In Shorts Barefoot

AT THE LOCAL SCHOOL
Last night (Wednesday) my daughter had an activity at her school.  Once again I paused and thought, Should I wear my shoes?  After some thought I changed into long pants and stuffed some moccasins in my pocket and went to the school barefoot.  My daughter was great, she took it all in stride and wasn't bothered by it at all.  Not a single person commented on my bare feet.  I even spoke at length to several of the teachers and City Years.  My daughter took a picture of me in the gym, which I'll post once I edit it.

AT TWO BIG STORES
On Thursday, when I arrived home I changed into some shorts and headed out the door barefoot in a lite rain.  I dropped off the two older kids at JBQ, and headed to Hannaford grocery store, barefooted and in shorts.  The store wasn't too busy and I really didn't see any associates on the floor.  After I picked up the ingredients for a boiled dinner, I checked out without any mention of my bare feet. 

After I left Hannaford I realized I should probably buy some cake mix and frosting for a birthday cake for my daughter.  Walmart was close, so I swung into Walmart and picked up a few more things, in my shorts and bare feet.  I even wandered around the store a little.   On the way out I passed by a co-worker of mine, we only exchanged a surprised, quick, hello to each other as I quickly headed to the checkout. This morning I stopped by to say hello to the co-worker and nothing was mentioned of my bare feet.  I don't think she even noticed.

AT CHURCH
After shopping I went into the church barefoot. I waited around until the kids were ready to go home.  Now granted this wasn't the main sanctuary and I wasn't sitting there for long and I didn't really talk to anyone, but I still left my shoes behind.  I keep telling myself small steps.

IN MY HEAD
It was a great barefoot day.  The morning was clear, and it started raining off and on in the afternoon.  I walked the short distance to and from work, and am getting really comfortable being barefoot.  The warmer weather definitely helps, since I'm not so crazy walking barefoot when it is warm.  I really don't think people see your feet are bare when your not wearing shoes.  The mind sees what is suppose to be there, and probably assumes your wearing something.   The best part was I managed to spend one whole evening out and about, in shorts with my bare feet completely exposed.

 

Feet Warm - Hands Cold

RUNNING
Today I went for my Sunday run and it was soooo nice.  The pavement felt warm beneath my soles. The only thing I notice was a slight discomfort on my middle toe on the right foot.  I haven't figured out what it was, probably just still getting use to running barefoot.  On the other hand, my hands were noticeably cold, guess I should have worn some light gloves or maybe a hat.    My time is still pretty steady at around 12 minute mile, but heart rate is at running at least at 80% of maximum capacity.  So I probably should start going at a slower pace more often.  Especially since I want to increase my running to 3 times a week.

ALMOST FREEZING TEMPERATURE
I had thought the temperatures for the day were going to be in the 40's, but since my hands felt so cold I look at my Garmin running report and the temperature was 39ºF with 6 mph winds which converts to 35ºF temperature, just a few degrees above freezing and my bare feet was very comfortable. I love that my feet were fine and find it interesting that my hands were the ones having a problem.

STORE & CHURCH
Visited the neighborhood grocery store again with no problems and I'm starting to feeling more relaxed.  Church in the morning I put my shoes on in the van upon arriving and took them off upon returning to the van.  I haven't figure out how to handle this one since I attend church with my mom. My mom was instrumental in starting this church and I want to be respectful, so I'll play this one by ear.  In the evening I go back to the church and work with the boys group.  I wear my shoes into the church but then after the meeting starts I take them off, but have them sitting by my chair.  I think come summer when others start wearing their flip flops I'll leave the shoes at home.

Two More Stores

After work I walked a quarter of a mile barefoot to my vehicle.  Without the sun shinning brightly down on the pavement there was no warm spots along the way.  Upon arriving home I realized I needed a receipt book.  As I headed back out the door I hesitated, and then picked up my shoes thinking: people will think it is too cold to be walking barefoot, or what will people think.  Then I changed my mind and said, Yes it may be a bit cool for going barefoot, but I still want to do it and it is therefore my choice and then left without my shoes. I shouldn't live my life by what others will think, even if they are right and I am a bit crazy.  It is a balance between the comfort of barefoot or the discomfort of the cold.  And I just love barefoot walking and can tolerate a bit of cold to do something I enjoy.  Besides I've been out in shorts in weather colder then this and people thought I was a bit crazy, so what is the difference.  Well okay, it isn't too unusual to see people in shorts in the winter, but you don't really see people shoeless walking around, even in the summer.

