I remember hearing about barefoot running when we were at Stanford. I may have even seen the cross country team out running without shoes. I've always liked to walk around barefoot but didn't really consider running that way until last year as discussion got more intense with the popularity of
this book and
these studies. I was even more intrigued because I wondered if it might help my knees (which have had problems since 2005). I read about it, tried it out, and once I was convinced that I liked it and it was good for me, I bought these shoes last winter:
Since the shoes (Vibram Five Fingers) enabled me to easily run "barefoot" outside in cold weather, I was able to start gradually making the complete transition to "barefoot" running all the time.
Running in these shoes (and especially running barefoot) seems to work well for me. My knees have improved dramatically. I'm running much more and more happily now, with less knee pain. In fact, when my Chacos broke last September, I was left with only these shoes (and a second pair of VFFs called KSOs), Asics, and church shoes. So I started wearing these shoes everyday, all day. I recognize that they are funny looking, and I don't like the attention they give me, but I didn't want to buy new shoes and could feel my feet getting stronger by the day. I wish they weren't so flamboyant, but whatever. I deal with it. I tell people who question me about them that they are about function, not fashion, and try to get on with my day.
Anyway, the point of all of this is to report that the gym here won't allow people to wear these shoes while working out. When I first got here, the girl in charge in the gym told me I couldn't wear them but couldn't explain why. She said it was difficult to explain in English. After going through the chain of command, I finally was able to talk to Perry, the manager in charge of the whole facility. I wasn't trying to make any waves or change policy; I was just trying to figure out what kind of minimalist shoe I could wear that would comply with the rules. I needed to know what the rules were so that I could follow them. Does your whole foot need to be covered? Do you need to have a certain kind of sole? When I asked Perry, he simply said that the rules were that you have to wear mainstream running shoes. He said that these shoes are not yet mainstream so I'd have to wait. He said the rules were necessary because without them "there would be complete chaos." In other words, there is nothing specifically wrong with these shoes except that they look weird. And he doesn't want people with weird-looking shoes in his gym. So, I smiled at him and walked away, puzzled at what I should do. I tried running in my Asics but my knees got really sore the next day. I had to figure something out.
I'm pleased to say that after a few failed attempts, I have finally produced a solution to the problem. Behold, my new running shoes, exclusively designed to comply with the gym's non-chaotic requirements:
They look normalish, I'd say. In person they look more like clown shoes because they are so big. And the string tied around is a little ghetto, I recognize. But nobody has questioned them so far and I have run there three times with them.
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| And, of course, the secret below-- I'm actually wearing my Vibrams, with the shell of normal shoes placed on top. |
I found the white shoes abandoned on the side of the road. I had originally hoped to use more traditional running shoes, like Nikes (which are called nike here, as in, rhymes with ike) but couldn't find any trashed ones that were big enough. So I made do. Pretty nice, eh?
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