The Vibram Experience

Today I am an official owner of those funky looking shoes with toes. It took some convincing, but after conversing with different people (especially my sis) that have taken the time to become acclimated to 'bare foot' running, they have convinced me that I will likely not want to return to my regular running shoes after having the Vibram Experience. :-) Thus, after spending about an hour at The Running Shop and agonizing over whether to get the bright orange and pink shoes or perhaps lace ups, I walked out with my very own light gray with green accent Vibrams. I have to say, after simply wearing them for a couple hours my feet love em! I can't wait to take them out for a nice long run!

Being aware that getting use to these shoes can be difficult, I decided to do a little research on how to best approach learning how to run in these new wiggleable shoes. On the vibram shoe website they actually have a guide on how to approach using these shoes. I have decided that attempt an exercise patience (something I am also exercising in my post college life) and follow their guide below:

A) First two weeks you do foot exercises they provide for you along with wearing your shoes 1 - 2 hours daily.
B) The third and fourth weeks I am to continue with the exercises and run only 10% of my regular runs (so about .50 miles) but no more than once every day
C) Week five through twelve I am to increase my distance gradually week by week (10% each week)
C) Finally after week thirteen they recommend experimenting with distance

So, I am reading this thinking "Well there goes my plan to be able to even run two miles with Ann when I see her in San Francisco in 3.5 weeks!" But we will see. Perhaps I will be crazy and do a little running before the plan dictates.

What I am liking most so far of this Vibram Experience is the emphasis on listening to your body. In their guidelines (which are found on the Vibram website under running) they repeatedly emphasis the importance of listening to you body saying "Please listen to your body every step of the process." I wonder, how many people actually sit back and really listen to their bodies?

Throughout my post high school life I have had a growing desire to become more conscious of my body and its needs, of listening to it. Am I hungry? If so, what does my body want to eat? Am I sleepy and need a nap? Or maybe I just need to get moving to wake up. These are common body mind negotiations I have on a regular basis. I have learned much over the past few years, but have not mastered it and still find it can be difficult to listen to, hear what my body is saying, and then act accordingly. Sometimes, even after I know what my body may need, I do not deliver. Thus I have decided to document my Vibram Experience as and exercise in the process of caring for and listening to my body while getting use to the crazy comfy and light shoes.
Vibram ends their guide to using the toe shoes with this:

"Love You Run. Listen To Your Body. Tread Lightly. Start With Your Feet."

So..to start....some feet exercises.