What have I discovered so far? Well, the first thing I noticed was that I run faster with what appears to be the same amount of effort. Mind you I also found my Mustang went faster with strips on it, so it may be my imagination. I also found my calves got tired after a very short distance.

After my 2km run (and 7 steep hills the day before), my calves were sore. On the Sunday long run I had to stop at 10 km instead of the 32 km I had planned. I think now I need to treat the barefoot running like speed training and do either hills OR speed work. Not both in the same week!

In 2010 I did see someone running the Death Race in toe shoes, but I assume they only did one leg. I also found someone running “BEAR” foot but these prints were small so there was nothing to worry about there.

I have. Case and point, I just got back from Mexico where, as usual I did not take any running gear. I’ve travelled to Mexico many times and have found no mater how much cerveza you drink, it’s impossible to stay hydrated in the hot climate.

That said, I was inspired by all the runners running on the beach in the mornings. I did have my Death Race T-shirt’s, and of course I had shorts, so the only thing I was missing was running shoes. For years now I’ve been told that running in the snow in Edmonton is just like running on the beach. Well, I thought, lets see.

I decided to run on the beach from our hotel into town barefoot!

Our hotel was only about 3.5 km form town, that’s only a 7 km round trip. The Sunday long run before we left, I ran 26km so how hard can it be?

Well, let me tell you, running in the snow IS NOT like running on a sandy beach! At first it didn’t seem like a big deal. The run into town went smoothly as long as I dodged the stones and shells. No problem. Then I ran back.

The first thing I noticed was my calves started to hurt. Then my toes where getting tired. Tired toes! How can your toes get tired? Try running on the beach without shoes. Then my arches started to hurt.

I made it back then spent the rest of the day drinking cerveza trying to re-hydrate.

The next day my calves were killing me. From 7 km?

So what does this have to do with coincidence you ask? Well this week on the “Nature of Things” on CBC they talked about endurance running. They also showed the Death Race. The conclusion of the show was that human beings are built for endurance running, and the best runners usually start by running barefoot.

So now I’m off to buy some barefoot shoes and will incorporate them into my training. Stay tuned….

I’m not! I’ve ran 3 Death Races and the Lost Soul ultra marathon in Lethbridge, all of which require running through the night.

That said I do remember my apprehension about running at night before I did my first Death Race. It is a very different experience. They say a blind person’s other senses are heightened because they can’t see. I have no idea if that is true, but running in the dark does affect your other senses. Take for example my hill training. I decided to just run the small hill by Concordia College because it’s close to home. It’s not a very long hill and it has no lights, but it should be OK.

On my first repeat I remember marvelling at how much noise the mice or squirrels make at night. By my second repeat I realised they were way too loud to be just mice, they must be coyotes!

Still, I’m a grown man, coyotes shouldn’t bother me. However, on my third repeat they seemed even louder, and clearly bigger than coyotes. Cougars? Must be.

Of course on my fourth repeat I had had time to reason it out. Cougars are way too rare to be seen in Edmonton. Besides, they are stealthy animals and wouldn’t make so much noise. No way they were cougars… but bear?

Four hills is good enough for now, I wouldn’t want to over do it, would I?

The weather really helped, but it was still weird running in the  dark.

It feels like I’m starting from scratch!

Lets start with my current training level. I run in Edmonton, Alberta, and the only runs I am currently doing are my Sunday long runs. Last Sunday I ran 18 km.

If the weather co-operates I plan on doing some short (5 km) weekday runs and slowly increasing the Sunday runs.