We had a long winter this year and some unusual thaw and freeze patterns.  That mixed with the recent floods and thunderstorms has done some real damage to my most trekked trail along the Mad River.  While I was sad to see the downed limbs, broken branches and layers of debris spread along the almost-washed-out path, I couldn’t fight back the urge to come out of my cocoon and get my butt back outside!  It’s not surprising that it was just about a year ago when I started barefoot running.  Today, I received my second pair of Vibram’s in the mail.  It’s true, I’m hooked.  This time I picked up a shiny pair of the new Vibram Fivefingers Treksports.

My KSO’s are holding up beautifully, despite all the running, swimming and hiking I put them through last year.  However, there were several reasons why the Treksports lured me in.  I recently started working with a personal trainer.  Naturally, I brought my KSO’s with me.  The first day, I took her spinning class prior to my personal training intake and I immediately regretted my decision.  The pedal of the bike I was on rode right on my arches, the softest most vulnerable part of the foot (aside from, perhaps, in between the toes).  I was visibly in pain,  My trainer moved me to another bike with a wider pedal, which helped, but overall I found the KSOs were just not the right choice.

My main reason for seeking personal training right now is that I have some big plans in mind for my summer.  Now that the weather is warming up I’m just itching to be outdoors as much as possible and I really want to push myself this year.  Running was fun, but I’m not necessarily looking to run as much this year.  I’m thinking of trying climbing and taking on more adventurous hikes.  I also need a shoe that can continue to play with me while I kayak, canoe, and splash around in Vermont’s rivers and lakes.

While the KSO’s did a fine job of keeping up with my water-bound activities last year, the Treksport’s plated midsoles and lightly cleated outsole really appealed to me.  I never fully felt comfortable using my KSO’s on adventurous hikes because of those few moments of stabbing pain on my arches when I hit a rock at the wrong angle, and the fact that I slipped quite a bit in mud.  For running, they were perfect.  For hiking, they just weren’t beefy enough.  However, the kangaroo leather upper on the KSO Treks didn’t jive well with my love for water or my being slightly put-off by wearing kangaroo hide on my feet.

So, on to the part you’re probably most interested in: a picture comparison. Disclaimer: keep in mind my KSOs are a bit worn.

The first time I slipped the Treksports on I definitely felt they had more continuity, but I still felt a firm connection with the ground and easy articulation.  My first test was to wrap my arches around a pointy piece of wood and the plated arch definitely works!  More on that later.

Let’s start by talking about the posterior difference:

As you can see, the Treksport have some padding around the Achilles.  This triangle-shaped pillow rises from the heel and makes the heel look wider than the KSOs in this picture, but when worn it hugs the heel nicely and provides additional stability.  Both feature the same strap design and both have a loop on the rear.

From the front there are some fun differences.  The Treksport toes have additional texture to them and the tips of the toes are reinforced:

While I haven’t experienced this with my KSOs, several folks online have complained that their non-reinforced toe Fivefinger shoes show signs of wear and ripping on the tops of the toes.  In the champagne color Treksports, the reinforced toes are clear and shiny.  I’ve read other reviews that the dark colored models have black reinforcing.  Regardless of the color, this is an important feature for those of us who really want to put our Vibrams through its paces.

Laterally, there isn’t a huge difference between the KSO and the Treksport with the exception that the Treksport sits a bit higher on its cleated sole.  It also appears that the outside rubber comes up just a hair higher on the Treksport.

Medially, there’s a noticeable difference between the two.  The KSOs actually have greater coverage on the medial part of the sole which causes the Treksport to appear to curve more at the arch.  While I haven’t played around with these enough to know yet, it does appear that the Treksports have more arch support whereas the KSOs are fairly flat with just a mild curve for the arch.

Now here’s the real money shot:

Oh, let’s see that up close!

The biggest visible difference between the KSO and the Treksport is the sole.  While my KSOs are a bit worn, the texture on the bottom of the KSOs are minimal.  The Treksport has noticeable grooves and mild cleats to provide better traction and grip in various terrain.  I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t want the Treksport if I was new to barefoot running.  ”Real” barefoot runners already poo-poo us Fivefinger folks, and the Treksports push that line further.  Yes, it’s still much less padding than a sneaker and one can certainly run in them, but it wouldn’t be my choice.

However, with the additional grip and the reinforced arch I will definitely feel more comfortable trying the Treksports out in environments I shied away from with my KSOs.  One other thing to note is that the midsole is much thinner on the Treksport.  I have narrow feet and after walking around in these for a while I felt no discomfort or insecurities.  If you have wide feet you might want to really try them out in a store before making the investment.  I’ve only read positive reviews on the midsole width so far, but it’s something to take note of.

I’m super-stoked to take my new Fivefingers out for a ride!  Now that I’ve come out of winter hibernation, expect to hear more of my Treksport adventures!  Let’s hope they can keep up with me.

Oh, and for those of you who are only here for the dog stories, here’s Toby and his new buddy, Charlie, enjoying some VT April showers.  Seriously, this white death falling from the sky has got to stop!

