Vibram part 2!

To my dismay, I had to return my FiveFingers after about a week. As it turns out, the size 40s stretched too much, beyond what I expected, and thus my most injured foot started to slide back and forth. It dawned on me that this may be the same reason all my other 'traditional' shoes have failed me after just a few weeks. I got my money back, moped about for a couple of days, then refocused on the task at hand: prepping for my son's 2nd year birthday party and the impending arrival of his grandfather (my father). I resort to my backup shoes, the NB trail running/walking shoes mixed up with some random sport flip-flops that, my surprise, have been second best to the Vibrams. of course, neither shoe is nearly as effective over the long-term as the Vibrams were, so after a few hours, I once again couldn't walk without agonizing pain and a freakish limp. At night, I'd wake up, do the midnight pregnancy pee and return to bed. I yearned for those few nights I could do this like a spritely youth. Each day was more painful than the previous one and I really just couldn't believe that that simple little shoe had so radically changed my legs. I finally broke down and dragged the husband to the sports store and, after agonizing over the cost of these in conjunction with what would be spent on hosting the ultimate shindig in about a week, he forced me to deal with the obvious: either you deal with the pain that has sucked the life out of you these last few years or you bite the bullet and start enjoying life like you did for that one week. Yeah, it wasn't hard to swallow having to shell out $135 for renewing my life. I got the size 39 and the experience in these was slightly different than before.

The threads in the big toe slot caused some callousing/blistering that was obnoxious and I wondered if maybe I'd just lucked out with the 40s and would never again feel so wonderful. The shoe was on the tight side, particularly on the right foot, the one so gravely injured back when. I still had the limp and some pain. I was worried ... did I have to return these too and just deal with a shitty life of leg pain forever because none of these orthos would touch me? Since I had 30d before the return deadline, I toughed it out and, after about 4-5d, I was once again pain free. An encounter with a once-comfortable Birkenstock sandal that caused ankle pain after a simple 20min stroll to, through, and out of a grocery store, reaffirmed my faith that the Vibrams were, in fact, the solution to my ills. I'm so happy being happily mobile again. The hikes with the dogs in the canyon will surely wear them out before they wear me out and I love the thought of that!

Now, if only Vibram would make a nice professional/dress shoe that I can wear to more formal affairs!