was off and on barefoot. This run confirmed something that I was pretty sure was happening all along. I supinate more (roll to the outside of my feet) when I run barefoot. I also lift my toes up to arch my foot more. In shoes, no matter what kind ...

Team shirt 2011 My calendar is suffering from a bit of a schedule binge and is feeling a little bloated. Brimming with events and obligations lately, I've been attending MTB races with my boys, coordinating bike trips to the waterpark and friends houses, squeezing in time to work on my latest t-shirt designs, attending a memorial for my cousin, a board meeting and a podcast interview. That last one was a totally fun, but unexpected to-do item, but more on that later. I finally completely our 2011 team shirts for our upcoming races this season. I removed yoga lady and replaced her with bike lady. Although I still love Yoga it has now taken a backseat to my running, biking and kayaking. And since those are the legs of our fun triathalon event this year I thought it would be more appropriate. The front of my shirt will reflect my love for barefoot running (and a love of bad puns) with a new BFR logo representing the wing concept and "fiyah" ideas combined. Team shirt...

Running Trails in Rancho Murieta This weekend could be summed up in few words. We ran. We rode. We danced. Oh and we swam. We drank. We ate. And, eventually, we all slept REALLY GOOD. It was one of those play hard weekends. Gotta love those. Preparations for this weekend adventure began last Wednesday. My stem for the road bike was delivered to the house and as soon as he received it, my husband immediately retreated into the garage to tinker. He emerged hours later with his road bike, now all tweaked and custom fitted for me. It was his feather-light bike but with my seat, my pedals and my stem. I love that man. I will be using this bike to race in my upcoming triathalon. It fits me!! We had made plans to stay with some friends this past weekend for a little mini-vacation. The plan was for the girls to run the trails and bike the roads while the guys hit the trails on their mountain bikes. This all followed by a little swim party/BBQ with the kiddos and an open-air concert...

Looking up on my last trail run I tried really hard to ignore the magical lure of Christopher McDougall's Born to Run. It only took about nine months before I gave into that weakness. Now that I've read it, as a friend puts it, "I've drank the Koolaid." And she's not joking. Its taking everything I have to hold myself back, preserve my common sense and not do something completely out of my comfort zone. Um... as it turns out, that's not possible, but more on that later. I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep for about a week and a half now. Since I've read "the book" I've been having some intense dreams and I'm not sure I like them. Each morning I wake up and I'm exhausted. No wonder, though, because I've been dreaming about running trails all night long. Not just ho-hum-I'm-running-a-trail-isn't-this-nice-and-pretty sort of dreams either. I'm talking serious trail running dreams. In these dr...