But why? Why did I think that way.  Driving barefoot is infinitely better than sandals or flip-flops as there is nothing to get stuck.  As for entering the stores,  if the health department demanded we wear shoes, surely they had a good reason.  Or was it just deception?  Those signs reading “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service – by order of the health department”. When you hear things through the grapevine and assume them to be true, there’s a word for that, it’s called an idiot.

After doing some research, people have specifically asked States through the U.S. to explain their laws regarding being barefoot, Michigan says:

Some Michigan restaurants and supermarkets display the warning sign “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service – by order of the health department.” Although such signs may represent the attitude of store management, the requirement is not based upon any Michigan law. Michigan’s food safety standards address employees involved in food handling and do not regulate the attire of the customer.

Oh, so it’s not illegal?  The store owners just figured, what the hell? Why are these signs even allowed to exist purporting authority? No matter how many times people, signs, or police tell you it’s illegal, laws are laws.  So what can a shopkeeper do if you walk into their store barefoot? They can ask you to leave. That’s it.  That’s all they can do.  They can’t call the cops (well they can, but that opens a whole new bag of failure), they definitely can’t have you arrested and fined.  They can only ask you, a paying customer, who wishes to give them money, to leave. And what if they explain so eloquently that the law forbids it, you’ve got to leave. Prove it, prove to me what you’re saying is true because I’ve researched it, have you?

What about driving though?  Surely you can’t just get into your car and go around driving barefoot. Yup, you can.  They specifically tell the police:

There is nothing in the Michigan Vehicle Code that prohibits barefoot driving. Careless or reckless driving would really be a stretch, as an argument could be made that a barefoot person has more control over the pedals.

Since our preconceptions are so ingrained in our brains the police figure you have to be doing something dangerous if you’re driving without shoes on.  It’s all so logical.  Of course that paints a very assuming brush over law enforcement, but that fact that they must issue something like this makes to clear to me that there is a lot of misunderstanding out there about being barefoot.

Why is there such a strong reaction to someone’s barefoot?

The graph above shows my aggregate plus/minus for each day.  It appears that I’ve been in the positive 12 of 15 days, with only slightly negative in the offending days.

Resolutions set for 2009 on 1/1/09

1. Understand my income and expenses (+1). So far, so good.  I’ve aggregated everything I have available to me into Mint.com, and categorized it. I am waiting a few months to get a baseline set of data for groceries, entertainment, etc. Once this is set, a budget can be created for the following months.  This resolution has made good progress thus far.
2. Revamp hard copy filing system and implement process to keep records current (+1). Thus far I’ve only managed to clean out my office and purchase another filing cabinet.  Due to some unforeseen issues with the house, this has suffered.
3. Drink no more than 1 normal sized cup of coffee a day (-2). Must…have…caffeine.  Wow, coffee is addictive.  It’s easy to make, easy to drink, and the effects are much better than alcohol.  Feeling a little down?  Need a little pick me up?  Since I don’t drink soda, this is the quickest caffeine delivery device available to me.  The problem is that is keeps me up late at night, throws my body off, forcing it to not understand when it is really tired, and has a detrimental effect on my exercise.  The energy feels faux.
4. Drink no more than 1 normal serving of alcohol per day (-3). Since I don’t usually drink that much to begin with, this hasn’t been hard to accomplish.  What this resolution has allowed me to do is be more cognoscente of what alcohol I am putting my body, when, and for what purpose.
5. Publish on this blog daily, if only a sentence or two (+2). I have posted more here than I have in a long time.  I don’t know if I like the daily aspect of it.  When I post, I’d rather in not be a sentence or two.  It’s hard to keep things purposeful or useful if that’s the case.  This needs further reflection.
6. Exercise 3 times a week, for 20 minutes minimum (+2). Fantastic! My running has started again and I’ve been fitting it in where I can.  My energy levels are increasing and the serotonin release is a nice mood booster.  It’s amazing what a little exercise can do.

