MONDAY
After taking a really laid back day on Sunday it was time to get a little more active again. I will not drive to work unless absolutely necessary, since work is just over 1 mile away. Feeling like my feet were doing good and wanting to give them a test walk, I kept up my routine of walking to work barefoot. The first few steps were not encouraging. Not sure if I was just unlucky, but those first few pebbles felt very uncomfortable. I felt like I had lost some of the toughness in my feet. It is probably my imagination and perhaps my souls are still a bit tender from the hike. I kept on going, taking the smoothest sidewalks, picking concrete over asphalt and avoiding the rougher sections. I was paying close attention to my feet and could feel a bruise on the border of my heel and arch of my right foot. When I probe that area I can actually feel a bump. But as I continued along things seem not be as bad as my first few steps indicated they were going to be. My quads are by far the sorest piece of my body and I have no interest in doing stairs.
Monday evening our church is having their annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) where the kids play games, do crafts, listen to stories, sing songs, and eat for 2.5 hours. I arrived as usual barefoot for a non Sunday event. By this time word had spread that I had hiked barefoot up the mountain. I mentioned to one person as we talked that I often walked in the city barefoot and he was surprised. Once I mentioned that you need to tough up your feet a bit before hiking barefoot it seemed to make perfect sense to him. Maybe I'll try and do all the 4,000 footers a second time barefoot.
I even took a nice shopping trip to Walmart and wasn't bothered by anyone. I also felt a lot more confident and didn't care as much about being confronted or kicked out.
TUESDAY
My quads are no longer screaming at me, but I can still tell they had a great workout on Saturday. My feet and ankles felt fine when I got up this morning, nothing stood out as unusual. When I stepped outside away from the smooth floors of my comfortable home my feet just didn't feel as tough as they once were. I'm thinking it is more in my head than anything else. There is often talk on the barefoot forums that on such a hike you wear out your pads. I just can't seem to believe that you could wear them out that much. Sure I noticed a little wear no one foot, maybe on layer of skin gone in a spot, but nothing major, no blood or chunks of skin gone.
Showing posts with label Wal-Mart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wal-Mart. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Memorial Day Weekend
It was a great weekend. While I didn't achieve being barefoot for the whole weekend, I did spend most of the weekend without shoes. My previous post discussed my successful hike. While not of epic proportions, it was still a first for me and I was definitely encouraged by the success.
The remainder of Saturday was spend without shoes, except for a short trip to the grocery store where they have requested I wear shoes. The hardware store was a much more positive experience. When I told the owner what I needed he suggested I wait there since there might be glass on the floor in the back. The part I needed was behind where they repair screens and windows, so his concern was genuine. Putting people's perceptions that that the city streets are fill with broken glass, I told him I walk on the city streets all the time. He asked if I also walked on fire as well and I responded that his parking lot was pretty close. (The parking lot was recently paved so it a nice deep black and was hot.) The owner told me he know of a customer that went everywhere barefoot and to the dismay of his wife, even a wedding. So Leblanc's Hardware in Manchester, NH is certified barefoot friendly. Yes I did follow the owner our back and we got the parts I needed.
Sunday, I arrived at church and dropped everyone off at the front door and then found my parking sport. I was half way to the front door when I realized I had left my shoes in the vehicle. I wear shoes at church on Sunday morning mostly out of respect for my mother, who does not wholly embrace my bare footedness. The rest of the day was spent without shoes and even in church my shoes were off most of the time I was sitting or standing in the pew.
Monday, was almost another 100% barefooted day. I visited Wal-Mart in the morning without a single comment by the employees. Upon my return to Wal-Mart for my cell phone which I has somehow left behind I was told I needed to wear shoes. It then dawned on me that Wal-Mart does probably not tell it's employees to kick shoppers our that are barefooted, but rather the employee takes it upon themselves to enforce what they believe is the law or what is socially acceptable. This employee was concerned I would get hurt and I said I hike and do most things barefooted. She was not impressed, but the gentlemen in front of me in line were. I did have to pick up a few groceries for supper, so returned with shoes in had to shop at the nearby Price Rite.
Overall a great week.
The remainder of Saturday was spend without shoes, except for a short trip to the grocery store where they have requested I wear shoes. The hardware store was a much more positive experience. When I told the owner what I needed he suggested I wait there since there might be glass on the floor in the back. The part I needed was behind where they repair screens and windows, so his concern was genuine. Putting people's perceptions that that the city streets are fill with broken glass, I told him I walk on the city streets all the time. He asked if I also walked on fire as well and I responded that his parking lot was pretty close. (The parking lot was recently paved so it a nice deep black and was hot.) The owner told me he know of a customer that went everywhere barefoot and to the dismay of his wife, even a wedding. So Leblanc's Hardware in Manchester, NH is certified barefoot friendly. Yes I did follow the owner our back and we got the parts I needed.
