Friday, a package arrived in the mail that I had been eagerly awaiting. Within it lay two of the ugliest shoes you've ever seen. They are Vibram Five Fingers, designed to offer the benefits of barefoot training with protection of shoes. In the last three days, I've become a big fan of the shoes...but not as big a fan as my dog.
I first read about these shoes on another blog. They claim to mimic all the feelings of being barefoot while protecting you from hot surfaces and debris. Moreover, unlike traditional shoes, which require us to strike the ground with our heels, Vibrams emphasize striking the ground with the ball of your foot. According to the company's site, the result of this new stride, which becomes much more pronounced when you jog or run, is a strengthening of the feet, ankles and calves.
The second I put these babies on, I was hooked. They really are ridiculously light. They feel very much like they aren't even there. After a few minutes of walking around the house, I realized that I needed to take these puppies for a test drive. I have to say here, I am not a runner. I am not a jogger. I barely qualify as a walker. Still, I was curious, so I grabbed my dog Sulley, a big woolly Australian shepherd, and went outside.
We walked for a few steps, he was clearly thrilled just to be out getting exercise. After a few seconds, though, I started to pick up the pace. This shocked Sulley completely. For a moment, his shepherding instincts kicked in and he tried to slow me down to a manageable speed. Then, when he realized I was serious, he started to jog with me. It felt great, the shoes really did require me to bound on the front of my foot rather than the heel. It felt really bouncy, and Sulley was loving it, so I took us up to a run. Sulley, elated, started galloping next to me like he a big orange stallion.
Long story shorter, since I put the shoes on Friday night, Sulley and I have been on four runs. That's roughly four more runs than Sulley and I have been on in the two years prior. Something about running barefoot is just way more appealling to me than running normally. Sulley, as a result, is in love with the Vibrams.
I should mention, too, that the shoes' promise of strengthening my feet, ankles and calves appears to be to true. This morning my calves feel like they've been injected with concrete. They are tight and sore, and begging for more.
Have you ever felt after just a few workouts that you can already see results? Forget that it's biologically impossible, you could just swear that your muscles have grown. I was feeling that way about my calves last night.
"Do they look bigger?" I asked my wife.
She just laughed at me. She's pretty mean like that.
"Just you wait," I assured her. "One day soon you'll be meeting me at a restaurant, and when you get there first you'll have to tell the waitress that your husband is coming, and you'll describe me as medium heighth with the calves of a centaur."
Centaurs are, of course, the half-man-half-horse creatures of legend. They are known for many mystical abilities and their chiselled calves. True story.
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