My 1st barefoot run!

Today I ran for the first time on the beach with no shoes on! It was so much fun!

Back in September I met Christopher McDougal at the Bird-in-Hand 5k. After meeting him and reading his book, Born To Run, I really started thinking about this whole running barefoot thing. Four years ago I bought Fila skele toes. I tried walking in them and even running in them and just didn't like it. It hurt my feet. After my run yesterday I stopped by the beach to take a few photos. While I was standing there, a runner stopped and was watching the dolphins with me. I looked down at his feet and saw he was barefoot. I said how do you run barefooted? He said it's not bad on the sand. He then told me I should just start by walking. After a few more minutes of chatting with him he was off and it got me thinking. Before I went to bed I decided to get up and go walk/run on the beach.

My alarm was set for 6:30am. Got up drank a cup of coffee and ate some breakfast and headed out. It was really weird leaving the house without shoes. I kept stopping and thinking I'm forgetting something, oh wait my shoes! It's .34 miles from my house to the sand. The walk to the beach was just as I expected, it hurt. I think I need to go to the Dollar Store and get a cheap pair of flip flops just to walk to and from the beach.

No shoes!!

The plan was to just walk and see how it felt to run. I wore my watch just for tracking the distance. I started out walking then slowly running. Once I got to the Cocoa Beach Pier, which is 1/2 mile from my street I decided to sprint. I felt like a little kid again. I was free to splash in the waves and just run. I have been so worried about my time and pace lately that it's kinda taking the fun out of running. But this morning I was just having fun and remembered why I love to run. I'm not fast BUT that's ok. People on the beach were looking at me like I'd lost my damn mind. It was awesome!! You know you're having fun when people look at you funny.

I sprinted until I couldn't breath, which wasn't very far. Then I'd slow down catch my breath and just watch the waves. I stopped took photos, even sent a few texts. I had fun!!! I ended up running to where my husband and I got married. Turned around and ran back. On the way back I did the same thing, run fast then run slow and enjoy. I did get brave and I tried to run in the soft sand. HOLY CRAP THAT FREAKING HURTS! What a great leg workout!

Once I got done with the 4 miles of running, I took several photos then decided to walk a 1/2 mile in the soft sand. That hurts your feet from the seashells and is a killer leg workout!!

When I got home I took my dog for a walk. Still no shoes!!

 Not sure if I'll be running on the pavement without my shoes, but I'll defiantly be out on the beach barefoot!

Do you barefoot run?

Excalibur 10 Miler Race Recap 2015

For the second year in a row I went on a quest to get my crown! Only had to run 10 miles to get it!

Photo Source: Excalibur 10 Miler Facebook page

I had to share the race map. I think this is my favorite race map EVER!

This year I was on the blue team, and of course I had to dress in my team colors! When you registered you picked which color team you wanted to be on. Either blue or maroon.

When I signed up for this race I had a goal, I just wanted to PR. Of course my sciatic nerve had other plans for me. I just haven't been able to run long distances or run fast. So new plan, just get that crown. Run, walk, skip or crawl, I was going to get that crown!!

This is a unique race. Of course you can tell by the name, Excalibur 10 miler, it has a medieval theme. Right before the start, there's a sword fight. Two Knights from Medieval Times come out and put on a show. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo. After the sword fight, the blue and maroon team charge the field and head for the start line. It rained the day before and the field was wet and muddy, so I slowly walked trying not to get my shoes wet. Hey this princess is picky :)

The first two miles went great. I was keeping a great pace feeling good and at mile 2.5 I pretty much lost all my energy. That's what happens when you don't run more than 1-3 miles at a time for a month. Oops! Around mile 4 I started to walk and Bill, a runner that I knew stopped to stay hi.

We ended up running/walking the rest of the race together. If not for him, my time probably would have been worse.

It's hard to see, but there's a crown on my head!

I will be back next year to try again! Actually I'll be back for the next four years. After the race they announced a four year challenge! Check out their website!

My Crown!

Did you run the Excalibur 10 miler? Are you going to take on the challenge for the next four years?