Who Me?!?

With the shutdown of the BRS and with the events of life I haven’t blogged or done much reading here, but I’ve been running. Barefoot. I’ve accumulated another handful of stories (including the 1 cm thorn that was embedded in my husband’s foot for over a week) but those stories might never be blogged. I went to a Women Run Arkansas clinic in Harrison last night. It was fun. I did not count but I would guess that there were over 100 women there in every phase from learning how to merely walk a full 5k to improving speed on a 5k and everywhere in between. I saw one pair of minimalist shoes and I was the only one barefoot. Last October I could not run a mile without walking, but last night I was in the “advanced” runners group! How did that happen? Rhetorical question, I know the answer, from running. One of the leaders in my group was very interested in barefoot running. She said, “We’ve all read about it but none of us has ever met anyone who actually runs barefoot!” She also told me she has a pair of “toe shoes” that she wears when she runs with her dog. She is experiencing some extreme heel pain as she prepares for a half marathon in April. She said she’s just going to do stretches and work through this half without any “major” changes even though she is willing to consider the idea that the shoes and heel striking might be contributing to her pain. We ran fartleks. I have never done that before. Those sprints kicked me in my oversoft rear end! During the fartleks the leader of my group told me to lengthen my stride to go faster. I said I can’t do that. To increase my stride I explained that I need to increase my cadence, “upupupupupup,” I chanted as I picked up speed and sent my heart to racing. That surprised her, but she seemed to understand. One of the other “runners,” as I ran by her walking group, called me crazy. I waved with a smile. After the run when we were stretching, I realized that I cannot stretch (or pivot!) on the asphalt! It felt like a cheese grater on my feet! I’ll take flops for the after-run activities next time. Imagine my surprise when I was asked to speak for a few minutes next week on running barefoot. “Do you realize I don’t know the first thing about running?” But yes, novice that I am at both running and running barefoot, I will introduce the idea of running barefoot next week. Last night I ran a mile before the clinic started and then I ran a 5k during the clinic. In their eyes, that makes me a bona fide barefoot runner. If anyone with oodles of experience (TJ are you reading this?) has any quick points to include in my very brief introduction, I’ll be happy for the advice.

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Who Me?!?

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