I saw my acupuncturist last week and as soon as she took my pulse she gave me a funny look.  Some stomach pokes and prods later and she said, “You’ve been eating a lot of sugar and getting cravings, huh?”  Oh holy crap did she hit the nail on the head there.  Fall for me is the start of hibernation.  I make rich foods filled with fats, carbs and sugars.  Life has been especially stressful lately and I use that as an excuse to “comfort eat”, despite knowing how unhealthy and energy-draining that is.

The acupuncturist asked me to do a liver cleanse, which I’ve never done before.  She told me to try something “gentle” and the only real guidance she gave was to research it and start by drinking Apple Cider Vinegar.  I went online and was inundated with a barrage of liver cleanses: everything from fasting to colonics and from two-day to eight-week scenarios.  Most of the sites were trying to sell me some system, so it was easy to weed those out.  I compared sources and spoke with some of my nutritionist and herbalist friends to come up with the cleanse I’m doing.  I’ll fully admit that this is my first ever liver cleanse so please do not treat me as an expert.

The basic cleanse that I’m following is that for two weeks I’m completely cutting out alcohol and caffeine and I’m greatly limiting sugars, dairy and processed foods.  I’m trying to get all of my sugars from unprocessed sources (e.g. fruits, raw honey, raw agave nectar) and I’m trying to eat raw foods as much as possible.  Then, for three days I’ll be doing a more traditional liver cleanse which entails a juice fast and having to drink some nasty concoctions that I’ll write about it another entry when that gets closer.

So what’s the point of all of this?  People do cleanses for a variety of reasons and there’s a whole school of thought for cleansing and another whole school that thinks it’s ludicrous.  I’m doing this cleanse to change up my destructive Fall eating habit and give my body some easy-to-digest food so my digestive system gets a break and I gain more energy as a result.  The last part of the cleanse supposedly helps dislodge liver stones, and if that really happens that’s cool but I’m taking that piece with a grain of salt right now.  The biggest thing is to get my digestion back on track and get my energy levels up.

This leads to the next logical question, why raw?  I was introduced to raw foods a couple years ago and have been in awe ever since with the health benefits behind it and the opportunity for creativity in the kitchen.  The health benefits are fairly undebatable.  Raw foods are more nutrient dense and easily digested by the body.  Most people on raw diets notice a large increase of energy and a happier digestive system.  On the latter, it’s important to note that if you’re going to try a raw meal out of the blue you might get some stomach upset at first.  It’s recommended to eat light meals on the day you’re going to have a raw meal and don’t start off with an entire day of raw if you’ve been living off of burgers and fries for months (unless you’re down with spending a good chunk of your day in the bathroom).

The daunting task of changing my diet for a two-week period is finding yummy recipes.  Tons of raw recipes sound good, but I’ve definitely had a few flops; usually my issue is that they’re not flavorful enough.  Luckily, the recipes I’ve tried so far have all been super-easy to make (most can be made right in a food processor).  Out of the four recipes I tried yesterday, two were freaking amazing so I have to share.  These are not original recipes, but I can’t really credit a source because for each of them I mixed up different recipes and added some things in so they’re original-ish.  That said, if you want to find more raw recipes, my favorite sources so far are: We Like It Raw, gone raw, Sweetly Raw, and Raw Food Talk.

Now, without further ado, the recipes!

Om Noms Raw Food Snack (mostly based on Morning-After Delight)

This is a great easy-to-make snack that I’m personally using as a breakfast.  Yes, it has raw cacao in it so I’m technically cheating on the caffeine but it is omg delicious!  I split this up into five small ball jars and am finding that I get full a little over halfway through.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Almonds
1/2 cup Walnuts
1/2 cup Cashews
1/2 cup Pumpkin Seeds
1/2 cup Raw Carob Nibs
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 cup Dried Gogi Berries
1/2 Cup Banana Chips
2 table spoons Cup Raw Chocolate Powder
1 table spoon of Raw Honey
4 table spoons of Raw Agave nectar
2 dashes of Sea Salt
2 dashes of Cinnamon

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Eat and enjoy!

Raw Vegan Sushi

Eating raw doesn’t necessarily imply “vegan”.  While most raw foodists are vegetarian or vegan, some do eat meat.  This particular recipe is 100% vegan-friendly and it’s very malleable.  Pick ingredients that sound yummy to you and be creative.  Unlike the above recipe, this one is quite time intensive just for the actual sushi prep part.  It’s a great interactive activity at a dinner party, especially since you don’t have to worry about the ingredients getting “cold” or going bad.  The portion size in this recipe is enough for two hungry people.

Ingredients:
2 Parsnips, peeled
1/2 cup Cashews (can substitute other nuts, I saw recipes with pine nuts, macadamia nuts and walnuts)
1/2 tbsp White Miso (supposedly red works too)
1.5 tsp Sesame Oil (you’ll see from the picture that I cheated here and used Toasted Sesame Oil, that’s obviously not raw but it’s what I had on hand)
1 ripe Avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced thinly
1 seedless Cucumber, peeled and cut into sticks
3-5 Baby Carrots, thinly chopped
1/2 cup Kale, chopped
1/2 cup Spinach, chopped
1-2 tbsp minced Cilantro
Nori wrappers (black is usually raw, green is usually toasted)
1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
Bamboo Mat
Tamari Soy Sauce, as desired.

