I needed new shoes and finally bit the bullet and invested in a pair of Vibram Five Fingers KSO's this morning! This is my first pair, but I've coveted these shoes for a long time. Okay, well really, this is my second pair of VFF's...second pair in one day - - the first pair had some stitching missing from the heel pull, and I took them back to exchange them for a perfect pair. I was fortunate they had another pair in my size, as I was informed that if they had to be ordered they could take two months to come in. The store where I bought them is the only one who carries them within a 50 mile radius of where I live.

The instructions that come with the shoes say to put them on and wear them for a couple of hours a day at a time to grow accustomed to them. I wore them out of the store and have not taken them off since. I am not having any problem becoming accustomed to them. Probably because my favorite thing has always been going barefoot. I was fortunate that while I was growing up that my guardians never made a big deal out of my not wanting to wear shoes. I had my share of bee stings (and I am allergic), but never had any other major issues going barefoot until I was older. Yes, of course I wore shoes to school and if I was in a public place, but at all other times my shoes were off.

I remember an interesting day my 6th grade year in Phys Ed. I attended a small private school in Florida, and our Phys Ed instructor was also the football coach, Coach Luker (I can't believe I remember his name after all these years, lol). Typically we would do things like play kickball, or basketball, but this day we were going to run some relays and sprints, and do some other activities outside. Before the start of the first race I asked the coach if I could take off my shoes to run. He looked at me and said, "Sure, I guess. Don't get hurt now." I told him I wouldn't, it was just how I felt best running. The first sprint I ran was up against a boy who was pretty fast, and I beat him, handily. The second and third races were the same result, and now my classmates were getting ticked because they couldn't out-sprint me. Several asked if they could take off their shoes, as well. The class was turning into a "let's see if anyone can beat Lisa" class. I raced every single one of my classmates, several times each, and no one ever beat me. That was all we got done in class that day. I ended up with an award at the end of the year in Phys Ed from Coach Luker. All he could do was smile and shake his head that day during class, and when I was running he was cheering me on. Oh, and I remember him recounting a story about some football player who kicked barefoot. He was duly impressed.

I don't know if I could have ran as fast with shoes on or not, but I knew barefoot just felt better to me. It still does. I still shun shoes when I am able. Tomorrow I am going to wear my Vibram's to work. I am taking a backup pair of regular shoes just in case my boss flips out, even though our handbook merely states that we are not allowed to wear open toed, open heeled shoes, or sandals, none of which the VFF's are...but they are not very traditional looking, to say the least! So far I love them. They will be the next best thing to being able to go barefoot at work, if I can pull it off without protest from the upper management! I'll update and let you know after I get home tomorrow.