Barefoot Running in the Tropics!

Joy here...Okay, so my posting of late has been rather lacklustre.  That's because, well, my workouts of late have been rather lacklustre.  I mean, I can't write much if I'm not doing much, can I?

Well, this will all change.  The Man and I arrived in Malaysia on Monday night (it's now Wednesday) and have gone for two barefoot runs in our bikila five-fingered shoes.  These haven't been super long runs (only about 30 mins), but we're terribly jet lagged, and so we're just happy to get back on the running wagon and get our mojo going, if you know what I mean.  Running out there in the tropical weather, with the humidity all around me, the light sweat on my skin, and the pavement beneath my five-fingered, barefoot shoes is transformative.  No longer do I feel bored and bound by the regular work-a-day world that can often threaten to suck me under, especially in a Canadian winter, but now I feel like I can do anything.  I can run barefoot, free as the breeze!

One of the greatest running books out
there - a must read for runners and non-
runners alike!

And what we've discovered since we were last here - preaching about the benefits of the five-fingered shoes and the barefoot running movement - some of our friends have joined us in embracing this barefoot running movement.  Two of our friends here just ran their first 1/2 marathons in the five-fingers, and another friend just bought his first pair last week.  So when they all came over yesterday to welcome us back to town, out of the 6 people sitting around catching up, 4 of us own five-finger, barefoot shoes, and the other two were Nomi and her Man.  Since Nomi just finished her first full marathon, as far as I'm concerned, her running credentials are without question; so now, we may just lure her over to the barefoot movement too (especially since she's already started wearing minimalist shoes).  I mean, I bought her a copy of McDougall's great book Born to Run about ultra-distance running, how humans are evolved to run, and the focus on barefoot running, so it's only a matter of time before she, too, joins us in the wonderful world of running barefoot!  While we decide what our next running races are going to be, what our next fitness goals will be, and determine where to set our sights next, we may just enjoy the sensation of running the way humans were meant to run:  barefoot.


Over and out,
Joy