Thursday, April 15, 2010

learning to run like a child again

I haven't gotten the Vibram FiveFingers yet, but that hasn't deterred me from beginning to run like a child again. I have to learn this because I've been a shoe-donning adult for too many years. As a little girl, I used to gallivant around our yard barefoot all the time. Even the gravel driveway didn't pose too much of a problem. These days, my feet are much more sensitive.

My current experiment is my choice of foot apparel for my short morning walks/jogs with my dog. I started slipping into my Mary Jane-style Crocs out of sheer, time-saving convenience. Then it dawned on me that it didn't bother me to do the periodic jogging sprints that are dispersed throughout our walks in them. In fact, I kinda liked it. So I started jogging the whole mile. Maybe they'd start rubbing, or the distance would prove their cumbersomeness, but so far it hasn't.

Yesterday morning I decided to test them on a longer distance. I ended up doing a little over 2 miles. No rubbing. No blisters. They felt great. Maybe I'm confused about the source of my exuberance--it was a crisp, spring morning, after all--but I'd like to think that just being one step closer to being barefoot (or in my FiveFingers) is making a tangible difference. :)

1 comment:

  1. I've started running in the thinnest shoes I have as well, and I even took the dog to get the mail barefoot the other night (though it was a bit painful). I'm totally psyched about the VFF's. I was just out hiking with my mom this last weekend, and it struck me that it would be the perfect opportunity to wear them. I'm waiting for your review...:D

    I'm glad you're learning to run like a kid again.

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