Directions:

1. Make Parsnip “Rice” by combining the parsnips, cashews, miso and sesame oil in a food processor until “fluffy”; it really will look and feel rice-like (it also tastes freaking awesome).

2. Prepare your other ingredients so they’re easily grabbed.

3. Add the rice vinegar to a small bowl of water and keep that next to your bamboo mat.

4. Lay a piece of nori shiny-side down on your bamboo matt.  Dip your fingers into the rice vinegar mixture and lightly brush them over the nori; this will soften it.

5. Spread a thin coat of the Parsnip “Rice” over the nori.  Add any of remaining ingredients to the roll that you desire.  My favorite combo was avocado+cilantro+cucumber+kale.

6. Now it’s time to roll it up.  For this, you may want to watch a YouTube video on rolling sushi (there are a million out there).  I usually start on one end of the bamboo and I curl the roll into itself.  Once I’ve reached the far side (so the roll is fully rolled) I hold the bamboo that’s still flat on the table by the far side and I pull the roll towards me with the opposite hand; this makes it tighter and is similar to burrito rolling.  Then I shape it a little better with the bamboo mat.  The trick is to get it tight enough so it doesn’t fall apart when cutting/eating.  To be honest, I’ve never found it particularly challenging but it takes a couple tries to get it right.

7. At this point you can unroll it and cut it.  One trick I use is to lay plastic wrap on top of the roll (you can also lay the plastic wrap down before you put the nori down so it’s there to begin with).  Next, I clean my knife with some of the rice vinegar solution and slice the roll through the plastic wrap; this helps it stay together and helps you get a clean cut.  The obvious downside is using the plastic wrap itself.  For those of us who are environmentally conscious this is not ideal.

8. Eat and enjoy!  I dipped my sushi into the tamari soy and it was great.  I think in the future, though, I’m going to drizzle the soy into the roll before rolling it up.

The thing I really love about both of these recipes is that I don’t feel like I’m giving anything up.  They’re both delicious recipes and amazingly nutritionally dense.  It’s like getting all of my food groups crammed into one tasty meal.  Hopefully I can find more tasty recipes to keep me going for the next two weeks.  The “bliss balls” and “pumpkin pudding” I tried yesterday were unfortunate disasters of “blah”, but these two sure were winners!

I ran along the Stowe Quiet Path and found Fartleks are especially fun there because there are so many twist, turns and hills that sprinting feels like being on a roller coaster.  Toby had even more fun than I did thanks to us being there at an unusually dog-populated time of day.  There was a new doggie friend around every curve.  Despite having some issues getting motivated to go out in the blah weather, once I got moving I felt a million times better.  My tight shoulders loosened up, the stress knots in my stomach released and my body felt springy and playful.  It’s easy to come up with excuses to not run, but once I get going I always remember how much I enjoy it and why I want to keep it up.

Speaking of the introspective quality of Fall, I’m going to once again usurp my space here to talk about something unrelated to running, but greatly important to me.  For those in the US, today is the anniversary of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.  For the past few years, when this date rolls around I really don’t give it a ton of thought leading up to 9/11.  I’m much less emotional when listening to newscasts and I usually feel that the day can come and go without effecting me.  I’m wrong; it always finds a way to get me.  This morning, when I logged into Facebook for my morning internet voyeurism, I watched a remembrance video that a friend had posted and I totally teared up.  Between losing people I knew and losing hundreds of people I didn’t personally know along with losing a skyline that had marked my childhood, I can’t be unaffected by this day.

©NYC Police & REUTERS/Hans Deryk

They say everyone remembers where they were on 9/11.  I remember it with vivid clarity.  I heard about it early in the morning as I was driving to class.  By the time I got to the art building I found the classrooms were empty and people were surrounding televisions set up in common areas and crying.  I was in school down in Dallas and I couldn’t reach my parents or brother back in NY; I couldn’t reach anyone in NY.  Then I realized that I had left a house of about a dozen sleeping friends and our mutual friend was in NYC visiting his girlfriend.  I drove back and woke everyone up and we just watched the news, horrified.

I remember two other big details from that day.  I remember the lines at the gas station as we all tried to fill up our cars after the news warned us that some stations were gauging prices and sure enough we saw prices like $5/gal so we waited patiently at the station that hadn’t changed their signs yet.  Then, we all drove out to the lake to sit and watch the Dallas skyline without any planes flying overhead.  It was eerie and peaceful.

Now, almost a decade later, here we are still at war and while I do believe this war has more facets than just a fight about oil, that black gold continues to hold us hostage.  I’ve watched several documentaries on the oil and gas industries in the past few months and while I overall feel powerless to free myself from Big Oil, I made a move to greatly reduce my consumption by trading in my 2007 Subaru Outback (which I loved) for a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen TDI that will run B5 Biodiesel.  In many ways that’s a small step, but it’s a step I could afford.

