Mendocino Coast Running

Last weekend my wife and I enjoyed our three year anniversary by camping at one of our favorite places in the world - the Mendocino Coast! Usually we camp at MacKerricher State Park, but we decided to try something new and camped at Jug Handle Creek Farm instead. It is a more primitive camping location, with two out houses and one fire-pit, but it is run by a non-profit organization that focuses on ecological education. It is also located next to an amazing five mile single-track trail that is an "an ecological staircase." In other words, the trail features five different types of terrain based on the five dominant water levels of the ocean over the past thousands of years. At any rate, it was an awesome trail for barefoot running! My feet were tingling from the excitement of the varied terrains.

I ran just after the rain, and a had a blast running through puddles and mud (never having to worry about my shoes getting wet), over soft beds of pine needles, over rocks, and across wooden board walks. I never knew that it was possible to experience my surroundings in a whole new way through the nerve endings in my feet! I would have to say that it was one of the funnest runs I have ever done. It was so enjoyable that the five miles only felt like one! I did end up with a few bruises on the soft part of my foot from landing on a couple of rocks, but they healed up after a couple of days. More importantly, I didn't experience the normal knee pain or shin splints I would have normally experienced after running on such a rigirous terrain.

After the trail run, I also had a chance to run on the beach. While running on the beach is not the best barefoot running practice, as it does not allow the body to develope sensitivity, it did allow me the opportunity to analyze my foot prints. What I noticed was that I was still "pushing off" rather than "pulling foward." I was then able to focus on lifting my feet to move foward, which produced a change in my foot prints in the sand. The prints became more evenly distributed and less indented into the sand. Ultimately the barefoot runner wants to "tread lightly." If one treads lightly on the earth, the inverse is true: that the earth is treading lightly on the runner (specifically his or her joints and bones).