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Running Feet Naked

WHILE I was at the store earlier, paying for my purchases, a lady popped up next to me and kept staring at my cheap NaRaYa purse (right) I got from Bangkok months ago. In her hands, she was slowly unzipping a black and gold Prada. It wasn't even her turn to pay she was supposed to wait behind me, not next to me. Never mind if my US$5 NaRaYa came out of a pony-fur Gucci, she still gave me the dirty look because if I went around with a printed cloth purse, the Gucci could be a fake, right ? Much like the looks I got from the runners with shoes on when I was out on my barefoot runs recently ! Not that I was bothered by any of it :) 


So yeah. Going back-to-basic with my feet and in my efforts to try the Stoxen Human Spring Approach to running again, I attempted running barefoot. Twice, on different tracks. The first was a nice, rubber track most of the way and the second attempt had me on a fair combination of rubber, concrete and paved tracks. Call me crazy, and I'm pretty sure some even thought that I actually was, judging from the looks I got during my runs, it's comforting to have your feet one with the warm ground. I gathered 'crazy' from people's disapproving facial expressions because I have a habit of running anti-clockwise when most run clockwise (I dislike people creeping up behind me). Turns out, it's a great way of establishing eye-contact and meeting people, although most times I just want to run, relax and dwell in my bubble. Anyway, I did get some thumbs up from a couple of runners!  


This is for today
Running with naked feet was actually strangely liberating especially during the first attempt. Since I was on a nice, rubber pavement most of the way, nothing pricked my feet and I was bouncing off the ground like I had springs on my soles - I felt empowered :) Except for a blister on my left second last toe, my feet felt fine. My second attempt wasn't as cool though. Running was easy alright but running on a bitumen track when it's 34 deg celcius wasn't smart. You see, this route starts off with a nice rubber track. After a mile, it goes concrete, which is great, and halfway, you have the bitumen track, which isn't exactly smooth. So, at this point, it felt like walking on hot spikes. Yikes! Well, I made it through the 4km, amazingly without injuring my soles. They felt nasty though that I was actually afraid to check up on them when I'd finished. The soles felt like whole, grilled tomatoes - not broken but singed with the skin tender ? But they were back to normal the next day. Like none of that walking-on-hot-spikes ever happened. 


Well, I guess I'd need some form of protection like a pair of running sandals for my soles. The gladiator-style sandals don't look anything like my previous running shoes, but I see people running in them. They're closest to barefoot running I've been told. Maybe I could use them. I love running in the sun too much. 





Comments

  1. That woman probably doesn't have much else better to do but show off her purse, lol. When you talked about running, in my head I was thinking of my local track, running around it and in my head I was running clockwise. I didn't even think about it but I guess most people do, but its good to go against the grain. Sounds like you had a good 1st run, I need to try it sometime when it's not too hot. It's like 80+ here everyday, I can't even remember what 33 is like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. she kept staring openly :) i thought she'd stop after me catching her, and then I saw the Prada hahhaa.
      yeah most ppl run clockwise - its just a habit to run against them. try it :)

      Delete
  2. This story really is great Jaya, personally I hate running barefooted, especially over grass, running in the sun is great too.

    It feeling like hot spikes sounds incredibly sore too, sorry you had to go through that, but at least no permanent damage was caused to your feet!

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    Replies
    1. thanks Matthew. i'm all good. it wasnt too bad running barefooted.
      :)

      Delete
  3. She was slowly unzipping it... Is that a fact? She must be very insecure. And what's wrong with barefoot runs? The reasons I don't do it are:
    (1) When I run, I get ill again
    (2) The ground isn't warm in my neck of the woods - it's plain dirty.
    I do love grilled tomatoes, though. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes, RC, its a fact :)
      you are special so you cant run and i love grilled tomatoes too. yums.

      Delete
    2. Unbelievable... The things some folks do. Can you imagine doing the same thing hahaha! You make me smile like no one else, do you know that? I mean, no one's ever said I can't run because I'm special. Now, where are those tomatoes....

      Delete
  4. haha sounds like the woman was a real snob. I can't run in bare feet as there are too many rocks around here that would jab into them, be worse for my feet than shoes ever are.

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    Replies
    1. rocks, we can avoid them, but yeah, its too much work avoiding them isnt it ? haha.

