I've been a reduce, re-use, recycle person my whole life. Shopping for clothes and shoes and things for around the house feels pretty normal for me, and even as my financial wealth increases I continue to enjoy the adventure that poking around an op shop (charity shop) brings to my life.
I've also been running on and off my whole life. "On" more than "off" to the degree that I've probably always considered myself "a runner", even when I took the best part of 12 months off after my last ultra marathon.
But there was a time when I had bought into the narrative, the idea, the belief that most of mainstream society holds and that we need to have specially designed, motion controlled, cushioned shoes for running. And to that I say, "rubbish!!".
Our feet are incredible pieces of art. To quote Keith Bateman and Heidi Jones (from their book "Older Yet Faster"):
"Nature provides you with a solid platform to stand, walk and run on. Each of your feet has 26 bones; over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments; 33 joints and numerous blood vessels and nerves. These complex structures work efficiently together to interact with the ground to provide you with balance, support, propulsion and, in good runners, a large amount of spring. No shoe manufacturer could possibly compete with this."
These days I'm a big proponent of working with the incredible bodies God gave us and the more I learn about barefoot and minimalist footwear, the more I am determined to share this important message with others.
But I didn't always think I could or should go walking or running long distances in totally flat, almost no cushioning, can-scrunch-up-in-your-hands shoes. Until the age of 28 when I bought myself a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and began the transition to "my feet are awesome, I'm going to set them free" minimalism, I used to wear the same kinds of running shoes that you see most serious (and not so serious) runners in.
I'd been in orthotics since I was a teenager, and had developed plantar fasciitis as a young adult, and could barely walk around in anything other than closed shoes with orthotics, even inside the house without being in pain. I thought it was kind of normal and I knew others who were in the same boat.
But in hindsight, it was ridiculous.
At age 27 I did my first ultramarathon. While training for it, one of my team mates (it was a rare team ultra marathon event) who was also a work mate of mine, started handing me books to read. One that stood out above all the others was "Born to Run" by Christopher MacDougall.
To say it changed my life is an understatement.
Now, I know a lot of people have read that book in the 12+ years since it was published. Many tried going barefoot or bought Vibram Five Fingers or Luna Sandals or some other kind of minimalist shoe and just "gave it a go". Many of them ending up hurting themselves and the barefoot movement that could have been massive, had a peak and it's somewhat curled up in the corner out of sight of much of society again.
It was a classic case of where "go hard" (at doing the new thing) made you "go home" (limping in shame). Somehow my intuition knew better. And I listened. It told me to go slow. It said, "You've been in these 'normal' shoes, with your orthotics, for so long now, your feet need time to adjust."
So I started each morning by putting on my new flat, flexible shoes. And I would walk around in them until my feet began to hurt. Then I would be the super supportive shoes back on. Within a month I was running 2km on fire trails, in my Vibrams, before breakfast. 11 months after putting these new shoes on for the first time, I returned to the Blue Mountains (outside Sydney, Australia) and did a "short" ultra marathon (48km) and my feet were in so much better shape at the end of that run that I could have even dreamed was possible. I think a week later I could run again (whereas it took me more than a week for all the blisters to heal the year before, let alone be able to run).
In the years since then I've owned a few pairs of Vibram Five Fingers. I've discovered they're no so good for running on trails when you're tired (because you kick your toes on roots and rocks) and I also get sick of having conversations about my feet everywhere I go (because your toes have their own pocket the way gloves have a pocket for each finger, and people aren't used to seeing that - at least in Australia).
I ended up switching to Merrell Pace Gloves and Trail Gloves. And have tried a few of the brands from China (since none of last year's styles in stores fit me well enough or felt good enough to justify the $200 for the privilege of owning them. They've been pretty good so far. But I've kept my eye out in the Facebook Groups for second hand pairs of Merrell's since they're still my favourite and really hard to get when the new styles keep coming out each year with more and more bloody stuff they don't need/my feet don't want.
And this week I found these. Worn three times. $15 (which is a crazy bargain; new I think these are around $100) and picked up from nearby to here. I think they're Merrell Vapour Gloves. They're marketed as a "gym or yoga" shoe. But who cares. I'm going to be running in them ;)
But today it was a walk. With my love. A short one because I'm tired and feeling under the weather. I won't be going very far until I find out if I've got a negative Covid test. Til then, I'll be on the couch, admiring my new (old) shoes :)
I just finished a 1.84km walking that lasted about 0hh:30mm:30ss !
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