Barefoot Running Update

I'm still wearing the crazy shoes for running. Funny how much attention they get. This week I had a guy pull up beside me in his car slow down and just stare at my feet. He didn't say anything, maybe because I had my earphones in, he just stared then drove off.

I'm running about 3 miles every couple days. The pain I was promised by others who have worn these shoes has come and gone. The most pain came in the lower part of my calves and the highest part of my quads. One day at the gym I was wearing my regular running shoes on the treadmill and my feet were burning in pain for the first five minutes. Maybe my feet missed the barefoot shoes.

On Thursday I think I must have run over five miles. On my run I go through the neighborhood and enter the nature park near our house. My normal path I run about 3/4 of a mile in the nature park. On Thursday I decided to mix it up a bit and take some different paths. I got lost. After sometime I found a familiar trail and found my way out. When I got home my daughter commented that it took me a lot longer than normal. I decided to look at the map I have of the nature park and see if I could retrace my path. After a good long look I think I figured out where I went wrong, which added almost two miles to my nature park leg of the run. I was sore.

So far the Vibram Five Fingers have not been worn to the gym. Mostly because I don't want to have to go through the inevitable awkward "what is that guy wearing" stage. For now I'm content to use them outside on the road and trail and keep the Nike's for the treadmill. I will, however, be taking them to Germany, ash permitting, to run the streets of Munich.