To Start Off...

Welcome to the first post of Barefoot Plumies (aka the Crazy Asian B*tch, or CAB for short). I have been contemplating all of 2 days as to what exactly am I going to blog. First thing that came to mind was barefoot running. This is something I recently took up in an effort to get back into some kind of shape. Then I got hungry (as I always am) and thought maybe food. But with all the wonderful food blogs out there, why mess with a good thing?

I visited some of my favorite blogs this morning, which got me asking myself why I want my own blog and what I hoped to get in return. As simple and slightly sad as it might seem, I just wanted something to do when (ahem) work is slow and maybe bring some humor and food for fodder (there she goes, talking about food again) to someone's day. It's also a way to capture my barefoot running experiment (more later on this).

As to the origin of CAB, it's a little joke the Mister has about my "crazy" attitude in different situations. Something like, "Look out! CAB is hungry and she's taking down anyone that gets in her way!" or "Hell has no furry like a CAB scorned." You get the idea.

So on to my first rant...

Can September 25 come any slower??? Hardcore gamers can immediately associate the date with the much anticipated release of Halo 3. No, I'm not a hardcore gamer but I can easily spend an afternoon playing video games. Haven't played much on the XBox ever since getting the Wii earlier in the year. As a matter of fact, I don't even have a 360 yet but that day is coming. Nope, haven't reserved my copy of Halo 3 yet but that day is also coming. I get all giggly just thinking about Halo 3!

To celebrate the release of Halo 3, a few friends and I will be gathering at Casa de Shangri-La (my house) in Sept. to have the 3rd annual Halo party. The usual food fare will be provided (usually bbq of some sort), although I am seriously contemplating on getting the food catered by Mo's Island Grinds (used to be Da Kitchen and the best island food in San Diego). That will leave more time to play!

Since it's been well over 6 months I last wielded a plasma gun, the Mister suggested we play Halo co-op in legendary mode. We were a bit surprised that we never tackled legendary mode; the Mister was convinced we did. We definitely tried it on Halo 2, well...up until the stupid DVD glitch. But I must say, it's fun getting back to Halo and legendary mode is a b*tch! Also goes to show how rusty I've become. We can't seem to complete Part 2 of Truth and Reconciliation: Into the Belly of the Beast. Those pesky Elites...may have to resort to looking up a cheat.

My second rant...

My left calf and quad are a bit sore today. I finally decided to learn the proper way to condition my feet and legs for barefoot running. The ball of my left foot is also a little sore from trying to run ball-heel-ball. It's only been about 2 weeks since I first started to run barefoot. This was after a friend of mine sent me the link to Vibram Five Fingers. Weird shoes but kind of cool, huh? I haven't gotten these yet since they are a bit expensive. Maybe in a month or so when I'm ready to run outdoors.

One of the biggest problems I've had in the past when restarting to run is sore shins even on my treadmill. I had a habit of pounding the pavement (running shoes will do that) and getting the joggers headache. So I never really truly enjoyed running, until I tried running barefoot. Starting wasn't a huge curve for me since I'm used to going barefoot at home (habit from growing up in Hawaii). I was able to walk/run a mile on my treadmill with no discomfort except for a little rough spot on each foot by the second toe. No shin pain! No muscle soreness! I wasn't even breathing heavy in the slightest bit.

I'm up to 1.5 miles (starting slow) and focusing on improving my form before I tackle distance and time (in that order). I'm holding off in adding kettlebells to my routine until I have more stamina. We'll see where I am in a month.