KSO's and Bare Foot Running

     Early this summer I had a slow down in my training and in order to pick me up, my loving wife handed me a book about running.  It wasn't the typical training book, rather it was about the physiology and history of distance running.  Born To Run by McDougall was a fantastic pick me up.  The focus of the book is on the Tahraumahra (spelling could be off) tribe in Copper Creek Mexico and what makes them great runners.  On multiple tangents throughout the book McDougall discusses the pathology of bare foot running and how we as people have evolved from distance runners.
     I'm sure many people read this book and think its entertaining, but a lot of things really clicked for me.  Running shoes keep developing in order to correct foot problems that didn't exist 20 years ago.  There were distance runners 20 years ago, so why the new problems?  I am starting to believe that running shoes cause some of the problems.  If Nike or New Balance shave some of the sole of here and add a cushion there, they are changing the way run and our bodies are adapting (or not adapting and causing injuries) to the shoes.  We can do the same thing with our own feet by working them out.  Think about it; if we want stronger legs or backs we go to the gym and workout, so why can't we work out our feet if we want stronger feet. 
     Barefoot running is the way to do this.  By slowly building miles and frequency, barefoot running can strengthen our arches, calves, and actually reduce opportunities for injuries.  I jumped on the bandwagon and purchased a pair of KSO's from Vibram.  The KSO is a barefoot shoe (silly I know) that feels like your barefoot but provides a 4mm piece of vibram sole to protect against rocks, glass, and temperature.  I have had my shoes for about a month; until this morning I had just been wearing them around town and the house to get used to them, but this morning was my first run.  I went out for a relaxed 3 mile jog with Kayleigh and they felt great.  My calves did get a little sore from having to chop my stride down a little, but truth be told a shorter stride with the feet underneath is better form.  Running with my KSO's will actually force my form to improve.  I love them, I love being back on track, and I would recommend the KSO's to anyone.
     I am going to skip out on some outlaw family fun to make up the brick workout I blew off last weekend and mix it up with a climb up Bierstadt later on.  So stay tuned.