Ugly Shoes

It is no secret that I have always been a shoe freak. Even when I was young, my parents would give us kids a certain amount we could spend for basketball shoes, track shoes, regular shoes, etc. If I wasn't happy with the shoe I would find under that amount I would save up my own money to pay for the rest. I remember going as far as flipping the shoes over, looking at the bottom to make sure I liked the WHOLE shoe. At some point I did know it was a bit far, but, it didn't stop me!

In my almost 6 years in the endurance world now, I have bought, and thrown away, a fair amount. (that may be a understatement). One thing I did learn very early was that I hated any shoe that did not feel natural. I have bought and returned upwards of 80% of the shoes I have purchased. Nike Free's came along, I went into those. They toyed with the structure a bit as the models have been released so I have gone back and forth using them each year. Growing up, I ran barefoot. The only time we put shoes on is if we were on the street or our gravel road. We had a good deal of property though, so rarely did we wear the shoes. In track, I hated our training shoes, the spikes felt great when we got to wear them on race day!

I attribute all of the above to my shoe "issues". All companies seem to really like to build up the shoe, and it just doesn't feel natural. I wont go into all of the current trends out there now trying to backtrack now that books like "Born to Run" have come out. But, for my own personal satisfaction, I finally purchased the Vibram FiveFingers. Ahhhhhh Thats all I can say. Now THAT is what I have been searching for! They really do feel like taking your shoe off and running barefoot! The rubber on the bottom doesnt impede the barefoot feeling at all, but just protects your foot. I don't think I'll be able to take them into T2 or anything, getting those toes in there takes a bit more than the 30 seconds I spend in there. So, bummer there. But, these will turn into my regular running shoes once I let the pampered feet get used to running in them for longer periods.

I will also actually promote them. Here is why......any running form class, seminar, dvd, etc that you pick up tries to get you to go into this "natural" run form. Lean from the ankles, dont heal strike, high cadence, and so on. This naturally happens when you take your shoes off and run barefoot. Once you let the senses in your feet dictate how you run instead of dulling them, that "natural" running form naturally happens. You want to protect your heal, you tend to lean forward more and pick up the cadence a bit so your not on your foot for too long. Built up shoes dull these senses and stabilize the many many bones, tendons, etc that are in our feet naturally protecting our feet (and the rest of your leg that get the brunt of the impact when the feet don't). Even if you don't run in them often, it will help you learn how it should feel when you put your trainers back on and hit the road. And there is nothing wrong with that!

So, check them out if your run form could use a little help. Break yourself into them slowly, especially if you are used to a very thick, or structured shoe.