After a disappointing pack-burro racing season last summer, I knew if I wanted to stay with the sport I’d need to do something about my animal situation. Clearly, I’d reached the limits with Laredo, who’d been my main partner these past few years. Despite winning two World Championships Laredo has some physical limitations on the long, high-altitude courses at Fairplay and Leadville. I began to think in terms of bringing Spike out of retirement, knowing that he won four world Championships, and could probably still outrun the current winning times. This is still an option. Then Vicki Livingston suggested I give a burro out of her herd a try. This burro, whom I’m calling Cash shows a lot of promise with a quick, long trot, and plenty of go. I believe him to be a great grandson of the first burro I ever ran, Moose. Cash still needs a lot of training before I could consider him race-worthy, but check out this video I made during a recent training run with him.

Ok, so you’ve read all about the benefits of barefoot running, the debates in running magazines, the Tarahumara (who generally run in sandals, not barefoot) and Barefoot Ted. In your mind there’s a vision of yourself running barefoot for miles across the countryside.

But in reality outside awaits a world of concrete, ice, blistering hot pavement, angular gravel, thorns, glass and many other hazards to your feet.

So, just how does an outdoor athlete go about shucking his shoes?

Dr. Phil Maffetone, health and fitness expert and author of “In Fitness and In Health” and “The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing,” advocated barefoot exercise long before the current hype. Best known as the fitness coach for six-time Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Champ Mark Allen and ultramarathon record-holder Stu Mittleman, Maffetone also pointed out years ago that scientific studies showed alarming injury rates among runners wearing the most expensive shoes.

A good place for many aspiring shoeless athletes to start, he says, might be with barefoot therapy.

“Even a short amount of barefoot time initially can bring tremendous benefits in correcting and preventing foot and ankle problems. These types of problems also can cause chronic knee, hip or back problems,” says Maffetone. “Just 10 to 15 minutes a day can help balance and strengthen foot and leg muscles, allowing the whole body to better balance on its own natural support systems.

Maffetone suggests starting by spending more time barefoot indoors for a few days both at home and at work. Once you’re comfortable with that, venture outdoors, on a safe surface such as grass, sand or the sandy edge of a dirt road. Slowly work up to being barefoot much more of the time on your feet.

Your barefoot time can be done separately as therapy, or as part of your workout as a warm-up or cool-down, though doing so after your workout may have more benefits in resetting your feet’s sensory system after spending time in shoes.

Most of us have been wearing oversupported fitness shoes for many years. Although the foot can quickly adapt to barefoot walking — and even running — muscles, tendons and ligaments in the feet, ankles, calves — and even other areas we may not consider like our jaws — may take some time to rehab.

But not as long as you may think.

“Despite being bound for years by shoes that don’t match the needs of our feet, being barefoot can quickly help restore foot function because the muscles respond beginning with your first step,” Maffetone says. “During this process, it’s very important to find the best shoe for your feet.”

Over time many athletes who have access to safe barefoot environments may be able to build up to doing entire workouts without shoes. However, for many, shoes will remain an integral part of workout life. That’s why Maffetone says it’s important to find the right shoes, those without too much support, cushioning and other gimmicks.

“Look for the flatter more flexible, less soft shoes,” says Maffetone. “The answer may end up being cheaper models, so-called racing flats, or even shoes that are not marketed for your sport. In addition, use comfort as your guide, and realize that most people wear shoes that are too small for their feet.”

“You need to read “Wild Burro Tales” to discover why Hal Walter is the poet laureate of pack burros, and why pack burros deserve their own poet. For the same reason we’re lucky that Jack London went to Alaska and Hemingway took a fancy to bullfights, we got a break when a writer of Walter’s talents decided to immerse himself in the weird and wonderful world of pro burro racing. Not only does Walter capture all the drama of “the longest, highest, roughest, toughest test of man and beast” where “a big animal gets in the way of a big ego,” he also pays as much respect to the scrappy old miners who created the sport as the blazing young newcomers who are redefining it. No one knows more about this unique partnership of complex animals and extraordinary athletes than Walter, and it’s hard to imagine a writer who could describe it better.”

— Christopher McDougall

Author of New York Times Best-Seller “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen”

How to get a copy of “Wild Burro Tales”:

• Available at The Book Mine in Leadville, The Hand Hotel in Fairplay, the Book Haven in Salida, Candy’s Coffee and Westcliffe Super Market in Westcliffe, and The Bookery in Pueblo.

• Order a signed copy directly from me.

• Order from amazon.com.

• Order from Creastespace:https://www.createspace.com/3438422.

There’s a reason the book has been on the NYT Best-Seller list for months — it’s because it’s a great read. A good part of the story is devoted to tracking down and explaining the almost mythical Caballo Blanco who lives much of his time among the Tarahumara, or Raramuri, people in the Copper Canyon country of Mexico.

I had to go on no such search to find Caballo. All I had to do was drive an hour to the Bill and Julie Canterbury Ranch near Howard, and I already knew how to get there. Caballo appeared there Friday ready to try his hand at pack-burro racing. This was Caballo’s first introduction to the sport prior to running the Leadville’s Boom Days race next Sunday, though he’s seen plenty of burros in Copper Canyon, and hires them out to pack gear on tours that he guides there.