Just about any diesel made in the past 10 years or so can run biodiesel without any modifications (as long as it has nylon gaskets instead of rubber, which all modern diesels do).  You can use the same tank and switch between biodiesel and regular diesel without issue (though if you live in a cool climate you’ll probably want to stick with B5-B20 as B100 will gel at a higher temp than regular diesel).  Now that biodiesel can be made from very fast-growing algae, that when farmed next to oil refineries actually helps clean up the C02 emissions, it’s very sustainable and practical.  It’s also completely street legal, though it’s recommended to only buy from commercial pumps that are ASTM-rated.  Keep in mind that biodiesel is not pure vegetable oil; it’s a mixture of plant-based oil, Methanol and Sodium Hydroxide which creates a substance that looks and feels like petrol-based diesel.

I first went on Craigslist and checked local places for used diesels, but the pickings were slim to none.  I ended up going with the Sportwagen based on its great reviews, but after quite a bit of research it’s clear that the 2009-2011 VW TDIs can’t take 100% biodiesel due to the new DPF filter.  The new filter does a phenomenal job of keeping emissions incredibly low on the new “clean diesels” and it also adds to the great fuel economy (I’m getting 44-51mpg!).  However, biodiesel has a higher flash point and it’s also a solvent so it can initially cause the filter to become saturated faster (this is not an issue once biodiesel is used regularly) and it could cause the filter to not burn off the buildup efficiently.  In the long-run this can theoretically decrease engine performance and lead to needing oil changes more often.

However, hope it not lost!  The 2009-2011 TDIs are still warranty approved for B5.  B5 is only a 5% biodiesel blend, but it turns out I can easily get B5 locally (thanks to Bourne’s Energy being awesome) and it’s still a positive start.  Between that and the vast improvements with the fuel efficiency of the diesel engine and incredibly low emissions, as someone who drives close to 30k miles/year, I’ve lowered my carbon footprint markedly.  While I’m not about to throw a big, “Eff You Big Oil!” party, it’s a start.

These small changes are things that we all have to individually do if we hope that big changes will arise.  I did something small that I could afford, what can you do?  Did you know that if your home is heated with oil you can probably switch to biofuel without modifications (barring potentially swapping rubber for nylon)?  My small local fuel provider in the middle of Vermont offers biofuel.  If you stick your head out to see what alternatives are out there you might be surprised.

Get Inspired:
Gasland (not about oil, but about natural gas)
Crude
A Crude Awakening (watch online free)
Oil, Smoke and Mirrors (watch online free)
Tedx OilSpill (I watched the event live but you can watch it online free at that link; it was an all-day conference so it’s 8+ hours of video regarding the Gulf Oil Spill)
Fuel, which sealed the deal on the car issue for me.

A Wet Dog Is A Happy Dog

There’s Toby, working on his favorite summer activities; swimming and stick retrieval.  I’ve been on several quests this summer and a big one has been checking out local swimming holes.  The above picture shows Toby at Swain Pond in Maine, which unfortunately wasn’t fit for human swimming, but Toby had a blast and I enjoyed canoeing around with him in tow.  Quick funny fact: while Toby enjoys kayaking, he is adamantly against getting into a canoe.  Even after I bribed him with cookies and sat with him in the canoe on land (all the “get your dog to boat with you” techniques), he still freaked out as soon as I tried to start paddling.  Instead, he chose to follow me on land or by swimming next to the canoe.  On some of the lakes this meant he got quite the workout.  Luckily, he had his lifejacket on at all times so if he got tuckered out mid-lake he wouldn’t drown and I was prepared to hold him while paddling if necessary.

Last year, I bought a pair of Keene Venice H20′s, which I really love.  I went swimming with them here in Vermont and in Aruba where I swam in rocky waters.  They were good, but after doing some side-by-side comparisons with the Vibram KSO’s there’s really no competition; the Vibrams win.  I find walking on moss-covered rocks in the Keenes can be quite the challenge, as their hard solid sole is inflexible so the surface area that I could grip the rocks with is slim.  This meant quite a bit of slipping and sliding and at one point I slipped off a rock and ended up with my foot wedged between a couple rocks underwater.  Luckily, I didn’t twist when I fell because I could have easily broken or sprained my ankle.

The Vibrams, on the other hand, still offer enough protection so when I’m walking on rocks or sharp objects it doesn’t feel painful (though I do feel it more than with the Keenes), but since I can contort my foot to the rocks I’m climbing on I find it’s much easier to get a good grip, keep my balance and have more accurate proprioception.  Granted, both the Vibram and the Keene sole are a little slippery, but I feel much more confident in my Vibrams.

The other detail with the Vibram KSOs is the mesh top.  With the Keenes, the toe is covered but anything that gets into the shoes from the top strappy-area just falls into the toes so when I wear the Keenes I find myself regularly slipping them off to shake out the debris that’s collected in them.  With the Vibrams, the only thing that slips through the mesh top is sand and small pieces of dirt which I usually don’t notice while I have the shoes on and once the shoes are dry it’s pretty easy to shake them out.  Overall, I feel more protected in the Vibrams and have been happily swimming with them all summer.

