Road to Nowhere

Michael Enright wrote:Mark - I ran a race this morning, and a guy there had on what looked like socks with a minimal sole built into the bottom. Very funky. Almost nothing to the sole - looked like a piece of cardboard in terms of thickness. Any idea what those are? I think he'd be better off really barefoot...

Wild! I wonder what they were. Did they look like aquasox? Or did the sock part go up the ankle?

I googled around a bit and found this site for ZEM shoes, which sound similar to what you're describing. They look a bit like slipper-socks, for ninjas.

The "sock" part was higher up the leg. Very odd.

Michael Enright wrote:The "sock" part was higher up the leg. Very odd.

What color were they? And did they almost look like the sort of thing a frogman would wear when not wearing flippers?

They were dark gray and not rubber-looking. The "sock" part looked like, well, a sock!

Michael Enright wrote:They were dark gray and not rubber-looking. The "sock" part looked like, well, a sock!

Hm. I'm stumped.

Did some googling. Might have been these: http://birthdayshoes.com/swiss-protection-socks-review

In any event, they looked a lot like that (though I don't remember them having toes - then again, he was facing away from me, so I wouldn't have had a good view of the front).

Michael Enright wrote:Did some googling. Might have been these: http://birthdayshoes.com/swiss-protection-socks-review

In any event, they looked a lot like that (though I don't remember them having toes - then again, he was facing away from me, so I wouldn't have had a good view of the front).

Wow, socks with kevlar? That's crazy.

Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, mild, muggy. 54 degrees, 89% humidity. Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T. Fuel: Zilch.

Oof. I'm starting to make the transition from mostly mid-morning runs to early morning runs, and my body wasn't exactly thrilled with it this morning. I accidentally set the alarm two hours early (oops). When I got up at the right time, I was a little discombobulated and a lot sluggish.

The fact that I'm passing on any food, or even coffee, before I start running might have something to do with it. The blood donation last week probably does, too.

I set out barefoot, letting my body set the pace. I did the first mile at a very low intensity, then picked it up a little for the second a third miles. It was fine, but it felt a little more like an obligatory workout than a frolic. I'll need to get my attitude adjusted to make this work. That shouldn't be a problem, as long as I remember to set my alarm for the right time.

Average HR for entire run 135. (no walking warm-up or cool-down)

Walk: 2.2 miles

Weather: Should have brought my umbrella - got caught in a shower. 64 degrees

I saw the rain a few miles away but decided to test my luck and go without an umbrella. I was, of course, wrong. The rain hit at the turnaround point. It wasn't much, and it wouldn't have been an issue if I was in running gear, but I was dressed for the office. Oops!

I broke into a trot until I got to the cover of some trees, which provided a little shelter as the shower passed. I was able to walk most of the rest of the way back without getting much wetter - though it opened up again about two blocks from the office, so I had to jog in the rest of the way. Now I'm damp from the outside and the inside!

you must be a dedicated sort of person to do something like that.

ounce wrote:you must be a dedicated sort of person to do something like that.

Or a damp sort of person.

I've managed to dry out (it could have been a lot worse),but I'm a little sore - but not from running. I finally (after 7 years) tackled painting the downstairs restroom in my house and discovered why the previous job was so sloppily done. There was zero room to move, so I ended up doing yoga on a ladder. Alita kept Alec out of earshot, which was a very good thing.

At least it's done now. Well. Sort of. Now that it's dried, it seeds a second coat.

make a design with the 2nd coat.

Laughing at the banter. And at the image of Mark swearing enough to warrant keeping a child at bay.

ounce wrote:make a design with the 2nd coat.

Hm. I'm not thinking that'd be a good idea. The design might closely resemble somebody flipping the bird.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Laughing at the banter. And at the image of Mark swearing enough to warrant keeping a child at bay.

Oh, well... our recreational cussing has been curtailed as parents. And we must be doing a pretty good job of it, because Alec (11) is still pretty innocent. We once asked him if he knew what the "F" word was. He said, "fat?" So it wouldn't take much to qualify as a torrent of profanity.

Thanks for the chuckle Mark....I had one of those experiences with painting a bathroom before....NOT FUN AT ALL!! I feel your pain and your desire to spew hatred at an inanimate object.

Joel H wrote:Thanks for the chuckle Mark....I had one of those experiences with painting a bathroom before....NOT FUN AT ALL!! I feel your pain and your desire to spew hatred at an inanimate object.

Thanks, Joel. Now I see why professional painters pull the toilet. It's not to make it easier to paint behind it (that's actually pretty easy), but to give the painter some space to move. Not looking forward to the second coat! I'd like to think I could get away without having to cut the paint in again, but I know that's wrong.