Caballo is also no stranger to long-distance running — that’s mostly what he does, and he’s competed in countless ultramarathons, including the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon, which he organizes.

This venture into pack-burro racing was arranged through Roger Pedretti, brother of the late Rob Pedretti, my close friend whom I wrote about in my book, “Wild Burro Tales.” Roger took up pack-burro racing as a tribute to Rob following his death, and now travels from Wisconsin each summer to run in the races.

It seems Roger struck up a friendship with Caballo over Facebook (go figure – Caballo has nearly 2,000 Facebook “friends”), and talked him into checking out pack-burro racing. Of course Caballo needed a decent burro, and so Roger contacted me and I decided to set him up with Spike, who has actually won the Leadville race a couple times. Spike, by the way, is black.

So we met at Cantebury’s for a training run, up the Howard Creek road. Basically we just ran uphill about three miles and then back to the ranch. Caballo did well keeping Spike moving uphill, but on the way back down Spike managed to get away from him a couple times.

After the run I asked Caballo how he’s coping with the newfound fame brought about by the book. He said that he has mixed emotions about it, and that he’s “trying to keep it real” by channeling the energy into helping the Raramuri people sustain their culture.

Last year the race he organizes brought in 100,000 pounds of corn for the Tarahumara, and $14,000 in prizes. In fact every Raramuri who finishes his race is awarded 500 pounds of corn. But Caballo wants to do more. He’s traveling the country doing speaking engagements in hopes of raising more awareness about the Tarahumara. And he’s contemplating a book of his own.

Apparently Caballo and Roger have a couple more training runs scheduled next week to give him more opportunity to get acquainted with Spike. It’ll be interesting to see how they do at Boom Days next weekend.

My little jab at the Literary Industrial Complex — Wild Burro Tales – Thirty Years of Haulin’ Ass — is now available. I released the book Sunday at the World Championship Pack-Burro Race in Fairplay.

While the race itself was a real challenge — my burro Laredo was sour on the competition — the book was well received.

This collection of stories had its origins in my adventures on the Western Pack-Burro Racing circuit. But it grew to include a fascination with equus asinus, my exploration of using these animals as backcountry packers and saddle donkeys, and as therapeutic riding animals for my son Harrison.

The book contains a few selections from my original book Pack-Burro Stories, some of which have been reworked. In addition, there are several more essays and short stories that I have written in more recent years.

I was fortunate to have local artist Lorie Merfeld-Batson provide pen-and-ink drawings to accompany some of the stories. Several photographer friends provided some great photos. I am thankful to all who helped bring the stories to life with these images.

I’m also extremely grateful for Mary Lyn Koval’s editing expertise.

I’ve written about many of my adventures with burros over the years, but producing this book has been another all-consuming experience in and of itself. For now, signed copies are available directly from me. Send $18 ($15, plus $3 shipping and handling) to Hal Walter, 307 Centennial Dr., Westcliffe, CO 81252.

Now let’s back up. When I last wrote about shoes I had been having footproblems since Nike changed its Pegasus model. I went through a pair of Nike Skylons, then a pair of New Balance TR 904, which I initially liked but then began to develop pain in the top of the foot. My feet felt pretty tortured after the 30-mile World Championship Pack-Burro Race. But the final straw was the following week when the bottom forefoot of one these shoes peeled loose somewhere on the way back down Mosquito Pass during the Leadville Boom Days Pack-Burro Race

By then I was not in the mood to buy any more new shoes, and this was only reinforced after reading Christopher McDougall’s “Born to Run” over the winter. Sometime last fall I bought a pair of Land’s End Trail Runners, and for $38 they actually weren’t the worst shoes I’ve ever run in. At least they were gimmick-free and fairly low-profile. Somehow throughout the winter and spring I put in my workouts rotating these shoes with a pair of Nike Lunarglide Avants, which I destroyed in short order, and an old, old pair of Nike Free Trail 5.0s.

I even put in a couple of two-hour runs in the Frees. I’ve also been doing some barefoot therapy after some workouts, and have done some running and walking in my Crocs.

All the while I’ve been researching shoes. I even spent a few hours in some shoe stores. The thing that annoys me most is the discrepancy in sizing. I had my foot measured on Brannock Devices in two different stores. Both times it was agreed that I am just under a size 11. Still, I knew better and had one shoe-store salesperson bring out a pair of Nike Free Runs in size 12. I couldn’t even get my foot into the shoe. I asked for a size 13 and they didn’t have it in that size. I tried on a pair of Nike Lunarglides and decided that I needed a 13 in this shoe as well.

Why can’t shoe companies make shoes to standardized sizing? It seems like this is even more important in the age of Internet shopping.

Figuring that I’d take advantage of my discount at Roadrunner Sports, I decided to order a pair of Lunarglides from them. My wife also wanted a pair. They arrived. We tried them on. We looked at each other and suddenly realized how tall they are. We boxed them back up. I sent them back.