My vacation was all about fishing!  I canoed and fished in Maine and both canoed and shore-fished in Vermont.  I have to say that once again the Vibrams were super-awesome for boating and wading in the water.  I wore my Keenes one day and noticed when going from the water into the canoe they drag a good amount of water with them.  The Vibrams are easier to shake off before stepping into the canoe and since they’re so form-fitting there was no real way for them to add much water to the boat.  There’s also just a huge fun-factor to standing in water with a fishing pole and feeling barefoot, but knowing there’s protection if I were to step on any hazards under the water.

In the past week alone I’ve climbed over piles of rocks, balanced on logs, tip-toed around beaver nests and beat my labrador in a couple water-bound stick chases.  My feet are happy and playful and my body is reaping the benefits of all this outdoor fun!  Just thinking about it makes me want to hop in the car and head back out to Eligo Lake with my fishing pole.  Well, it is Labor Day, I think I’ll just do that!

Monday brought an unusually long and grueling workday so I missed my lunchtime run.  By the time I got out I was really itching for some relief so I took Toby to The Stowe Quiet Path for an evening jaunt.  With sunny skies and mild temps I couldn’t be happier that I did!

I’ve been working on speed for the past several weeks and have stuck to a routine on the Mad River Path.  It had been months since I ran in Stowe and I decided to just run for fun and not focus on the Fartlek routine I’d been working on.  The path is beautiful this time of year with mature corn fields surrounded by views of the green mountains.  It made the run organic and gave me plenty of things to take my mind off the work.

I did notice that my stamina is not what it was when I finished Couch-2-5K.  By the end of those nine weeks I was running three miles at a time regularly.  Since then I’ve been doing a 1.6 mile routine that’s mixed between sprinting and walking so I haven’t done much continuous running.  I did notice that my speed work payed off, as my natural stride is wider, I stand taller and I definitely moved faster comfortably.  Unfortunately, I did get tired easier and in the last third of the run I really had to give myself a pep talk to keep going.

My reward was cooling off in the river, though honestly the river that runs through the Quiet Path has nothing on the Mad River.  Still, it was a refreshing end to the workout and by the time I left my head was definitely wiped clean of the long day at work.

My foot is still not 100% and I’ve cut my running down to 1-2 days per week.  To compensate, I’ve begun strength training again and am happy to report that the Vibram’s are great during a workout on my new (free!) Bowflex.  I was able to use my normal Joyce Vedral workout techniques adapted for the Bowflex and got a killer workout in.  I’m curious to see how the balance of strength training and running will create changes in my body and my mood.

How about you?  How do you balance your workouts during the week?

I mentioned in my previous post that when I ran on Friday I was alarmed by the massive amount of silver glitter poured all along the trail.  Without exaggeration, many areas of the trail resembled sheets of glitter; I seriously don’t want to know how much money was spent on all this glitter.  I became more and more upset as I ran the trail and found that the glitter extended for close to a mile!

I initially believed the glitter was related to the Story Walk event, sponsored by the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, that many of the trails in Vermont are participating in.  Story Walk is an awesome program in which a children’s book is photocopied, each page is laminated, and the pages are staked alongside a trail so people can read while they walk.  I love the idea of promoting reading and exercise and think this is a phenomenal children’s event.  I couldn’t understand how polluting the trail with glitter was part of an educational event.  It turns out it wasn’t.

Waitsfield had terrible storms Sunday night into Monday; strong enough to down trees along the path.  When I ran on Monday I noticed that the bulk of the glitter had been washed away (most likely into the corn fields and Mad River) but the path was still saturated with sparkles.  When I got to the gazebo I picked up the guest book with the intention of writing a comment when, to my chagrin, I noticed the last comment was from someone praising Story Walk which began with, “I LOVED the glitter!!”  Really?!  REALLY?!  You double-underline-LOVED the glitter?!  Ignorance is not always so blissful.

I’ve lived in enough cities that I know I shouldn’t be surprised by people littering without thinking about it.  While it’s always bothered me, I find I get much angrier when it happens in areas that pride themselves in being eco-friendly and “green”.  I feel those of us living close to nature should somehow know better, really, everyone by now should know better, but I am obviously wrong.

So, I wrote a letter.  I wrote to the Mad River Path Association and to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library complimenting them on Story Walk and expressing my concern for our new glistening path and wondering what the clean-up plan is.  I explained that glitter is not only incredibly difficult to clean up, but it does not biodegrade and in the area it was spread it is likely to be washed into the Mad River which can cause death to small fish, tadpoles and other wildlife that is attracted to eating small shiny objects.  Even without making contact with the river, there are several species on land who could suffer ulcerations if they digest the glitter (including curious dogs).  Since I also like to have sources beyond myself, I quoted a nice summary of the environmental impacts of glitter from Wikipedia (there are several other in-depth articles on this if you Google it, but I really liked Wikipedia’s brief synapsis):

