Stick it to Me

Barefoot runners are aware of the barrier of mythology when it comes to the dangers of running without shoes. What about glass? What about needles? What about nails? What about any number of sharp objects? For the most part, these dangers are overblown and often irrational.

Saturday, one of these dangers made me thankful to be wearing shoes. But it left me wondering if I would have seen and avoided the object of peril had I been barefoot.

While running the Perkins Trail near the Everett Road covered bridge, halfway up the initial incline, a sharp something poked me in the arch of my right foot. Thinking that a piece of debris had jumped into my shoe, my finger swept beneath my foot but felt nothing.

Whatever it was seemed to have disappeared like these things often do, but another step proved this thinking to be false. Looking closer at my shoe, something appeared stuck to my treads.

The object had pierced one of the tread knobs on my New Balance (MT00) Minimus Trail shoes and was trying make a foot kabob.

Here it is upon closer inspection. My guess is it was a plastic end cap to a someone's walking stick. Thankfully, the point didn't also pierce my skin, as I'd probably need a Tetris Tetanus shot.

As a good trail citizen, I carried my little present with me throughout the rest of my five-mile run to throw it away so no one else would step on the giant tack.

The run put me at 11 miles for the week, a bit shy of my 16-mile goal, but nothing I can't make up down the road.