Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Grocery shopping in the rain is Zero Fun. I do mean absolutely, positively, no fun at all. Running in the rain (and squishy sneakers) rates slightly above grocery shopping in the rain. But only very slightly. So with a large storm system coming into the area - and the weather man says it's going to hang around for a couple days - I opted to get the outdoor chores and the grocery shopping instead of my usual long bike and long run. I'll just have to make it up at the gym.

The longest workout I've ever done in the gym was an 18 mile run during the near peak of marathon training. I had to split it up over a couple of treadmills and even a short stint on the the elliptical to keep from getting completely bored out of my skull. BUT it was way better than the kinds of blisters I get when I run in wet socks and soggy sneakers, with zero risk of getting hit by lightning, run over by drivers that shouldn't be allowed to drive in precipitation of any kind, or risk illness/injury from getting doused to within an inch of drowning!

And in more exciting news - my new Vibrams are on their way! For those that follow this blog, I purchased a pair of Vibram five fingers a couple years back for training purposes. Sine then I have maintained low mileage on any one training run with them, but I really do love them. And I did find a pair of racing flats on sale that I loved running in and wore the soles right off them. Getting upward of 10 miles at a time before I noticed any discomfort (and that's with my "normal" bad running form and no strength training of my foot muscles). I really do enjoy minimalist and barefoot shoes. While I do not claim 100% devotion to the barefoot movement. I do ascribe to the general principals of forefoot running and ground feedback which both attribute to good posture and more efficient running.

But the fact remains that I have a desk job, am required to wear "cute, professional women's shoes" 5 days a week, and own more than one pencil skirt and matching suit jacket. There is no room in my wardrobe for thick soled, scraggly calloused, eternally dirty feet. I do not run barefoot and have no intention of ever doing so when 99% of the terrain available to me is paved. If I wanted to bad enough I could find places to run not so dirty and take extra care of my feet to prevent the worst of the above foot hygiene issues. Instead, I choose to invest large sums of money on barefoot shoes that provide a barrier between my little tootsies and the world at large.

My New Shoes! (Not being picky about colors means I got them for 40% off!)