-- -- -- -- My Hundredth Barefoot Mile -- -- -- -- *Celebrate!* -- -- -- *Celebrate!* -- -- -- *Celebrate!*

My barefoot blogging buddy, Barefoot Neil Z told me that, rather than sabotage, I need to celebrate my little successes.  So, here is my faltering attempt to celebrate. (And believe me, if what I see on his blog is right, this guy really knows how to celebrate and I can learn from him -- check out his recent 10-10-10 birthday posts:  here and here)

I knew I would hit my hundredth barefoot mile today, so I wanted to plan a little something special for my blog.  I wasn't sure what.  I'm not one of those "give-away-something" kind of blogs.  So, I just needed a little something extra to make today's post a little more zippy.

I called my good friend and asked she would be the videographer so I could put up a video of me finishing my 100th barefoot mile.  She agreed, even though she was really really busy and had to squeeze it in between driving to the vet to pick up medicine for her cat, some household chores, and other mom-type errands and running around. (I thank her very much.  She didn't want to be publicly acknowledged, but I am very grateful for her help!)

We agreed on a spot to meet and I drew a chalk "finish line" on the ground were I would plan to achieve my 100th barefoot mile.  We took two videos.  The first one is a video of me taking off:



As you can see, Daffodil was a little hyper -- jumping up and down -- not expecting to start running yet,  knowing something was a little different today.

I ran 3.5 miles. I was a little worried about being able to do it because this was the first day I have ever run barefoot two days in a row.  I have been religious about taking a day off in-between for recovery.  Recovery -- something essential to all fitness plans -- has seemed even more essential for me because 1) - I am not young anymore, 2) - I am not at the highest fitness level -- and 3) - I am overweight.  Up until today, I have allowed myself to pretty much completely recover from each run.  But today I still had a little stiffness in me from running yesterday and my feet were a little achy as I started out.  However, I needed to get out there to get my regular consistent schedule back in place, as explained yesterday.   I tucked my Vibrams into my belt "just in case."  (Never needed them :-))

It occurred to me that some of the pedestrians out there might see my chalk line with "100 Barefoot Miles" written on it and put two and two together when they saw me running along.  It seemed almost like I was participating in some kind of live performance art or something.

But of course, that was only in my mind.  One gets  imaginative out there while running, especially if one is not the kind of runner who listens to music while running.  Perhaps using the new YurBuds I won over in Barefoot Neil Z's 10/10/10 contest might help discipline some of my imaginings while I'm out there.

Anyway, when I was about 1/2 a mile from home I gave my friend a call so she could have time to get to the finish line before I did.

She told me she was not happy with the video results, that they had not come out as perfect as she had hoped.  I told her it did not matter.  One thing that has been a hallmark of me being a barefoot runner and my blog in general is that it is all far from perfect.

So, here it is -- my 100th Barefoot Mile!