Groped - Weird, homosexual experience # 3

As the title says, this was another one of those weird experiences. The first came when an old, drunk Polish guy offered me a blowjob when all I wanted was to get to a campsite. The second came in a sauna in Georgia when an Israeli started rubbing my leg and asked if I was gay. When I replied no, he left.

The third in the series of strange encounters happened last week when I was out for a run. I'd chosen a forested area as it's a great spot for a run and far from the concrete and noise of the city. I was running along enjoying the greenery and the Danube to me left when I came across a youngish guy. I started him as he jumped when I ran towards him. He mumbled something that sounded like 'hello' so I responded and ran on. Then I heard some footsteps behind me. I ran a bit faster and the footsteps increased their tempo. I thought it must be another runner but when I slowed down I saw to my surprise that it was that strange guy. He mumbled something that sounded like 'so' and then touched me in an area that I didn't appreciate. I didn't know what 'so' was supposed to mean and didn't want to find out so I quickly ran this time, more out of fear and shock than anything leaving the groper behind.

Once I was sure he was far behind, I slowed down. Planning the way back was tricky as I'd no idea where he was. I decided to talk the bike path as there were more people there and it seemed the safer option. Once I got close to where one of the bridges was I saw a runner being dragged back by the groper. He was struggling to get his hands off him but finally succeeded in getting away. After seeing this I went back into the forest hoping that there were no other similar characters around. When it came to the point when I had to cross over the river, I looked around very carefully but didn't see him so I ran up the steps and onto the bridge. I was enjoying my run again when I looked over at the other side of the bridge and there he was. My biggest fear was that we'd meet again at the end of the bridge so I ran at a fast tempo and kept watch out of the corner of my eye for any fast movements on the other side of the bridge. Thankfully there were none and the rest of the journey home passed by without incident. I must say that it left me feeling a bit vulnerable to say the least. Beware of the groper.

Baring All

After coming back from a fantastic run I feel I have banished my demons for a while at least. By 'fantastic' I don't mean that this word applies to my performance but rather to the feeling gained from it. There really is no better way to clear the mind and to get the endorphins working.

I can see why Christopher McDougall in his book Born To Run advocates it so much. He believes that, like the title suggests, we are indeed made / born to run. This is how we humans hunted in the past. We were able to tire animals but by running them into submission before killing them. Before reading about this I always thought that we were not made to run at all but running was simply something I enjoyed despite the fear of injuries from doing it too much.

What he argues is that our methods are all wrong and that we should run naturally without trainers. This whole concept of barefoot running is very interesting and makes sense. If we wear thick padding under the soles of our feet, our feet don't react naturally to the different contours of the ground beneath us so we are blocking our muscles from working naturally. The problem is that how do you change your methods of running or indeed walking after wearing modern footwear for so long?

Recently I spent a small fortune on trainers called 'Vivobarefoot' which are designed to let our feet do most of the work. Needless to say, after one run I was in agony. Descending stairs was particularly gruelling for my calf muscles. I gave it a week and tried again with slightly better results. The biggest problem was trying to change my technique and land on the top of my foot in order to put less pressure on my back and spring forwards. It's difficult to change habits that are deeply ingrained into the body and mind and it does take the fun out of just running without thinking.

I haven't used this trainers for a while but that's not to say I am giving up on this method. For now I am happy to be able to run without injuries but little by little I will try out these barefoot trainers. I don't expect them to elevate me to superfitdom status but hopefully gain the benefits that the author has gained from using this barefoot technique.

For more about the barefoot debate -

Christopher McDougall's Website