My first speeding ticket and a 5:01 mile barefoot on the track

This past weekend has been more exciting than most weekends. To start it off my little brother got his mission call (or in other words he received, via mail, his assignment for the next two years of his life) and told us that he would be opening it later in the evening. After I got off the phone with him I turned to Amy and said, "Do you think we could make it if we left right now?" We quickly weighed out the pros and cons and within 20-ish minutes we were out the door. We surprised everyone and it was a pleasant and fun weekend. My brother is going to Daejeon, South Korea.

To add to the excitement I got my first speeding ticket. I was between Malad and Pocatello going about 84 in a 75. Yep, he saw me and pulled me over. I thought about releasing the NOS and out-running the guy, but then I remembered that I didn't have any NOS so that wouldn't help me. My first ticket ever. I'm okay, I'm okay.

Saturday was great. My dad asked me if I wanted to go running with him. My goal for Saturday was to run barefoot on cement and asphalt for 15 minutes. That was the plan, to run at this park where my dad could run barefoot on the grass and I could run beside him on the asphalt trail and then I could switch over onto grass when I had run 15 minutes. That's what he had told me earlier in the day at least...

As we were driving he said that what he really wanted to do was a workout on the track: 1 x 1600 m on 8 minutes, 2 x 800 m on 4 minutes each and 4 x 400 m on 2 minutes each--And he wanted to do it barefoot. I didn't know exactly how it would go because of how I've been feeling, but I decided to take it out easy but strong and see how I felt.

My first 400 was a 1:19. I was thinking, "Great! Right on pace for a 5:20, that would be cool. I'd be okay with that." The next 400 was a 1:17 and that's when I started thinking a little more ambitiously. That's also when it started hurting, in a good way. The next 400 I kept solid and did it in 1:16 and as I started the last 400 I gave it all I had finishing in 5:01. My feet were raw, tender and in a bit of pain, but not only had I exceeded my expectations but I really enjoyed it. As I did the rest of the workout I realized that I really do enjoy running and I think a lot of it has to do with running barefoot.

This is the second time I have been significantly frustrated about running and the second time that barefoot running has swooped in and saved my life. This is just my belief, but I think that Lord has helped me both times. I do believe in coincidence, but I also believe very firmly in divine intervention and that happened on Saturday.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: Running barefoot helps me run fearless.