Review Fenix HL26R LED head light

Every runner knows how it is to run in pitch dark in winter time. The change you get hit by a car or sprain your ankle by missing something on the road becomes more realistic than ever. But if you want to go out instead of running inside on a running belt you have to undergo these challenges. But if you are running barefoot in the dark it’s even more challenging. 

When you are running barefoot it becomes a second nature to scan the road to avoid dead animals, snails, glass and stones, something what is very difficult in the dark.

But thanks to the invention of the LED light a headlamp can solve all your problems!!

Recently I bought the Fenix HL26R head light to try out if it works for me. And I am very pleased with it!!! The lamp is specially designed for runners, its light weight and has some great light beams to illuminate the road.

The lamp has two different light beams in several luminance levels.

Floodlight

The floodlight is used for close-range lightning and has three different modes, high, low and SOS mode. The floodlight gives enough light for walking in the dark or to do a job and have your hands free. For running in my opinion it’s not enough light to see everything you want.

Spotlight

The spotlight is perfect for running and it has four modes, low, mid, high and burst mode. Even on the low mode you have perfect visibility during running, and with the high mode you can speed up your run without any problems with visibility of the road. The burst mode you can activate by pressing the spotlight button for 1,5 seconds in any mode and it will turn on for 90 seconds. This mode is so bright that you can blind cars and they are forced to slow down. You can lite the sun for 90 seconds with one push on a button!!

Battery

I always run with the spotlight in high mode and regularly I turn on the burst mode if cars are speeding and they won’t slow down. I have charged the battery one time and I have run over 6 hours and the battery is still not empty.   The level of the battery is indicated by blue lights on the lamp.

Comfort

The lamp weights nothing, you hardly notice there is something on your head. I always wear a cap or a hat if I am running so I don’t feel the headband at all.

Conclusion

A great attribute for a little money and it brings you more comfort and safety during running in the dark. The quality is fine and the lamps feels robust, until now no complains but I just have this lamp for a few weeks.

Website

 http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=2238&tid=27&cid=2#

https://nl.knivesandtools.eu/nl/pt/-fenix-hl26r-oplaadbare-ledhoofdlamp-voor-trailrunning-zwart.htm

Barefoot and cold weather

Yesterday the first snow of the year and it was a lot of snow. A hard gusty wind makes it to a snow blizzard. Normally on Sunday I go out for a one hour run but today I had to shorten my run. Not because my feet were cold but because the snow was flying so hard it hurt my eyes and face. This brings me to running with bare feet during winter. A lot of people asked me if it’s not cold. Yes it’s cold but you can run with bare feet in the snow.

Especially if it’s dry fresh snow it’s pretty comfortable to run, if it’s melting are frozen snow than it’s a different story. Water, cold wind and low temperatures are killing for bare feet. In this conditions you have to be aware of frostbite. Also frozen snow can become very slippery and can cause you injuries. In these cases shorten your run or stay home.

Then comes the hardest part of running in the snow with bare feet, coming home and warming up. This really can hurt. It starts with an itchy feeling and then it start to hurt really badly. There are no tips or trick to avoid this, the only thing is don’t put your feet in warm water or in front of a heater!!! The best thing is to stay in a warm room and gradually warm your feet. Normally this takes about 15 minutes.

So don’t be afraid and get out in the snow, it feel pretty cool (word joke) to be able to run with your bare feet in the snow if everyone else has to put on his or her snow boots!

Time to post

After five years it’s time to pick up my blog. I was busy with study, work and family so the blogging part was not my priority. But I keep on running and yes still barefoot!

Running barefoot forces you to evaluate your running every time you go out, so each time you have the chance to improve yourself, that is one of the best things of barefoot running. How you run is the essence, how far or fast is subordinate.

If you are capable to accept that you will enjoy running more than ever.

I will try, and yes I am not promising, to write regular about barefoot related subjects and I hope this will give you food for thought!

Happy running!!! 