I'll be happy when my body recovers from the painting/yoga, though. I'm weird in all sorts of places, and I cut a run short today because of soreness. Sheesh.

Barefoot Run: 2 miles on dry asphalt

Weather: Cool, moist. 49 degrees, 98% humidity, a little mist. Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T. Fuel: 16 oz of nuun beforehand to see if it'd get my body working (not so much)

It's going to take some time to adapt to these get-up-and-go types of runs. My body wasn't enthused about running, and my right ankle started to complain a little, so I wrapped up the run at 2 miles.

I tried tanking up on fluids, and that didn't help. I guess the next step is to get up a little earlier to give my body more time to wake up... and maybe even take a little caffeine. I know I'll get this figured out. It's just taking longer than I'd like.

Average HR: 134

No running for me today. I gave up my morning to get the second coat of paint on the #$@! bathroom walls.

I wrestled with waiting a while before attempting it again - my knee is sore due to bad ladder climbing technique (must remember to engage the vastus medialis!) - but after consultation with Alita (who knows me well) last night, it was clear that this job was going to drive me in-fracking-sane until it was over and done with, so I'd better bite the bullet and get it done.

So... I did most of the prep work last night before bed, cheated on re-cutting-in the sides by using a small roller instead of a brush after breakfast and finished it all up with time to spare for a shower before lunch. Good thing. I had sweat dripping off my head by the time I was done.

Even so, now that it's truly over, I must admit that it was worth the extra effort. And best of all, it's done!



As you can see by the photo, there was pretty much no room to move in there, which made the job trickier than it needed to be.

Final score: Us: 2 (guest room and powder room); Gawdawful lavender paint: 0. Boom.

Mark B wrote:Final score: Us: 2 (guest room and powder room); Gawdawful lavender paint: 0. Boom.

Brownie points: Priceless.

Thanks for closing the lid

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Final score: Us: 2 (guest room and powder room); Gawdawful lavender paint: 0. Boom.

Brownie points: Priceless.

Brownie points are topped only by the extreme relief of finally doing something you'd been putting off for years. As we stalled, we kept putting up different blobs of paint to see how it might look. So we ended up with a bunch of earth-toned blobs floating on a pretty princess lavender background. Guests would come out of there shaking their head, snickering. To simply have it all one color is a relief!

Mike MacLellan wrote:Thanks for closing the lid

Oh, good point! But ever since I was a kid and our pet chipmunk drowned in the toilet (don't ask), I've been pretty religious about keeping the lid down.

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A coda to the bathroom story: As I was leaving for work yesterday, my kid said was going to be the first one to use it.

Okay, I said, but don't touch the walls!

I know! He said.

I drive to work, happy as a lark. A few minutes later, I get a text message.

When he washed his hands after using the bathroom, he went for the towel with wet hands... and got water all over the still-curing paint. It made streaks.

It was an accident, of course, and we didn't warn him about the risk. But still, it was, ahem, a VERY good thing I was miles away from home.

Anyway, I'd calmed down by the time I got home from work late last night. I touched up that section before going to bed. It looks fine now.

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Another rest day for me as I give my knee a rest. It's gotten irritated like this before (a little tendonitis?), and it should be fine in a day or so. I'd rather not push my luck, being that we're spending all of next week in Colorado. Hopefully, it'll not have burned down before we get there.

Family Barefoot Run: 2 miles on dry asphalt

Weather: Mostly cloudy, warm, muggy. 70 degrees, 73% humidity Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T (shed) Fuel: Post-breakfast

Alec wanted to do a mile around the block, barefoot, to earn some time on the computer later today, and Alita and I decided to join him and make it a family barefoot affair! I wanted to test out my knee and see how it reacted.

We did a mile, then decided to do another one, slowly looping around the block. I took it easy, and had fun trying to help Alec learn to relax into the barefoot form. Alita did great, as well. But wow.. it was quite muggy for around here! I ended up shucking my shirt and running the last lap topless. One nice thing about losing some weight - I felt less self-conscious about going shirtless.

I didn't wear the Garmin, so I have no idea on pace or HR. The effort level was low, though I did kick in the last 150 feet or so -- and it felt like I was going pretty fast.

Guess you'd better start working on that tan.

Bunch of hillbillies running down the road barefoot!

Gotta love it...

ounce wrote:Guess you'd better start working on that tan.

Yeah. That. I did neglect to mention the solar flare, didn't I?

Michael Enright wrote:Bunch of hillbillies running down the road barefoot!

Gotta love it...

Boy, howdy! Given that we live surrounded by the aspirational middle class, you'd think we get more funny looks than we do... but I guess they are used to us by now.

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I'm writing this in Colorado, on vacation visiting family. It should hit 100 today. That is going to be a bit of a shock. At least it's a dry heat!