ON RUNNING
I was also doing some thinking about my run on Thursday in the cold.  Walking in the cold might be a good way to help condition my feet a little bit more for my runs when it is cold.  I am also thinking I should bring some warmer socks on Thursday so once I'm done my run I can put them on if needed and then walk back to my work with my shoes on.  The brain never stops.  I really want to get a streak going of barefoot runs, but don't want to be foolish either, hard balance when your set and excited about something.

STORES
Where were going, oh yes, the stores.  Arriving at the dollar store I looked around briefly and couldn't find what I wanted.  I then asked the checkout clerk and was told they didn't have any so I headed over to a nearby pharmacy.  After looking around and not seeing any I approached a manager that happened to be nearby on the floor working.  He showed me right where the item was and never acknowledged me being barefoot.  I had no problems at either store once again.  I feel like I'm getting bolder with each store I visit.   And knowing I can go into my most often visited stores without an issue feels great.

IN MY HEAD
I'm sure I'll be asked to leave a store someday, but by then it will almost be a relief.  Maybe I should head over to the local Mall, I understand Malls quick to ask barefoot people to leave.  I'm not looking for a confrontation, but I am expecting it to happen, so if I get it done with I might be able to relax a bit more.     I don't know any suggestions?

Fifth Store and a Walk

ON RUNNING
I had planned to go on my next barefoot run tomorrow when the temperature is predicted to be in the high 40's ºF.  Then I was reminded we have a luncheon that day at work.  I could skip the luncheon, but these are rare occurrences and it might not be wise to do so.  Looking ahead to the temperatures on Thursday, they predict it to be right at freezing.  I'm not sure I should try temperatures that low yet.  But on the other hand the higher temperature for tomorrow comes with wet weather. 

A WALK
Since today the temperature was  above freezing by just a few degrees, I figured if I can walk barefoot in today, I could probably run barefoot on Thursday.  So at lunch today I took a walk along the basic path I would run.  The sidewalks are concrete for the first part and then switch to pavement.  The asphalt was a lot warmer than the concrete, but was not too bad, so maybe I can do it.  I'll dress warm and bring my shoes in my pack, so they will be available if needed.

FIFTH STORE
Went into my 5th store today, a Rite-Aid drug store.  No one seem to notice, but I am so self-conscious.  I'll be glad when I am less self-aware and can relax more when shopping.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the whole shoeless experience, I'm just being stretched a bit when it comes to being out in public.   Especially since the temperatures are still pretty cool.  It is one thing to be crazy and walk around barefoot in the summer, another thing to be barefoot when the temperatures are just above freezing. 

Another Run and a Grocery Store

Sundays I attend church in the morning. The church has a poured concrete floor and even with my Vivobarefoot shoes I can still feel the heat being taken from my body, so it is not warm enough to skip the shoes at church just yet.  We are still in the middle of winter, so I feel lucky to have accomplished as much as I have so far.


THE RUN
Sunday arrived warm again, so I decided to take another run in the afternoon.  I was hoping to be able to run the whole mile.  This run has more up hills compared to the last run on Thursday, so I wasn't sure I would make the whole distance.  Once again I notice how cool the pavement was and you could feel where the sun had a chance to thaw out the ground a bit more.  Running barefoot tunes you into nature to a whole new level, even though I am in the middle of the city.  My toes got a bit cold on this run, but I managed to run the whole mile in 12 minutes.  I was very happy.

GROCERY STORE
After the run I walked over to the nearby grocery store for some food.  It really seems like most people don't notice your feet.  When I grabbed a cart it was funny how I thought this would help hide my feet a bit.  Was making a ham and chicken casserole, so visited the deli counter to get only the amount of ham I needed, just one thick slice.  As the lady took my order and helped me pick out what I wanted I don't think she even noticed my feet.  The checkout process at the end went very smoothly as well.  Four stores and no problem.  This grocery store was the biggest store I have visited yet.

After I finished my run and errands I noticed my feet had warmed up and they stayed nice and toasty warm for the rest of the night.

