Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Walk like a bear foot.

That's what our daughter used to say, "Can I walk like a bear foot?"

I've got some running friends who swear that shoes are bad for you and I even ran part of the Leona Divide 50 mile race with "Barefoot Ted" who has run ultras barefoot, though he's taken to wearing Vibram FiveFingers (with whom he apparently has some sort of deal). Every once a while I wander out barefoot, but mostly it seems like a violation of the prayer, "Lead us not into temptation," since it generally leads to numerous strong temptations to cuss. Being a reverend and all that I usually manage to limit myself to exclamatories (Yow! Yikes! Ouch!) rather than expletives (#@^*!).

Anyway, this highly persuasive article ("You Walk Wrong") convinced me to try out a pair of FiveFingers so I ordered them today (free shipping and 10% off= $72). We'll see if I can handle them for running or just use them to toughen up my feet a little around the yard.

It's not quite "walking like a bear foot," but it's close.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Feet adapt quite a bit. I was barefoot all the time as a kid except at school. But I admit there were days where the heat of the road on a good hot day and the prickles of the path became a bit much. Now i think it's too great a risk with broken glass.

Jerry Davison said...

I'll be curious to see what you think of your new "bear feet". I've been walking/running in Nike Free Trail shoes and love the minimalist feel. I think they've strengthened my ankles and feet.
--Jerry

Unknown said...

Hey FMR-

I've got a pair of Nike Frees that I bought to try out, a pair of Nike Free Trails that were given to me (Free Nike Frees!), and a pair of Merrel Sprint Fades, also given to me, another minimalist shoe. I use them for short runs but the VFF will be a whole new experience. I'll let you all know.

mdf356 said...

Compared to te VFF, Nike Free is like a Montrail Hardrock. :-)