I tried all sorts of different stretching and treatment strategies. But inevitably around Mile 6 or less, the pain would always make itself heard. A whisper that if ignored soon became a scream. This continued until on a visit to California for a friends wedding, I decided to go for a short jog on the beach. Not wanting to be one of those people who runs on the beach in shoes, I left my shoes in the car and ran barefoot. With the sand filling the spaces in between my toes I ran for miles, pain free. This is the part of the story called, the waking up of my feet.
It wasn't an instant transformation, but over the past year I've rediscovered running, by running barefoot. Barefoot running was for me a new expression of something I'd been doing since I was a gangly 13 year old trying to chase down the cross country team, my older brother, or my neighbor, who happened to be a professional runner.
For me running barefoot is synonymous with running aware. Feeling the grass as it lies soft only to raise itself erect again, the warm concrete pressing against the pads of my feet, or the pointed prod of a pebble signaling one of the 20, long dormant, muscles in my foot to react. Reawakening these muscles has been a slow, steady and in progress project. But not only does my running feel stronger then ever before, it also is a more intimate, satisfying experience. Greater connecting with the dirt from which I was made. Doing away with the inch of rubber which had created a chasm with the sole (pun alert) purpose of numbing my body to the sensations and feelings of, well, running.
Have I lost you? If not, we're going to bring it all together. In theory I hope to travel with this same awareness. The principles of barefoot running, are to forget muscle memory (undoing years of negative habits), change what's strong (strengthening the foundation, your feet, rather than overcompensating), slow down (at least at first to really understand what your doing and proper form), reawaken your feet (through patience and listening to your body). I hope to transfer these principles to my travels. By feeling the ground beneath my feet, so to speak, as I move through each new experience. Maybe it'll be a little painful but I hope in the end it will lead to a fuller, more real experience that helps me to grow as a person.