Snow

It has been a while that I write something on my blog, the reason was that I was recovering from an knee injury caused by kickboxing. I have learned to listen to my body and give it time to recover. But sometimes it keeps frustrating! I did not run for almost three weeks until I don’t feel my knee anymore, than I gradually started running, 20 minutes every two days for a week, 20 minutes every second day and then expand my run every two weeks with 5 minutes. Everything was going well and suddenly out of nothing at the end of a run I felt my knee again. At that time I get frustrated, but luckily  it started snowing! When it start snowing you have to get used to this low temperatures so you must shorten your time outdoor. With that as reason it was more acceptable to shorten my runs, in psychology they call this reframing and for me it works. Even a short run in the snow creates a smile on my face and gives me a strong feeling!

Hello Huaraches goodbye Five Fingers !!!

As I told in my last blog I ordered a pair of Huaraches at invisible shoes from SteveSashen. I could not wait for them. But after five days a finally get them by mail. Unfortunately I had no time to modify them ( I ordered a DIY-kit). But yesterday evening I had finally time to make them. First of all this was really easy, I made them in about 15 minutes with the clear instruction video’s from Steve. It was late but I could not wait to try them, so I put them on and I ran a few times up and down the street. I was even more enthusiastic, it felt great!! This Sunday I planned a 1 hour 20 barefoot run so I left and when I came back I  put my huaraches on and did a 3 km test run. Because of the fact I was running barefoot before I tried them on I was able to compare them with the barefoot feeling. It was unbelievable!!! You almost don’t feel them because they are very light weighted, you can feel different surface through the 4mm sole (I ordered the 4mm Contact) and your feet are still bare which is a great feeling and for me very important. Before the huaraches I use VFF’s for harsh conditions (melting asphalt) because I thought they were a good alternative for barefoot. Nothing more is true, comparing with Huaraches the VFF’s feel heavy and the sensitivity is zero. Beside that you don’t have bare feet and that is one of the reasons I like barefoot running!! With this my VFF’s had their longest time on my feet!!

Huaraches instead of Vibram Five Fingers

Every year we go to France to spend our holidays, this year was great. The weather was great, four week blue sky and temperatures between the 32 and 39 degree Celsius. I like the high temperatures like a snake lying on a rock in the sun, also I like to run in this temperatures. It’s a great feeling to feel the sun on your body ( I am working on my tanning while I am running so I only wear my shorts) and watching your shadow on the ground in a perfect cadence. The only thing I don’t like is the France asphalt, it’s a bad surface to run with bare feet. They use very sharp gravel to cover the surface to protect the asphalt from wear and tear. The first time I go out barefoot, after returning from a 30 minute run I had real damage on my feet and also melten asphalt. So there was no other choice than to use my Vibram Five Fingers. It’s the first time that I have to run on my VFF’s. After four weeks running with my VFF’s I am reasonably satisfied with them during training. The protect your feet good against the rough surfaces and the melting asphalt, but the lost of sensitivity is major. The last 10 minutes there was a new part of the road with white stripes on the side, great to run on when it’s hot, so I put of my VFF’s and go barefoot. The difference was huge!! Comparing with barefoot running with VFF’s feels like running with heavy shoes. This experience made me to look for an alternative for the VFF’s, and I decided to order some huaraches, the famous running sandals of the Tarahumara. I ordered a DIY – kit on Invisibleshoe.com and I am waiting for them. I cannot wait to put these on to try them!! If I receive the package I will write about them as soon as I tried them. Until then I will use (if necessary) my VFF’s.

My Vibrams 

Sunflowers Chateau Neuf sur Isere

No heel strike

Sometimes the answers are easy!  Looking at the picture of my last run I was confused, it looks that I landed with a heel strike. But that is almost impossible if you ran barefoot on a surface that is very rough. By chance I met a guy who is working for a company that is specialized in motion sensors and he told me that he had a colleague who is also running barefoot. So I contact the guy and he send me some links to video’s he uploaded, and one of these showed me the answer on my questions about the heel strike. Just watch this video and you will understand why. On this site from Xsens you find a video where they demonstrate how to use motion sensors in sport, at 3 minutes and 10 seconds you will find Vibram Five Fingers in action!

