A few weeks before Berlin I got these lovely shoes… Let me shoe you (ha, pun intended!)!

 

 

 

The sole is super thin and bendable. The insteresting part is inside… your toes are pretty much, hanging out, literally. The way Samurais did it years and years ago.

 

 

See? I know, it’s hard to understand… Here is the Mizuno version

 

Before you say anything, THESE ARE NOT FOR RUNNING!

 

You wear them around the house, or to work (??) (I do!) or wherever. But Mizuno is very clear that they are not for running. NOT RUNNING.

 

So, this idea is based on the Waraji sandals the Samurai and Japanese foot soldiers wore. 

 

They are supposed to develop your muscles and tendons by engaginging your toes.

Anway, not wanting to do anything crazy before my marathon I started wearing them when I came back. Ha, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to walk around much with my toes hanging out, like they  were about to jump off a cliff or something. And I was quite aware of it all for the first minutes every time I got up. Then I’d forget. And so on.

 

I felt the soreness the day after. Which I loved, so I kept wearing them more and more.  After a couple of days I wore them without even a second thought! Not only I didn’t feel anything weird with  my toes, but my toes really got used to moving around.

 

I really like them. They’re super light weight and a great tool to make your feet stronger as well as challenge and engage them. I am not sure I can tell you how much they’ve made my feet better but I definitely feel they are a lot more active these days.