Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I really want to love huaraches!

It's finally turning into summer around here.  In New England, that means muggy and mid 80s at the moment and mid 90s soon.

My quick lunch run route is mostly pavement and has very little shade although there are stretches of grass that I can run on.  I've determined that pavement at 85 degrees in the noon sun is just about too much for me to go barefoot for 3 miles.  Unfortunately, the prospect of putting stinky VFFs or socks/Trail Gloves on isn't too appealing either at 85deg.  I have a pair of Vivobarefoot EVO II on order but those will likely not be much cooler than my Trail Gloves.

I really wish there were a well ventilated super minimal shoe option....... whatever can I do?  Wait, what are these huarache things?

My huarache experience is limited to my homemade "invisible shoe" style sandals.  They are made with 4mm Vibram Cherry sheet and 3/16 nylon cord.

I've only logged a handful of miles in them because they are just not comfortable for me.  More than likely, it is my crappy form and not the sandals but they slip under my feet and give me hot spots.  The other unfortunate side effect of the slipping is that the "between the toes string" and "toe knot" rub under my big toe knuckle.  The bottoms of my feet are well conditioned but the tender underside of that part of the toe rubs raw in about a mile.  I've experimented with numerous tying methods and nothing seems to keep them from sliding.

I'm an engineer so I usually like to analyze failures and correct them but I haven't really had the time or desire to tackle this one.  Of course, we had 27 million feet of snow this winter and spring lasted pretty much until last week so I have not really had much motivation.

Now, though, it is getting hot and the pavement is burning the hell out of my bare feet on my lunch runs.

I've been toying with getting a pair of Unshoes Wokova sandals because they have gone with a climbing web design instead of the cord and, according to MGBG's review, they have managed to minimize the toe knot and make a pretty comfy shoe.  I'm optimistic that their use of climbing web will make the toe situation better for me.  I'm also really excited about the Pah Tempe as a casual sandal and I wish Terral at Unshoes godspeed in getting that design down.

For some reason, I just can't pull the trigger because I'm not much of a gambler.  My wife would kill me if I order another pair of shoes (i.e. Wokova for running.)  And..... My wife would kill me AGAIN if I then ordered the Pah Tempe for my casual, minimal, hiking sandal.

Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get the huaraches...... or just give up and have live with sweaty or burnt feet.  Still struggling with this one.

Cheers

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