Working the Crowd

[Longboard]

Today's 5K race was a small one, but it threw everything at me.

The start was in a park, so 1/4 mile of acorns, branches, and who knows what all embeded in tall grass.

Beat up asphalt roads came next, but I'm used to that.

A block of gravel road, been there, no prob.

Then all of a sudden you exit a paved street for a downhill in total junk in a different park. Not even barefoot walkable!

Did it anyways. Another block of gravel, and then finaly the finish was another 1/4 mile of acorns and branches in the park.

NOT my fastest time! But despite the expanded-for-this-small-race age grouping of 50-59, I did take third.

Plenty of cheers while accepting my aluminum bottle prize and chiropractor gift certificate.

I had my hands fuller than ever working the crowd of curious runners while trying to eat my apple, and most of them had read "'the book"

Ted, if your listening, I mentioned how you had piped in recently on this site, and it was as if I had said that Eric Clapton had begged to differ with what a guitarist had posted in some Yahoo group.

The people have spoken, and they are ready for BFRunning.

O.K., so maybe it's Vibrams they really are after, but I made a point of insisting on "Vee Brems" after they make the transition succesfully fully bare.

They left happy.

 

[Angie Bee]

 That route sounds brutal!

That route sounds brutal! Running is fun regardless though and with a crowd even more so

 

[Nyal]

LB, how do you force the feet

LB, how do you force the feet to chill the heck out and relax on crappy stuff?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

AW!

AW!

 

[hmduey]

LB, that DOES sound brutal!

LB, that DOES sound brutal! Congrats on not giving in on the acorns. I despise those things!

People always look at me funny when I correct them on the pronunciation of Vibrams; I've nearly given up in fact...;-)

 

[Longboard]

TJ called it. The opportunity

TJ called it. The opportunity to REALLY soak in the AW's nectar was just too strong to resist.

I realized that surviving the difficult parts unscathed and without letting the crowd see me wince would still depend partly on chance, but also remembered that the rewards of success would likely be well worth the gamble.

As always, several runners asked for the chance to view my soles after the race, and with the usual "Well, they're a bit dirty right now, but ......." I was able to present fully intact softer than expected feet for their inspection.

My assumption was that if the others saw in person that 3.1 miles of broken pavement, nature, and gravel could be negotiated without problems by an otherwise sort of normal looking well into middle aged man with not so calloused looking feet, it could only serve to promote the concept of barefoot running as well as living.

The gamble paid off, and I got to promote the BRS, Jason's book, and Dr Howell's "The Barefoot Book" as a major part of the post-race activities.

TJ, TTMark, and Art: You would have loved it! The LB mobile motel & PWI Lounge was parked in the park's parking lot, and had more people just outside the side sliding door reading the books than the pavillion's posting of results did!

It was fun.

P.S. : TJ, a chiro was there promoting, and he said he is a barefoot believer. I'm going to follow up and see if he is interested in being listed.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Awesome.  On all accounts!

Awesome. On all accounts!

 

[sole_foot]

Did you get a chance to

Did you get a chance to experience these? I spent a couple hours in the woods with these guys last month for my first barefoot half trail.

Good job!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

FUN!

FUN!

 

[Longboard]

sole_foot wroteid you get a

Did you get a chance to experience these? I spent a couple hours in the woods with these guys last month for my first barefoot half trail.

I DID! And that's the main reason I think running BF in the park is still a crapshoot.

Pavement is my friend, tamed grass is as BKB puts it "desert", but real trails and fields always will be a leap of faith.

 

[Danjo]

I'm actually not a fan of

I'm actually not a fan of grass, it hides stuff, and my feet get confused when something is touching them other than the ground. That course sounds pretty brutal.

 

[ewheeldrive]

sounds like brutal good

sounds like brutal good times! way to get out there and smile through the adversity. congrats on ag3rd too. all this talk of rough terrain has me itching for a trail run. i might have to settle for the gravel bucket in the living room tonight

 

[SillyC]

Longboard - any chance the

Longboard - any chance the chiro's name was Gary?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I know what you mean,

I know what you mean, ewheel. Sometimes my soles just ache for the rough stuff.

