Go Barefoot in the Office

There are many benefits of barefoot running including: helping develop a natural gait (stride), strengthening muscles, tendons, and ligaments, improved balance, improved ground feel, and reducing injuries. But, as much as I would love to go barefoot all the time - most of us (including myself) have jobs that require us to wear shoes. But if you don't work from home (or have one heck of a hippy boss) there is still hope. The next best thing is a minimalist shoe. This is a shoe where the heel is thin enough so you can "feel" the ground, but thick enough to provide protection. An example would be Vibram's Five Finger shoes. They are minimalist in the sense that they have a 4mm sole, and yet they provide protection from modern surfaces (pavement, concrete). These work great but are pretty wacky looking.

When I'm at home, I love wearing my Vibram Five Finger Bikilas. I got them for running last June, and I will never go back to traditional running shoes again. They are fantastic, but they are also not work appropriate. Can you imagine Bill from accounting wearing a button-up, nice slacks, and some gorilla feet? They are eye catching, and while that's great for the track, or even the gym, it's not the kind of attention I want all the time.

Quest for a Classy Shoe
There must be other companies with similar shoes that I can wear to the office, yet, on first look, the options are limited and expensive. A company called Terra Plana has the most shoes with a couple of them bordering on being work-appropriate (Dharma and Oak for men). Yet, I think they are ugly, and if i'm paying $140 for shoes they better be pretty slick looking.

Is it too much to ask for a minimalist dress/work shoe that is both attractive and reasonably priced? It just may be too early in the product life cycle. These types of shoes are still in the hands of the fanatics and early adopters and have yet to hit mainstream. I can tell this from the reactions that I get when I wear my Bikilas to the gym. People have heard of them, but most of them have never even tried a pair on. Why not? Aren't you curious? Please don't tell me you're lumping them in the same category as those wacky Sketchers "Shape Ups"? Look at this ridiculous commercial.

Do it Yourself
After being disappointed by the lack of options for minimalist work shoes I decided to rip the soles right out of my dress shoes (disclosure: I've had these shoes for about 9 years, so I had no guilt what so ever). By removing the insoles I reduced the heel by around 3/4 of an inch. That's a considerable amount. I could tell right away when I stepped in the shoes. I felt like I was walking on the ground, and I noticed the height difference. They weren't nearly as comfortable as they used to be after years of molding, and the back of the shoe started digging into my heel. I wore these shoes to work for the past couple days, and I could tell it wasn't such a struggle to keep my posture in line. This was a fun experiment, but it was missing something.

Every shoe can be Minimalist
This got me thinking. What if we could design a heel insole that could mold to your foot, but would have a predisposition to be thin. Basically, what we would need is a replacement for the insole that we removed from our shoes. So, instead of limiting ourselves with the few and expensive choices available on the market, we could convert other shoes to mimic a minimalist feel. Granted, this will not work for shoes with heels, or some shoes where the insole is hard or impossible to remove. But I think there are a good number of shoes that have removable heels. You could just remove the heel as I did, but it is not very comfortable. I am thinking of an insole that would fill the gaps around the outsides of your feet, yet stay very thin. Ideally, they would also absorb some sweat, and maximize ground feel.

Now, I have no knowledge of shoe materials to know if this would actually work or not. But I think there is a market for it. This would open up the possibility of using a wider range of styles while still gaining the benefits of a minimalist shoe. It's just a different way of making money from the same paradoxical problem. Do we need shoes or insoles to become more barefoot? Normally no, but if your day is spent mostly in the office, I say yes.

Does anyone think this is even possible? Or do you know of any minimalist shoes that are attractive, and not overly expensive? Let me know, I would love to hear about that as well.

Walk Like a Ninja for $30

In the wake of Vibram Five Fingers' (dare I say) popularity, there have been plenty of companies eager to jump on the minimalist footwear bandwagon. Big players like Nike and Mizuno were quick to get in the game, and just about everyone nowadays seems to have there own minimalist running shoe. But what's really nice to see are smaller companies giving it a go.

