These "slippahs" were made for walking..

I know that on Monday I prescribed myself a 2 day break from running, but sometimes I don't like to listen to myself. I ended up running during my "break", and finally rested for the last two days. So as much as I'd like to report about a fantastic post-recovery run right now, that will have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, today's entry will be about relaxing in my slippers.

For me, after a long run there is nothing better than slipping off the shoes, soaking your feet in hot water, and taking a short walk in slippers ("flip-flops" for the mainlanders) to stretch out my cramped muscles. So imagine my shock when I read this article this morning:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/summer-flip-flops-may-lead-to-foot-pain/?em&ex=1212897600&en=d87164748fc2d7c4&ei=5087%0A

Essentially, the article tells you that wearing slippers are bad for you and will lead to lower back and hip problems. Now, I've been finding this hard to believe because slippers are the footwear of choice for the entire population of Hawaii . If this were true, everyone would be hobbling around. And while I do agree that a majority of our elderly popluation does indeed hobble, I doubt it's cause is any more from footwear than from old age.

Having said that, I'm not about to say that slippers are innocent from engendering any foot related afflictions. My particular brand of injury is rough feet. Now, most Hawaii people tend to think that having this gives you "street cred", because you can walk all over the island barefoot without getting hurt. So, I've never had a problem with it. But, apparently girlfriends don't find this very attractive. Who would've known?? Luckily, this is nothing a nice long barefoot walk through the sand and surf can't fix.

In any case, whether it be in slippers, barefoot, or clogs, I can't stress relaxing your feet during training enough. As hard as I push myself, an injury from over-use will put all that training to waste if I can't run the race. Perhaps there will even come a day when I get some muscly guys to carry me around in a divan chair between workouts. Then again...maybe not, I'd rather they run my errands and do my taxes than carry me around.