I have mentioned numerous times in previous posts how much I love my weird looking, alien inspired, Vibram Five Finger “shoes.” These have become all the rage in the agility and running community, and as a life-long hater of traditionally constrictive, heavy shoes, I embraced them as well. I spent months running happily in them, and ignored the first time I executed a shallow rear cross and ended up landing heavily on my side. I brushed myself off, and kept going. The next time I wiped out and landed in a less than graceful fashion in the grass, I thought for a second, and dismissed my concern. However, by the third and fourth times I either did an unintended split or found myself face to face with my amused and confused border collie, I decided it was time to reconsider my choice of footwear.
First, let me say that I don’t fault the Vibrams. They are wonderful, comfortable, ingenious, and awesome. However, I am fatally clumsy. I lack grace. I manage to trip and fall, run into things, stumble over myself, and slip in any situation and during the most banal, seemingly harmless activities.
I needed tread. Serious tread, like from soccer cleats. However, I needed shoes that were lightweight and non-constrictive. I was overjoyed when at a local show, some lovely vendors showed up with a few pairs of Innov8 shoes. They only had a couple of sizes left, and lucky for me for once that I have absurdly large feet, a size 10 was among them. They are lightweight, breathable, and best off all, I NEVER slip, trip, or fall as a result of abrupt changes in direction. I still trip over myself, however, that is not the fault of the shoes, but rather the fact that I have boats for feet.
At any rate, despite my joy in finding the perfect shoe for preserving my structural integrity (repeated falls from my 5 foot 10 inch height is bound to do damage eventually), I lamented the loss of my good friends, the Vibram Five Fingers. There they sat in the laundry room, sad and neglected as I repeatedly headed out the door to play in my new Innov8’s. I wore them to the zoo, but it wasn’t the same. They seemed to wonder what they had done wrong to deserve the demotion. That is, until yesterday.
Buster recently graduated ITT Tech. I was very proud. The ceremony, the celebration dinner, and the visit from his grandmother were all wonderful. Buster has spent the last two years killing himself working his 50-70hr a week day job, in addition to spending countless hours in class and doing homework. With the end of school, he has found himself with a surplus of mental energy, and a need to direct it somewhere.
Enter the kayaks.
My darling has become obsessed with kayaks, fishing, and most recently fly fishing in particular. He has studied, researched, taken classes, poured over books, magazines, and the internet, and equipped himself with two kayaks and a vast assortment of accessories. It’s great that he’s happy. I fully support it because I got to reap the benefit of joining him in a kayaking expedition yesterday. He outfitted me with a special shirt to stay cool, a swell hat to keep the sun off my face, and a spiffy new pair of polarized sunglasses with a strap to keep them from falling in the water. What about shoes for being in the kayak, which gets wet and sometimes muddy as you tromp through sand and water to make it to your departure point?
If you guessed Vibram Five Fingers, give yourself ten bonus points!
Not only do they keep your feet cool and dry quickly after being wet, they can handle walking on sand, water, rocks, and even oyster shells! I put them through the ringer yesterday, and they handled it all brilliantly. We were both thrilled with their new purpose in life. Water activities will no longer include burnt, cut, or blistered feet. So long as Buster continues his love affair with the kayak, my Five Fingers and I will continue to be happy together.
My shoulders on the other hand, are a bit mad at me from five or six hours of paddling. Ouch.
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