By Jenn Fields, fields@coloradodaily.com

Michael Sander, of Boulder, and his fiancee, Jessica Lee, along with their dog, Pumpkin, run around the lake outside of South Boulder Recreation Center in Boulder, Friday, Feb. 19, 2010. (KASIA BROUSSALIAN)

 

Runner Scott McLean has had sore feet lately from doing something unusual — wearing shoes.

“When I’m running barefoot, my feet tend to stay warmer, but walking to class, I wear shoes,” said McLean, a University of Colorado senior.

For some runners who prefer to go barefoot, even snow, ice and cold aren’t enough to make them slip into shoes.

“I love it,” said Michael Sandler. “We went out to Mount Sanitas a day or two ago on snow and ice and mud, and it was a hoot.”

Sandler co-founded Boulder’s 200-plus member Barefoot Running Club with his fiancée, Jessica Lee. The two have written a book, “Barefoot Running,” which will be published this spring.

“You can feel the sensation of cold, but you adapt,” Sandler said. “When you adapt, there’s no pain associated with the cold. Because your body has adapted, 20 or 30 degrees, snow and ice, unless it gets really cold, doesn’t feel any worse than a cold tile floor.”

This is Sandler’s third winter running barefoot, and “three years in, this is still a running experiment,” he said as he warmed up on a treadmill before heading outside, into the snow.

In any season, running barefoot is a very gradual transition, Sandler said: “It’s something you get into 100 or 200 yards at a time.”

Whether going completely barefoot or wearing Vibram FiveFinger shoes (minimalist running shoes with separate toes), Sandler says runners must always consider the terrain, temperature, humidity and other factors to determine whether it’s safe. He said he knows a runner who went too far the first time and got frostbite.

Michael Sander, of Boulder, warms up on a treadmill at the South Boulder Recreation Center before going running barefoot in the snow on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010. ( KASIA BROUSSALIAN)

 

He also advises barefoot runners to carry shoes and follow the two-question rule: “The second time you think, ‘I’m cold, should I head home?,’ throw on the shoes and head home — don’t even think about it.”

McLean said when he first tried running in snow, he cut back to adjust. He’s running through this winter either barefoot or in FiveFingers, depending on conditions.

“My feet get cold, but it’s not uncomfortable,” McLean said. “You still feel the cold, it just stops mattering so much. The rest of the day, your feet feel hot.”

Invisible shoes

Barefoot runners say they warm up inside, on a treadmill or run stairs, then go outside for short periods of time, never going far that they can’t loop back to re-warm. They run on warm, sun-drenched pavement or run wearing FiveFingers, neoprene socks or Steven Sashen’s new Invisible Shoes.

Sashen started running barefoot in September, so it wasn’t long before he had to deal with cold. He thought huaraches — sandals the Tarahumara Indians sometimes run in, made famous recently by “Born to Run,” Christopher McDougall’s book about the Tarahumaras and barefoot running — could be helpful and found some online, but the choices seemed complicated and expensive.

“I thought, there’s got to be a way to do it on your own, hopefully less expensively,” Sashen said. “I found some materials, made some for myself, my wife, a few pals from the running gang.”

Sashen has since sold hundreds of Invisible Shoes — a thin, 4mm Vibram sole with a simple cord to keep it on your foot — to runners around the world. He offers two options: do-it-yourself kits — cut the rubber and tie the knots yourself — for either $19.95 or $24.95; or custom sandals for $49.95.

Be careful

Dr. Tom Shonka, practicing in Boulder for 25 years and the attending podiatrist at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, said if you’re going to try running barefoot, go slowly and be very careful with the cold.

“The adaptation is more the foot adapting to the mechanical loads, which are incurred by not having the structured cushioning of the shoe,” he said. “It’s more your musculoskeletal system might adapt to the differing stresses” than your vascular system adapting.

Since the circulation in your feet is significantly altered by cold, he said, it would be risky for people with circulation issues to even try it.

“If there’s any existing compromise of the neurovascular system, it’s not going to adapt,” he said.

But for people who are healthy and fit, and have good mechanics, sensation and circulation in their feet, Shonka said, “Under those circumstances, my attitude would be, I don’t know why you’d want to, but go ahead and try it” in small doses in a controlled way.

Read more: Boldly barefoot: Boulder runners hit the snow sans shoes – Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_14458238#ixzz0gUSF19cR

Pat Guyton Pilates, 3825 Iris Ave., Suite 300, Boulder, 303-449-7284, patguytonpilates.com/ and runbare.com/

Isaac Darnell does a core lift / sit up during a pilates seminar for barefoot or minimal runners at the Pat Guyton Pilates in Boulder on Sunday January 10, 2010. For more photos of the workout of the week go to http://www.dailycamera.com.