      Delete
  5. Crazy people never cease to amaze me

    ReplyDelete
  6. Running barefoot toughens up the feet. Many great Brazilian footballers played barefoot in their childhood - I think Rivelino was one of them. But I think it should be done on grass, if possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. these impacts are good for your to work and train the muscles which hardly get trained in your foot.
      i used to run around barefooted around my house when a kid. never played football though, GB.

      Delete
  7. Some runners have been famous for their running and their bare feet. The first to pop into my little head is marathoner Zola Budd (sp?) of South Africa, who competed for the UK in the 1984 Olympics in L.A.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i was 5 in 1984 ! haha. there are many south african who run barefeet.

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    2. You were five in 1984? You obnoxious young twerp. XO

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  8. Many people in South Africa run barefoot... for most it began that way because they couldn't afford the footwear. I'd only run barefoot on grass or on the beach.

    You can get fake Prada here too. Actually, you can get fake anything in good ol SA :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it's quite a pain to run in the beach. sucks out to much energy as your feet sink into the wet sand. i suppose thats good exercise though.
      most fake goods here are from Thailand :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous03 June, 2012

      running in wet sand is great for your calf muscles

      Delete
  9. good for you jaya. it only gets better and easier the more you do it. your skin will thicken and get soft like leather so that the little bits don't bother as much as they do now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. welcome here and thanks :)
      yeah, i suppose i have plenty of practice to do. they bother now :p hope to follow up on this so i could run again.

      Delete
  10. I can't run Jaya: I get too distracted, it huts my shins, I can't do corners at speed without wheels and if I did it bare foot I'd probably tread on glass. You have my total admiration!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahaha. i suppose you must like something to be able to focus. there are some things that i cant do. but running, i dont mind.

      Delete
  11. I think barefoot is better for your feet.
    a lady with a fancy purse would not impress me one bit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i think so too. a fancy purse is okay to have, just not the showy attitude :)

      Delete
  12. Or maybe she was admiring your purse? Ditto the looks from other runners - they may be more curious than anything else. I've passed barefoot runner and don't have any negative feelings about it - it's a big world and can accommodate us all, I figure.

    What about the "barefoot sneakers" like Vibram 5-fingers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. perhaps she was. haha. yeah people are naturally curious. spoke to some runners too, who dead against this sort of thing. oh well. but you're right, the world can accomodate us.

      vibram 5 - they are some arguments about it too. i was told that it still constricts your foot in some ways. barefoot sandals are more like it.
      :)

      Delete
  13. i bet the purse was empty anyway. after spending so much money on it, she had nothing left to put in it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahaha. maybe that's why she stared at my content ?

      Delete
  14. Well done on the barefoot running...I've always fancied trying it but UK weather isn't great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'm quite happy myself, G. maybe you can try during summer.

      Delete
  15. I cannot stand for my feet to touch the ground. It's just a weird thing for me. I think it is because I once saw a woman with green feet. They were obviously (months) of grass stains, but I became paranoid after that.

    I have never had an expensive wallet. Only "Cheapo Depot" for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. we are so used to wearing shoes that we are afraid to them go natural. a woman with green feet ? now i'll be afraid of such sights too.
      i dont have expensive wallets too. there's one as a gift, but that's ugly so it doesnt count. not very nice of me i know :p

      Delete
  16. You run 4km?, do you do this every day or something. You must be some kind of special agent or something, do you know karate too and how to defuse a bomb?
    You do things your own way which society could use more of, we all toe the line too much, if you pardon the pun. Its good to put your best foot forward and shoe criticism away. Ok enough bad jokes. I wonder if your running speed will increase now your running like Tarzan?
    4km is really impressive though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hello Jon. before my leg problems, i ran between 8 to 10km about 4 to 5 times a week. with so much of running, when i stopped i sorta fell into a depression, and now i seem to have found some kind of hope in this barefoot approach. we'll see how it goes.
      oh i wish, i wish , i wish, Jon ! i'd love to be a secret agent and defuse bombs and have a partner like Chuck. :D
      hahahahha. yeah. running like Tarzan improves the speed very much.

      Delete
  17. I love running but can not run bare foot.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Damn... I just realised I haven't run in over a month. Been a bit too depressed to do anything lately.

    I don't know if I'll give barefoot running a go, though... it's worth a try if we can find a suitable place.

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  19. Thats great, running is very good for us !

    ReplyDelete
  20. barefeet running difficult

    ReplyDelete

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