This is why you should never run in flip-flops

OK, so I know this story doesn’t quite merit an entire blog post, but I just had to share.

A fellow colleague and I made a goal to go running on our lunch breaks a few times per week, so we thought we’d start today.

I was super excited to get out of the office for a bit, which rarely happens, so we agreed to change real quick then meet outside for our first run together. I hurried down to my car to grab my running cloths... only to find that I forgot my running shoes! Silly me… But I was determined to go on this run, so I noticed a pair of flip-flops in my trunk and decided, “hey, these’ll do.” (You can only imagine my colleague’s reaction when I showed up at our meeting location wearing my running cloths and a pair of flip-flops.) Of course she laughed at me for a second, but I assured her I would be fine as long as we jog slowly, so we embarked on the first leg of our run.

I was doing great in the flip-flops, and after about the first 3 minutes of our run my colleague asked, “how are your flip-flops working out? Are you sure you’re okay to run in them?” I responded with, “Of course, they’re actually really comfortable. These are working great!” Apparently I forgot to bring my slab of wood with me because 3 steps later the shoe on my right foot snapped in half. Whoops.

I hobbled for a second before we decided we should probably end our run (did we really have a choice? I guess I could have gone bare-foot.) Fortunately, we had run in a big loop so we were right behind the office when my shoe mishap occurred. The only thing separating us from the office was a small grass field. I proceeded to hop across the field when, on my very first hop, my left foot sank into about 6 inches of mud. I finished running across the mud (it was either that or backtrack across the rocky road we came on – big ouch!) and straggled back into the office - muddy, shoeless, and definitely not relaxed. Looks like we are off to a great running start!

Moral of the story? Don’t run on your lunch breaks, but if you do, wear running shoes.