 

[Longboard]

SillyC wrote:..any chance the

..any chance the chiro's name was Gary?

Nope, Richard Beaubien, D.C.

He owns a pair of Vibrams, recommends less shoe to his patients, and is

a believer in the barefoot-is-better philosophy.

He may soon appear on our map.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Well, Board, you AW you.  Why

Well, Board, you AW you. Why not park in one of those paid parking spots? Normally they have security and are open to big race events, at least they are in Atlanta.

 

[Longboard]

Barefoot TJ wrote: Sometimes

Sometimes my soles just ache for the rough stuff.

Rough is one thing, but trails and deep grass are quite another and anything can happen in that type of "blind" barefooting. As always, it's partialy up to lady luck.

I'm a bit more concerned about this coming Sunday's 5K though.

It's an event that's part of the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon.

The 5K race is run entirely on the streets of downtown Detroit, but it's not the cracks or debris that scare me,

rather the meteorological conditions.

Race start is 7:00 a.m. for the marathon as well as half, and 7:25 a.m. for the 5K.

Sunrise is'nt til 7:45, and the abandoned skyscrapers that remind us of Detroit's one time status of world class city will of course block any morning insolation rays available.

Who cares if it's cloudy or not when the sun has'nt even woken up yet!

I DO, because even though I've already accepted the fact that it will be in the 40's with no sun for the start as well as finish of my race, if it's cloudy there will be no morning twilight, meaning I will be running barefoot on numb feet through the streets of Detroit essentially blind.

I hope the force is with me!

Today was the registration deadline, and I have now committed.

The biggest question on my mind right now: If I finish with intact feet, knowing that the main international event will see it's first Kenyans return to Motown after visiting Canada by foot via both the bridge and tunnel at around 9:30 a.m., with Boston hopefuls arriving closer to 10:00 a.m., and mere mortals beating the pacer to the finish at about 1:00 p.m., how in the world will I occupy my time? It's supposed to get sunny and well into the sixties.

Let me see, maybe just hang around and answer questions?

Should I take my bib off and NOT say: " Well, I only did the 5K"?

Maybe what they DON'T know can't hurt 'em, and could only benefit our cause!

Roads close at 6:00 a.m., and I'll have to rise by 4:00 a.m. in order to park anywhere close, no room for the LB PWI mobile Lodge & Pub in the available parking, and even if there were blocks and blocks away the van would'nt neccesarily be drivable by the time I returned to it (if it were anywhere to be found at ALL!). I'll just get up at 4:00 a.m., drive the Civic, and walk around for an hour and a half or longer shivering in the dark like I did at my first ever race in Grand Rapids this past May.

Oh what an AW will do for his fix!

As always since September, my wife will be busy teaching Sunday school so I'll have to go it alone.

It's a rough life.

 

[Longboard]

The Sprinter's too big for

The Sprinter's too big for any structures or surface lots,

but if I buy any more barefoot books I'll have to start bringing the trailer as well!

Show this to Scott, we were parked at Sugarloaf Key Airport, a coral strip about 12 miles NE of Key West.

__________________

 

[Barefoot TJ]

No thanks, Board.  He already

No thanks, Board. He already has too many big ideas planted in his head already. ;-) Nice getup though. I somehow thought it would have wooden side boards, like them old hippie vans used to have, Woodys, I think they called them.

 

[Longboard]

Your showing your

Your showing your youth!

Surfers drove Woody's long before Hippies were ever named.

By the time the tuned-in/turned-on/dropped-out generation hit the road, Woody's were scarce and very collectable.

VW air-cooled Microbus's filled that void.

I did dream of owning one, but by the time I could afford to hit the road occasionaly I had a wife and three kids.

Chrysler mini van first, full-sized Ford E-150 next, and bunk beds in the Dodge badged Mercedes van at present.

When the kids don't travel with us anymore (may come pretty soon, the youngest is a sophemore in college),

and my wife gets tired of it, I'll trade up to an old collectable Woody.

"Man, did you see that barefoot runner old hippie guy? He's driving the same old Woody he did back when he was surfn' Malibu in the early sixties. Boy did HE have stories from the last 5 decades!"

Don't none of you blow my cover!