I mentioned last week that I ordered a sheet of industrial-grade rubber to make a pair of huaraches running sandals or, as I have since dubbed them, "Hippie Shoes."
**WARNING: Post contains naked feet.**

The hole punch ($1.97 from Pat Catan's craft store) has screw-on tips for different diameters. I used the largest attachment for a 5/8-inch hole. For lacing ($1 from Pat Catan's), I used nine feet of black and silver rayon cord.
The first step was to trace my


I asked the Enthusiast to help me mark the three holes for the lacing. I placed a cutting board under the cutouts to protect the table I was working on when I hammered the hole punch through the rubber.

The lacing is anchored with a knot under the toes, strapped over the foot toward the hole at the outside of my ankle, around my heel to the hole on inside of my ankle and tied to itself on the top of my foot. That's the simple explanation. The lacing is actually doubled up. Watch this video to see how it's done.
Making the Hippie Shoes took me about 20 minutes.
On Saturday, I returned to Hampton Hills (without Dobson) for the inaugural run of the Hippie Shoes. Despite a couple adjustments to the lacing, the huaraches were perfectly comfortable. I could feel the ground very well, but the thin rubber protected my soles from anything too sharp.
Downhills were the toughest aspect of running with these sandals. I really had to concentrate on turnover to prevent the strap between my toes from chafing. And I found it impossible to run down the steps made of four-by-four lumber at some of the steepest portions of the trail. Overall, though, it was a great run, albeit very slow (12:09 per mile). Here is the post-run damage.

Fast with Company
On Sunday, I ran with Martini for the first time all year. We ran eight miles at Sand Run (plus our extension to Summit Mall). All winter and early this year, I have been focusing on shorter, faster strides and was curious to see if I could run with company without reverting to my old ways. Luckily, Martini takes pretty short steps himself, so it was easier to keep my own strides in check. We averaged an 8:28 pace, which is far faster than anything I've run this year -- at any distance. And no, I didn't wear the Hippie Shoes.
5 comments:
Holy shit, it's like arts and crafts time in elementary school. Awesome!
Congrats on going native. Peace out, hippie.
Very cool. Now will you be adding the colorful skirt/shirt combo of the Tarahumara?
Looks like you are going to have to make a new pair every week - maybe it was only semi-industrial strength rubber?
I think the Running People would be quite impressed to know that Rich Americans are copying their native ways. Well done!
Awesome... I was actually thinking about doing this myself at some point...
...now that you've started making your own running footwear I kind of hoping that you to slowly make it more and more complicated... blogging about it each time, until by the end you've spent 100$ to re-invent a Nike!
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