Record Keeping

Joesgoals has been a simple and effective means of recording my trials and tribulations from a thumbs up or down perspective.  My dashboard has a web clip of the interface that allows for entering the checks and minuses.  This makes it easy for me to bring up my dashboard, edit what I’ve done for the day, and get right back to what I’ve been working on.  It also keeps the goals in my face, without the need for a start page, calendar reminder, etc.

]]> http://www.dragonslife.org/mid-month-update/personal/feed/ 0 http://www.dragonslife.org/running-in-the-snow-a-pragmatic-approach/workout/ http://www.dragonslife.org/running-in-the-snow-a-pragmatic-approach/workout/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:49:27 +0000 Rob http://www.dragonslife.org/?p=149

Flickr: di_the_huntress

Yesterday the snow kept coming down, 2″, 4″, all the way up to 8″ by the time I walked out the door, ready to run for the first time in the snow.

Sure I have ran track in the early spring while the snow is melting, but that was quite a few years ago and it was also not in 8″ of fresh snow.

Before I set out, I had a few concerns:

1. I only had very low rise ankle socks for running.
2. Would I be slipping around on the snow (or hidden ice) with my shoes.

Ankle Socks

The problem with ankle socks becomes glaringly apparent when attempting to pull a pair of tights low enough to cover the area just above the ankle.  Running will naturally pull the tights even higher, leaving more and more exposed ankle for the snow to bite.

The obvious solution to this problem is to own a pair of running high rise socks.  After my snow run was successful, I purchased such a pair.

Since I didn’t have a pair available I cut the bottoms off a pair of long socks, then pulled those tube over my ankle.  This proved to be sufficient coverage to prevent the snow from penetrating my socks.

Slippage

There are running horror stories of people slipping on the snow/ice and tearing AC ligaments, being out of running for years.  That sounds a bit more painful than I’d like to risk without a little research into traction.

A few simple searches turned up a novel approach, simply take an older pair of running shoes and screw some hex (think gutter) screws into the tread [1][2].  I found a few more elegant, if not expensive methods were available as well [3].

After modding my older pair of Mizuno’s, I was ready to venture into the winter wonderland.

The Experience

As I walked out the door, I wondered if I would be warm enough, or too warm.  I had on a pair of NB running tights, shorts over the top.  Of course I had my ankle socks and homemade ankle warmers.  My torso was covered with a long sleeve running shirt and my Gortex windbreaker.  I covered my hands with a pair of gloves and my head with winter hat.

The win initially bit at m legs, but after a few minutes I was comfortable.  The only complaint body wise was the issue with the falling snow.  Since there was a bit of a wind, I couldn’t avoid the snow blowing into my face.  This didn’t bother my skin so much as my eyelashes.  The snow would stick to the lashes and freeze.  This made it difficult to see at times.  Goggles or glasses of some kind would have probably rectified this.

The run was exhilarating.  I spent a few minutes adjusting my slowed stride, learning to pull up slightly before extending forward.  This made my gait easier since I wasn’t dragging my foot though uncompressed snow.

The snow acted as a cushion, each step landing lightly with little reverberation.

Summary

Running in the snow proved to be an enjoyable experience, one that I would recommend to others as long as they understand that they will need to run significantly slower than they would on dry pavement.  Layer your body to ensure you have adequate warmth.  Don’t worry about your feet getting cold,  after 3 miles in light running shoes it wasn’t even on my mind.

Sources:

1. Screw Shoes
2. Value of Snowshoes
3. YakTrax
   

Today I worked out for the first time.  It was a simple 3 mile run, indoors even.

What a difference working out makes to the psyche, not to mention energy levels.  The serotonin was jetting through my body. Not only did my mind feel better, I feel like I have more pep already.  I forgot what it feels like to workout when you’re tired.  During my marathon training I would often leave the house around 8:30pm and spend 2 hours running.  I would leave the house feeling a tired and drained but return refreshed and invigorated.

Perhaps it’s the solitude and the self reflection that help prompts the refreshed feelings. The peacefulness as your mind tunes to your body’s rhythm.  I’ll have to pay more attention to what about running that sparks me.  For now, I’m happy to have day one under my belt, day one of many to come.