Archive for March, 2012

Half marathon success, minimalist style

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

I don’t know how I never got around to writing about this, but after months of training, and culminating a few years after first hearing about barefoot running, I successfully completed a half marathon in my Vibram Five Fingers! Almost barefoot…

It was a long journey to get there, but in the end was a great success. I first wrote about my barefoot quest a couple years ago after reading the book Born to Run, and posted a few updates along the way.

The first 6 months or so of minimalist running showed significant progress, at which point I sort of tapered off. When I started pushing myself, I think I went too hard and injured my calf, which kept my distance low for a while. After over a year of just sticking to low miles, I decided that if I really wanted to up my distance I needed a […]

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A week in Florida, and finally getting to do the drive through the Keys from Miami to Key West

Sunday, March 11th, 2012
Smather's Beach, Key West

Smather’s Beach, Key West

It’s starting to seem like visits to the tropics are becoming regular occurrences, and I certainly can’t complain about that! After 3 weeks in Costa Rica over the holidays, we recently returned from a week in South Florida. A cousin got married in Miami, and while normally these wedding jaunts back East are whirlwind travels, this time we decided to take our time and spend 6 nights there; 3 in the Keys, and 3 in Fort Lauderdale. [Note: weddings or other family gatherings are perfect events to turn into mini vacations!]

We flew into Miami on a red eye, picked up our rental car, and headed south to the Florida Keys, destination Key West, southernmost point in the Continental US. This drive through the Keys is one that I’ve been looking forward to for years, so having […]

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