Oldfloss saying she had 4 pairs of running shoes not only put my mangy pair into perspective, it also galvanized me into action. This week I acquired a new pair of vibram five fingers and went into town today to get some "normal" running shoes. I enjoyed sharing running stories with the young shop assistant who became positively chatty when I told him my old pair had done about 1,000 k. "Oh, wow, that's a lot" he exclaimed and then told me he used to run 21k every evening before he knackered the nerves in his legs in the process (as a diabetic). Now that really is a lot!
Anyway I ran a gentle 4K in the vibrams yesterday morning. They are extremely light and you really do feel the ground. I felt a bit vulnerable, but your feet are protected. And this afternoon I ran 10k in the new Nikes. It's not love at first sight, they seem a bit tight, but I may need to fool around with the laces. We shall see.
And here is the obligatory picture!
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JaySeeSkinny
Graduate10
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They are amazing!!!! Wow... my shoes look like poor relations!!
I am very impressed..the vibrams look so funny! but if as you say they protect your feet and are light.. do you feel every bump and stones and things???
I hope the Nikes settle... here's to another 1.000 K x
You do feel the stones and the difference between grass, gravel and tarmac. It will take a bit of getting used to - someone said running on stones is like giving yourself a "foot massage". On the other hand they are so light even I feel positively gazelle-like. They also gave me lovely negative splits yesterday. Quite difficult to get into though (until you read the instructions!). I kept getting 2 toes in one pocket at first. But I think I've got it sussed nowππ
Talking about shoes ! - I have been running for 3 years and have had very unhappy experiences with shoes. I have ( believe it or not) 16 pairs of running shoes - only 1 of which I am happy with - my Skecher GoRun4's. Even then I am not completely happy with them because although they are light, fit me well and are comfortable, they wear very poorly underneath. I did a lot of reading about the fitting of shoes yesterday ( seeing as I am on the injury couch I have plenty of time! ) and I have come to fully realise that I am buying shoes that are too long for me in an effort to fit my broad width. Plus I have quite short toes when compared to many other people. These two things mean that the shoes widest part is too far towards my heel - I need shoes that have a more suitable ball to heel length . 2 people can have the same toe to heel length ( and hence the same size shoe) but different ball to heel length and of course different widths. Over the past many decades , I have always worn size 8's and I have never been able to understand why I am now wearing size 10 in running shoes - and am now realizing that in the early days of my running, I would go into a shop , ask for size 8's and couldn't get into them - so they bring out large (in reality longer) sizes.
So you need wider shoes, rather than longer ones? I'm in a similar situation (although my toes aren't short) as I have quite wide feet. As a child they used to do width sizes but you don't really get that with adult shoes.
Asics do different widths of their shoes. I'm surprised if other running shoe manufacturers don't do the same. It's worth looking into rather than just accept the standard width.
They are available in the US - but here in Oz they don't bring them in. Probably we don't have the population density to warrant it. I understand that New Balance has the best range of wide shoes.
I recently bought a lovely pair of Brooks in a wide fitting. Any chance of finding those in Oz? When I was last there I was checking eBay for something, and then I came back here and my settings were defaulting to Oz and it was suggesting Brooks. Just a thought. Good luck!
The vibrams do look odd and I don't think I'd get on with them personally as I don't even like walking barefoot indoors. The Nikes look lovely. I've always found them quite narrow for me. Brooks do different width fittings. I hope you get on well with the Nikes.
There's a pinned post with different lacing techniques if you want to experiment with the Nikes. I shall look forward to reports on the Vibrams! They look lovely - have fun
Oldfloss has 4 pairs of running shoes??!!! Jeepers floss I must get me to a running shop pronto πππ
Lovely shoes JSS π I'm on my third pair of Nikes and just love them.
Not sure about the Vibrams. I can feel my toes curl just looking at your picture but everyone to their own. I hope both pairs bring you many injury-free, happy miles π
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