Six Little Words

Today a man at the gym said the six words I've been waiting to hear: How do you like your shoes? He was pointing at my Vibrams. My hard-earned, waiting since November, finally got a run in them Vibrams.

"I love them." I said. I explained I had only had them a short while but I'm very pleased so far. I explained why I switched to minimalist shoes and why I chose Vibrams as my next step. He was open, but still a little skeptical, "Yeah, but what about for a middle-aged overweight man like me?" I told him I had never been a middle-aged overweight man like him, so I couldn't say for certain, but that I had less joint pain and fewer aches all around since running with them. The bulk of our remaining conversation was summed up in these points:

Pros

-No pain

-Look silly

-I love running in them

Cons

-Calves are sore

-Tricky to get on my feet

-I have new blisters

The Con list is made up of inconveniences I am certain are temporary. My calves will get stronger, my shoe-putting-on technique will get better and I will get calluses. The Pro list is mostly just a list of things that make me happy like no pain, silly things, and being excited for my workouts. The Pros win. Vibrams win. I win.

I love them.

So Excited

I got my size 35 KSOs in the mail today. I ordered them directly from Vibram because it was comparable in price and the shipping was way faster (three days as opposed to 13 weeks and counting) than the local outfitter.

I walked around a bit. I hopped. I scampered from the living room to the kitchen. I gleefully kicked my tiny little kickers. But I haven't been for a run in them yet. I'm so excited to.

I'll keep you posted.

Quasi-Barefoot Running

I've written about barefoot running before, albeit on another blog, briefly, and at the beginning of my quasi-barefoot miles, when I was still sort of figuring the whole thing out. I've been running quasi-barefoot indoors now for a few months though now. The short verdict is: I love it.

With hard soles, I got a sharp pain in my knees after less than a mile of running. It was severe enough that I had to stop almost immediately, and often times would find myself hobbling around for days to come. If I wanted to run more than a mile, I was almost guaranteed to hurt for at least a week, preventing me from having any sort of pleasure or consistency in my jogs. It was clearly an awful way to live for a girl who needed to return to her third floor apartment every night, a trek that took twice as long and involved a whole lot of wincing.

With soft, minimal shoes, I have experienced no aches in my knees. None. Astoundingly zero. I can run farther, more frequently, with greater joy and comfort. Not only do my knees lack pain, but my hips and lower back are pain-free after running, too. Instead of leading with my heel, I've learned to stretch my step and lead with my toes--to reach forward and get as much earth between my strides as possible. I feel more efficient and sleeker. Most importantly, though, I feel the wonderful absence of pain.

The only time I had a bad experience with quasi-barefoot running was my very first attempt. Yes, the first venture with flexible soled shoes was a huge failure in terms of comfort. I had heard that upon trying barefoot running (or something like it), my calves would be noticeably sore. Being the foolish person I am, I took this with a grain of salt. MISTAKE. HORRIBLE MISTAKE. I ended up running about 1.5 miles that day (the first part felt great) and could not walk for the next two weeks. My calves were so tight it hurt to even lay down and think about moving my legs. They ached in a way that made me fear I would never be able to walk again. It was awful.

I got over it though. And thus, became wise enough to offer advice for novice minimalist runners: Go for a shorter run than you think you should. If you're the type to usually go for a 6-mile run, don't cut it down to just 4 miles. Go for maybe 1-1.5 miles. If you're the type to go for a 2-3 mile run (like myself), try .5 miles first. Your calves will thank you.