Barefootedness

Today was a rest day, so I went shopping!

Shopping is restful, unless you go shopping with my mom. Going through the mall with her is possibly more physically taxing than running a half marathon- you know

how people speed read? Mom speed shops. She goes through every rack of clothing in an insanely short amount of time and then whips into the dressing room. No. Yes. No. Yes. She doesn't give you an explanation, you just follow the order. Then you are done, and you are off to the next store, winded and clenching the stitch in your side.

My shopping destination was Luke's Locker (sorry, Dick's) and my target was--

these

super

SEXY

Vibram Five Fingers!

I know you want to run out and buy a pair right now! But wait, let me make these babies sound even more enticing.

Motion studies demonstrate that when running barefoot, one naturally lands on the forefoot, directly below your center of gravity. This results in optimum balance, increased stability, less impact, and greater propulsion. According to Dr. Ivo Waerlop of the Vibram Biomechanics Advisory Board, “Running in FiveFingers improves agility, strength, and equilibrium, plus it delivers sensory feedback that allows runners to make immediate corrections in their form. This greatly improves running efficiency.”

When you go barefoot, your movements become the movements of a child—playful and sensitive, yet purposeful and confident. You experience the unbound joy of stepping, hopping, and running across any surface on earth, simply to get from here to there.

- Excerpts from the Vibram Five Fingers Website

I will let you know when I begin to experience "unbound joy" and "movements of a child." Hopefully these child-like movements aren't the movements of my childhood because those weren't too coordinated or pretty looking.

The guy helping me said I could choose a different color, but I was feeling the orange and pink. I went to slip them off and put on my flip flops when the guy stopped me and said I should begin my transition now by wearing them out of the store. I'm pretty sure the employees just get a kick out of watching novice runners waddle out of the store in these brightly colored flippers, but I agreed and my barefooted adventure began!