Sole music

Oh happy day. I get to run again.

Yesterday I took the day off from running and went climbing instead. I was very tired after Kungsbackaloppet, and presumably partly because of my cold. In the evening, J and I went for a walk in the forest, and of course, as is always the case when you can't run, everyone else on the planet seemed to be out doing just that.

But today I ran. I started with my non-responsive legs shod in Kayanos, the rest of me in t-shirt and tights. The mind was willing, the body, however, was not. I jogged slowly towards the forest in the warm sunlight. Some people were just getting home from work, others were already outside in their gardens enjoying the beautiful weather, but the streets were mostly quiet.

I arrived in the forest and had a brief conversation with myself. Did I dare? What if someone saw? Was it going to hurt this time? This indecision lasted about 2 seconds. Then my shoes and socks were off. I suddenly ran lightly, landed softly, moved more confidently. My tiredness disappeared. The first jogger ran past me, saw me carry my Kayanos and smiled. A couple of girls on their bikes stared at me. Another jogger. I didn't care, I just enjoyed not being confined by shoes.

After increasing my previous barefoot distance by a couple hundred meters more, I put my shoes back on. What a strange sensation. My feet were tingling with energy, but they immediately felt heavier, my gait altered. I went from delicate dragonfly to raging rhinoceros in seconds. I hit the ground with fury. I was surely raising a cloud of dust behind me? Because it felt like I was digging a crater into the ground with every step I took.