Sunday, I arrived at church and dropped everyone off at the front door and then found my parking sport. I was half way to the front door when I realized I had left my shoes in the vehicle. I wear shoes at church on Sunday morning mostly out of respect for my mother, who does not wholly embrace my bare footedness. The rest of the day was spent without shoes and even in church my shoes were off most of the time I was sitting or standing in the pew.
Monday, was almost another 100% barefooted day. I visited Wal-Mart in the morning without a single comment by the employees. Upon my return to Wal-Mart for my cell phone which I has somehow left behind I was told I needed to wear shoes. It then dawned on me that Wal-Mart does probably not tell it's employees to kick shoppers our that are barefooted, but rather the employee takes it upon themselves to enforce what they believe is the law or what is socially acceptable. This employee was concerned I would get hurt and I said I hike and do most things barefooted. She was not impressed, but the gentlemen in front of me in line were. I did have to pick up a few groceries for supper, so returned with shoes in had to shop at the nearby Price Rite.
Overall a great week.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Running in Freezing Weather
RUNNING
Today temperatures at around 1:00 pm was 27ºF, winds at 8 mph, giving us a wind chill of 18ºF, definitely below freezing and it was time for my run. After some additional thinking I had decided to create a new route that would be more of an out and back run, instead of straight out and then walk back. This would allow me to get back to my base quicker. I also planned only to be barefoot for the run.
Since I'm still not ready to expose my barefoot preference to my co-workers, I once again headed away from work before finding a nice, new, black section of asphalt where I could slip off my shoes. The pavement was surprisingly warm (or maybe not too surprising), but alas, it would be the only nice and warm piece of pavement I would feel on my run.
As I ran I definitely could tell it was cold, but I didn't feel like I was pushing any boundaries. A little discomfort and I've read that after 12 minutes or so that would go away. It is like those times when you think, maybe I should have worn a hat or jacket. Nothing you can't handle and I would be running for only 1 mile. Now on the other hand while my feet were doing okay, my lungs had a much harder time adapting to running in the cold (the cold induced asthma was appearing). I finished the run in the normal amount of time. I am very happy with the results and doubt I would have run any better with shoes.
I felt like I could have done more, but I was told you need to take it slow and easy to start, so I am heeding that advice. I had a plan to put my socks and shoes on when the mile run was up and that is what I did. I'm not only taking it easy to give my feet a chance to adapt, I want to gradually increase my running miles for my legs, using the 10% increase per week rule for runners. In some ways I'm fortunate I don't have a high running mileage base with the legs itching to go. Legs and feet are both have equal experience and will adapt together.
STORE
This evening I did go to Wal-Mart but it was too cold for me to be walking barefoot, so I wore my shoes. While I was in Wal-Mart I just had to touch the floor with my barefoot and it felt as cold if not colder then the pavement outside during my run. I'm so glad I didn't go barefoot into the store.
Today temperatures at around 1:00 pm was 27ºF, winds at 8 mph, giving us a wind chill of 18ºF, definitely below freezing and it was time for my run. After some additional thinking I had decided to create a new route that would be more of an out and back run, instead of straight out and then walk back. This would allow me to get back to my base quicker. I also planned only to be barefoot for the run.
Since I'm still not ready to expose my barefoot preference to my co-workers, I once again headed away from work before finding a nice, new, black section of asphalt where I could slip off my shoes. The pavement was surprisingly warm (or maybe not too surprising), but alas, it would be the only nice and warm piece of pavement I would feel on my run.
As I ran I definitely could tell it was cold, but I didn't feel like I was pushing any boundaries. A little discomfort and I've read that after 12 minutes or so that would go away. It is like those times when you think, maybe I should have worn a hat or jacket. Nothing you can't handle and I would be running for only 1 mile. Now on the other hand while my feet were doing okay, my lungs had a much harder time adapting to running in the cold (the cold induced asthma was appearing). I finished the run in the normal amount of time. I am very happy with the results and doubt I would have run any better with shoes.
I felt like I could have done more, but I was told you need to take it slow and easy to start, so I am heeding that advice. I had a plan to put my socks and shoes on when the mile run was up and that is what I did. I'm not only taking it easy to give my feet a chance to adapt, I want to gradually increase my running miles for my legs, using the 10% increase per week rule for runners. In some ways I'm fortunate I don't have a high running mileage base with the legs itching to go. Legs and feet are both have equal experience and will adapt together.
STORE
This evening I did go to Wal-Mart but it was too cold for me to be walking barefoot, so I wore my shoes. While I was in Wal-Mart I just had to touch the floor with my barefoot and it felt as cold if not colder then the pavement outside during my run. I'm so glad I didn't go barefoot into the store.
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