I want to digress a little bit from my regular type of blogs and take a moment to shamelessly promote my favourite shoes in the world. They are:
Vibram Fivefingers (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/)
I got them just a month before coming on the race and they have literally been changing my life. What is so great about them? Well to start they only weigh like 5 ounces. Which when you are travelling all around the world and every gram counts at the airports is a great thing. Also they are machine washable, so when they get stinky it’s easy to just wash them. But the greatest of all is how they help me in running. I can’t guarantee the same results with everyone else but I honestly can’t remember ever being sore after running with them (other than the first 3 weeks when they hurt a lot and my feet had to develop callouses).
They have helped my agility, speed and posture and because they fit like a glove around my feet they actually teach my feet how to run naturally and safely. With other shoes there is so much cushioning that it doesn’t hurt to run improperly or with bad form. But because there is no cushioning with the fivefingers you know right away when you are running poorly. In Uganda I ran for three hours straight in them and only at that point did the pads of my feet hurt a bit from running on the gravel roads and also I developed the rash of a lifetime between my legs (but that’s another story 🙂 ).
Before I go any further I think I should tell the story of how I found out about them. I was minding my own business, just perusing the fascinating world of facebook when I saw a friend’s link to an article about running shoes. As I read the article my jaw dropped, it talked about how Stanford’s running team, arguably the greatest running team in America often trains barefoot. They throw away expensive shoes to just get ones with less cushioning. I think it mentioned the Raramuri indians in Mexico’s cooper canyon, some of the greatest runners on earth who will run 24 hours at a time in just tire tread sandals called huaraches. Then it talked about a book called “Born to run” by Chris Mcdougall.
Very soon I bought the book and could barely put it down. It showed how we were made to run biologically. How natural and safe it is when we do it naturally. I had always loved running but hated feeling sore afterwards and thinking it was bad for my knees. But when I took the advice of the book about the natural way to run I never felt sore again. Running became one of my favourite things to do. I love it! It told the story of “Barefoot Ted” a big guy who always had foot and knee trouble when running and bought all the expensive shoes to help but nothing worked until he started running barefoot and it changed everything. He became the first sponsored athlete for Vibram fivefinger shoes. He has run full marathons in them.
So all that to say I really recommend either getting the book “Born to Run” by Chris Mcdougall or getting Vibram Fivefingers. I feel healthier and more alive than ever and will compete in a marathon in Regina in just a couple months. Woohoo!
