My new tattoo: revisited!

So follow this link and see how my tattoo got "discovered"! :) I won a free t-shirt!
http://www.chrismcdougall.com/blog/

My First Boston Marathon: Part 1

Well, I've had a week to put my thoughts to paper. I have so many great reports that I don't know where to begin. I think I will begin as a kind of diary. and then I will go into my experience at the marathon as a separate post.

The girls and I left for Massachusetts on Friday morning, 4/16. It was a pretty uneventful drive. We arrived at our families place in Berkley, MA around 3pm. I don't mind the drive. It feels good to be out on the road. My children travel really well in the car. I get asked all those questions I swear they save up for 4 hour drives. Like, "Mom when I was a baby how long did I breast feed?" My youngest, who is 8, has a new facination with the Baby Story on TLC!

Friday night was a long night, we went to see the Red Sox play! Whoo Hoo! I haven't been to a game since I was probably 8-9 years old. We had perfect seats! 7 rows from 3rd base! It was alot of fun. We had to ride the subway to get to the game. It's always fun to experience the MBTA. Since my husband lived in Boston for several years he makes the best tour guide.

Saturday I spent nearly the whole day in Boston. The children played with their cousins, my husband worked on some welding for his boat and I drove to the nearest subway, got on, went to the city. Yes, all by myself. I felt like a big girl! All grown up and taking the subway! :) LOL I have to admit that I am not ready to face the subway barefoot. I wore my huarches. Once I arrived I went straight to the Boston Public Library where I met the Barefoot Naked Tour run group. After a few introduction from Chris McDougall and a few photos our group of 50 or so barefoot and minimalist runners set off on our 5 mile run along the Charles river. WOW! Nice to see Boston that way. I got some pretty pictures of the river. The only thing that would have made the day even better was if the sun was shining. It was windy and overcast. After the run I went to the Naked Cabaret and book signing at the library. I got my "Born to Run" book signed by Chris and was entertained by a lively group of professionals including Dr. Irene Davis and Dr. Daniel Lieberman. After this event I walked to the BAA Boston Marathon Expo. WOW again. It was pretty big. I don't believe I got to experience the whole thing. I think I missed a whole room. Stayed long enough to get my race packet, t-shirt, GU's, and try a few new products. I usually do not like crowds. I hate to go shopping at malls for that reason. So I was happy to leave, take the subway to my car and drive away from the city.


I decided that the girls had been so good that I made plans on Sunday to drive to the American Girl Doll store so they could spend their Christmas money. Once again crowds! All the little girls, all holding their American Girl Dolls. I think I saw one father in the whole store and he looked lost. He had that blank stare look about him. LOL! We had lunch with our friends at the Cheesecake Factory. We don't have a Cheesecake Factory in Maine so it was a special treat. The girls were excited to see their friends. They had a good day. Charles and I spent the night at the Colonial Inn in Charleston. We walked to the North End for Italian and had a relaxing evening together. The kids stayed with their cousins and had an Easter Egg hunt. It was nice to spend the night before the marathon with my husband. :)

The next day is the Boston Marathon...so I think I'll make that a new post.

Christopher McDougall - Events - Harvard Book Store

Christopher McDougall - Events - Harvard Book Store

My new tattoo

Been wanting to get another tattoo for awhile. I wanted it to mean something. On vacation in FL. with family for Christmas my husband took a few pictures of me running barefoot on the beach. We used a picture and asked an artist to come up with a drawing that would make a nice tattoo. After many days and many drawings later...I was quite picky about how I wanted it to look...this is what I did. On the left calf. I love it. Now I forget that I have it because I haven't been in shorts since our trip to the sunny south. Can't wait to show it off this summer. :)

My Huaraches.

Another learning moment....
Have been planning to run the Bosto Marathon this year for the first time ever. Barefoot of course. But my training without some kind of foot protection has left me wondering if I set an unrealistic goal. I can do the mileage...but can I do all 26.2 in barefeet? I ran my 20 miler in VFF on a cold, windy day with temps about 18 degrees. BRRRR. I ran the Hyannis Marathon, Hyannis , MA 2/27/11. It was a training run...would have run anyway, but why not run with 357 other runners right? Anyway, also a cold, snowy, wet day with temps below freezing. Wore my VFF again! Got blisters from the rubbing and wet things. HATE THAT! I think I would have been better of without footwear. Will post pics soon of my feet. One of the ends of my toes just fell off too...it was a long time coming. Got frostbite last winter and has never been the same. Do we really need our toenails? A discussion for another time I think. Anyway, I'm rambling.

Did well with the time on the marathon. 3:50. My motivation as always is just getting to the finish line for warmth and a beer. :) Oh, I got my Huaraches Kit in the mail...YAY. have them put together...like them so far. Walking in them is no problem. Only have tried them inside on the YMCA track for about 1 mile...not sure about them yet. I think they will just be another tool to help me fit in this summer when walking around town, or become my new car shoes....at this point my assessment is that I would still rather be barefoot. Have some trail running events coming up this spring they may be good for some of the trails. We will have to wait and see....

What's next for me: 26.2 Hour Relay Marathon Challenge; April 2,2011(CHRHS Track) I will do a 1 hour leg of the relay to help support my friend Kathy with the Dana- Faber Cancer Research Marathon Challenge, in the memory of my friend Stephanie who just passed away from Breast Cancer.
Boston Marathon; April 18, 2011

When I first decided to give barefoot running a try I needed some insight, technique, and general knowledge. So I went onto the internet . I got some very useful information from both Barefoot Ted and Barefoot Ken Bob. This summer I had the great pleasure of hosting Barefoot Ken Bob, his wife Cathy and their really cute dog Herman. They traveled from Huntington Beach, CA across the United States and back hosting barefoot workshops along the way. My children still talk about their visit.

Ken Bob had lots of great advice to share with everyone and it was really fun to meet him and have him be a part of our lives for a couple of days. I was really excited to share with my community all the wonderful things that I had learned from Ken Bob as well as learn some new things myself.
I was just thinking about about Ken Bob and thought I'd share a photo with you.