Heel strike ?
Barefoot running has everything to do with pushing the boundaries. First you have to put of your shoes and start walking barefoot, after that you have to start running barefoot. Then you have to increase your time and mileage. And if this is not enough you have to encounter different surfaces which also has influence of all the items I mentioned before. This weekend I reached another stage, in mileage, time and surface, running the Kadeloop in a place called Schipluiden. The track is 7 km of asphalt and 5 km of trail with pebbles, stones and gravel. I was a little nervous for this trail but it went well. At the trail I changed my strike to a more mid feet strike to land more softly. After the run I don’t had any blisters are other damage on my feet, positive feedback on my running style! But after looking at the picture a friend of my made I was surprised because it looks like a heel strike! I am almost sure that it is not possible, because a heel strike on a surface like this will hurt very bad and I did not feel any pain at all during the run. It is the only picture I have so it is not possible to analyze it but it made me very curious!

Improving Running form

After the session with Wouter Buist I made a great progression. With the adjustments in my running form I ran more easy with the same speed. A week after the session I ran a 5K and I realized the same time as the race where I had blisters on my feet. This time I had no blisters and I ran with using less energy. The most spectacular improvement is the change of landing, I had an extensive forefoot landing with a stride which was a little shorter than my shod stride. Now I changed it to a fore-mid food landing and a much shorter stride. This results in less “crawling” with the toes and with that no more blisters. Also the impact on my calf’s is reduced whereby I can run for a longer time. Before the session I was running maximum 30 minutes and in four weeks I made a progression and I had my first 10K race (51 minutes). For now I keep on working on improving and training my running form!

Wouter Buist

After the experience with the 5K race I thought it was time to consult an expert to figure out what I did wrong and how I can improve it. So I made an appointment with Wouter Buist, a Dutch movement scientist en physiologist which is a specialist in barefeet running. It was incredible what he learned me about my running form in a two hour session. This session gives me a total new point of view considering the right running form and it also becomes clear what I did wrong. My longest training I ever did on barefeet was 35 minutes during this session we where training for almost two hours and it wasn’t a problem at all. I made a great progression in understanding the running form. I also learned that I have to slow down to adapt this new running form. Wouter gives on a regular basis workshops barefoot running, but you can also consult him for a personal training. If you start running, barefoot or shod I can recommend you to do this! For more information about Wouter and the barefoot workshops I recommend you to visit his site

My first 5K race!

On the 21th of april I ran my first 5K race barefeet, the time was not very good but that was not the goal of the race. But even when I was not running full speed, I was confronted with a change in running form due of the higher speed. Two blisters on the top of two toes make that very clear. But besides that it went very well, and the most important thing for me I felt great!! With this experience it is time to go more in dept how to improve my running form so I can ran on higher speed. So time to listen to the body!

Running as if you are riding a bike

Yesterday it was 11 degrees Celsius and almost no wind, the perfect conditions to go out and run. I am still building up with barefoot running so I had to run 22 minutes. I always start inside with a warming up of 20 minutes on the cross-trainer, this prepares your body for action and your feet are wakening up through the relief on the footsteps. Outside I start slowly and after 5 minutes I speed up if the body and feet feel good, yesterday it felt good. I speeded up to a speed I never did before with bare feet. I ran with I high cadence from over 180 and it felt like I was riding a bike. With my history as a amateur road racing cyclist I have ridden a lot of time challenges. During a time challenge you have to reach a stage where your legs are going round in a perfect cadence. Yesterday I reached that stage while I was running, I think I reached a new stage in barefoot running!

Soft feet

Always’s when I’m running people ask me if it not hurts and if I’m not scared for glass or other sharp subjects on the road. I’m running barefoot for about 10 months and in this time I never had wounds on my feet caused by running barefoot. Everyone thinks that callus prevents you from wounding your feet, but I don’t have callus on my feet. If you have a good running form, you run smooth, friction with the floor is minimal. My feet are so soft that during kickboxing my feet get hurt by the floor in the gym. So ladies if you want to get rid of your callus go running barefoot!

Ice man

Today I reached a new stage in my barefoot journey. This morning I did my 20 minutes run in the snow with a temperature of -7 °C and a cold eastern wind. Yesterday evening I had some doubts and I was thinking to put on my VifeFingers, but I like to run barefoot. So this morning I go out on my bare feet. The first minutes it felt cold but gradually my feet became warmer despite of the snow and wet roads (with salty water on it). The first 10 minutes I had the wind in my back, the last ten minutes I was running with my head in the wind. And that made that my feet on the upper site felt very cold but not unpleasent.
I had a great start of this day and these runs proves that the human body can more then we think. Every run on my bare feet makes me stronger, not only physical but also mental!

