I turned 40 and it started to happen. Those "damn am I getting old" aches and pains and the "well I am 40 now" sports injuries that began my slide into better-start-taking-it-easy mode. I milked that pass for all it was worth.
So as I approached a half-marathon that I had committed to several months before, I decided I would go slow. Turtle slow. And I began to map out places along the course I could phone home for a rescue pick-up.
But then it hit me, What the hell am I thinking?
When did I stop believing in and trusting my body and mind in ways that extend far beyond this race? Or better yet, why?
The road to insecurity starts with damn good marketing
I'm not alone. Middle age has become hijacked by industries capitalizing on and creating our deepest fears -- selling us fast fixes of pills, procedures, Botox and gear. Hour by hour the TV reminds us of our fragility...telling us how we feel and what we need.
And we believe them -- buying both the product and mindset.
That's where feet and Christopher McDougall enter the scene
It all started with the simple question "Why does my foot hurt?"
Christopher McDougall's doctors discouraged him from running. "People like you aren't meant to run," they told him. "Running is too hard on the body," they added. And like most of us, Christopher assumed the doctors were right and was ready to throw in the towel.
Almost ready...
Instead, that question resulted in an epic, harrowing and funny adventure, Born to Run. It's the best-seller that developed a rapidly growing cult following and has the shoe manufacturers shaking in their sneakers -- catapulting the barefoot running movement and mid-lifers up and off the couch (including me). But most lovely, it got us thinking, questioning and pushing back against the machine.
 |
Listen to the whole interview:
Note: I finished that half-marathon with a big cheesy smile, running faster than I had in the last decade. And for the record, I'm now 41.
Follow Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau on Twitter: www.twitter.com/KathleenShow
I began running barefoot or in Vibram Five Fingers and Terra Plana Evos after suffering a terrible back injury that required surgery. I have found it quite liberating to run out the front door with no shoes on. It's quite amazing what the body can do if we just let it.
For those interested in trying barefoot running or running in minimal shoes (no arch support, no padding, no heel), make sure you take it slowly. I wrote up a 12 Step Program to Run Barefoot (http://bit.ly/eGgHm) after reading of too many people injuring themselves because they did too much too soon.
Thanks for the post. Good luck!
For the past month or so I have been walking around barefoot in my house and in my yard...it feels amazing (feeling the grass and earth again makes me feel like a kid). Previously, the older I got the more often I was wearing shoes (from the moment I stepped out of bed until I crawled back in at night.) I had somehow gotten the idea in my head that I needed to protect my aging feet.
I agree with you that it is super important to go slow. Right now I am running about a mile or two up on my toes (with shoes)...to start strengthening my feet.
Fantastic stuff - so glad to see this great show here!
Fashion industry uses similar tactics--instilling the fear of not looking cool or being beautiful. Just give me a pair of jeans and a tee and I'm happy. That's my look.
I saw this all the time in the pharmaceutical industry. The drugs with the biggest ad budgets were the "me too" products that just wanted to grab a piece of market share (anti-depressants, cholesterol drugs, etc). They needed lots of advertising (mostly fear based) because they added no real value to the marketplace. The few drugs that truly were a break through didn't need all the hype. Overall I think the problems surrounding marketing are directly related to the tremendous amounts of crap we are producing and then have to try to sell.
The game is changing a bit with social media…we as consumers have much more power to share the good stuff and ignore the rest.
More on the dr’s advice in a bit…
As I am sitting before them, I always remind myself that they are human (not Gods) basically making their best educated guess--which may or may not be accurate. I also constantly remind myself to think about the sources of their information/decisions...medical schools that don't focus on nutrition or a holistic approach, "evidence based medicine" in the form of studies and via medical journals bought and paid for by pharma and device advertising. This may sound cynical, but it's not. It's just a reality that I accept and fully consider before agreeing to treatment. From this vantage point, I feel like I can make an empowered decision.
I'd be curious to know what other people use for filters.