Vibram on a Hike

Most of my time has bee taken up thinking about, and trying out, my new shoes.

I needed a new pair of shoes. My old shoes were, well, old-the soles were okay but the velcro straps had lost their velcroiness. Also, they were several years old and I was rather bored of them. I am not sure what to call them: they are a pair of ubiquitous trainers, tennis shoes, sneakers. None of these names seem appropriate for a shoe that I basically wore with jeans on the weekend-not being someone who trains, plays tennis or is sneaky-at least not in a physical sense.

Ah, so that's why the soles were in such good condition.

At any rate a couple of months ago I decided to take up jogging and so the old shoes actually began to be used as they were meant to be. But then, I was told by well meaning people at the gym that no, my shoes were not meant for running, they lacked support especially since I have flat feet. Having a delicate knee and a love of new things I decided to invest in a pair of shoes. This way, I could keep one pair in my locker at the gym and one at home.

Since Nane gets a discount at New Balance, I investigated their shoes first. There are several designs for the flatfooted. How many people have flat feet anyway? Appearantly a lot, since there are so many possibilities out there.

Most people say that to protect your knees and feet you need a thick padded shoe with plenty of arch support. New Balance shoes will protect your feet and slip them into an ideal running position. I was entranced by the all the different possibilities and a good friend swear by them.

But I remembered a friend talking about Vivo shoes a couple of years ago. I looked at them: they were pricey (at the time I was broke) and not really the style I was after. But their philosophy, that you should feel the ground that you are walking on felt right and made me wonder about these cushiony New Balance shoes. Since my flat feet weren't one in a million--it didn't seem right to me that I needed all these fixes to be able to run. I mean there shouldn't be that many of us that will injure ourselves running right? Running should be a natural, easy thing for humans to do.

At the same time, over at the NY Times someone was training to run the NYC marathon. This meant that there were way too many posts about jogging, running and marathon training. And among all of these articles were a few that focused on barefoot running and Vibram Five Fingers shoes. These shoes were the antithesis of New Balance shoes, essentially gloves with an almost puncture proof flexible soul, they promised to let my feet be what they are supposed to be.

Now, the shoes look strange, people stare at them; and not always nicely. People will ask about them and opine freely. I myself went up to someone who was wearing them asked questions about them and then concluded the conversation by pointing out that they do look peculiar... So the shows are not fo rhte timid; however, They may be a good way to make friends.

Anyone who knows me, knows the way this ends. I mean, there was no way I was going to go for the trussed-up unnatural way to run when there was a "natural" way to do it. It's not in me. I don't know that the vibram shoes are better for me; I worry about my knee and hope I am not damaging it futher; but I can't fight against my ideology, New Blance never had a chance.

I have jogged in them (fun), worn them around the city (mixed), to a stony beach (not recommended) and even gone on a light hike with them (wonderful).

All I can say is get them.

I used to see toes socks and think "But I think my toes like to be together" They don't. They ant to be free and individuated you just don't know it yet. The shoes only flaw (besides their appearance which is growing on me) is that if you aren't walking your feet will get cold; toes, it turns out, help keep each other warm just like fingers do in mittens. As long as you are walking even slowly they'll be okay but pop into a restaurant and have a meal on a cold day and your feet will get cold.