Instructor: This clinic was hosted by Pat Guyton Pilates in conjunction with Run Bare, which is a local barefoot running school and community. Guyton, 60, of Boulder, and Jan Dunn, 60, of Superior, taught the clinic. Guyton is a Franklin Method Level I instructor and has been teaching Pilates for 26 years. Dunn is a Franklin Method Level II teacher and has been teaching Pilates for 20 years. Michael Sandler, 39, of Boulder and the head coach and co-founder of Run Bare, and Jessica Lee, 29, of Boulder and the president and co-founder of Run Bare were also in attendance to answer questions about barefoot running and their company, which started summer 2009. They also run a barefoot running club (meetup.com/Barefoot-Running-Club) and have a book, “Barefoot Running,” due out in March (barefootrunningbook.com/).

What is the workout? Eric Franklin developed the Franklin Method 25 years ago in Sweden. The method employs the use of imagery in relation to functional movement. By doing so, participants are better able to understand how and why the body moves the way it does, why breath is important, and how to use positive imagery to improve movement and performance.

Joseph Pilates developed his method in the early 1900s. Pilates is a mind-body exercise regimen that promotes good posture, body awareness and functional movement by increasing flexibility and core strength.

The goal of this workshop was to show barefoot and/or minimalist runners how to use the principles of the Franklin Method and Pilates during their runs to enhance their workouts…

…One new move: One visualization we did that really helped me to was to envision a hot air balloon basket. Now place that basket in your pelvic bowl, which is the space right under your public bone and from hip to hip (we spent quite some time defining this area of the body in specific terms and these cues are rather broad, but they’re good enough for this exercise). Now, as you walk, imagine that basket floating up. Do you feel how imagining this causes your abs to tighten and your sacrum to dip under and in? That feeling is exactly what that image is supposed to create and the position your pelvis should be in when you run. According to Sandler, getting your pelvis under you when you run in shoes is nearly impossible because most running shoes have a lifted heel, which puts a curve in the low back and causes the pelvis to flare.

Read more…

By Erin Frustaci
Fort Collins Now

July 10, 2008

Michael Sandler barefoot running down trail in Boulder, CO with dog, Sawa in tow (also barefoot).

Each morning Michael Sandler wakes promptly at 2:50 a.m. With camera in hand and his two dogs by his side, Sandler heads out to the mountain foothills. As the stars fade away and the sun rises in vivid shades of pink and orange, he kicks off his shoes and, for the next two to four hours, sprints barefoot along the dirt trail.

It’s in these early morning hours where Sandler finds what he describes as his “quiet mind.”

Running along a mountain trail without shoes in the dark—risking everything from a broken leg on uneven trails to snake bites, not to mention trampling over sharp rocks and twigs—might not seem the ideal way to quiet one’s mind. But it is for Sandler, who’s mind hasn’t always been so peaceful.

In fact, throughout most of his life, it’s been a place of clutter and confusion, where dozens of thoughts dash in and out in no particular order. Throughout his life he has battled Attention Deficit Disorder, which affects about 10 percent of all Americans. He would argue that he was the poster-child for ADD, demonstrating severe symptoms that often prevented him from leading a normal life.

Through intense introspection and a series of unexpected challenges, Sandler learned how to successfully function with his “hyper-creative mind.” The 37-year-old—formerly of Fort Collins, but who now lives in Boulder—has made it his mission to help others overcome the challenges of ADD and appreciate its benefits.

He founded the Creative Learning Institute where he coaches students and adults with ADD, and recently released a new book titled College Confidence with ADD. Though there have been major advancements, Sandler said building awareness is an on-going effort.

“If someone’s missing a leg, we immediately understand the problem and offer assistance and accommodations,” Sandler writes in his book’s introduction. “If someone’s missing the ability to focus, manage time, organize complex tasks, control impulsively, or fit into a standardized learning program, we tend to tell him to shape up or ship out.”

It’s not the first time Sandler has made this argument; in fact, in the summer of 2004, he made it to practically every person he encountered while embarked on a cross-country bike ride designed to raise awareness of ADD. Like the idea of running barefoot in the mountains, the bike ride would seem to non-ADD sufferers like a form of acute masochism.

He planned to make the trip from Washington state to Washington, D.C. in 40 days. He traveled alone and killed the long hours by dictating his book, answering email with a PDA and conducting interviews with newspapers and radio stations along the way. Sandler learned long ago that being an ambitious multi-tasker helped tame his ADD.

