August 28 2005 (my Dad's birthday)
I woke up on the morning of the race with sore calves. That was not surprising. Just the day before, I had been modeling as a statue for a total of 3 hours (not counting rest). Read the full story of this modeling episode. I felt stiff.
Anyway, for this run I went barefoot. Why? I just wanted to try something new. For the past few months, I had been barefoot for some 4 km tempo runs. I came across a few articles and web pages about the benefits of barefoot running. I decided to try.
However, there were some risks. I had never run more than 4 km barefoot. (I had gone barefoot for some long runs in Hawaii but that was all along the soft sandy beaches of the beautiful Kauai Beach). Also, I I had never run this 10 km route before with or without shoes. So I wasn�t sure about the terrain, except that part of it involved running at the beach and the rest mostly roads. But these are risks I was prepared to accept. After all, it was just a fun 10 km run to me with nothing to lose.
The beach was the best place to run for me. I was reminded of my long barefoot runs in scenic Hawaii. Coming back to this 10 km run, I couldn�t resist running at shallow waters. I love to feel cool waters in contact with my feet. Sometimes that caused a bit of a splash, though I tried to keep it at a minimum for fear of wetting the other runners. The run was crowded. I even went to the water to have some fun till the water level almost reached my shorts. I must have looked crazy to the rest of the runners.
It was here at the beach that I lost contact with my running partner cousin Peter. I got carried away with playing with the water. When I looked towards the shore, I could not find Peter. I waited for a few minutes, but figured that he had most probably gone ahead.
At the beach, many runners slowed down considerably. Many even walked. I was initially surprised. But then I guessed they were not used to running along the beach. In Hawaii, I had run many times along the beach and it was a most pleasant experience. I think I took it for granted that running on the beach was easy. I must simply have gotten used to it.
Unfortunately, only about 1 km of the 10 km run was along the beach. The rest were mostly hard unforgiving tarmac roads. My soles started to hurt at about the 6 km mark. But it was nothing too bad, and I finished the race in a little more than an hour.
I might have been the only runner among the thousands who was barefoot. I did not see any other barefoot runner. There were some amused looks, which was expected.
In the aftermath, I noticed a few blisters on my soles, and walking was a little bit difficult for a day or two afterwards. Though I enjoyed it, I don�t think I�ll be running barefoot in any race of more than 10 km. That is as far as my bare feet can take me.
All in all, I was quite happy that I�ve achieved my �first� at something: running a race barefoot. That�s another challenge conquered.
Now all I wanted to do was to take an afternoon nap. Going out for dinner with my family and relatives later in the evening to celebrate my Dad's 76th birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad. |
