After reading the book "Born to Run", I have been dying to join the barefoot running movement. My amazingly adorable husband recently bought me a pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes. I could not be happier!
I wore the shoes around the house during those weeks to get used to them. Vibram also has a series of exercise plan to strength your feet. I did this several times a week until my two weeks are up.
I have had them a couple month now and can report that I love them! I get asked often by others if they are comfy. They are comfy in a way that being barefoot is comfy. But I also never planned on them being comfortable, especially when exercising.
I get comments all the time from friends and coworkers about how funny the shoes look but that just makes me laugh because I didn't buy the shoes for their looks. I bought them to strengthen my feet muscles and my whole body overall. I also get stopped at least once a week from someone I don't know wanting to discuss how I like my shoes.
I also have found that I prefer to wear socks with the shoes. You don't have to but I like the extra layer of protection from blisters and the road. The problem is that you have to buy toe socks and the Injinji socks that are made for them are so expensive. I bought one pair for $12 and have to keep washing them. Recently I ordered a couple of pairs of toe socks online that are pretty hilarious. But I paid $6 for two pairs - you just don't get to pick what design you get. They came from Singapore and I got one paid with strawberries on them and other with pigs that say "boo". Very random! I love them!
Even though they're not made for running, I find them to work just as well as the Injinji socks and have much more character to them :)
After I got my Singapore socks, my co-worker informed me they might have the same ones at Daiso - a local, and also very random, Asian dollar store. So I'll have to head over and check them out as well.
Since I was already getting used to being uncomfortable, I decided it was time to try a new ergo bike seat to help with groin pain after my long rides. While working for the American Heart Association, I had learned about "no-nose" bike seats which are supposed to be the best seats for cyclists. In search of a new seat, I hit up my local bike shops who surprisingly had no "no-nose" seats. For being a much better option for men and women's health, I expected to find at least a couple ergo seats.
I researched all the different options online and realized that the pain issue from standard bike seats is quite common in men and women but these ergo seats take awhile to get used to. I guess there are not many people out there willing to give them a try.
After reading through reviews, different websites and other articles, I ordered the
Ergo The Seat Ultimate Bicycle Saddle from Amazon. It seemed like a good mid-price option that had the best reviews all around. With Matt's help, we installed the seat ourselves and it only took one additional adjustment to get the seat right.
Riding on my bike is COMPLETELY different now and definitely took some adjusting. But all in all, I would say I got used to the seat much soon than I expected. Definitely quicker than I adjusted to the Vibrams. The great part of the seat is the large diameter which gives much better support to my booty than a normal thin bike seat. The Ultimate model of the Ergo Seat also has nice padding on it. But without the nose, I found myself having to change many things I hadn't thought of. For the first week or two, I felt as if I was falling forward off my seat and having to constantly adjust backwards.
After realizing that wasn't going to happen. I do this less but still more than I used to. The leaning forward from the seat now puts more pressure on my wrists too so those were sore in the beginning. I have since lessened this by standing up more while riding.
I have no groin pain now from riding which was what I was looking for. Amazingly worth it!
But the biggest adjustment is the speed and balance without the nose. I never realized how much I used my nose during a ride by holding onto it with my legs when turning, when signaling, drinking from my water bottle while riding, looking back and when changing lanes. The first day, I thought I was going to die when trying to change lanes. I didn't think I would ever be able to fix this but have since developed a method of tightening my thighs onto the center bike frame to stabilize myself while doing all of these things.
While this is still not as natural as holding the seat nose used to be, it is a close alternative. The only problem I haven't been able to fix yet is my speed. I feel that with this new seat, I have not been able to ride as fast as I used to. This isn't a huge problem as I'm getting more of a workout, but still noticeable as I'm trying to get some place quickly. Overall the benefits of my new Ergo seat was worth the effort.
Since I was going ergo on my bike and using it at least three times a week to commute to work, I also purchased a commuter rack for my pack. For the last couple months, I've been bringing my work clothes in a backpack and riding into work then changing. But the backpack was not a perfect option as it caused ore sweat on my back than necessary and was also giving me some back pain.
I bought a commuter rack from Performance Bicycle and installed it myself after the shop said they charge $20 to install the thing. Since I only paid $20 for the thing, I figured I could just figure it out myself - or at least with Matt's help.
Once I had figured out the directions, the rack was super easy to install and has been wonderful as I can just put my backpack right on that instead of on my bike. As with all of these new additions, having the backpack on the rack took some getting used it with my balance. I initially started out using large bungee cords to attach the backpack, but those were too time intensive. Now I use mini-bungees which take less than a minute to secure the backpack.
Eventually I'd like some pannier bags that can just hook right into the rack but those were much more expensive. They would eliminate the need for bungee cords and would take less than 10 seconds to take on and off - making things like grocery shopping on my bike much easier. They also have some that are rain proof which would be nice though I'm too chicken to ride anywhere in the rain.
My system is working out for now and I'm loving the ability to be able to go anywhere on my bike which builds great exercise time into my commute and saves on gas money while also being friendly to the environment. Now when I do end up having to take my car to work because I'm not feeling well, or need to bring something big, or have to go somewhere afterwards, I feel guilty :)
