Friday, February 8, 2008

Treat Your Feet

The wear and tear of marathon training is hard on our feet. The time spent in running shoes…that warm, dark, humid place that is perfect for fungus to grow…makes us likely candidates to develop fungul and bacterial conditions. And let’s not forget those other pleasant side effects including black toenails and blisters. Yuck!

This is why I highly recommend including regular pedicure appointments in your training. Yesterday I took the time to treat my feet to a Spa Pedicure at Natural Nails (and learned quite a bit about the Vietnam New Year traditions and the Year of the Rat)
The great thing about the spa pedicure is that is includes lots of foot massage which improves circulation, promotes tissue regeneration, relaxes overused muscles and feels really, really good!

Spa pedicure has both physical and mental benefits…what a joy and pleasure it is to sit down for almost 40 minutes in a world where I am usually running around in 50 different directions. Today all those layers of gross dead skin have been rubbed off, I’m relaxed and at peace, and I have shiny red toe nails…a little treat before the abuse of running 18 miles tomorrow.

Pablo Neruda (my favorite sensual South American poet) expresses his appreciation of feet (or rather the feet of his lover) in the following poem:

"When I cannot look at your face
I look at your feet.
Your feet of arched bone, your hard little feet.
I know that they support you,
and that your sweet weight rises upon them…

But I love your feet
only because they walked upon the earth
and upon the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me. "

1 comment:

Nancy said...

Just send me an email or post on my blog that you have completed the 9 with your time and have put up a race report (it doesn't have to be elaborate at all!).

SOOOO glad you got recruited!!! Happy 9 on the 9th!! I hope you make it lots of fun. Think of all the blogger friends also doing 9 today.