jogging

So I've found a new love of jogging. I don't -can't go very far, and perhaps I'm not the most graceful jogger on the planet, but I really LOVE it. (And I saw someone jogging the other day, and just thought, "I KNOW I look better when I'm jogging than does that person." And this was a person who jogs several miles a day.) However, when I jog, I jog barefoot. Yes, you read right BAREFOOT, as in, wearing no shoes.
I hate shoes. I do. I really, really do. I was born barefoot, and I'll die barefoot. I've been walking barefoot for as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty clumsy in shoes. I just can't feel the ground underneath of me, and well, I trip over things that aren't there. Besides, there are so many positive things to being barefoot, it's amazing more people aren't barefooted.
So anyway, I jog barefooted. People laugh at me, and they think that I'm crazy. Of course, they think that I'm crazy (for a number of reasons) because I just WALK around town barefooted. Sure, I carry my shoes for when I need to go inside a building, but when I'm outside, they're in my hand.
The problem with jogging barefooted is that I need just perfect conditions. It's got to be early morning or late afternoon so that the ground isn't too hot. It can't be too cold outside because, well, it's just too cold to be barefoot. It can't be the fall because when those pesky acorns fall and break, YOWSA! Do they ever hurt! So this basically leaves me only spring and summer.

A few months ago my friend showed me an ad for these cool shoes. (She's one of the ones who thinks I'm crazy for my barefootedness.) They're called Vibram's. They about the closest you get to being barefoot without actually being barefoot. From the instant I read the magazine ad I was in love! These shoes promise to be the answer to my jogging prayers. And, when compared with other sports shoes, they're pretty inexpensive. (Only 80 bucks on the website.) I can't wait until things calm down enough so that I can go get myself a pair. Hopefully it'll happen before the acorns fall!

And thanks so much Trainer Momma for making other people aware of the fact that I'm not the only one who jogs barefoot. There's a whole movement out there leaning towards this. Perhaps it's not the BIGGEST movement, but I'm not the only "crazy" person out there doing this.... Of course, if I get a pair of Vibram's, then I guess I won't be running barefoot anymore, will I?