Oooohh, I Like 'Em...

I ran in my Vibrams today. I ran one mile out, walked about 1/2 mile back and ran the rest of the way in. I felt great, but I wanted to take this first time run a little on the easy side. It really felt wonderful. It felt smoother and so free! Very natural. My legs seemed weightless. The bottoms are pretty thick rubber so I didn't feel too much through them as I ran.

The down side is my baby toe on the right foot is hurting a little. It doesn't seem to fit in the spot for it very well. When I was looking into these shoes, I read a few times about this happening. All of the people who had this problem said it worked itself out over time. All my other toes fit fine. I did pull the back lace too tightly at first too. I had to loosen that up so I don't know if that had any bearing on my toe hurting. Maybe it was too tight?

All in all, I think I'm going to like these shoes. I plan on running very short distances in them maybe twice a week and do the 5K beach runs in them. Anything more than that and I'll be wearing my Asics. I don't need an injury 3 weeks before I start the half marathon training. And Jim advised me to be careful with these Vibrams. Since I have not had any bad advice from him yet, I'll keep listening!

They Have Arrived!!

My Vibram 5 Fingers are here!!!!!! My husband had today off and wasn't really doing anything...(haha) so I asked him to hang around in case Fed Ex came by. He kinda breathed into the phone and said "ok"....PERFECT! What a sweetie! This is why I married this man. I knew someday I'd order a pair of Vibrams and I'd need to count on someone to be there for me. He's the one...sighhhh...

Anyway....I looked up from the desk and there he was....my Knight In Shining Armour. With a box. Oooohhh....I got all tingly. I knew what he had there under his arm! I was excited for a couple reasons...
1. I love packages
2. I couldn't wait to try these bad boys on
3. I couldn't remember what color I ordered (black and tan) (only cuz they don't come in pink)

I took off my sandals and thought I'd "throw" the Vibrams on. W-R-O-N-G! They don't just get "thrown on". It's hard to get these on. My toes had a mind of their own and wanted to stay together. It took me a few minutes, but I got 'em on finally. I walked around the office in them, pretending to run. My husband sat watching me with a smirk on his face. He's just jealous my sports stuff is way cheaper and more easily acquired than his. Whatever.

I had to stay in the office, I couldn't go running down the road like I wanted to. In the meantime, I wore them around the office. After about 3 hours, I noticed some discomfort in a couple toes. I was expecting this, so I wasn't deterred. I was late but I made it to the last half of my yoga class (the best half may I add) because I worked late. I slipped the Vibrams off. I need to be barefoot for yoga. Trouble was, there were people waiting to get into the room once yoga was over and I could not get those shoes back on so fast. I walked to my car barefoot. No biggie.

A handful of people at work saw my Vibrams and thought they were pretty cool. I think. They're all so sweet, they'd never make me feel bad, so who knows what they really think...lol.

When I got home, I put them back on and went for a quick run down the street. It was awesome. I felt barefoot but protected. It was so weird to actually feel the road beneath my feet. I can see how my feet land now. I love this feeling! I will be careful not to go for too long of a run. I know there isn't any support in these. I'm wondering if I could put a pair of Dr Scholl's in there. I'll look around and see....in the mean time....I'm out of work by noon tomorrow...I plan on getting a little 2 miler in with these on. I'll be back after that to give a full report!

For now, 2 thumbs up for my Vibrams!!!!!

Update On Running Barefoot

Ok, I guess I did not invent this type of running....lol. I have found so much info on running barefoot since my last post. I am so interested in this! Look at these funky shoes.....

I need to have these (even though they don't come in any girly colors). They're called Vibram 5 Finger running shoes. While they're not barefooting, they allow the feet to move more naturally while you run. I've talked about the dynamics of the foot movement inside a pair of running shoes with Jim (my coach) quite a few times. He's really into the scientific approach to running (almost to a comical degree....lol) The Injinjy socks kind of have the same idea, but if you ask me, once you put your sneakers on, it defeats the purpose of the socks. I'm still reading the info about these shoes and about running barefoot.

Another thing that's clicking in my head is that the speed spikes I have are very soft. Very flexable. I even thought they felt like slippers. Jim told me not to run long distances in them as there is no support, so I do have some questions about running barefoot.

I haven't found any info on the cons of running barefoot, I'm sure I'll find it though. I imagine burning the soles in this Florida heat, stepping on rocks/glass and even an occassional doggy dropping would be most unpleasant. Actually, I have stepped in doggy droppings barefoot as a child. It wasn't unpleasant. It felt kinda good in a freaky kinda way....LOL. But then the reality of what it was hit me and I threw up. True story. I was eight years old.

I'm going to go run around the block barefoot in a little while. I'll come back and give a recap about it later.

BTW, when I told Bobby I NEEDED these shoes, guess what he said. Yep, he said to wait a couple days for some auto withdrawls to come out first. He thinks it's a passing interest. I know for a fact he's about to get a new pair of bike shorts though. I do believe I hold the Ace this time....LOL