Sans shoes

Some days, I really do love my job. Actually most days I do. Of course it’s hard to leave Lydia with a sitter for three days, but since my income is a necessary part of our lives I am grateful to at least be doing something I truly enjoy. For me, it’s the variety that makes a reporter's life so exciting.

Take last Tuesday for example. I spent the morning with a man who was celebrating his 80^th birthday by riding along in the Allied Waste garbage truck because he used to own a sanitation company. (story here). He and his family were so cute. That afternoon I learned how to correctly apply the latest style of eye makeup, thanks to a spunky Lancome woman at Dillard's. (Article has not yet run).

Talk about variety. And that is not an unusual day.

This week one story assignment took me on an unexpected adventure as I went on a jog with a local marathon runner to learn how to run sans shoes.

That’s right, this man is part of a small but growing group of runners who have decided it is better for their bodies to run with completely barefoot.

When I first heard about the story I assumed they meant “barefoot” in the sense that they were wearing those funky finger-toe shoes, but I was wrong. Some of these runners wear those shoes on occasion but the bulk of the time this man has nothing between his feet and the road.

He was so enthusiastic about his sport that he invited me to come along and although I was a little bit nervous, I said I would.

We met at one of the paved trails in St. George, with a staff photographer in tow, for a brief lesson on how to gradually work your feet – and your body – into barefoot running.

The moment I removed my shoes I felt more youthful. I can’t remember the last time I walked around outside without shoes (except in front of my house) but I’m sure I was much younger. He showed me how to land on the ball of my foot first, rather than the heel, then we took off on a short jog.

The key, he told me, is to start off running short distances, which was good for me. I was a little intimidated to be running next to a man who is training for next year’s Ironman, a man who has already run two marathons with no shoes. Luckily, he was really nice, assuring me he was very capable of running slowly. He kept an easy pace and, since he was doing all the talking he was the one who sounded winded, not me.

I thought it would hurt my feet but it was surprisingly painless. Seriously, it’s one of those things I guess you just have to try because I was quite skeptical as well. It’s best to start on paved, relatively flat surfaces but eventually these people move their way up to running on dirt/rocky trails. It’s amazing.

And his feet didn’t even look like caveman feet or anything – which I thought they might.

There is one hazard to the sport: My feet were incredibly dirty when I got home. Nothing a little soap and water wouldn’t cure though.