INSIDE MY HEAD
It is interesting when I read another blog about their barefoot experiences it always did seem they were hyper aware of their feet being bare and most of those around them didn't notice or at least didn't comment.   I realized that a lot of my concerns would be in my head and that I too would be hyper aware of my feet while most others wouldn't notice.  But you still don't know when you will be called out, so until you have some experience interacting with others a few times you will still be on high alert.  Yet despite this the experience is still enjoyable, even though I may be a bit self conscious at this stage.  I'm wondering about my own reaction to others reaction will be.  Will I be more focused on sharing this new found joy and freedom of walking barefoot or will something else stumble out of my mouth.

Stats:
Miles Run Barefoot: 3

Stores Visited 4

Days 100% Barefoot - 0

Two More Stores

Had a morning men's breakfast to attend and it was still a little cold out so I wore some Vivobarefoot shoes.  After the breakfast I returned home and took of my shoes for the rest of the day.  Then I began working on my current project, restoring wainscoting in the bathroom.

After working in the bathroom for a short period of time I realized I needed some protective gloves.  I  was washing off the stripper residue on the wainscoting and the two left handed gloves just weren't cutting it.  So I headed over to the local dollar store, still barefooted, to purchase the needed gloves. I was wearing my shorts and I was very aware of my bare feet.  But it was just a short walk and the temperatures were in the 50s.  Inside it didn't take me too much wandering to find the gloves and was able to make my purchase without any problem.  I didn't even hear or notice any reaction.

Back to work the gloves quickly disintegrated.  So I decided to head over to the hardware store to buy some better gloves.  I asked my mother to watch my daughter and she told me to put some shoes on.  I asked her if she thought I would actually walked to the store without shoes and then left.  I guess she has already caught on to my new thing. I'll have to discuss at a later time my families reaction so far.

The hardware store is about 2 tenths of a mile away.  I visit this hardware store a lot so was very interested to hear their comments.  I went straight to the paint department and a kid I don't usually see assisted me in finding the necessary gloves and then I checked out.  Nothing was said, though I'm sure the kid who assisted me must have notice my bare feet, the cashier knows me by name and he couldn't really see my feet from behind his counter.

It was good not to be bothered with shoes and to take the short stroll to the store barefooted.  Still a bit cool and I wouldn't want to go much further, but summer is coming and it will be very warm soon.

Here are some pictures of my current project. This bathroom has a claw foot tub, so for now we plan to leave the tiles on the back wall, until we replace the floor and need to take out the tub. Otherwise it will be a pain to get all the tile off and wall cleaned.

The lower walls were covered in plastic tile, as you can see in the picture above, which popped off the wall relatively easily with a putty knife.  Then we were left with the glue (not shown), which a hot gun helped soften up so we could scrape it off.  This left some residual glue and the old varnish.  So we used stripper to get the wall down to the bare wood.  

 We then cleaned the wall with some thinner to remove any remaining varnish and stripper.  This was after we finished cleaning up the wall.  We will add some molding on the bottom, so we were not too concerned about the very bottom.

Loads of pipes running on the outside of the wall, makes it a real pain to clean.  But it is coming.  Hope to start painting next Saturday.

First Experience in a Store

Went to Derry last night for a practice my daughter needed to attend.  During these practice sessions, I have been waiting in the common area, usually barefooted with shoes nearby.  I have noticed people glance down and see my feet, but I'm sure they also notice my shoes, so no one has said anything.  As I sat reading my book, I decided I wanted something to drink from the small store nearby.  I decided I would take the short hike to the store barefooted and see what if any reaction I got.

Once again I could feel how cool the pavement was and upon stepping into the store the first thing I noticed was how nice, warm, and smooth the tiles were.  I wouldn't be surprised if they had radiant heat.  I quickly crossed empty store to the coolers and found some chocolate milk.  There was no one else in line and the cashier was busy so probably didn't even notice my bare feet as I approved her station.  I purchased my milk and walked back with no issues.

Once back inside the building during a break I sat with some of the leaders of the group and they were talking about different customs they have and how it bothers other portions of their family.  (I joined them barefoot without any comment, but I wonder if my feet lead to any part of the conversation.)  One parent said they have no problem letting their child wear pajamas all day when they have no place to go.  But if a certain relative is going to be seen, the child will change out of the pajamas.  Another adult mentioned she use to enjoy going barefoot when she was a kid.  It sounded like she still enjoys being barefoot, but just doesn't practice being barefoot outside of the home.  But the topic was brought up because their relatives feel that slippers are needed to protect you from catching a cold, even in the warmth of your own home. So no bare feet when those relatives are around.

Overall I am starting to feel very liberated and excited.  I could never have imagined being able to do so much barefooted just a short time ago.