To Barefoot or not to Barefoot .... that is the question!

So earlier this year I started using the "5k runner" app, which is pretty much the same as all of the Couch to 5k apps you see floating around! I really enjoyed learning to run, it has always been something I've wanted to be able to do, to be able to have a stress realise and a get away. People seem to love running and that's something I wanted to be able to understand! So I found the app really helpful ... Each day using the app (3 days a week) I found it easy enough that I could do but at the same time difficult enough that it pushed me. It was a challenge with an attainable goal and I really love it!


So I made it to 5k and was beyond stoked. And then on my second 5k run, I injured myself .... great! Such an anti-climax! I had a lot of pain in my right knee and I felt like I had pulled my Achilles tendon (if that's possible) on my left foot. The arches of my feet were so strained and I was waking up to shooting pains up through my heels in the middle of the night. 


The culprit, I believe, were the worn out shoes that I brought to play indoor soccer in, in Grade 10 (10 years ago)! Half way through the 5k Runner program I had put new shoes on lay-by but hadn't (still haven't) gotten around to getting them off. That's one thing I've learnt about being a mum.... your needs always seem to come last! It's really hard to justify spending $200 on a good pair of running shoes when your children need new shoes and winter jackets, food to eat, a house to live in ;) etc etc.


So convinced that I could find the shoes I needed much cheaper on the net, I went into a sports shop and got fitted for some shoes that "fit my feet" and jumped online and bought them! At a very reasonable price too! I patted myself on the back and thought how clever am I and waited in anticipation for the shoes that would help me run again!


So my brand new Asics Gel GT2170's arrived on Monday and I was beyond excited! I put them straight on and was prancing around the house showing them off! And then it started .... horrible pain up through the arches of my feet, the stitching in the side of the shoe digging into my foot, my toes started to cramp and I had to get them off! Soooo disappointing! These were the shoes I had tried on in the shop, the ones the lady had chosen to fit my feet! So having lost all faith in the sports shops in our humble town I'm doing all my own research about my next pair of shoes ....... and I'm thinking of going Barefoot! Not "barefoot" as in, not wearing shoes, but Barefoot as in, minimalistic shoes that will encourage and strengthen my feet to do what they were created to do! There was no such thing as arch support and gel cushioning back in old bible days and I have NO doubt they lead a more physically active lifestyle than I do. 


I had done a LOT of research, like quite literally hours of research, into the first pair of shoes I brought, went to several sports shops, did so many online "shoe type tests" and research into what kind of shoes an overweight, wide footed, near flat footed woman who likes to run should be wearing, the Ascis should have been my perfect shoe but alas I am still shoeless and just dying to get outside to run again.

This is my answer!! I am SO sure they will be perfect for me! It just makes so much sense .... all throughout primary school we would run with no shoes on, I have always been a bare footer, it's what I'm comfortable with! These HAVE to work! (Plus they look really funky and I don't have to wear socks with them ... WOOT!)

So I'm taking the plunge and buying them this weekend, will hopefully receive them next week and start hitting the trails again and learn how to "Barefoot Run" .....

which I have read, is quite a process, but I'll tell you all about that another day ;)

On a side note: Husband is waiting for his Vibram Five Fingers (yes the funny glove shoes :p) to arrive, so I'm very keen to do some "Barefoot shoe" (such an oxymoron! lol) comparison! x