Today is my birthday, and in true Addict form, I wanted to run a 5K, so...last night my wife and I did the "Run in the Dark" 5K out in Ft Worth, about an hour west of us. We dressed all in black and put on a bunch of glow braceletts and walked over to watch the start of the fun run before our race, and that's when the fun started.
You would have thought I was wearing a dress! LOL! The stares, the whispers...it was more than normal. We saw only one other guy in Vibrams and one kid in Fila "Skelitoes". I got a few people asking how I do that, they never could, don't you get blisters, what about glass...the usual. In the first mile or so, I heard someone shout, "Yeah! Good job! You're going to get blisters, though!". Confused, I looked over my shoulder and said, "Who...me??!!". The guy she was running with said, "Yeah. You're the talk of the race!" I said, "Wow! Thanks, but I'll be ok. Last weekend I got a pedicure and ran 8.4miles the next day with no blisters." There was one girl who passed me with about a half mile to go, shoes in hand, so I wasn't the only barefooter! ;o)
The highlight had to be the lady who asked if I wanted to borrow some shoes, at about mile 2. I said no, but how about a piggy back ride, this hill is killing me. She turned around, and I kid you not, was 7-8mo pregnant! She said, "I've already got a passenger!" We both cracked up! Of all the people to use that joke on...I picked a pregnant lady! Well...it was dark and from the back you could not tell... She kicked my butt, by the way. Looked tottaly chill just cruisin up ahead till I couldn't see her any more.
I had been fighting a sinus and chest thing all week, so although my body was willing, my wind was just not there. I hacked up a lung in the first half mile or so and in spite of traffic at the start, managed a 9 flat at the mile marker, but the wheels fell off around half way and I just couldn't breathe, finishing in 32.38 and 436th out of 1193. I did manage to recover enough to sprint out the last 100yds or so. I thought I owed it to "our people" to show I had not hobbled myself by running barefoot on concrete!
Still, I got to push my limits for where I was that day, learned I gotta start out slower, talked to some folks about barefooting and why I do it and the race was fun! We're already planning to do it again next year!
-Jonny
You would have thought I was wearing a dress! LOL! The stares, the whispers...it was more than normal. We saw only one other guy in Vibrams and one kid in Fila "Skelitoes". I got a few people asking how I do that, they never could, don't you get blisters, what about glass...the usual. In the first mile or so, I heard someone shout, "Yeah! Good job! You're going to get blisters, though!". Confused, I looked over my shoulder and said, "Who...me??!!". The guy she was running with said, "Yeah. You're the talk of the race!" I said, "Wow! Thanks, but I'll be ok. Last weekend I got a pedicure and ran 8.4miles the next day with no blisters." There was one girl who passed me with about a half mile to go, shoes in hand, so I wasn't the only barefooter! ;o)
The highlight had to be the lady who asked if I wanted to borrow some shoes, at about mile 2. I said no, but how about a piggy back ride, this hill is killing me. She turned around, and I kid you not, was 7-8mo pregnant! She said, "I've already got a passenger!" We both cracked up! Of all the people to use that joke on...I picked a pregnant lady! Well...it was dark and from the back you could not tell... She kicked my butt, by the way. Looked tottaly chill just cruisin up ahead till I couldn't see her any more.
I had been fighting a sinus and chest thing all week, so although my body was willing, my wind was just not there. I hacked up a lung in the first half mile or so and in spite of traffic at the start, managed a 9 flat at the mile marker, but the wheels fell off around half way and I just couldn't breathe, finishing in 32.38 and 436th out of 1193. I did manage to recover enough to sprint out the last 100yds or so. I thought I owed it to "our people" to show I had not hobbled myself by running barefoot on concrete!
Still, I got to push my limits for where I was that day, learned I gotta start out slower, talked to some folks about barefooting and why I do it and the race was fun! We're already planning to do it again next year!
-Jonny
