My way to celebrate

I decided to get a new tattoo as my way to celebrate my first Boston marathon and my first barefoot marathon. Here it is:






Why a crow? I ran for the master woman's Crow athletic team AND crows are cool, fearless, and don't care what the weather is....they still love to fly (or run)

Toenails

In one of my earlier posts I stated: "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."

Well, I looked into the subject and found from "Ask Yahoo" this little bit of info. So I'm ok with loosing a few toenails. In my opinion I no longer need them and I'm ok with that.

We find nail polish to be a good enough reason for having them but thought you might be looking for a more scientific answer. We set out to find one by consulting the always reliable Britannica.com.

According to the online encyclopedia, the human and primate nail corresponds to the claw, hoof, or talon of other animals. Human nails protect the tips of the toes and fingers, while fingernails help us pick up small objects and scratch ourselves.

On the other hand, the feet of primates are capable of gripping objects, just like their hands, so their toenails have much the same function as fingernails. However, human toenails seem to be an evolutionary leftover.

We searched the Web on "toenails fingernails" and "toenail purpose." Both of these searches turned up sites devoted to diseases of the nails, which provided more opinions. On one such site, podiatrist Michael Zapf agrees that nails are essential for manipulation and scratching (and he points out the importance of scratching in a primate or human's life).

But the doctor debunks the notion that nails exist to protect the tips of toes and fingers. He argues that your digits wouldn't be especially sensitive without nails. Dermatologist Mitch Bender appears to agree: "People can get along without nails -- toenails more than fingernails -- but they do make daily life a bit easier."

So, though there's some disagreement about whether or not toenails and fingernails serve to protect our digits, our resources all agree that our nails help us pick up little stuff like pencils, peanuts, and even bottles of nail polish.

First Hash Run

Did my first Hash Run with my Husband on April 30, 2011! Cherry Blossom Hash in Portland, Maine....was a lot of fun! At introductions I was "Virgin Theresa" and I was invited to come by "myself" at that point we were off to a great start! :)

Proof that my husband was there...the cute one in the hat and VFF. This was our Sake Near stop under a cherry tree!

May 1st Barefoot Running Day!

Lake Quannapowitt

Main Street Wakefield, MA

A beautiful day! about 17 guys and 3 girls...come on ladies where are you? Was fun to hang out for the morning and meet some wonderful people. Spreading the word!

Other Female Marathon Inspirations

Well, I may be the first female to have run the Boston Marathon Barefoot...but there are some pretty amazing women who have also run barefoot marathons:
Kudos to you ladies for being an inspiration to us all. :)

Barefoot Angie Bee: Des Moines Marathon, October 2010 (This was her first barefoot marathon)
Caity McCardell: LA Marathon, March 2011 (this was her first marathon)
I think one other woman ran the LA marathon in March 2011 barefoot but I don't recall her name. If anyone else has this information please share it.

Boston Marathon: Part 2

My morning started with an early rise, about 6am...taking a bus from Charlestown to meet the Marathon buses at the Boston Common. Waiting in a line at the buses for about 45 minutes. It was a cold, windy morning standing in line. Note to self: wear toe socks with Huaraches next time...The weather man promised sunny and in the 60's right? NOT! The bus ride to athletes village took about 30 minutes...longest 30 minutes in history!



Athletes village was crowded with runners anxiously waiting to be called to the start. I followed some on-line advise: arrived, made my way to the food and water tent, grabbed a bagel and Gatorade and then stood in the bathroom line...ate while waiting...grabbed a banana and a smoothie Powerbar and a water and got back in line...ate while waiting...got back in line while sipping water...got done...they called my wave to start toward the corral. By the time I got my bag on the bus to be shipped to the finish...I still had to walk nearly 3/4 of a mile to my corral.(Wave 3; corral 1) I ended up running to get there on time. They called a 3 minute warning to the start and I was still way back by corral #9. When I entered my corral I had just enough time to take off my Huarches, throw them into my belt and go....WOW!


I never pictured what it would be like to start with that many people. I was surrounded at all times buy 100's of runners and even more spectators.

I don't use an i-pod when I run. I haven't since I started running barefoot. I like to hear the sounds my feet are making...when they start slapping the ground I know I'm tired and I need to focus on my form. This marathon was very loud. There was only one small quarter mile section that seemed to be "quiet"! I wished I had earplugs for most of the marathon. Glad I didn't at the end though. The cheering crowd it what helped me get to the finish line.

What I remember: (or remember thinking)
relax, focus, good form, relax, breathe, focus, good form...I have to pee, breathe, wow look at that shirt, nice, form , relax, I have to pee....( I stopped at porta potty about mile 5ish to pee AGAIN) sorry I drank so much before the start but I was really worried about dehydration. There are points in the marathon when things my family had said to me would enter my mind, like my husband saying before he left me standing in line at the buses, "you're going to be fine, have fun!" I wanted to keep it fun. I wanted to remember smiling. I wanted to finish and know I had finished my first Boston Marathon with my head held high.

I remember worrying about the water stops and wondering how to avoid the sticky mess that was waiting for me...I remember being excited when I heard the crowd cheering for me. When runners went by me or came up behind me and said stuff like." wow your barefoot, great job!" I would say something like, ' you're doing a great job too.." they usually would reply,"but I'm wearing shoes", and I would say, "yes but we all had to work hard to get here, I'm proud of you too." and they would usually just smile.

Heartbreak Hill? I'll say it again..what hill? Training on hills in coastal Maine certainly prepared me for that. I passed lots of runners on that hill. I wondered why they were walking? It wasn't that bad. I also felt bad for those runners and a number of times I tried to encourage them to not give up...we were almost at the top...they were doing great...I wonder if they heard me?

I was elated to finally see my family holding big signs and yelling my name, somewhere around the 24 mile mark, just before a water stop. I stopped long enough to give some quick hugs. and off I went with even more enthusiasm. I remember turning the corner and seeing the finish line. My legs were tired, my feet were tired and I had tears in my eyes. I finished the Boston Marathon! Barefoot! When I was younger all I wanted to do was come to the big city and run! I finally had made it. It was worth the wait. I had a fabulous run, a wonderful weekend with family and the best recovery after a marathon. My quads were tight for a couple of days but I had no calf pain or tiredness and my feet are just fine. No bruises, blisters or hot spots. Just took a couple of days to get the black tar stain off.










Here are some interviews related to my Boston Marathon experience:

http://knox.villagesoup.com/sports/story/withee-bares-all-well-her-feet-in-first-boston-marathon/394113

Theresa Withee, possibly first woman to run Boston barefoot - An interview | Barefoot Runners Societ

www.barefootrunners.org

I think I need some more time to think about things....I'll post more as I remember it...but for now: Enjoy!

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/