Barefoot winter

Het nieuwe jaar is begonnen, een jaar waarin ik mijn eerste wedstrijd barefoot wil lopen. Het maakt me eigenlijk niet uit of het nu een 5 km of een 10 km wedstrijd wordt. Ik heb het gevoel dat mijn lichaam langzaam begint te wennen aan de nieuwe manier van lopen. Ik voel nog wel steeds dat ik andere spieren gebruik als bij het hardlopen op schoenen. Vooral het optillen van het standbeen in plaats van het afzetten naar achteren vraagt veel van de bovenbeen spieren en de Hamstrings. Het is tot nu toe een zeer goede barefoot winter, de laagste temperaturen die we hebben gehad zijn -6 gr. Celsius.Tot mijn verbazing gaat het prima om bij deze temperaturen op blote voeten te lopen. Ik zorg altijd voor een goede warming up op de crosstrainer waarbij mijn blote voeten door de profielen op de pedalen lekker gaan doorbloeden. Daarna gelijk naar buiten, de eerste drie minuten voelt het of je met je voeten in een bak met ijsblokjes zit, maar al gauw daarna worden ze warmer en is het lopen geen enkel probleem. Wat echt een fantastisch gevoel geeft is wanneer je na een koude training langzaam de warmte weer in je voeten voelt komen, daar kan geen sauna tegenop!!

Blote voeten sekte

Ik woon op een klein dorpje op het platteland, meer koeien dan inwoners. Het is een fantastische omgeving om barefoot te lopen, de enige viezigheid op de weg zijn doodgereden beesten, uitwerpselen van koeien en modder. De mensen op het dorp zijn erg behoudend en redelijk conservatief, mensen die anders zijn of doen worden vaak toch wel met enige terughoudendheid bekeken. Een mooi voorbeeld hiervan is de laatste "roddel" die de ronde doet in het dorp. Tijdens een verjaardag werd ik aangesproken of ik de roddel al gehoord had, waarop ik uiteraard ontkennend moest antwoorden want roddels worden per definitie niet besproken met de persoon in kwestie. Zo zou ik op mijn blote voeten lopen omdat ik lid was geworden van een sekte in Amerika waarbij dit onderdeel was van het geloof!! Uiteraard hebben wij hier verschrikkelijk om gelachen en heb ik zelfs overwogen om in een lende doek te gaan hardlopen om het beeld te bevestigen. Toch zijn er inderdaad religieuze stromingen die het lopen als onderdeel hebben van hun inwijdingsritueel. Zo heb jij in Japan de Tendai Marathon Monniken, tijdens hun zeven jarige opleiding hebben ze een 1000 dagen challenge. In de eerste periode van 300 dagen moeten ze 100 dagen achter elkaar 40km per dag lopen, in het 4e en het 5e jaar moeten ze 200 dagen 40km achter elkaar lopen. In het 6e jaar komt er elke dag 20km bij totdat ze uiteindelijk in het 7e jaar 84 km per dag lopen 100 dagen op rij! Voor een uitgebreid artikel klik hier

Beginnersschema Barefoot running

Het ging echt super lekker voor mijn vakantie, de waanzinnige ervaring van het barefoot lopen en het gevoel van het lichaam dat went aan de nieuwe manier van lopen. Echter zitten ongelukken zoals het spreekwoord zegt in een klein hoekje. Tijdens het klussen thuis op mijn badslippers stapte ik op de stofzuigerslang en verzwikte hiermee mijn linker voet. Ik dacht aanvankelijk dat het wel los liep met de blessure. De voet werd niet dik en de pijn was de volgende dag weg. Wel voelde de voet wat stijf aan, maar ik dacht dat het wel beter werd. Helaas was niets minder waar dan dat, na ieder barefootloop werd de voet stijver en gevoeliger en moest ik steeds meer rust tussendoor nemen. Uiteindelijk in overleg met de fysiotherapeut besloten om twee weken rust te houden en dan rustig weer te beginnen. Ook na die twee weken kreeg ik na 6 barefootloopjes (max. 5 minuten) weer last van de voet. Luisteren naar het lichaam!! Nu na 4 weken rust weer begonnen en het gaat tot nu toe goed, ik ben weer opnieuw begonnen met het beginnersschema om de voet weer rustig te laten wennen aan het lopen. Ik loop volgens het onderstaande schema en probeer in principe 3 a 4 keer per week te lopen:

