Michael rests as he muscles up the energy to pull himself out of his home hospital bed with a broken arm and new titanium hip and femur in 2006.

From RunBare Co-Founder, Michael Sandler.

It was four years ago today I was injured in a near death accident. I’d been out inline-skating, training for a world record ultra-endurance coast-to-coast attempt to help students and adults with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. It’s something similar to what I’d done in 2004, when I rode my bicycle 5000 miles, in 40 days, solo and unsupported across the US to help with the same cause. That effort helped me reach people across the country, and yielded an invitation to speak before members of the House and Senate.

On this fateful day, after finishing training, I’d unlaced and sat down in the cool snow-melt run-off of the Boulder Creek to meditate and pray for safety and guidance. Then I laced up my skates and pushed off. The words from a new CD (Inspiration) from Dr. Wayne Dyer were resonating in my head “Everything happens for a reason”. I told myself to go slow, as I was in a touristy part of town and on a Sunday. However, I never expected what happened next. A tourist/father teaching his toddler son how to walk, inadvertently stepped out on the bike path before me. Even with a great brake sponsor, and going slow, there was no time to react.

I would either hit the baby, or hit the deck.

And no one hits a baby.

I threw myself up and back, a move that would have made an Olympic high-jumper proud.

In the air, I wondered if I’d still be able to do my cross-country skate.

And as I landed with a dull concussive thud, I had my answer.

And yet, I was smiling.

I’d prayed for safety and guidance, and somehow had my answer.

I wiggled my fingers, then toes, looked at the baby I’d avoided, and his dad, then up at the sun above.

Life is good, I thought. Life is good.

It was a moment that changed my life. And I knew it in an instant.

In 2006, doctors put together Michael's hip and femur. Today, he no longer sets off metal dectectors.

I’d shattered my femur, hip, and arm, and later found out shards of femur were less than a centimeter from my femoral artery, or a centimeter from death.

But I believed everything happens for a reason, and this event too would help my life.

It’s been 4 years since that event, or the ‘gift’ as I call it. A lot has changed in that time. They were lucky to save my leg, but with a titanium femur and hip (and near 1 inch leg-length discrepancy) told me I’d be lucky to walk again, and to forget about ever running. They were right, too, until I took off my shoes, felt the ground, and began to heal. Now I run 10 – 20 miles a day barefoot, touching the earth and feeling stronger with each step.

Since my accident and healing, I’ve gone on to help others, whether that’s runners looking to improve their performance, injured runners looking to heal, or people who used to love running but have quit because of their ‘bad knees’, ‘bad hips’ or ‘bad feet’…runner’s who’ve been told they just couldn’t’ do it anymore, or whose bodies just weren’t letting them. But once you go barefoot, and learn a lighter way to run, you find yourself dancing on the roads and trails, almost effortless, with a child-like grin once again.

Four years ago put me on this path to help others, to help us reconnect, run again pain free, and to dance with our feet.

I am very thankful for this day, and for where the ‘gift’ has taken me.

Thank you too for sharing in this special day, and thank you for listening.

With blessings,

~Michael Sandler,
Co-Founder, RunBare Company

Stretch before a big workout. It’s the oldest advice in the athletic world. So it shouldn’t be a secret that the science of Yoga, an ancient discipline that’s all about stretching would have a connection with running. But why?

It’s true that running is the only traditional sport in today’s world that rivals Yoga in terms of age. Competitive running is as old as the Olympics, which date back to pre-700 BC. Yoga as we know it today has been practiced for just as long. To find the connection, we have to ask a question: Just how did people run back in the days of ancient Greece, where competitive running was born?

The answer: They ran barefoot. There were numerous running events and different types of races, just as there are many types and disciplines of Yoga, with its 900. But no matter what Yoga pose or Yoga discipline is practiced, it is always practiced barefoot, just as every race in ancient Greece was run barefoot.

When I started doing Yoga, I started to really enjoy being shoeless, and the more I did, the more I thought about running that way. I’d been teaching customized Yoga programs for different, physically-active students and gotten lots of positive feedback. And my own practice had enhanced my own condition with every sport I pursued, but I was still avoiding running since my feet and knees hurt. So when I decided to “put a little Yoga” into my running and took my first run without shoes, it was the beginning of a beautiful connection between the two disciplines.

I quickly found that the Yoga mat and the runner’s course could be one and the same. When running, everything I said to myself on the Yoga mat fit right in with the rhythm of my bare feet hitting the ground.

“Feel it. Be connected with the ground beneath your feet” is a phrase Yogis all know well. It adds significance to the idea of simply being there on the ground. It wasn’t just that my feet were touching the ground; what happened was that I really, truly felt grounded in the most positive way, which is what Yoga aims for. That’s how, for me, barefoot running became mobile yoga.

On my first run, I was quite amazed by the way that touching the ground with bare feet heightened ALL of senses. Simply by feeling every pebble and every grain of sand with my feet, I become able to recognize things I never noticed before. I soon read of mutual experiences from other barefooters. With every run I’ve taken since then, that same heightened sense of being is there within me, as powerful as the best runner’s high but with calmness felt only during deep Yoga meditation on my mat. Knowing I am barefoot on the path makes me feel like a well-heeled Indian scout or hunter. That first ran barefoot run was on a course I still run several days a week before sunrise.

