All Day, All Toes
Today was a big day for me. I wore my Vibrams to work.
You may remember that I made the controversial decision to try out the odd and horribly be-toed shoes back in January. And try them I did.
Review: They were great for five minute runs on the treadmill. They were wonderful for weight-lifting (I'll never do squats in running shoes again). And they were particularly excellent for rainy days...at home. (They feel very grippy and primal and they dry fast.) For running more than five minutes, I recommend running shoes. The kind with just the one toe. One day I ran to the track, did some intervals, then run-limped home. I didn't run again for a week. I even kinda worked up to it. Unforgiving.
However, they did improve my stride length/rate a lot. When in normal running shoes, I now take shorter strides and land more mid-foot. The adjustment was something I cultivated, but I didn't think was going to stick. I'm super happy that part worked. [END REVIEW]
The downside is that something about the idea of toes pisses people off. Consider the following post to a running forum (you may have to click it to read):
To help you gauge the level of emotion in the "CANCEL!" responses, it was several posts before anyone asked what she looked like. (Edit: Not True! I remembered incorrectly.)
The date post may or may not have been for realsies, but there is definitely a divide. A divide filled with fire and hatred. I mean, TOES! Walking out of the house with them on feels a bit like wearing confederate flag pants.
Today though, today was different. It was rainy and I had just shaved and I didn't care anymore. I didn't want to wear my stupid big shoes and I didn't want to wear yucky old socks and it was too cold and slippery for sandals. Vibrams it was. And they were...
Fine.
My co-workers were a bit boring. Honestly, I was disappointed. Where was the rage? I mean, my shoes had toes! About an hour in, I started interrogating people, "I notice you haven't commented on my weird shoes." *defiant glare*
To which they all replied in turn, "Yeah. Huh. Toes, eh? That's different. Vibrams five-fingers, right? How do you like them?"
Needless to say, I was furious. Deprived of a target for my righteous angst-y wrath, I stomped back to my not-quite-a-cubicle and did what cubicle people do in cubicles.
After work, I ran some stairs with the boss then came home and ran a couple miles with puppy Daisy. Before I ran with the dog, I switched to actual running shoes. I mean, I'm not crazy.
Meanwhile...
Julie went to the doctor today (yesterday? sometime this week) and had another baby checkup. Alpha is responding well to the marathon training and according to the doctor is very "active". I choose to read that as "wriggly". I anticipate great fun when wriggly becomes kick-some. We're all signed up for a sonogram in about a month and that's pretty exciting.
I also decided that I can only be photographed from the ground level. So tall!
You may remember that I made the controversial decision to try out the odd and horribly be-toed shoes back in January. And try them I did.
Review: They were great for five minute runs on the treadmill. They were wonderful for weight-lifting (I'll never do squats in running shoes again). And they were particularly excellent for rainy days...at home. (They feel very grippy and primal and they dry fast.) For running more than five minutes, I recommend running shoes. The kind with just the one toe. One day I ran to the track, did some intervals, then run-limped home. I didn't run again for a week. I even kinda worked up to it. Unforgiving.
However, they did improve my stride length/rate a lot. When in normal running shoes, I now take shorter strides and land more mid-foot. The adjustment was something I cultivated, but I didn't think was going to stick. I'm super happy that part worked. [END REVIEW]
The downside is that something about the idea of toes pisses people off. Consider the following post to a running forum (you may have to click it to read):
The date post may or may not have been for realsies, but there is definitely a divide. A divide filled with fire and hatred. I mean, TOES! Walking out of the house with them on feels a bit like wearing confederate flag pants.
Today though, today was different. It was rainy and I had just shaved and I didn't care anymore. I didn't want to wear my stupid big shoes and I didn't want to wear yucky old socks and it was too cold and slippery for sandals. Vibrams it was. And they were...
Fine.
My co-workers were a bit boring. Honestly, I was disappointed. Where was the rage? I mean, my shoes had toes! About an hour in, I started interrogating people, "I notice you haven't commented on my weird shoes." *defiant glare*
To which they all replied in turn, "Yeah. Huh. Toes, eh? That's different. Vibrams five-fingers, right? How do you like them?"
Needless to say, I was furious. Deprived of a target for my righteous angst-y wrath, I stomped back to my not-quite-a-cubicle and did what cubicle people do in cubicles.
After work, I ran some stairs with the boss then came home and ran a couple miles with puppy Daisy. Before I ran with the dog, I switched to actual running shoes. I mean, I'm not crazy.
Meanwhile...
Julie went to the doctor today (yesterday? sometime this week) and had another baby checkup. Alpha is responding well to the marathon training and according to the doctor is very "active". I choose to read that as "wriggly". I anticipate great fun when wriggly becomes kick-some. We're all signed up for a sonogram in about a month and that's pretty exciting.
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