I’ve been a minimalist runner for going on three years. While I prefer going completely barefoot I do wear Vibrams when my feet need to recuperate or the pavement is hot as hell. The other day, after a week of sticking it to my feet, I slipped on my Vibrams and went for a 10-mile run with a group of friends.
The first four were clear and cool, the fifth was a bit drizzly, and the remaining five were a mixture of lightning, thunder, and torrential rain.
With 2 miles to go one of my friends (who had run back to get the “shuttle”) offered me a ride. I looked at him, gave him a thumbs up, smiled, and declined. I couldn’t stop. Everything about the run felt great. My legs were good, my feet were good, and the rain was a tremendous relief from the 100+ temperatures I had been dealing with for the past month. Little did I know this would be a bittersweet run.
I got home, changed out of my wet clothes, and hung my soggy Vibrams. As I turned out the light in the laundry room I noticed something strange out of the corner of my eye. Light. I flipped the light back and sure enough there was light shining through a hole where the sole should be. I was mortified. My Sprints had traversed the roadways of NC, KC, DC, NYC, San Fran, Dallas, and Buenos Aires. They survived a life-threatening injury and have stitches to prove it.
Sadly, they are not going to be able to come back from this one. So, after 504.47 miles, I have no choice but to retire my Sprints. We had a good run fellas. You will not be forgotten.
OK, so it’s not that bad. My alternate pair of Vibrams (KSO) picked up the slack until I was able to get a pair of Komodo Sports. Here’s to another 500 miles of memories.
About Chris Dunst
Journalist, educator, technophile, papa, husband, barefoot runner, outdoorsman, omnivore, captain of the obvious. When I’m not running or helping out with #Anywhere5K I’m busy with my actual job, family, and some other stuff.
