Saturday rolls around and I roll out of bed and head out the door shoeless once again. It is much easier this time, I had no worries about being harassed. I packed up all my stuff and brought it out to my vehicle. Then spent the morning indoors attending different sessions.
At noon the convention ended and I was ready to drive the three hours home. My first stop was the bathrooms. This definitely made me do some thinking. I had to go and my shoes were in the vehicle out in the lower parking lot. I already had been shoeless for around 42 hours and the two day mark was fast approaching. So with a little hesitation I headed into the men's room and almost walked back out. Around the urinals the floor looked all wet. I decided to straddle the wetness and figured that the carpets outside the bathroom would soon wipe my feet clean again. After I finished my business I got to thinking, sure my feet will be wiped clean on the carpets along with everyone else who cleaned the soles of their shoes off, and they probably stood right in the middle of all the wetness. So that means I've been walking on some of this stuff all weekend long.
After chatting with some friends I was ready to leave again and realized I probably should visit the restroom again and this time take a seat. I felt more awkward having my bare feet showing under the stall wall than anything else. We humans can be real funny in our thinking at times.
On the way home I stopped at a convenience store to pick up a Mt. Dew and some chips. Then after a few hours pulled into a McDonald's for some more food. I opted for the drive through since I didn't want to push things and was looking at making it barefoot for 48 hours.
Overall I was thrilled with the weekend. Can't wait to repeat and to actually stay barefoot for a longer period of time. Unfortunately Sundays at home I always wear my shoes to church, so I was barefoot from around 5:00 pm on Thursday till 8:30 am on Sunday. That makes about 63 hours going without shoes and no ill effects. A great start to a barefoot lifestyle and a definite boast after being rejected at a third store near my house last weekend.
Showing posts with label Convention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Convention. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Friday, May 20, 2016
Shoeless Weekend - Friday Day One
This weekend I attended our district's men's convention and I spent the entire time barefoot. I checked in barefoot Thursday night and am still barefoot at home as I write this on Saturday evening. Over 48 hours without putting shoes on once. It was great.
The event was at Sunday River in Maine. During the whole weekend I got about a handful of comments: you look comfortable (I replied yes I am); nice mohair socks ( I replied, yes, very comfortable and they never wear out) and a few others. Nothing negative.
After the first session we broke up into groups and I went to find the hiking group. I grabbed my small pack with my VFF inside (just as a precaution) and headed back to the lobby. I was wandering around when Bill found me and asked if I was going on the hike. He had also been looking and hadn't found anyone yet. I said yes. It looked like it would be only the two of us. He noticed my bare feet and simply asked if I planned to hike barefoot, like it was something he saw all the time. Though I didn't know Bill to well he was aware of my hiking expertise, so that may have helped break the ice.
We headed up the ski sloop. It was rougher then most hiking trails, with the gravel and small rocks. I'm not sure if I would have made it up and back, it it wasn't for the patches of cool refreshing snow that I was able to walk across. Bill walked around the patches of snow, not wanting it to fall inside his sneakers. Point to barefoot.
On the way back down Bill felt something stabbing his foot so he stopped and took off his sneaker. Then he felt around the bottom of his foot and pulled out a small thorn out of his sock. Point to barefoot. A little further down the trail we encountered some mud in the middle of the trail. Bill walked around the mud and I walked right through it and was surprised how quickly it came off with just a little rinse in a shallow puddle further down the trail. Yet another point to barefoot.
The total distance hiked was 2.6 miles. That is now the furthest distance I have gone barefoot and my first hike. I'm very pleased. My Garmin Vivoactive had me at 6.4 miles at the end of the day, but most of that was on carpet and a nice dirt/sand trail.
I think this trip proved the barefoot may be superior to shoes, but do have to admit that we took it easy, if we had gone at a fast clip, I would have been eating the dust and if the distance was longer I probably would have gotten into trouble. As it was, the snow seemed to work to my benefit this time around, so shoes still have some merit.
Upon returning we stopped at the grill and I got a tuna melt and sweet potato fries, still barefoot and no comments. I was sitting at the end of the table closest to the cash register and I'm sure she noticed my feet when she brought my meal. Well actually I did received some feedback, the other people we sat with were a bit surprised that I hiked up the trail barefoot. They thought that made me a real hard core hiker.
That night they had a BBQ in the parking lot which was real easy to attend barefoot. The only think I noticed throughout the day was that I was much more aware of my feet and concerned about my toes getting stepped on. Not sure why I would think like that since my feet normally don't get stepped on in a crowd. Funny how your mind thinks sometimes.
The event was at Sunday River in Maine. During the whole weekend I got about a handful of comments: you look comfortable (I replied yes I am); nice mohair socks ( I replied, yes, very comfortable and they never wear out) and a few others. Nothing negative.
After the first session we broke up into groups and I went to find the hiking group. I grabbed my small pack with my VFF inside (just as a precaution) and headed back to the lobby. I was wandering around when Bill found me and asked if I was going on the hike. He had also been looking and hadn't found anyone yet. I said yes. It looked like it would be only the two of us. He noticed my bare feet and simply asked if I planned to hike barefoot, like it was something he saw all the time. Though I didn't know Bill to well he was aware of my hiking expertise, so that may have helped break the ice.
We headed up the ski sloop. It was rougher then most hiking trails, with the gravel and small rocks. I'm not sure if I would have made it up and back, it it wasn't for the patches of cool refreshing snow that I was able to walk across. Bill walked around the patches of snow, not wanting it to fall inside his sneakers. Point to barefoot.
On the way back down Bill felt something stabbing his foot so he stopped and took off his sneaker. Then he felt around the bottom of his foot and pulled out a small thorn out of his sock. Point to barefoot. A little further down the trail we encountered some mud in the middle of the trail. Bill walked around the mud and I walked right through it and was surprised how quickly it came off with just a little rinse in a shallow puddle further down the trail. Yet another point to barefoot.
The total distance hiked was 2.6 miles. That is now the furthest distance I have gone barefoot and my first hike. I'm very pleased. My Garmin Vivoactive had me at 6.4 miles at the end of the day, but most of that was on carpet and a nice dirt/sand trail.
I think this trip proved the barefoot may be superior to shoes, but do have to admit that we took it easy, if we had gone at a fast clip, I would have been eating the dust and if the distance was longer I probably would have gotten into trouble. As it was, the snow seemed to work to my benefit this time around, so shoes still have some merit.
Upon returning we stopped at the grill and I got a tuna melt and sweet potato fries, still barefoot and no comments. I was sitting at the end of the table closest to the cash register and I'm sure she noticed my feet when she brought my meal. Well actually I did received some feedback, the other people we sat with were a bit surprised that I hiked up the trail barefoot. They thought that made me a real hard core hiker.
That night they had a BBQ in the parking lot which was real easy to attend barefoot. The only think I noticed throughout the day was that I was much more aware of my feet and concerned about my toes getting stepped on. Not sure why I would think like that since my feet normally don't get stepped on in a crowd. Funny how your mind thinks sometimes.
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