Ik zit nu weer op 5x2 minuten, en ik heb geen echte pijn bij het lopen. De voet en de enkel voelen stijf aan. Zoals al vaker vermeld in mijn berichten is het belangrijk om naar de signalen van je lichaam te luisteren en daar ook naar te handelen. Heb je een pijntje of voelt iets niet goed, neem een dag extra rust. Voel je pijn bij een training, stoppen en naar huis. Dit is frusterend, maar ik weet alle keren dat ik de signalen heb genegeerd mij nog te herinneren. En dit was vaak niet positief!

Five Fingers

In de korte tijd dat ik barefoot loop heb ik ontdekt dat er niets gaat boven het gevoel dat je hebt wanneer je op blote voeten loopt. Toch komen er momenten dat er enige vorm van bescherming van de voeten nodig is. Denk aan het hete asfalt in Zuid - Frankrijk, het gepekelde wegdek in de winter, en niet te vergeten bescherming tegen vreemde blikken op plaatsen waar je niet geacht wordt op blote voeten te lopen! Vandaar toch maar besloten om een paar minimalistische loopschoenen aan te schaffen. Er zit een fantastische zaak in Tilburg die zich heeft gespecialiseerd in minimalistische loopschoenen Anyones Running Het zijn een paar trendy looking Vibram Five Fingers geworden. Ook mijn jongste dochter was direct verkocht en ging ook naar huis met een paar mooie roze VFF's.

Regen en slakken

Er zullen veel mensen in Nederland blij zijn met de regen die er valt, maar voor mijn barefoot trainingen is het niet echt lekker. Tot op heden alleen met droog en warm weer gelopen, een heerlijk gevoel het warme asfalt onder je voeten. Maar vandaag was dit wel anders, door het natte wegdek voelden mij voeten na 10 minuten al koud aan en en waren ze ook voor mijn gevoel veel gevoeliger dan anders. Daarbij spoelt de regen kleine steentjes en zand op de weg, dit maakt het er niet beter op, vooral niet als ze blijven "plakken" onder je voet. Naast deze ongemakken zijn er nog meer ongemakken, kleine naaktslakken die je bijna niet kan zien besluiten massaal de weg over te steken! De details van wat je voelt als je er in gaat staan zal ik de lezers besparen. Dit alles zal na verloop van tijd ook wel wennen maar wat mij betreft het eerste half jaar geen regen, daar zijn mijn voeten nog niet aan toe.

Het gaat weer om het lopen

Lopen is een fantastische bezigheid, maar waarin ik mijzelf verbaasde was het feit dat sinds ik barefoot loop ik het lopen anders en intenser ervaar. Ik hoop niet dat dit zweverig overkomt want dat is niet wat ik bedoel. Zonder anderen mensen tekort te doen kan je stellen dat iedereen die een paar schoenen aantrekt na enige oefening in staat is om een rondje te kunnen hardlopen. Na mijn laatste training op blote voeten waarin ik echt super makkelijk over het asfalt ging had ik een intense ervaring van genieten. Ik genoot van het feit dat ik in staat was te lopen op blote voeten op een ondergrond waarvan de meeste mensen zouden denken: auw! dat moet zeer doen, terwijl ik zonder enige pijn of hinder mijn loop afwerkte. Dit gevoel is als een goocheltruc die je hebt geoefend en ook echt lukt! Tijdens mijn transitie-fase van schoenen naar blote voeten gaat het weer echt om het lopen en is het lopen weer het hoofddoel, terwijl het laatste jaar het lopen een middel was om het doel te bereiken. Het voelt dan ook als een hernieuwde kennismaking met lopen, ik hoop dan ook om nog lang dit gevoel te mogen hebben