Where have all the callouses gone?

I've been meaning to write a post for some time about these grips. LOVE THEM!!!

I had a new experience after Cohutta. Not only could I open and close my hands, but I didn't have any open wounds. In fact, I barely have any callouses. 

My middle sister and I always get into callous competitions over the summer and I'm definitely going to lose now. 

And btw...how messed up is that? 

We never had the normal kind of sibling rivalry, we just would get competitive over who had the toughest looking hands or the highest Vo2 numbers :-) She's a rower and almost always beat me in the callous department, unless it was right after I competed in a 100 miler or 24 hour race. Now I think she will always have the upper hand. Ha ha, get it? Hand? Sorry. I absolutely can't help myself.....

My palms actually look soft now. Well, relatively speaking. And that's not such a bad thing!  

I know a ton of people who love these, or these, but I personally prefer this style. I'm also getting some of these, which I'm really, really excited about. I see a ton of endurance racers running with the wider styles, but personally I like being able to do my "Danielle death grip" at times. And don't get me started about bar ends, unless you want to hear many stories about me dragging entire branches/mini trees along for the ride. 

Besides feeling better on the trail, I noticed a huge difference on the road too. Before I could almost feel the road through my grips, but now I don't feel like I'm receiving direct shocks straight through my hand every time I hit a pothole or crack. And if you live in Michigan that's like every 5 seconds.