I was about to post something about this. The last "Real Sports" on HBO (the one with the interview with Lame Kiffin) had a piece about the new craze with "like barefoot" shoes. They base the piece off an interview with the guy that wrote that new book "Born To Run" about a hidden tribe in Mexico that does this 100 mile running race through some brutal country and all in nothing but rudimentary sandals. The argument is that modern shoe technology actually hurts the natural human stride and can cause injury more than actually running barefoot. They back it up with a Harvard professor who studied the Kenyan marathoners who are raised to run barefoot, etc. The thought is that modern shoes emphasize landing on your heel vs landing on the ball of your foot (ie- barefoot).

They actually talk about those Vibram "shoes" that TheTheory has increasing sales due to this trend. Nike and Adidas have both introduced "like barefoot" running shoes (I think Nike's is called Nike Free). Essentially zero support but a rubber sole to protect from road hazards (rocks, concrete, glass, etc).

It's still very much a debate but pretty interesting.

Rabbit beat me to it.

My wife told me about that whole "barefoot" running thing. Pretty interesting.

As for lazy old man shoes, these are still my favorites:



I like them better than flip flops because I can wear them to work in the yard without fear of lopping off a toe.

I'm totally buying my pops a pair of these for Father's Day - just to john on him for wearing them in public.

True story: was once trying to cut grass REALLY fast while wearing flip flops... one came off as I was walking backwards, and PFFT-PFFT-PFFT! flip flop pieces fly everywhere. I'm thankful I didn't lop off a toe, but damn, I liked those flops.

I wear flops because, as you know, I do ZERO manual labor. EVER.

Oh man. FemDerris has a similar story to this only it didn't turn out as well.

First thing I thought of.

Next time I see you two I'm going to ask KK to show me her mangled toe.

For me, the attraction was very much the "closest thing you can get to being barefoot without actually being barefoot" thing. I didn't realize how much I hated the way regular shoes felt until I tried the Vibram FiveFingers. As a kid I always hated going barefoot because of all the stones and sticks and bees. The FiveFingers give enough protection keep those stones/sticks/etc from hurting... but at the same time, they're thin enough that I can tell that they're there. It's neat to walk around feeling the subtle texture of the ground or the heat of the pavement without having to worry about something sharp destroying my foot. The few times that I haven't been able to wear them since I got them (sister's wedding, and when they were still wet from being washed) wearing regular shoes or sandals felt ridiculously cumbersome.

I suppose this is probably in the same "very much a debate" that Rick Derris was talking about, but many people with knee problems who switched to Vibrams have noticed that the pain decreased since they weren't landing on their heels anymore. Not a problem for me since I don't have knee pain... but for someone with knee problems and the extra money laying around, it might be worth trying.

The only downside is that I'm not really someone who wants to attract a lot of attention... and it seems like everywhere I go (the grocery store, walmart, or anywhere with other human beings) someone is like "what are those?" So, being the socially awkward person that I am that creates some... interesting... conversations. Though I have developed a fairly well-worn spiel in the process. haha.

If you retrace the route of your move to Austin, and if you're lucky, you might find the cojones you obviously lost on the trip.

Oh absolutely. You wear flip flops to work. I swear steel toed work boots. Such is the duality of the Southern Thing.

i'm embarassed for everyone in this thread.

I have on black Havaianas with a suit today. Cufflinks, tie and all....I'll out on the AEs when I head out to this damn ol funeral,though.