2 km of pure joy

Ran 2 km yesterday. Didn't want to overstrain my legs so soon after my 12k run on monday. I could pick up the pace during the second half and came in at about 6 min/km, hardly out of breath or sweaty. The vibrams rock!

No more niesas

Finally decided to return the niesas after all. The reasons were several and I'm gonna try and explain them below but to make short story shorter: they were just a bad fit.

• Length: As you can read in my previous post about the Feelmax Niesa, the size I ordered (42) was slightly too small for me. My feet were touching both the backside with the heal and front with the big toe. My toes are claustrophobic but that was a bit too tight for my liking.


• Width: I'm not sure if I should describe this as too tight or too loose. But it wasn't good. I felt my pinky being squashed against the side of the shoe, but my heal seemed to slip and slide alot in the back. I want more room for toes, less for the heal.


• Height: The top edge of the shoe is pretty high. So high in fact that it was constantly shafing and cutting into the bones of my lower leg (those knobs sticking out). This would of course make it necessary to wear high socks (which I wasn't) to protect the skin. Doesn't that feel slightly contradictory for a shoe supposed to mimic barefooting?


• Adjustability: The shoes have three non-adjustable rubber bands where normal shoe laces would have gone; and a velcro strap above. Problem is you can't properly secure your foot inside, most likely giving rise to the problem of the slipping heal I described earlier. If the shoe is supposed to be like a sock, and they are really too small for me, why can't I get them tight around my foot?

I'm just generally disappointed by Feelmax. Was hoping for a better product than that. Life isn't easy when you're comparing everything to your vibrams, which guess what, fits like a glove!

Got my Feelmax Niesas!

The niesas arrived today! They're a snug fit and I was contemplating if I should send them back for a size larger. However after walking around the house I have to conclude that it's just my claustrophobic toes talking once more.

I'll be using them mainly for walking so should be alright anyway. But I guess I have to take em for a run sometime just to see what they're like.

The sole is really thin though. If the vibrams are gloves for the foot, the niesas are more like outdoor socks. They feel alot like the super grippy socks everyone used to wear indoors when I was a kid. Will write more once I've had a chance to try them out more.

How to run barefoot

Really good video that shows how to land with your feet. I have to work on this. Thanks to shoeless Ultra Jason for this.

Aftermath

Argh. Woke up this morning, knees still tired. It's like all the muscles surrounding my kneecaps have just given up. My feet held up nicely though. Wearing socks in the vibrams is really a must when running. Only ended up with 2 very small blisters on my right foot.

Hoping my Feelmax Niesas arrive today or tomorrow. Will be nice to be able to walk barefoot and not feel like society is expecting me to take up drugs and buy a volkswagen bus..

First!

Went for a run with the vibrams. Purposefully forced myself to run slower than normal so my calfs wouldn't give up with a big jolt of pain. Was aiming for 10k but was out for 1:35. Had to walk the last kilometre because my knees were tired! Not in pain, but tired...

Weird feeling.

Update: Ended up to be about 12k. So I ran 10 km and walked the last 2.