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a POST Card from
John Flynn
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I'm really looking forward to playing this
weekend’s Spring Gulch Folk Festival in New Holland, PA. (My
daughter Sarah is ALSO on the festival's bill!!!) I'm scheduled for
Saturday afternoon and evening, but am planning to show up a day
early to catch my old friend Ramblin' Jack Elliott!
(www.springgulch.com/folkfestival.cfm) On May 25th I'll be in Doylestown, PA for my first appearance at Puck. Hope to see you soon! Peace and good on you, John *For anyone interested in minimalist footwear, I can report that I trained for, and ran this marathon entirely in Vibram Five Finger "foot gloves". I was a bit concerned because there is only sketchy anecdotal information about the dangers of this type of road distance, especially for "strenuously middle-aged” runners such as myself, but since normal running shoes no longer allowed me to run pain-free, I felt like it was worth a try. I had no serious problems with my feet during the race -- meaning that after 20 miles, they didn't hurt any more than any other part of my body. I did notice the additional strain on my quads, which were clearly doing more of the work of shock absorption in the absence of running shoes. I did experience a lot of calf cramping in my right leg after mile 15, but I'd experienced this in previous marathons, and attributed it to the sunny, 80-degree weather. Later, however, I got a real scare! About an hour after the race, I began to experience a lot of tenderness and swelling on the outside of my feet, just around midsole. Both feet were bone-sore, just below the fifth metatarsal (pinky toe). I spent the rest of the day icing and praying that I hadn't caused stress fractures! My ortho-surgeon buddy, "Bones" Monaghan, and my daughter, Sarah, both advised rest and avoidance of all internet sites that offered information for self-diagnosis -- and worst case scenarios. |
