That was just an attention grabber since it was the day after Thanksgiving.

Everyone who knows me knows how much I loathe wearing shoes. Over more than a decade, I have turned my feet into prehistoric-looking appendages.

I've been barefoot before "Barefoot" was cool. (Yes, I am that old you silly bastards) This is not to say it doesn't come with its share of inconveniences.

Summertime's hot surfaces can scorch the fuck out of them. Although calloused and tough, the searing pain still exists. Sharp objects can still get through three feet of toughened skin and that occasional broken piece of glass can be impossible to remove because these old hips don't twist like they used to.

Which brings me to my point! I had to search for a foot covering to continue my outdoor exploration of exercises that benefit my heart and lungs.

Since my foot had returned to the shape God intended, the narrower shoe has become an impossibility.
"My feet, my feet, they can't breathe". The wider toe box, while looking dumb as shit, provides what is necessary to get my Fred Flintstones in there.

The popularity of Hoka, Brooks, Saucony, and Asics while enticing, there is WAY TOO much rubber between my foot and the pavement. Although comfortable from the start, I believe it adds to the atrophy of the entire foot complex and reduces the mechanics of the way God had designed it.

For me, LESS IS BETTER!

Onto "Minimalist" shoes with a wide toe box. Talk about ugly, these things look worse than my actual feet. I am NOT going to wear a shoe that looks like a glove for your hands. I told one EliteFTS member years ago when he showed me his..."Junior Varsity" and then I went about my business unimpressed.

What I found were a few that weren't terrible. Surprisingly they weren't that expensive either. Considering that the days that I used to do Triathlons, Marathons, and copious amounts of running as training for them (yeah, I thought I'd win one or two, but the closest I came was 2nd in a starting group number of seven.). When I viewed some of the prices that were upwards of $200 plus, I became disenchanted. Hell, $48 was a lot for my preferred Asics back in the day (I hate that back-in-the-day bullshit, but it fits my purpose here)

The shortlist that works for me is as follows in the event you want to get as close as you can to barefoot without actually barefoot'n:

  1. "Prio" is made by Xero for basic everyday movements including Squats, Deadlifts, and just about any other athletic movement.
  2. "Zelen" is also made by Xero for Sprinting mainly on a track for me.
  3. "Adapt Runner" is made by Flux. I opted for the regular one and not the Waterproof one because it doesn't rain that much where I live.

Be warned (or at least I should have thought of it before sporting the shoe because I simply forgot), the shoe may say you can go sockless, DON'T. I did and scraped the skin off the back of my hoofs and had to wait until it healed so I wouldn't bleed. Gosh DANG it, that was a nice burn. Wear a thin sock (note to self)

Those are my choices being reintroduced to Athletic Footwear. But also, let it be known, I get those things right the fuck off as soon as I can and go back to meandering around shoeless like Joe Jackson. Doing that might be the only time I need to purchase any.

Today's Training:

Run: Fartlek 3 miles. and no, not because I ate like a fucking barbarian yesterday. Although I did eat like one and had copious amounts of desserts as well, I felt no guilt whatsoever, as you shouldn't.