3-10: Hobbit Running

Today was sixty-five degrees which, as any reasoning being will tell you, is ample reason to run around like a hobbit.

Pictured: Fun.

But seriously, today being the first day that it peaked above 60 degrees steadily, as well as a day off, I decided that it would also be the first day that I took a crack at barefoot running. For those of you who don't know (read--the sane readers of my blog), barefoot running is running with either no or minimalist shoes, with a mid-foot strike and a higher cadence that makes use of the foot's natural structure; it's running how we as human beings were designed to. It improves stamina, feels much better, and radically reduces injuries largely caused by unnatural shapes our feet are forced into by running shoes. Overall--sounds like a pretty good idea.

What is not a good idea is spearing my feet through with shards of glass that tend to litter the city streets. So I strapped on my Vibrams, those five-toed shoes that I freely admit look ridiculous. Well laugh all you want, my friends, but as crazy as they look, the run I went for today felt mind-blowingly fantastic. I breezed by the joggers at Tašmajdan, skirted around obstacles, and took the trip home like I was running on a cloud. The barefoot approach felt so good that, coupled with the knowledge that I needed to break in my feet to the barefoot approach, I went to meet some of my favorite people in Beograd at Kalemegdan wearing them (because I also enjoy embarrassing some of my favorite people in Beograd, apparently).

We wandered around the fortress, taking in the beautiful air, watching the storm slowly blow towards us, and when we sat outside for dinner beneath a tarp, the skies opened up. I was immediately and utterly taken by my first thunderstorm in Serbia, and I can say without a doubt that I cannot wait for the next one.

1. The weird looks only multiply when you're wearing shoes with toes on them, let me tell you.
2. It's fascinating to live in a country that actually holds to the idea of closing things on Sundays. I guess it makes sense; although Serbia is technically a secular state, the rigor with which the sabbath-day tradition is maintained tells you just how realistic that is.
3. I busted out the compass and straight-edge today and drew up some Fibonacci spirals. It's so incredibly, indescribably meditative--realizing that the shapes and ratios you're representing with plastic and graphite are the same ones that indomitably govern the laws of the known universe allows for some pretty serious contemplation.
4. Bosnia in about a week. Huh. Can't wait for so very many reasons.

Srpski reć dnenvi: Biber (Бибер): Pepper. Ah, what a delicious dinner.