Karma is a...

[SoleSolace]

I know this is probably wrong on many levels but I get a certain amount of joy out of the startled looks I get when I'm all of a sudden running by a 'shoddie' or walker that never heard me coming. Well, last night, karma caught up with me.

I was approximately 2 miles into my run when all of a sudden someone was pacing with me. I jumped, stepped sideways to create some room, came down hard on an acorn, and spend the next few hobbling steps cursing under my breath. It was the other BFer from my neighborhood (there's a whopping 2 of us). He quickly apologized and explained that he had just wanted to chat for a bit. We swapped stories for about a mile and then I peeled off to head home. I have a nice, quarter-sized bruise on the bottom of my right foot as a result of the encounter.

The moral of the story - as fun as scaring the 'shoddies' and the walkers might be, it'll come back to bite you in the butt when you least expect it. Guess I'll be saying, "On your right/left." from now on when approaching others on the road.

 

[paintboy]

Ah good times. It takes a

Ah good times. It takes a barefoot runner to sneak up on a barefoot runner. This was just internal karma. The equation is still firmly skewed in our favor when compared to the "normals"

 

[Jonny00GT]

Tis the season...I would have

Tis the season...I would have expected you'd be use to the acorns by now and crushing them for fun, like bubble wrap! ;o) The green ones suck, though!...and the already broken ones pointy side up that stick to the bottom of your foot! Hope you heal up quick, my friend!

-Jonny

 

[NickW]

I don't know anything about

I don't know anything about acorns but would imagine they really suck, but we have these in my neighborhood

http://thebarefootweave.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/10-17-2011-156.jpg

and they suck so bad. Sometimes they get stuck in your feet and they fall in these massive clumps and are hard to avoid.

 

[Jonny00GT]

NickW wrote:I don't know

I don't know anything about acorns but would imagine they really suck, but we have these in my neighborhood

http://thebarefootweave.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/10-17-2011-156.jpg

and they suck so bad. Sometimes they get stuck in your feet and they fall in these massive clumps and are hard to avoid.

BRUTAL!!! I have no idea how you'd train to handle something like that! Abort, abort...take evasive action!

-Jonny

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I loved this story, Sole! 

I loved this story, Sole! That's hysterical. Thanks for the smile.

I think we call those things sour gumballs down here in Georgia, shoudl be sore gumballs though! We have them everywhere! Specifically, I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidambar_styraciflua

Liquidambar styraciflua, the American sweetgum or redgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. A popular ornamental tree in temperate climates, it is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. It is currently classified in the plant family Altingiaceae, but was formerly considered a member of the Hamamelidaceae

 

[Lomad]

Barefoot TJ wrote:I loved

I loved this story, Sole! That's hysterical. Thanks for the smile.

I think we call those things sour gumballs down here in Georgia, shoudl be sore gumballs though! We have them everywhere! Specifically, I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidambar_styraciflua

Liquidambar styraciflua, the American sweetgum or redgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. A popular ornamental tree in temperate climates, it is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. It is currently classified in the plant family Altingiaceae, but was formerly considered a member of the Hamamelidaceae

Being from Georgia and now living in the Northwest, I can verify these are one and the same! i haven't encountered them on a barefoot run here, but man do I remember them from barefoot romping around as a kid. Painful!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Very!  But not a painful as

Very! But not a painful as the Goathead! OMGawd! We had those things in Southern California when I was growing up. Everytime I stepped on one, I felt like I should have been carried off to the emergency room!

 

[janson]

We have goatheads out here in

We have goatheads out here in Eastern WA. I've got one in the bottom of my foot once, and barely noticed it, but another time I got one in the side of my foot, and I definatley felt that one. Luckily my normaly route doesn't have too many of them.

 

[Ahcuah]

Back when I lived in New

Back when I lived in New Jersey, our yard had a zillion sweetgum trees, and those sticker balls would coat the back yard.



I used to joke that I wished each one were worth a dollar. Not because I'd be rich, but then because people would steal them from my yard (and I wouldn't have to try to get rid of them).

 

[Barefooting Bob]

Ok I will take my little

Ok I will take my little minor acorns over those things. Worst I've had was a 1/2" rose thorn embedded in my foot from a race through the foothills (pastureland) in Alberta. Believe it or not I didn't notice it for a couple of days, my wife had to dig it out with steak knife and a pair of plyers. Healed up fast though. :lol:

 

[SoleSolace]

Ran today with no problems.

Ran today with no problems. Luckily the bruise was in the center of my foot and despite a little discomfort for the first 1/2 mile, didn't noticeably affect my run.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Good.

Good.

 

[JosephTree]

Ah, yes!  Being a tree guy, I

Ah, yes! Being a tree guy, I knew that. I still think Black Walnuts are worse than gumballs, but not nearly as nasty as goatheads. (Shudder!!!!)