ViiiiBBBBraaaaMMMMsssSS

Yes, I'm that excited about them. Not even normal capitalization rules can contain it. For the longest time I didn't think I'd ever be able to get into barefoot running. Then suddenly (approximately a week and a half ago) the idea popped into my head and, rather than thinking it's ridiculous like I normally do, I was actually really excited about the prospect of walking and running around almost barefoot. So I began looking around online and figuring out where I could get them, both online and in stores. I found a few websites selling them for $75-$80, but it was only one or two models. Not only that, but I couldn't try them on and I certainly didn't want to spend that kind of money and not be able to return them if they didn't fit.

I decided the best best option would be to get them from JackRabbit, the same store that organizes the Indoor Triathlon Series and put on the Shamrock Shuffle. Once you spend a certain amount of money ($150, if I remember correctly) and register with them, you get 10% off of everything you buy there. Considering how expensive running and triathlon stuff can be, it's a decent deal. And since I haven't spent too much money on running shoes in the last couple of years, I decided to take the leap and buy a pair. This is what they look like:

I went for a short run in them and they were great!



I made it short because I thought it might be hard to run in them at first. It wasn't as hard as I anticipated, but it will take some getting used to before I'll be able to do longer runs in them. I also worried that blisters and chafing might be an issue. They still might on a longer run, but today I had no issues. It could just be that the top part is designed enough like a sock that it's not as abrasive on bare skin as normal running shoes would be. I was also delightfully surprised to find that I seemed to be running faster. I'm not sure I was as I didn't time myself, but it definitely felt like it. Next time I'll time it to find out for sure.