I Did Something Crazy Today

If you've been keeping up on our blog, you know one thing: WE LOVE MICHAEL B. He is our inspiration. As you know, he is running Rochester with Laura this year and next year he is coming to Trieste to run with me in May-- he understands that marathoning should be done with buddies, and we are Best Running Buds 4ever! His constant on-line support and running wisdom have brought us to the point that when Michael B. said "Eat a Mars bar at mile 17!" By Gosh darn, Laura and I did it. When he said "get on Twitter," we started Tweeting! Then he said get on Dailymile-- we were on it in a nano-second.

When you hang out in cyber space with Michael B, you start getting strange ideas, though, because he makes you feel like you can do anything. He's more than halfway through his 12 marathons in 12 months challenge (two of which were one week apart), which made me want to do something crazy, too, like run 100 miles in 10 days (which I want to do in a couple of weeks. I think. I will keep you updated on that one).

Today he tweeted about how he was reading about running barefoot. So I started googling (I had images of Zola Budd and Mary Decker falling over each other in the 84 olympics, OUCH!) and reading about how good it's supposed to be for your feet, your ankles, for curing shin splints (bingo!). They also say there is something about it that makes you enjoy running in a whole new way because you experience it through your feet and not muffled through shoes and socks (um. Ok).

Now, to be clear, Michael B. did not say he was going to DO any barefoot running... but just the fact that it was on his mind made ME want to.

So that's what I did. I ran 3 miles on the bike path wearing my shoes and socks on my hands. I'm not kidding, it was awesome. And it's true: there is something really wonderful about it, I don't know how to explain it, but it's like that freedom you feel when you drive without shoes. It didn't even hurt when I stepped on pebbles, I just lightened up my step. When I could feel my ankle muscles, I felt like I had done them a big favor.

Putting my shoes back on again for the last 5 minutes of the run (in the street where non-runners would see me) was kind of disappointing and I was sorry to do it. Once I had them on again, though, I started flying! Running first without shoes made me a way faster runner when I put them back on again. I felt a lot more efficient, too, like you can't run wrong when you're not wearing shoes because if you do, it hurts.

The funny thing was how many runners I passed wearing my shoes on my hands. Thanks Michael B, for inspiring me to try new and crazy things!

For the record, the soles of the feet are fine. One small blister, but I feel like I earned that sucker.