A Sneaky Design
Zem is a company based out of Miami, Florida that is crafting shoes primarily for indoor use (yoga, pilates). Their shoes are lightweight and give the user lots of flexibility, which is important when your bending yourself into a pretzel. What I like most about them are the looks. They are almost a cross between Adidas Sambas (a classic from my soccer days), and a ninja shoe (called "Tabi"). Most other shoes I have seen with the big toe split out look horribly awkward. Take a look at this website for proof. Yet, somehow the Zem's manage to look a little more "normal." Perhaps it's the neon colored stripes that decorate the side of the shoe, which offer a good distraction from the strange camel toe. Even with these playful colors, I would order the black with black stripes, because I don't want my feet to look like light up billboards. Don't get me wrong it's a clever marketing technique; it's just not my style. The Zem's are pretty slick, but I already have a pair of minimalist running shoes. Do I really need another pair?

Do You Really Need Another Pair of "Barefoot" Shoes?
My Bikilas cost $100 (20 less than my Saucony's - which I can't stand to wear), and I have worn them an insane amount more than any other running sneaker I've ever owned. They remind me of running barefoot as a kid; how I can tread softly and gracefully. They were definitely worth the money. In comparison, the Zem's are only $30, which is an interesting price point. As a small company, it's a good idea to differentiate themselves from Vibram, because competing head to head with them would be a challenge.

Conclusion
All in all, they look cool and the price is great, but I don't think I have a use for them. I do pilates occasionally, and I haven't done yoga since Fall. I would really only need them for running, and I have a great pair for that exact purpose. Zem's blog claims they have a running shoe, but I was unable to find it in their store. Even if I could find it, I would be concerned. How great can a running shoe be for $30? We are so conditioned to see running shoes anywhere from $80 and up how can Zem manage to seem credible at a $30 price point? They only way I see that they could compete for credibility in the running industry is to raise the price a little. But then they have to make sure they add value to the shoe, so customers don't feel ripped off. It's a delicate issue. Bottom line: they look like sweet ninja shoes, but I just don't have a use for them yet. If you do yoga or pilates consistently then you might want to check them out, but I have concerns about the durability and quality of a $30 running shoe.

One more thing, apologies if this comes of as harsh, but I hate when shoe companies don't provide enough angles of the product. How do they expect people to buy a shoe when the only see it from one side! Get a clue from Zappos. They have been doing it right for years, and now they just added videos to most of their shoes. Genius.

For further research on Zem's shoes look at:

• Barefootrunningshoes.org - Zem's First Impressions - Great pictures and video to see what the product actually looks like. From Zem's website it is hard to tell that they are so flexible. 
• GoBarefooting - Zem Product Review - Was sent a few pairs of Zem's to review for his blog
• Birthdayshoes.com - Alternatives to Vibrams Forum
• GoogleGroups - Zem Discussion
• or Follow them @Zemgear

How to Make Life Easier... The Hard Way

I pushed myself further up the hill, digging in deeper, trying to keep a quick cadence. I thought about my New Years Resolution a few years ago (to take more risks). I had done so, but I still had a long way to go to get out of my comfort zone. I realized that I was finally pushing myself out of it on this run through the park. I was breathing hard, my legs were aching, my face was numb from the cold. Exercise is a really easy way to get yourself out of your own comfort zone. Usually, you are pushing yourself to do better and better which involves you inching out further and further from what make your feel comfortable.

The big take away from this is that once you have pushed yourself harder and further than before it is much easier to do things - anything. Paradoxically, the harder you push yourself in life, the easier it becomes. Or at least the easier everything below it becomes. Think of life as a video game. Everything is harder the more levels you go up, but you yourself become bigger, better, faster, stronger, and then when you look back, the first few levels seem like a joke.

If you stack all of the activities on your to do list in order of difficulty. Then you knock out the hardest one on the list. The other ones are going to seem like a piece of cake. This is not only true with activities from the same category (example: after you run a marathon a 5k is easy). I believe that you can benefit from pushing yourself in other categories. What I'm saying is that the category is not quite as important as the difficulty (example: after you run a marathon, everything task you value as easier than a marathon become not only easier but achievable). Since you pushed yourself to accomplish something hard, you know you can achieve other successes. The harder you push, the more you can accomplish (even in other areas of life).

My main take away
Try pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Then you might realize that things you once thought were hard may become a little easier.