Barefoot Running

[KnottedYet]

The history and distribution of that foot type is sooooo cool! I think some of it came up on this thread: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ght=morton%27s

Greeks and Celts had it the most. It was also called the Royal Foot because the ruling Ptolemy gang had it, and passed it along. It's a dominant gene, so the Royal Foot was used as a test to see if someone was really related to the royal families of Europe (descended via the Ptolemies and all those other upper crust folks who interbred so darn much). Claiming to be the long-lost b@st*rd son of the King? Take of your shoe and prove it!

The long 2nd ray foot structure is used in archeology to determine if a Roman-era British burial is of a Roman or of a Celt. Artifacts aren't very reliable because there was so much material exchange, but the foot is!

The statue of Liberty has a Greek/Irish/Celtic/Morton's foot.

Classical Greek statues had long 2nd met feet, Egyptian and Roman statues had long 1st met feet. You can tell if someone was ripping off the statue or style of another artist if the feet were wrong. (like a Roman statue with Greek feet!)

Isn't this stuff just COOL!?!?!

[Trek420]

I have Polish/Russian feet.

[NbyNW]

Fascinating! My feet are Taiwanese.

[KnottedYet]

I've got Norwegian feet.

But they are archetypal Egyptian feet.

Go figure...

(and Trek dear, you have Egyptian feet, too. Or at least, not-Greek and not-Celtic) (the long 2nd ray occurs all over the earth, but seems especially prevalent in Greeks and Celts)

[Bike Chick]

Knott, I want some of your shoes! This is neat stuff. My brother and I were comparing our feet tonight and they are identical pairs in different sizes. Our spouses were teasing us about the shape and size of our second toes. My family always said that when your second toe is longer than your first, you were the boss of the family. Now I know where that originated from.

Regarding the VFFs, I want to order a pair for kayaking to start with but where do you get them? I've looked on the internet and they are out of stock on almost every site. There are also warnings about ordering counterfeit shoes. I'm a little apprehensive.

[OakLeaf]

FWIW (not that any of this really belongs in the barefoot thread ) - with my very short first MTs (both 2nd and 3rd are longer than 1st) and very wide forefeet, I did go with the Nike Zoom Triax Structure 13, for a couple of reasons, #1 being that they just fit so much better than anything else. Surprised the heck out of me, since Nikes used to be so super narrow. I was starting to get a tailors' bunion on one foot from, like, EVERY other pair of shoes I own including my wide Mizunos, and most everything I tried on was even narrower in the forefoot - not good. The Nikes have a VERY square toe box and the heels are plenty narrow for me, even in the Wide width.

After I compared apples to apples - taking out the rock-hard orthotics that I wasn't going to use any more in any case, and using the stock insoles; and comparing that pair against new shoes in other models - I decided that they weren't actually intolerably cushiony, especially not so much as to to offset the fit. Took the better part of 100 miles to get used to them, but they served me just fine for 26.2.

But I'd still buy three pairs of your shoes, Knott, if they fit my duck feet.

[KnottedYet]

I've been suggesting running sandals (like the Chaco Z1) to my agonized Irish-footed patients, based on the recommendations I've heard for running shoes for Irish feet. Neutral heel; dense, firm midsole material; minimal-to-none contouring; no imprinted toe-break; no dual density shennanigans.

I also suggest them to my extreme Egyptian footed patients with really long 1st rays and tiny stubby toes, who also have a hellish time with "average" engineered running shoes. (like me)

The fancier the shoe engineering, the less well the shoes will work for the two ends of the goofy bell curve of foot structure.

And if running barefoot makes the world a better place for someone, I'm happy as along as they think about what they are running on and train carefully. (and go to a PT if they start having trouble)

[Bike Chick]

FWIW (not that any of this really belongs in the barefoot thread ) - with my very short first MTs (both 2nd and 3rd are shorter than 1st) and very wide forefeet, I did go with the Nike Zoom Triax Structure 13, for a couple of reasons, #1 being that they just fit so much better than anything else. Surprised the heck out of me, since Nikes used to be so super narrow. They've got a VERY square toe box and the heels are plenty narrow for me, even in the Wide width.

Oak, I may give those a try. I'm needing a new pair of shoes and have been using the Asics Gel Kayanos. They work fine but I've had so many problems with my heels, feet and ankles that I'm beginning to wonder if it's the shoes.

[Blueberry]

Regarding the VFFs, I want to order a pair for kayaking to start with but where do you get them? I've looked on the internet and they are out of stock on almost every site. There are also warnings about ordering counterfeit shoes. I'm a little apprehensive.

Check REI and Kayak Shed.

With REI, they go in and out of stock a lot - so it pays to watch the stock. I've also found a couple of local stores (Great Outdoor Provision Company is one) that get them in fairly regularly - so there might be somewhere near you.

[Bike Chick]

Thanks Blueberry! REI was out of stock on everything. I'll keep checking.