Barefoot Running

This morning I ran barefoot in our courtyard and the pathway around the church. I ran on different surfaces - grass, sand, rocky patches, and cement. I was planning to run/walk for only 15 minutes but I enjoyed doing it that I didn't want to stop. So I ended up running continuously for 30 minutes. Although I wanted to run longer I had to stop. I still had to attend the opening mass of the Visitation.

This is the second day that I have tried running barefoot. I started doing it yesterday inspired by the book "Born to Run." I found it easy to run smoothly without pain. I haven't done a lot of running for the last three weeks due to knee pain so I have just been doing brisk walking for 4-7 hours. Barefoot running is indeed therapeautic and it can strengthen my knees and thicken the soles of my feet. I like the feel of the grass and sand on my feet.

Within this month, I plan to gradually increase my time in running barefoot to an hour or more. This is part of my training for the Trans-Mindanao Trek this Holy Week. When I walk/run the Camino de Santiago in Spain this July, I might even do part of it barefoot.

For hundreds of thousand of years, our ancestors ran barefoot. The Kenyans continue to do it. Abebe Bikila won the Rome Olympic Marathon in the 1960s running barefoot. In recent years, there has been a resurgence in barefoot running. I would like to give it a try as part of my training although I wouldn't run road races and ultramarathons barefoot.

As I ran barefoot, I remembered a dream which I had two years ago and which I recorded in my dream diary:

"I am running barefoot on a trail that is at first muddy and then grassy. I am following a boy who is running very fast. I am trying to keep up with his pace."

I haven't tried to unravel the meaning of this dream but now I have an idea what it means.

(posted by cellphone -mobile blogging)