The Next Running Challenge

I have almost flat feet. I never knew that until I went to Varsity Sports in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to be fitted for some running shoes. The first thing out of the salesperson's mouth after watching me walk two steps was, "You have REALLY low arches." I guess I couldn't have been drafted into the army.

Anyway, that explained why I had always been plagued by shin splints. I got a good Saucony shoe with arch stability, but still had lingering shin splint problems until I tried these.

The love it or hate it Vibram Five Finger shoe.

There are complicated reasons involving where your foot hits the running surface as to why they help, but they virtually eliminate my shin splints. I will let you google that for a much better explanation than I can give.

I am not ready to throw all my running shoes in the garbage quite yet though.  You have to develop calves of steel to be able to run in these for any significant distance and the loss of cushion can be really jarring, especially if you have a lot to jar, as I do. And I don't know, I just have some kind of attachment to traditional running shoes that I can't really explain.  I just feel like I NEED to run in them at least sometimes.  Plus my oldest son has banned me from wearing Vibrams in public when I'm with him because they "look weird."

Also, Varsity Sports, mentioned earlier in the article is 100% awesome and a must-go if you are in the Baton Rouge or Mandeville area and thinking about starting to run.