Woohoo! Barefoot!

My knee has gotten a little better, so I have tentatively started running again.

Today I ran "The Dogmile" with Shannon and 3 of our dogs. I went barefoot because, strangely enough, my knee hurts less without shoes on.

Running barefoot, however, can have it's own problems.

I was feeling surprisingly good, just an easy jog, not really noticing the knee at all. We got a half a mile down the greenway, where we usually turn around and head home.
I glanced back and asked Shannon, "Wan't to go a little further?"

Our 85 pound dog Dudley, who was in front of me, apparently didn't understand the question.
He spun around to head home, and we collided head on. It was like hitting a concrete barricade.
First, my fragile foot crumpled into his rock solid leg. Then I was thrown over the top of him, crashing a 7 point landing onto the blacktop.

"Ow." I didn't feel the scrapes on my knees and elbows at all, because one of my toes had been crushed like a grape and the white searing pain blocked out all other sensation.
"OK, maybe we won't go any further."
After sitting on the pavement for a few minutes examining the toe, I guessed that it wasn't broken. "Let's head home"

I was able to gingerly run on it, and on the way back we saw another couple walking by. The guy called out after we had passed, "Woohoo! Barefoot!"

When we got to the end of the greenway, I saw a lot of kids in the street, so I decided to stop and put little Jorge back on the leash.
In a remarkably familiar accident, Shannon, who was running behind me, had turned to look back at Jorge and didn't see me stop.

She crashed into me, stepping hard on that same injured toe. "Oh, no..."
I looked down to see it swelling up into a shape and color of a plum.

Woohoo.

The Zen of Barefooting can hurt like hell.