My First Huarache Sandal

What is an Huarache Sandal?
Tarahumara Indians are a tribe residing in Northern Mexico and their footwear is minimalistic and is called Huaraches or akaraches.

I read with interest some of the articles on barefoot running and a website dedicated to barefoot running. Thats when I got a but curious and said lets build one. But here is what I did - bought a Bata Slipper, hacked the straps except the peice that goes between the toes and used cotton lace. It just takes couple of minutes to do the whole sandal.

Here are some before and after pictures






Making it was easy - and followed instructions on how to wear it ...I could not wait to test it and here is the video of my initial trial.



Couple of days later I ran a 3x400m - felt comfortable but there was a sense of non-shoes...Will i run with these? don't know as yet - whats blocking me now is the fear that my toes will bang against something on a trail run...I am not as a tough as those Tarahumara Indians....

If you want to try - you have the option of buying it - Barefoot Ted sells it for 60-70 US$ - the Bata hack costs 2$.

Fun at Bangalore ULTRA 2009

It is a bit late to report about the Bangalore ULTRA 2009 - no problem - better late than never. I am sure you guys must have read about the kind of attendance - over 600 plus runners at the ULTRA 2009 and what a location to run. My friend Uttam - an professional aeromodeller - was so impressed by this location - now plans to do all his experimental flying at Heserghatta.

For those new to ULTRA 2009 - ULTRA 2009 is organised by RFL and is an Ultra Marathon race with provision for short distances too! - we have 100k, 75k, 50k, 37.5k, 25k, and even a 12.5k (thanks to Jayanagar Jags)

Location was great and add to the great weather - though it had rained the night before and quite dark when the 100k/75k started 5:00am, 50k at 6:00am and the 25k at 6:30am....

The routes is a 6.25k out and back and here is what the first 6.25k looks like. The first 3/4k has open spaces are that quite daunting - it kind of gives the feeling that you are not progressing while running. The next 1k or so is narrow trail - can be quite a challenge if you are not used to trail running - this then is followed by a down slope on a tar road. The forward and return journey have equal share of slopes up and down and kind of get tougher on second and subsequent loops

Some performances by experienced runners was inspiring - wonder what do they eat!
Santosh Padmanabhan - did a 125k and will soon be attempting a 48 hour run....
Yasuhiro Honda - did a 100k in 10:23:59 - he is like an engine. I heard he has been running for about 25 years!

Some senior runners put in massive efforts, hats off to them - Chandra Gopalan 50k (bib # 716 ) in 7:20 and Sunil Chainani ran a 100k in 14:57 look for bib # 933


I did a 25k at the ULTRA 2009 - my first and the longest since I started to run in early 2009. thanks to Runner's High who made me fit to run. Check out bib 533

The training for ULTRA was long over 18weeks with a mock run at the ULTRA Location

Through this blog I want to encourage each one of you readers to start running - distance/speed is not important - just begin and enjoy the act of running... If you have never run before and want to start then here is a good place to begin. If you need support then check out Runner's high

Ulsoor Lake Run

Run around Palak soup lake
The run around Ulsoor lake was good - I am sure the authorities (BMP) could do better than just putting up a board disclaiming responsibility for any "loss of life in or outside the lake" this make it clear that they do know nothing can survive the thick palak soup kind of water - as Preeti put it - if there is something in there it must be a MUTANT! (looks like she been watching a lot of x-men type of movies).. The Army guys were busy rowing and i can imaging they were having tough time rowing the boats/canoes through the thick palak soup!













After the run everyone got busy stretching - we were so focussed that we almost tore down the steel fencing around the lake.....



Break fast at M Gees.
It was good to see about 25 people gather at the M Gees with Santhosh trying his best to motivate all to get some better attendance - we even explored proxying to improve it...

The idlis, vadas and dosas were good and the service quite efficient considering it was a sit in place. We almost got Chandra to pay for the B/F but did not succeed, of course there is always a next time....

The Tees looked good - especially the pink ones - stands out in the crowd and one of our runners suggest the group with pinkies should be named 'gay ho'

Some photos to remember this day....



We should have this more often and at different places - overall it was a good opportunity to know runners from other groups

Jai ho!

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Regards
http://www.jaxtr.com/ugmurthy
Murthy