That was when I contacted John O’Neill at Colorado Running Company. The store carries the Inov-8 line and after some discussion I decided to order the Flyrocs in size 12. These shoes are low profile, flexible, and so far seem to be good. I spent three hours running and hiking in them yesterday. I wish I’d ordered them in size 12.5, but for now at least I have something I can apparently run in.

Mel and Ace.

Kendra brought Mel and Rob here to check out pack-burro running. They were introduced to Ace, Redbo and Laredo. And everyone got to run with every burro except Rob, who served as the official photographer for the outing and somehow missed out on his chance to run with Ace. Rob has a good eye with a camera.

We took a jaunt through Bear Bones Ranch and then through the school section to see if we could locate our cows, but the cattle were hiding in the brush. Then we cut over through Bear Basin Ranch for some cross-country, trails and double-track dirt roads.

In the end we had put in two hours of running. All the donkeys and people had good workouts. It was decided that Ace is the most steady, but in the end Mel pulled away with Laredo and got back here first.

Back at the Out There Pack-Burro Ranchito we enjoyed fresh salads before they headed back to civilization. I hope to see them all back here soon.

Photos by Rob Hering.

I suppose I don’t find much to say about putting one foot in front of the other. However, I’ve done enough reading about running to know that some runners like to do some sort of a special workout on a milestone birthday, like run a mile for every year or whatever.

Life being how it is these days, I didn’t have time to run 50 miles on Thursday. So as I headed out for some exercise I thought about what I could do to make this birthday workout into something memorable. Maybe I have time for 50 minutes, I thought.

And so I warmed up by walking for about 7 minutes, and then began to slog away through the mud and the snow. Somewhere about 25 minutes out, I thought if I turned around right then and slogged on back home I’d have that 50-minute run. Big deal.

But there was the crest of a hill just ahead, maybe two-tenths of a mile. Perhaps I could make something interesting out of this workout by picking up the tempo, running to the top of the hill, and then trying to make it back home in 50 minutes.

But first some rules: No overstriding — I couldn’t think of anything worse than spending the first couple days of my 50s quad-sore. And there would be no kicking myself if by some chance I didn’t win my race with the clock.

I picked up the pace, reaching the top of the hill at 28:44. That meant I’d have to run back home about 7.5 minutes faster to get there in 50 minutes.

I know the landmarks fairly well. And it seemed like I was gaining time. About 2 miles from home a killdeer plover, the first I’ve seen this season, winged away from a snowbank with its distinctive cry. They always seem to arrive following a spring snowstorm. I took it as a good sign.

I checked my watch and it appeared I was indeed on pace.

About a mile from home there’s a fairly steep hill. When I reached the top I checked my watch again and felt even more confident. As I turned the corner on the last half-mile I knew I had it, but not by how much. So I kept up the tempo, trotting past my front gate in 48:44, more than a minute ahead of my goal.

There was nothing to do but celebrate with a short cooldown. I stopped my watch at exactly 50:50.

Time, I understand, is relative.

Allow me to explain. I’ve had nagging pain and minor swelling in the top of my right foot for about two years. I’ve tried a number of different shoe models, and a number of different lacing patterns, with little improvement. All seem to bind up the joint in my big toe, forcing the arch into the shoe upper.

I’ve edited Dr. Phil Maffetone’s books for many years, and he has always been adamant that most modern athletic shoes are not healthy for our feet or the rest of our bodies. He advocates some barefoot walking and running, and finding shoes that don’t have gimmicks like motion control, and that do not separate the foot too far from the ground.

So I called him today and we had a talk about my feet. Once again he recommended I spend some time barefoot outside, starting by walking 5 to 10 minutes.

“But Phil, it snowed 8 inches last night,” I said. He was not impressed with the weather report. My feet, ankles and calves need strengthening and barefoot was his remedy.

I had every intention of putting this off for a warmer day, say like in mid-May or June. So I headed out for a typical run, starting out walking in my Nike Frees for about 10 minutes, then jogging a couple more miles out on the road.

On the way back I noticed there was a sandy edge to the road that extended for about a quarter-mile. I was jogging along and suddenly thought, “What the hell,” and took off my shoes.

I walked about two or three steps and then it suddenly just felt natural to run. It was odd for the first couple steps and then it was like some memory in my feet clicked on. The next thing I knew I was running through mud, snow and gravel. The snow actually felt great, especially where the plow had scraped it to about an inch deep.

I ran the entire way home barefoot and then went up and down the side road near my house. I ran without shoes about 28 minutes total.

A couple of neighbors and a Schwan’s delivery driver now probably think I’m even crazier than they thought before.

When I got back home I walked around in the snow some more to clean my feet off. They felt invigorated the rest of the day.

I will say, however, I may have been better served by following Phil’s advice and starting out with less time and distance. I can tell I perhaps overstimulated some muscles in my ankles that are accustomed to shoe support. I’ll probably try just 5-10 minutes tomorrow. Remember, this is therapy. I’ll still need shoes for most of my running.