I could not help staring at what appeared to be a brown bare foot on the metro last night. In fact, I had to ask the gentleman wearing them “Are you from this planet?” All jokes aside, I was strangely intriqued by his footwar and looking at the rest of his clothing, seeing some elite, aka pricey, athletic ware, thought they must be for rock climbing or someting similar. After my converstation with him, it turns out these “Five Finger” shoes made by “Vibram” and a few other companies, were originally designed for water sports, canoeing he mentioned, as a replacement to the very popular and relatively ugly “water soc.” As the metro carried us downtown to the same metro station, we discussed more about these shoes. He mentioned there were sandals as well and the ones he had on are water proof. He said he has thrown out all of his shoes. When he said he was a personal trainer, it made sense. I don’t think I could wear them at work as they don’t really project a business casual look, unless I was a white water rafting instructor.
He mentioned that this type of shoe became famous when a well known runner, who’s name eludes me, not because it was forgettable, but because I don’t follow the sport professionally, wore them in a race. I asked about arch support, the most important job of a shoe besides protection in my mind. He said that if we were to “go barefoot” effectively, our muscles work more and are feet don’t become fatigued without the support. I don’t think cavemen had them, though they probably did not have podiatrists either to tell them their feet are in bad shape.
So….since I have ugly toes, I think I am going to pick up a pair of the summer variety to wear as sandals. Wear them around the apartment when doing laundry or taking out the trash and perhaps they can help keep my feet in shape and me walking longer in life.