Like any system of sidewalks, my chosen path includes the occasional broken glass. On my first run I was surprised at how easily my eyes found those caltrops glistening in the dim street light ahead, and how successfully I avoided them. Many parts of the course are perpetually peppered with stones from the gardens that line it. Each day those stones get kicked to new places by passing pedestrians, yet no matter where they are I seem to dance right through them. But this primal awareness isn’t limited to the eyes or even the feet.

Yoga tells us to be present in our bodies, aware of how every muscle feels. As an experienced Yogi who just started barefoot running this year, I found out that the same principle applied to my new obsession.

One uses many new muscles once the feet are freed from shoes; that’s when true plantar flexion finally begins. It’s when you find out how important the small muscles that surround your ankles are to your success. Shoes restrict the ankles from moving just like they restrict the foot.

The simplest, most classic Yoga poses help prepare this runner’s ankles for their new-found freedom of movement. The downward dog and triangle stance are two typical postures I had done for years which helped me build strength in my ankles. Classic, one-legged balancing poses like the Tree and the Eagle both can help build ankle stability and shear leg strength. **** The well-known plank pose (the “up” in a regular push-up position can help build strength in the lower leg while the foot is in flexed position, like it will be when one is running barefoot.

By ditching my shoes and putting some Yoga into my running, I made running a far better and healthier activity. As far as barefoot running goes, I’m still a rookie. But as an experienced Yogi, I’ve already learned that barefoot running brought me much of the awareness that Yoga makes me look for-and even when my bare feet are just on my Yoga mat.

Pardon the pun, but I stumbled on barefoot running quite by accident when I went outside the house to dump vegetable peelings into the compost pile after doing some yoga. I know some folks are probably thinking “oh, he’s one of those.” But let it be known, I grew up in a household where going barefoot was an ultimate no-no. To be present anywhere in the house without footwear (never mind going outside!) was a very punishable offense. So going barefoot was as odd for me as it was for anyone.

I recall running across the grass and then down the dirt driveway; it was spring and it was raining. I’m not sure why it felt so invigorating. I had mostly given up on running a few years before because my feet would hurt and no matter how much I stretched my legs before and after a run, my thighs would tighten up and ache like when one does intense leg presses or squats. I was also worried about wearing out my knees, which also creaked after a good run, something that shouldn’t have set so soon; after all, I was merely in mid 30s, not even middle aged.

I secretly wondered what it would be like to run barefoot. Many Africans did it all the time. And many Africans won marathons in America. Hmmm. Either way, I couldn’t get over how good it felt. I began walking barefoot to the mailbox every day. Soon, the pebbles on the driveway didn’t hurt. So I began sprinting. Suddenly, going to get the useless junk mail in my box became a highlight of the day.  That was a few years ago. I moved to Denver and found its many sidewalks were quite kind to barefooting and I began going barefoot at home all the time. I still ran with shoes, and I still hurt when I did, so running just wasn’t fun.

Until I read about Michael Sandler in the Denver Post last summer. A pro athlete  who’d taken to barefoot running as therapy and now did it all the time. I couldn’t stop thinking that there were other people who might not think I was crazy for wanting to run barefoot. So a few days later I snuck out at 5 AM  and ran barefoot on the sidewalk. It felt so oddly good-it wasn’t bad on my feet…and my legs didn’t hurt at all. I did a mile and a half in a relatively short time-about ten minutes. I couldn’t understand why it didn’t hurt at all and why it felt so good. So that’s when I did some more reading.

I learned that the feet when free of shoes can flex and that they works in tandem with your legs as the greatest shock absorber ever made-no pounding on the knees. And finally, my thighs didn’t hurt at all. I also found that there were medical doctors who were backing this up, and also that runners who had been sidelined by more severe versions of pain I’d been experiencing were finding that they could run again pain free by running barefoot. I gradually increased my running distance, as it does take some time to toughen your feet for greater distances, and now I run barefoot most of the time. I finished my first barefoot race this November, my first race since my days as a third stringer on the high school track team. It’s funny, I’m now 38 and I run without shoes, and I’m faster than I ever was as a young guy on the track team. Knowing this makes it easy to conclude that my recent race will be one of many I’ll run in the future. Running barefoot is anything but crazy. Anyone who wants to enjoy running and do it in a healthy way would be crazy not to try it.

To follow more stories by Vincent G, check out his blog at http://cahptain.wordpress.com

Michael Sandler in a hospital bed one day after surgery on his shattered femur, broken hip and broken arm.

Michael Sandler, former speed skater and professional level cyclist, suffered multiple injuries over the course of a lifetime, the last of which occurred just over 3 years ago. Weeks before a planned inline skating world record attempt across the country (LA to NYC) to raise awareness about ADD/ADHD, Michael experienced a life altering accident. While inline skating down Boulder Creek Trail in Boulder, CO, a father teaching his toddler how to walk stepped in front of Michael’s path. To avoid a collision, Michael threw himself up and backwards and landed mid-rotation on a cement sidewalk. The result – a broken arm, broken hip, and shattered femur. Doctors told him the usual story – he may not be able to keep his leg… he may not be able to walk again… and he most definitely would never be able to run again.