“Because of its small size and durable nature, glitter is a persistent environmental pollutant. Glitter is commonly made from[2] copolymer plastics, aluminum foil, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, bismuth oxychloride and other materials. These materials are not readily biodegradable. Being heavier than water, glitter sinks to the bottom of waterways and contributes to toxic sludges. Most glitter is used only briefly. At the end of each use it is showered off, entering waste water systems, or swept up for disposal in landfill. Glitter is not recovered or recycled in any way. Because of its small size, down to 15 micrometres, glitter is often lost or spread by humans throughout their environment. Insects and other small organisms are unable to deal with glitter, as it is inedible. Larger creatures can ingest it involuntarily, allowing it to enter the food chain. Because of its metallic nature, static electricity effects can cause it to stick to body parts or habitats. Some of the oxides glitter is made with can be reactive when combined with other waste streams, particularly in water. Glitter has very sharp, hard, edges which are uncommon in nature, are also a problem for very small life. When the same material as glitter occurs in industrial situations as swarf, it is considered a hazardous contaminant, for which extensive safety measures are required. Micro pollutants in animal bloodstreams can have significant health effects.”

I was pleased to receive an email back from the Mad River Path Association the very next morning.  They were as surprised as I was about the glitter and immediately began investigating.  As I mentioned earlier, it turns out this was not a part of Story Walk, so my apologies for assuming it was.  That leaves all involved wondering where the glitter came from and why.  Was it a prank?  Was it someone’s ignorant attempt to make the path more “magical”?  Who’s responsible for this random act of glittering and how the heck do we clean it up?

Many of those questions will never have answers, and the clean-up question is really the only one that can be realistically focused on.  Speaking of which, do you know any way to clean up glitter from grass and mud and rocks spread out for almost a mile?  I’d love to hear your ideas.

I’m not beyond seeing the humor in all of this.  I can see in some teenager’s mind that turning our path into a silver version of the Yellow Brick Road might seem like a brilliant idea, especially after smoking some Vermont Green.  That said, as a culture I believe we’re past the point of laughing off environmental blunders.  The Mad River Path brings joy, wonder and relaxation to hundreds if not thousands of people every year.  It, along with all of our natural resources, needs to be respected and cared for.

The world right now is outraged by the BP Oil Spill, but few people seem to care if someone drops a gun wrapper or a cigarette butt on the ground.  Where do we draw the line and when do we as a society stand up to educate ourselves on how the small environmental impacts we make every day accumulate in massive ways?  I’m standing up for glitter.  Hey, we all have to choose our battles, right?

Part of the glittery Mad River Path after several huge storms.

It’s easy to make excuses.  I was reminded of the new Nike commercial, “No Excuses”.  I’m sure we can all relate:

However, my week was not a bust.  I had a full practice of massage clients and I swam almost every day.  The highlight of the week was hiking to Cady’s Falls with my pup.  Cady’s Falls is a natural waterfall and river carved out of a rock formation in Morrisville, my home town.  I had heard about it but kept looking in the wrong places (though that did help me find a nice swimming hole on the Lamoille River).  The hike was gorgeous.  The first quarter mile the path is surrounded by raspberry bushes and I snacked as I walked towards the river.  I learned later that I could have walked down the river to get to the waterfall, which would have been far less challenging than the road I chose.

I veered left up a path and headed on a steep hike upwards.  I ended up crossing paths with a couple who told me I was headed in the right direction so I kept going until I found the waterfall…and I was above it.  Two men swam below and, despite the loud wooshing sounds of the falls, I could hear one say, “Look, she’s up there!”  Obviously, I had not taken the “standard” path to get to the falls; though the path was well-traveled enough that I don’t really get points for originality.

After casing things out I stashed my belongings behind a rock above the falls and I slowly scooted myself down slippery rocks at the edge of the falls.  Since I didn’t risk bringing electronics down with me, I have no pictures of the beauty, but it really was a sight.  The base of the falls opened up to a deep swimming area that was almost ice-cold; much colder than the rivers I’d been swimming in.  However, given the heat and humidity it felt so good!

Toby ended up jumping down the falls.  I didn’t get to witness this but the reaction of the two men who saw him jump was pretty stellar.  We played around for a while and then I started scoping out the banks of the river to see how we could get back up.  That’s when I realized there was no safe way up.  We’d have to go back the way we came which meant climbing up the waterfall.

My Vibram Fivefingers were such an asset on this venture.  I definitely took my time, but I had no problem scaling the rocks back up to the top of the falls.  Toby, on the other hand, took some coaxing.  He was scared, and I was nervous that he might get hurt but I wanted to let him try it before hiking down and rescuing him.  I stood at the top of the falls and called to him.  He anxiously ran all around trying to find another way up until he came to the same conclusion I did.  I could see when he made the decision to try to climb up the falls, it took all his puppy courage.  He did a great job climbing up the rocks and only had one paw slip.  My dog is awesome!

Truthfully, I don’t think he would have been able to do it if I hadn’t been running with him and building up his strength in the past few month.  To be honest, I don’t know if I would have either.  Running has brought me confidence in areas that yoga, weigh lifting and aerobics have not.  Running encourages me to be adventurous and that sense of adventure crosses over into my hiking and swimming experiences.  I feel not only in shape and physically strong, but I feel a strong mind-body connection and an organic push to be in motion.

