15 September 2009

New footwear update

I wore the wacky shoes around for a little bit last night with no weird side effects, so I took them out walking and running today.  They were already easier to get my feet into, although there is still that one "special" toe.

Mom has a nice stretch of sidewalk along the river here that provides a great place to walk or run, and plenty of grass alongside to try as well.

Walking in them was comfortable, although I could definitely feel myself trying to figure out how to place my feet - I felt as though I was slapping them down at first.

I think I have pretty normal feet:

One more foot shot for reference:
 OK.  So fairly normal feet, normal arches, etc. 
The running was...fine.  I'm not the world's greatest runner, by any means (I don't lift my knees enough), but I found them comfy at both a job, a slow run and a pretty good clip.  I tried them off the sidewalk and really enjoyed that.  I'm usually a little hesitant to run on rough terrain, as neither my ankles nor my balance are very awesome, but these shoes increased my awareness of the terrain variances enough that I felt quite comfortable.
My only concern is the lack of cushioning for running frequently on pavement.  We shall see about that.  I finished up with one small hotspot (pre-blister) on a toe, but nothing bad.  My lower legs have felt a little more tired than is normal with a fairly easy run, but we'll see if there was major muscle exhaustion when I get up tomorrow.
Thus far, they're interesting.