Fortunately, Michael doesn’t believe in limitations. He’ll be the first to tell you he doesn’t believe in the word, “Can’t”. Slowly but surely, through a combination of determination, meditation, trust in the universe and the power of nature, along with a healthy dose of rebelliousness, Michael became a walking miracle.

Only a week out of his living room hospital-bed in 2006, he set the record for finishing the Bolder Boulder on crutches (and with a broken arm). Two weeks later, Michael finished the Denver Half Marathon on crutches (second to last) and became the only person to ever complete the half marathon on crutches.

When he finally got off his crutches, Michael gradually worked himself into barefoot running. He was still being told he couldn’t run anymore, and with a ‘leg length discrepancy’ of over 10 millimeters, struggled to find balance and overcome nagging pain. Known as ‘Mr. Plantar Fasciitis’ from before the accident, when he needed custom orthotics just to walk across the living room floor, going barefoot was a major leap of faith. The first day, he ran 100 yards. Then he iced his feet for 2 days. The second time, he ran 200 yards. Then iced for another 2 days. And so it went. Today, Michael can be seen passing cyclists while barefoot running up Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder. He’s capable of running 30+ miles barefoot and is currently averaging 80-100 miles of barefoot running a week.

To Michael, barefoot running is not running at all. He says, “I don’t run anymore. I dance.” The benefits are multifold. Barefoot running activates many more small muscle groups than running in shoes. It allows us to run as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did – the natural way our body was intended to run. It heals old sports injuries by promoting a more natural form. It gives us greater feedback with the ground, and by keeping us lower to the ground, helps us avoid new injuries. Barefoot running naturally promotes better, more efficient running posture and allows runners to surpass any speed they were ever able to attain with shoes. While the body heals, strengthens and economizes, the spirit heals and awakens. There’s something to be said about feeling the earth beneath one’s feet – feeling connected and grounded with nature. Suddenly, you’re thinking more clearly and you’re on top of the world.

For all I knew, and for all the things I tried, none of it was helping to avoid the thing I hated most about putting one foot in front of the other at speed: it hurt. When I was a young man it just hurt the muscles in my legs, which I thought was normal so I just got on with it. As I got older, other pains started. My left hip would hurt so bad at times after running that walking became painful. Then my feet started to hurt. While at the CPO Academy, I developed a case of plantar fasciitis that had me on crutches. After that healed it would be something else. When I found myself having to manually pull my left leg into the car because my hip flexor was too hurt to do the work, I decided I was done.

Armed with the completely valid excuse (often used by has-been rescue swimmers) that my duties had simply taken their toll , I quit the idea of running altogether. I was happy with that decision; I was happy to find other ways to exercise; I was resigned to say “I’m too old to run anymore.” Then a friend handed me a book and ruined everything.

In “Born to Run” , Chris McDougall finds a way to challenge everything you believe about something in a way that reminds you that you had a problem believing it anyway. The modern running shoe was invented in 1966, the same year Bill Bowerman published his book “Jogging” that introduced the idea to America. Bowerman believed that if runners could step out farther – increasing their stride length – they could run faster. Bowerman and Phil Knight, the co-founders of Nike, had started a running revolution by 1975. Turns out they may have unintentional invented something – running injury.

Plantar fasciitis, hip flexor injuries, as well as ankle and knee injuries all took a slide up the scale around the early 1970’s. (For those of you thinking that more people were running, so of course there were more injuries – the research is based on injury to athletes who run or jog as a percentage.) As the padding and motion control technologies hit the market, they were accompanied by another increase in injury rate. Today, 80% of those who run experience an injury (major or minor) annually. 8 of 10? – Seriously. In 2007, Harvard (no – that doesn’t make them automatically right.) started researching running injury rates among athletes and discovered that runners who wore shoes priced over $90 were more likely to experience injury than those wearing shoes under $40. Additionally, the more used and worn out the shoes were, the lower the injury rate.

(Note: As a guy who was given $100 running shoes every six months ….to prevent injury…I was finding this all a little tough to believe. For more on “Cognitive Dissonance – come to the USCG Human Performance Technology Conference this week. Letting go of what you believe is hard for a reason.)

54 year-old Victoriano Churro – a caveman from Mexico – wins the Leadville 100. His 41 year-old partner comes in 2nd.

Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee barefoot running on slickrock in Moab, UT.

In the Summer of 2009, Co-Founders Jessica Lee and Michael Sandler launched the Barefoot Running Club in Boulder CO. In three short months, the the club has been featured on the front page story for the Denver Post sports section and will appear in the November issue of the Competitor. Meanwhile, Michael Sandler has been interviewed for an upcoming documentary on ultra endurance athletes and has been contacted by athletes and experts across the country about the club and RunBare. The club’s huge success inspired Jessica and Michael to launch a barefoot running school to help people looking to heal, to get back into running, to overcome adversity, reconnect with nature, and find a different way of living.