The other day I was running in my Huarache Sandals. Another runner caught up with me and started to chat since he had never seen anyone running in huaraches before. He was wearing Newton running shoes and told me that he owned some Vibram FiveFingers. It seems like FiveFingers (VFF) are everywhere these days (even my parents have heard of them).

I've fixed most of the discomfort with the huaraches, but the lacing is still tricky to get "just right" and comfortable. I'm not sure I want to deal with that on race day. As I mentioned in RunAmoc running moccasins from Soft Star Shoes, I'm still looking for the perfect minimalist running shoe.

I had a rare weekend day of freedom (thanks honey!), so I drove down to Lloyd Clarke Sports here in Gainesville to try on some Newtons. I discovered that Lloyd Clarke has Newtons AND Vibram FiveFingers in stock, so I got to try them both.

Here is what I bought:

I really wanted to love the RunAmoc, and not just because of the awesome name. The Huarache Sandals that I made a few weeks ago had some discomfort around the toe knot. I didn't want to jump on the Vibram FiveFingers bandwagon just yet. Minimalist shoes such as the Vivobarefoot seemed way to expensive. The Feelmax shoes have not appealed to me very much, although I'm not sure why.

After watching Last of the Mohicans I was primed and ready to run in my new moccasins.

I ordered the "RunAmoc - LITE red" with street sole (2 mm).

Here are pics and what I think of the RunAmoc:

I decided to create a whole new blog topic to congregate my Running posts.

http://thatlinuxbox.com/blog/index.ph...ic=running

I guess this means I will have to continue posting about running... which means I will also have to keep running... so really this is a motivational tool as well.

I have a netbook. It is slow. Firefox has a tendency to stall... just doing nothing apparent... on this computer. This tendency is most apparent on sites using javascript such as Facebook, Google Docs, etc.

I tried Google Chrome and it does not have this issue. On my slower computers I now use Chrome to help keep my web browsing a pleasant experience.

Surprise!

I made a pair of huarache sandals using a kit from InvisibleShoe.com. Getting the lacing right is the hardest part.

Walking around in the yard they were incredible... bring on the sticks, pine cones, and sweetgum balls! However, on hard surfaces I could definitely feel the knot under the left foot to the point of being painful. The right foot was fine. It is probably due to that shoddy construction (by me!). I will try re-doing the left knot to see if it helps.

The cord between my toes was a little uncomfortable (I've never been a flip-flop fan) but I think I will get used to it. The sandals stay on the feet without any effort. Traction is good all-around and is a definite improvement over running barefoot on wet slimy boardwalks.