It might seem a little ironic, then, that his new book—which was originally scheduled to come out in the summer of 2006—took two years longer than expected. But Sandler said it’s nothing unusual for people who suffer from ADD.

“Those with ADD are not known for follow-through, historically,” Sandler said. “Until 2004, I was the typical hyper-creative mind, being

College Confidence with ADD by Michael Sandler is a national bestseller.

fantastic at starting something, but not having the follow-through. I’d bounce from idea to idea to idea. … It’s typical for an ADD person to have delays, but at some point it clicks.”

For Sandler, it finally clicked for good in 2006 when he was faced with a serious accident.

He was nearly finished with his book. It was to be a how-to guide for college students with ADD. The vast majority of it had been written during his 40-day biking trip from Seattle to Washington D.C. Then, on April 2, 2006 Sandler experienced what he now calls “the festivities” or the “beautiful gift.”

He was out for a skating session in preparation for his next big adventure, his plans to skate across the country that summer. After meditating in the river, in which he prayed for safety and guidance, he laced up his in-line skates and started rolling along the Boulder Creek bike path on the west side of town.

A father, oblivious to the fact that the path was used by bicyclists and skaters, was using it to teach his young child how to walk.

“The father stepped out with his teetering toddler right in front of me,” Sandler said. “I had the choice of hitting the toddler or hitting the deck.”

Sandler flung himself backwards as if he were a high jumper and landed hard on the pavement.

“My body was broken pretty good,” he said. “I could see the baby was OK, and I could wiggle my fingers and toes… In that moment, life became more precious. I don’t know how to describe it.”

An ambulance rushed him to the hospital; he had a broken arm, shattered femur and a badly broken hip. Though surgery went surprisingly well, doctors weren’t sure if he would be able to walk again. The next few days were a struggle. He was moved to a rehab hospital that he said felt more like a place where someone goes to die rather than get healthy.

“My mind got in gear,” Sandler said.

He asked the staff what it would take for him to be able to go home. Then, he spent two hours doing mental exercises in bed. After modifying a walker so he could use it with his broken arm, Sandler spent the rest of the night learning to maneuver around his room. The next morning he asked for a doctor’s evaluation and proclaimed he would be going home.

“I put on my best poker face,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared to do stairs, but they had me do stairs. I got home and was in so much pain, I laid in bed all of the next day.”

At that point, Sandler knew he had to change the direction of his book.

He demanded that his publisher give it back to him so he could rewrite the majority of it. He wanted to incorporate his spiritual insight that came out of what was among the lowest points in his life. Before the accident, he wasn’t comfortable with writing about such personal experiences. He also wanted to add tabs and icons to make the book easier to navigate.

“I wanted to rewrite as much as I could to help students find passion and chase their dreams, but to also be happy in moments,” Sandler said. “I’m going to give every tool in the world to help them succeed in college, but also to succeed in life.”

Once Sandler was back at home, he diligently hobbled around his apartment building. He even crutched the Bolder Boulder with a broken arm, setting the record for the fastest time for a person on crutches. And he didn’t stop there. The Denver Half Marathon was next.

“That was just stupid,” he said with a laugh.

He started walking for hours a day, then jogging and eventually running. Sandler has always thrived on an active lifestyle. He has spent several years bicycle racing in Europe and loved being outdoors.

But at first running caused him some problems: With all the titanium in his leg, he was somewhat off-balanced. He corrected it simply by taking off his shoes. Today, he runs 10-20 miles a day barefoot—something he was told couldn’t be done.

“There’s a way to find focus,” Sandler said. “Whatever they tell you you can’t do, they are wrong.”

For the last two years, on the anniversary of his accident, Sandler goes back to the exact spot on the trail where he was injured to pray and give thanks.

“It turned out that accident, which wasn’t an accident at all, became the most beautiful experience of my life,” Sandler said.

The first indication of ADD came when Sandler’s first-grade teacher told his mother during a parent-teacher conference he was the worst student she had ever had in her life. He was diagnosed with ADD in second grade. His family moved to a new school district in Massachusetts, and Sandler was prescribed Ritalin.

“It allowed me to sit quiet and focus enough to muscle my way through,” he recalled.

In junior high he was taken off medication and slipped into trouble. Two junior highs and two high schools later, Sandler managed to make it to graduation. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Colorado College, but would argue that cycling was his real major. After a cycling accident in Europe, Sandler found himself working in retail .

