Holy Toe-ledo!

Ack! I have a rip in the fabric! It's on my left big toe! I don't know where it came from! My shoes! My shoes! My beautiful shoes!

It's not a huge rip. I can mend it. So sad, though. So sad.

Nice Article in Wired

There's a nice article on Wired.com about the KSOs. Again, I am not a paid shill, but I do love 'em (I'm wearing them right now - I wear them a lot, even when I'm not running.)

Home Again, Home Again

Nothing to report. Hanging around the house the last few days. Not running. Not going out. Not wearing shoes. It feels good, but gives me nothing to blog. The rain is coming back and I should start thinking a pair of Flows might be a good investment.

The Morning After

Tight, tight, tight calves before, during, and after the morning run.

July: 3 runs for 13.5 miles.

August: 2 runs for 9 miles.

That's two bad months. It's really tempting to come back too fast and overdo it, but that's really not necessary. I can come back more slowly to keep from burning out and still overdo it.

The shoes still feel good, though the blister on my left pinkie toe is back. It's not nearly as severe as before, but it's definitely there.

When I put on the shoes they don't feel quite right until I've walked or run a little bit. The toes need some activity to get them set in their little pouches. They feel much better after the run than when I first put them on.

I need to get a walking around pair. Probably not KSOs, just a pair of Classics or Sprints.

Ow.

Ow ow ow.

Ouch.

I haven't run since last Wednesday. To refresh: that was the hottest day on record for Seattle. Today it is about 40 degrees cooler and overcast. Certainly better running weather. You can run faster. In fact, it would be hard for me to run any more slowly than I ran in the 100+ weather last week. Man my calves hurt - already so tight it's awkward to walk.

My feet feel great, though. I don't know if it is because they aren't hot and sweaty, but it was much, much easier to put the KSOs on. And I don't know if it's because I washed the shoes or not, but the seam that was rubbing the raw spot on my toe didn't give me any problems at all.

I have to watch out for slapping my toes when I'm running the downhills. Fwap fwap fwap. I also need to make sure I lift my knees because sometimes I over-reach with my lower leg and hyper-extend my knee (particularly the left one). But those are problems I have with regular running shoes, not issues specific to the Vibram Five Finger KSOs. Still really positive about the shoes. I like them a lot.

Back in the Show

Ah...brother and his family are off to CA (God love 'em). Still catching up on other tasks and not running, but today I donned my KSOs, grabbed a burger and a movie. It's the first time I've worn the shoes since I washed them last weekend. They feel great, plus they're clean. I really noticed it the first hour or so. We were walking around and you just use different muscles. I know that I like the shoes because I was irritated at the oily patches in the parking lot were soiling my KSOs; it's the little things that let you know you care.

The movie? "The Ugly Truth". Decent date movie, I suppose. Two and a half stars out of five. Harmless little film. Gerard Butler was great; he played the lovable rogue with a heart of gold perfectly. Eric Winter played Heigl's love interest, but I thought he was gay - and not in a third grade playground sort of way. How would Butler's character ever be threatened by Winter? That was the weakness of the movie. Oh, that and Heigl didn't seem interested in either of them. If she wants to keep playing romantic comedies she's going to have to work on the romance part. She had funny moments in the film, but without Butler the whole thing would have been a disaster. I haven't seen Butler before (at least not that I remember), but he should get a lot more work after this flick.

The shoes were great throughout, but I hated to walk on the sticky theater floor in them. It was just me being overprotective of my KSOs, just like in the oily parking lot. I have to let them grow up. I have to let them get soiled. I can always wash them again.

I Have a Seam!

Yes, this is my (soon to be) famous "I Have a Seam" post.

The seam is on the outside of my left foot, just above the ball of the big toe. I didn't notice it much when I was running, but the last couple of days I have been wearing the shoes all day, sitting, standing, and walking, and the seam has worn a little hole in my foot. No bleeding, but the spot is rubbed raw. It's a very small spot, small enough that I can't really come up with a good analogy for it. Far smaller than a pea, but bigger than the wound you get when you accidentally put a staple in your finger. I haven't done anything to treat the sore or anything to modify the shoe. I assume I'll build up a little callus there, which will be fine.

Walking around in the shoes has been great. I have had no troubles at all. Friday we went up to Snoqualmie Falls. We walked down the trail and scrabbled over the rocks to the river. Afterwards we went to the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah (mostly to see the two 10 week old tiger cubs). Walking around the whole time in my KSOs. Then yesterday we drove up to Mt. Rainier and spent a couple more hours hiking around the trails (paved and dirt) behind Paradise; an absolutely beautiful day in the low 80s, cloudless skies, so clear you could easily see the distinctive blue of the compressed ice in the glaciers all the way to the top of the mountain.

The shoes were great. I feel my feet strengthening. The only discomfort I have this morning is from the seam (see above), and the sunburn on the back of my calves.

My legs feel good. My feet feel good. I am liking these shoes more every day.