Wow, I’ve yammered on so much that I barely have time to write about the running I actually did this week.  While many Vermonters are still complaining that we’re in a heat wave, as soon as the temps dipped back into the 80′s I was ready to hit the trail and I was back on schedule for this whole week.

Monday’s run was such a relief.  I thought getting back on the trail for the first day might seem arduous but it was anything but.  As soon as I started my first sprint through the field I realized how much I missed it.  The runs were some of my fastest, but the speed-walking parts were slow as the raspberries and blackberries along the path are ripe and I just had to steal a few bites.  By the time I finished I was covered in sweat and Toby and I jumped right into the river which was warm and wonderful.  I just floated there for a while and let the current take me.  Have I mentioned just how much I love Vermont this time of year?

Friday was less amazing but still fun.  It was extremely humid and I thought I was timing my run perfectly to be out during a downpour.  Unfortunately, while I managed to stretch during the downpour, it really turned into a sprinkling while I ran so it was not the nice relieving feeling I was looking for.  I also had to forgo my swim as I had an unusually high workload for a Friday.  Oh well, I’ll certainly be swimming today and I’ll be back on the trail again tomorrow!

I’m going to risk the tl;dr labeling and add one more soapbox paragraph.  The only really discouraging thing about my explorations of Cady’s Falls and my Friday run was running into litter.  Cady’s Falls had empty beer bottles and soda cans strewn about (I’m definitely bringing a trash bag with me next time I head there).  Yesterday began an event on the Mad River Path called “Story Walk”.  It’s a really cute concept in which pages of a children’s book are laminated and posted on the path so as you walk you can read the story.  Good to promote reading and exercise, I love the idea!  I’m not 100% sure this was related, but along the parts of the path that had the story there was a ton of silver glitter littered all over the path.  I was shocked.  Who the hell would pour non-biodegratable shards of reflective plastic all along the path?!  Anyone who’s been to a rave knows how freaking hard it is to clean glitter off of anything, let alone an outdoor trail!  I’m planning on complaining to the town (something I rarely do, but this really bothers me) and I encourage anyone else who uses and enjoys The Mad River Path to do the same.

Happy running, swimming, hiking, jumping and anything else fun and outdoorsy you’re up to this week!  Yay, summer!

My biggest roadblock in this run was shear exhaustion from working a double-shift the day/night before for a server upgrade.  I was running (literally) on about four hours of sleep and for a Friday it was a pretty darn busy workday.  Despite the grogginess, my run was pretty awesome.  The path was busier than usual but I was joined by a few other people running with their dogs and Toby made plenty of new buddies on our journey.

The river was almost back to normal and I took a better comparison shot (both with the iPhone).  Keep in mind that the river can get 2-4′ lower than where it is, but when you consider that the two pics were only taken four days apart it’s pretty amazing (click for bigger image).  I’d also like to give a quick shout-out to RunKeeper‘s Pro App, which has the ability to take pictures right from within the app, which are then automatically added to the activity map and transferred to the RunKeeper website.  I love this feature!

Aside from the run, I had two awesome experiences with my Vibram Fivefinger KSOs this weekend.  I headed to Jeffersonville both Saturday and Sunday to swim in one of the gorgeous swimming holes along the Lamoille River.  Saturday I decided to adventure through Cambridge after my acupuncture appointment; mostly to avoid going back through Stowe Village which was swamped with tourists for the holiday, but also so I could pick up some Brown and Jenkin’s coffee and Boyden Valley Rhubarb Wine.  I had two goals in mind: find a cute random place to eat and a nice place where Toby and I could swim.  I believe I found both:

Sunrise Cafe served me Vermont sausage/cheddar/apple crepes with latkes and fresh fruit as Toby and I sat outside gazing at the mountains.

Lamoille River Swimming Hole in Jeffersonville, VT

As you can see from the picture above, Toby and I chose an area of the swimming hole that was mostly all rock.  To the right of us was a more populated swimming hole/portage area with a real parking lot.  Given the heat and the holiday weekend it was full of a mix of tourists and locals dragging in their kayaks and canoes.  I felt pretty smart finding a pull-off just upstream of the main area; while I was still fairly close to the action, the portage was blocked from sight by a bend in the river and everyone was headed with the current in the opposite direction.  It left me feeling like I was on a private stretch of this gorgeous river.

The reason my little swimming area was practically abandoned is that to get to the river one has to maneuver some semi-steep and uneven rocks.  I wouldn’t call it challenging, but it was important to be sure-footed (as a friend of mine found out the next day when she totally bit it climbing down).  My Vibrams were perfect for the occasion.  I felt like I had a nice firm grip on the rocks and it made walking around the riverbed easy and smooth.

A quick note on the picture above: that rock that Toby is standing on is perfect for diving.  It jets at least 12′ into the water; as Toby discovered when he fell in the first time.  It also happened to be a great sitting rock as it’s recliner-shaped.  I hung out there for quite a while with my legs dangling into the water.  While it wasn’t quite as awesome as our Sunday excursion, lying in tubes on the river for two hours, it was still pretty darn awesome.

