Vibrams Five Fingers Rock my Socks off...and my shoes!!

I wrote a REALLY long post about this, and it got deleted by accident! So, this one won't be as good, but better than nothing at least! Those of you who read my blog from the beginning may remember when I tried training for a half marathon last year. I had to give it up because while I could run for hours on a treadmill, my legs were useless on regular ground. I'm not even joking when I say I could only run a few steps on regular ground before having to walk! I just figured it was something wrong with me, and my trainer at the gym said I needed to do squats and strengthen my legs. Well, the oh so hip and creative people over at We Like it Raw mentioned Vibram's Five Fingers. It just so happened that I had read about how great it is to be barefoot, and had been spending more time outside barefoot when I got my daily dose of Vitamin D! So, I was curious to check it out. I love being barefoot, and use my rebounder (mini-trampoline) barefoot. At first it hurt, but my feet eventually got used to it. I finally splurged and got a pair. You can see them at Vibram's KSO
I highly suggest you go in a store to try them on first! (I went to Footprints in Ann Arbor, and was very happy with their service) You can measure your feet yourself, but it's good to try them first. Mine were too short in the toes, but too wide in the width (yes, I have long, skinny toes and narrow feet! lol) I was going to be cheap and get the Classic, but by going in and trying them first I realized I needed the strap on the KSO's to make them tighter. The negatives of going in? All they had were purple shoes! So much for blending in as much as possible..although I may never buy really cute shoes again because nobody, and I mean NOBODY notices them when I wear them out! lol Or maybe they are just afraid to say anything to me 'cuz they think I'm crazy :P (If that's the case, I may just get 5 more pairs!)I feel a bit like I'm doing something wrong-as if the owner of restaurants or stores will come up to me and say I need to wear REAL shoes! I also have better grip when I'm walking around bumps in the road, or even just putting my feet up on a stool-it's almost like having two more hands-I feel a bit like a monkey too using my feet that way! lol If you are going to go running where there are stones or things like woodchips, be aware that things can get stuck in between your toes!

Ok, so enough rambling...how did they work out for me? Well, I could run on regular ground NO PROBLEMS AT ALL!!! :) :) I guess there wasn't anything wrong with my feet after all...it's shoes!! I think the rebounding barefoot helped a lot, so don't do what I did-start off wearing your Vibrams slowly, so your feet adjust. I did get a blister, but nothing as bad as what I got from wearing regular running shoes! My calves and ankles were sore, but it was a minor pain-just felt like I had a good workout-which I did!

Check out this much more interesting post on the science behind why we don't need shoes:
Tim Ferris

Here's a pic of my shoes :)