“I was successful at what I was doing, but I wasn’t able to juggle all the pieces,” he said. “My desk looked like mini Mount Everest. I felt like a square peg in a round business world.”

Quietly, his world was crashing down. He quit his job and attempted to start his own business. He said he really went off the deep end when he impulsively moved to California to become a professional triathlete.

It didn’t last long. In 1997 Sandler moved to Fort Collins where he pursued not one, but two master’s degrees at the same time.

“My ADD mind said more is better,” he said.

But Sandler learned the hard way. He was completely overwhelmed and bombed his first quiz. That’s when he really decided to confront his ADD. He read as much as he could about the disorder and was put on medication.

“A pill is not a magic answer, but it is like glasses for the near-sighted,” he said. “It let me put on my glasses and see the problems around me.”

Michael still rises before the sun and never leaves for the trails without his trusty camera and loyal dogs, Pumpkin & Sawa.

Sandler learned what worked best for him, but it wasn’t easy. He reevaluated every aspect of his life, found what worked and tossed out what didn’t. He found answers through meditation and nature, and is now the calmest he has ever been.

His focus is to share his experiences with other students so they can avoid similar pitfalls. He doesn’t want other students to bang their heads against the wall, like he did. His book is chock full of tips, tools and anecdotes.

Even with the release of his new book—and its audio version—like a true person with ADD, Sandler isn’t ready is sit back. He’s already looking toward the next thing. He said he is working on several other books, but isn’t sure which will come out next. All he knows is he is content and happy.

“I feel we were all born with a gift wrapped around our hearts,” Sandler said. “If we follow that compass, wherever it directs us, we can’t help but be successful.

“Then you too will be barefoot, running in nature.”

Steamboat Springs — The idea that Michael Sandler would be one of the men leading a new running movement was at one time ludicrous.

Sandler, who co-founded the Barefoot Running Club in Boulder with Jessica Lee, was told there was a chance he’d never walk again and certainly no chance he’d ever run again.

He avoided a collision in Boulder in 2006 while in-line skating and crashed. The accident left him with a broken arm, broken hip and shattered femur, and the outlook wasn’t positive.

He’s had 10 surgeries on his left knee, has a titanium femur and hip and once needed custom orthopedic insoles to just walk across his living room.

But that’s when he turned to barefoot running, a movement that has started to pick up steam.

Sandler and Lee now offer barefoot running clinics in Boulder and plan to release a book in the spring about barefoot running and shoe reviews.

The two were in Steamboat Springs this week, testing out various shoes around town to further their research.

“It is the next big movement, rather than just a fad,” Sandler said. “It’s a movement in the sense that we’ve had selective amnesia for the last 30 years.

“There is a tremendous history of barefoot running that just stopped. But there has been a shift in consciousness and running minds that say, ‘Wait, injuries are up 10 to 15 percent since we’ve put on running shoes. Things aren’t getting any better. There has to be a different way.’ The tide is turning.”

Look at Abebe Bikila’s barefoot victory in the 1960 Olympic marathon and the rich history of barefoot running cultures, and the new movement seems to make sense.

Running barefoot essentially gets people to run on their forefoot. Doing so decreases the wear and tear on the rest of the body.

Sandler now runs more than 100 miles each week barefoot.

For Lee, however, the movement isn’t designed solely for an elite athlete. Lee said she hated to run, couldn’t go long distances without pain and generally looked at running as a chore.

Now, even if it’s just a mile or six, she likes running and swears just about anybody can.

“This is allowing me to enjoy running again,” she said. “The reason I hated running in the past was it was something I should do and it would be good for me. It felt like punishment. Now I go out because it’s just fun.”

For more information about Sandler or Lee or on the Barefoot Running Club, visit www.runbare.com.

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Runners go barefoot in the park at the first meeting of the Barefoot Runners Club in Boulder's Martin Park.

Dispute over muscle freedom.

By Anica Wong
The Denver Post

The pavement begins to warm under the summer Colorado sun as Michael Sandler jogs up Flagstaff Road near Boulder. Normally, this shouldn’t concern a runner. Sandler, however, is jogging barefoot.

“When you are barefoot, you are forced to run the way ancient man ran, which is a soft dance,” Sandler said. “Even my upper body got stronger.”

He claims he can run farther and with less chance of injury now that he has left his running shoes in the closet. He’s far from the only runner who believes so. The number of barefoot runners appears to be a growing niche among the running community. Those who run barefoot maintain it helps them keep a stride that delivers less shock to the foot, helping prevent injuries.  Read more… ]]> http://www.runbare.com/255/running-barefoot-kicks-up-mixed-emotions/feed/ 0