I hope you all had a good Independence Day or Canada Day (or just a good weekend for those not celebrating).  I’m enjoying one more holiday day off and then will be getting back on a trail either tomorrow or Wednesday.  We’re getting unseasonably warm temperatures in Vermont for the next few days (90-95ºF) so it’s really going to take some motivation to get out there but I can do it!  That means you can too.

I’ve complained about humidity often in the past few weeks, but please believe me when I say this was the worst it’s been so far.  It reminded me of the first time I went to St. Maarten, one late April, which I later learned is off-season due to the egregious humidity and lack of a cooling breeze.  The ground was still sopping wet when I headed out, so at least I had a cooling sensation on my feet to break up some of the wet-hot air.

As I set out, I couldn’t believe how slippery the ground underneath me was.  I slipped and slid on mud as I speed-walked, almost biting it a few times.  However, I was quite proud of myself for not sliding around at all when it came to running.  I’ve mentioned previously that early in my running research I found a blog where a barefoot runner compared proper barefoot form to “running through paint”.  He said one must be sure not to smear the paint.  What he meant is that it’s important to pick your feet straight up (kind of like jogging in place) and not push off the ground.  Sometimes when I’m feeling heavy in my body I turn to a mantra of, “Pick up, pick up” as I lift each foot.  On my return trip I even noticed that my footprints when I ran were solid marks, whereas my walking footprints were smeared.

Along with the wet wet wet came unexpected challenges on the path.  Trees had fallen down from the high winds the night before, the edges of the path had become overgrown from a week of high heat and a solid mix of sun and rain, and parts of the path were actually flooded by the massively swollen river (more on that later).  These obstacles provided a motivational distraction from the humidity and kept me entertained as I ran.  While I definitely sweat more than usual, and had some issues pushing myself on the way back, overall this was a successful and fun run.

The one thing I was really looking forward to after a long hot run was a dip in the river.  However, while I ran it became apparent that might not be possible.  Generally, the banks of the river are anywhere from 2-6′ high and beyond the height of the banks there are some swimming-hole areas that have up to 20′ of pebbles where one could sit or stand right next to the river.  As I ran, I saw that the river had swollen over the banks and pebbles and crept up the paths to the trail.  It only covered the trail in a few areas, but the paths to get to the beach areas were covered with a good solid 1-2′ of water.  Even in Spring, when the river is high due to the snow melting, it’s never that high.  Even last year when we had unusually high rain falls all summer, which contributed to the tomato blight and there were e.coli warnings in the river that stopped us from swimming most of the summer (quick note: when we get a lot of rain in the valley runoff from the farms end up in the river causing high bacterial counts), it was never that high.  This was crazy!

I took a picture, albeit with my iPhone because I don’t exactly run with my fancy Canon (kinda wish I could!).  I looked for a comparison shot and all I have is a shot from early Spring, so the river is a high in that one too but this is the same area of the river (the Spring picture is just taken with a wider-angle lens):

To give you a little perspective, the rocks that you can see poking out in the Spring picture are usually fully exposed this time of year; people sit on them and picnic or play music; it’s usually a safe place to sit fully clothed.  The banks in this area this time of year are usually a good 6′.  The picture on the right shows the rocks are totally covered (though you can see a lip of waves on the right side gliding over the highest rock) and the banks are basically indistinguishable.

Needless to say, this was not a good time to swim.  Toby and I did venture down one path to the river in an attempt to brave it, but we were quickly swallowed up by brown murky river water and were unable to even make it to the river.  This was probably a good thing considering how fast the current was moving and how much bacteria was most likely in the flow.

Next run is Friday!  So far it sounds like the weather will be fair and sunny.  Fingers crossed!

I’ve mentioned that I have some allergies and have been experiencing occasional breathing issues in the past few weeks.  I hadn’t had any trouble breathing with my new routine but by the last two fields on Wednesday I was really struggling to catch my breath.  It’s so frustrating when my body has more strength than my lungs and sinuses.

Needless to say, my speed did not improve on Wednesday; in fact it decreased but not dramatically.  While I came in at a slower overall pace than the run previous to it, I wasn’t slower than the run previous to that.  I do feel stronger.  While my foot is still giving me some trouble, it’s getting better every day and my body is adjusting well to the new pace.  Once I get more comfortable I’m going to try to push myself a little more and either go farther or job through the slow parts of the workout instead of speed walking.  I’ll decide for sure when I’m ready.

In other exciting news, both the RunKeeper Free version and Pro version have been updated for iOS4 and are available on iTunes.  I upgraded to the Pro version and used it on Wednesday.  The tracking is supposedly better and it did track me as going farther  and the trail it mapped looks much closer to the path I take.  You can see what I mean in the pics below: I didn’t really play with the new app features, but you can read about all of them (and about the new awesome changes to their website) on their blog.  Overall, I’m still very impressed with their software and website integration and I think the pro app was worth the $9.99.

I skipped Friday’s run due to other exercise that day and preparation for an all-day chair massage event tomorrow.  If you’re local, check out my Facebook Fan Page for more info.  Next run is Monday!