Please Note: I am in no way an actual runner or any sort of athletic individual, less the little bits of walking/running I do five days a week. So please take this review with that in mind.
I guess I should start at the beginning. The first time I ever saw someone wearing these silly shoes I about fell on the floor. They look ridiculous - and so did the person wearing them! I never in my life imagined I'd own a pair one day. But of course, I am a shoe person. So yesterday, I stopped at SportSpectrum (on the corner of Fern and 70th) to look at new tennis shoes. No I didn't need new shoes - the Nike's that I wear every day are perfectly fine, but again - I love shoes! So, while roaming around this store I come across the toe shoes (that's what I call them, like toe socks, but they actually have a name... five finger something or other; however, I think that sounds stupid because you don't have fingers on your feet. Maybe if they had called them five phalanges I wouldn't have minded so much - ha ha, anatomy joke!). Anyway, so I decided that I would test those babies out. I mean, I've seen more than one person rocking these things around town, so they have to have some good qualities right?!? So, first thing I notice - they don't have American sizes listed on them (that's one point against them immediately). So homeboy who works at the store walks by and I ask him about the size, to which he makes me go and measure my little foot on the foot measure-er. Once I know what size shoe to try on, I find one on display and try to wiggle my fat little toes into the spaces provided for them... difficulty level here is like a 6.5 on a 10pt scale cause I'm standing up on one foot trying to monkey toe my feet so that those sausage digits will go where they are supposed to, and I almost fall down - twice! But I'm all for making a fool of myself (which was totally the case since there were like four people watching me try these things on!). Making a long story even longer here, I finally get the display on, then decide that I should have just gotten a pair to put on. So the sales person goes back in the back and gets me a couple different styles to try on. Side note: I didn't realize there were so many different ways to make toe shoes, but there are! I put on the first pair - a little less difficult this time - and walk around the store for a minute. Initially, I didn't bring money into the store because I know my weakness when it comes to shopping (I should have never gone into that store to begin with), so after a few minutes of piddling, I'm sold! Little man didn't have to do anything! So now, I'm one of THOSE people, the owner of some freaking weird-ass looking toe shoes. YAY, GO ME!
This morning, I got up as usual, and went for my walk/run. But instead of putting on my Nike's, I try out my new fangled contraptions. I don't know what I assumed it was going to be like - maybe I thought putting them on would automatically make me one of those people who likes to run a lot, but it didn't. I do like the way it feels when you walk in them though. Like being barefoot, but not! I LOVE being barefoot. The one thing I noticed about it though, was that since I did feel like I was barefoot, I spent a lot of time watching the ground and not so much time looking where I was going. I'm sure that will dissipate once I'm used to wearing them. Another thing that worried me was how much they might move on my feet, like heels when you walk in them, your foot sides and can cause blisters. Luckily for me, no such thing occurred. The shoes do have straps on the back that you can use to tighten the sides and back - I assume to keep your foot from sliding in and out of the heel all the time. These are the type of shoe you would think would be made specifically for someone, not generically. However, they do fit well in the general size. Ohh, and... they made my big toe hurt. My feet felt great and all my other toes were fine (I generally get blisters because, like most people, my toes all crunch together and lean toward my big toe, but today that was not the case). However, I didn't actually run today. I'll try that next time - hopefully that will goes just as well (or in my big toe's case, better!) than this trip!
All and all, these shoes are pretty awesome, I like that they make me look like I got flippers on the bottom of my legs. Just wish they weren't so darned expensive... I have buyers remorse like a motherfucker! Check out the pic below!
