Barefoot running

Yesterday Josh got me these awesome Vibram Five Finger "Bikila" running shoes for my birthday!  They're certainly very funny looking, but are extremely comfortable.  They are made to simulate barefoot running while in an urban area where we all know there is a lot of questionable stuff on the ground!  I ran two miles in them yesterday and I have to admit, I got some blisters right under my big toes... and I have sore calf muscles today from the different stride I have to use in these shoes... but I think I'll get used to them in time.  Basically barefoot running changes the way your foot strikes the ground.  You use the balls of your feet to strike the ground, which helps with your momentum as opposed to the momentum stopping heel strike that a normal padded running shoe encourages.

Vibram urges you to ease into these shoes slowly as they work new groups of muscles... so for now these are just my mid-week short distance runners.  Hopefully Zooey won't be too embarrassed to be seen running around town in these funny looking things!  I'm looking forward to working new muscles and I think this will really help with my marathon training! :)