Sep 17 2008
I Heart my Earth Shoes
I have weird feet. Understand that I am the kind of person who, when given the opportunity to go barefoot or wear shoes, goes barefoot. I’ve always felt that shoes have contorted my feet. I would rather work out in bare feet than wear shoes because at least if I work out in bare feet, I can control how I land on my feet.
I blame this on the fact that before I ever jumped on a treadmill or an elliptical, I took a dance class. The entire class was conducted in bare feet. Dance is a great prelude to serious exercise because it teaches you how to fall, how to jump, how to land. So I became sensitive to what every part of my foot was doing, I taught myself how to not kill my ankles or knees, both with how I landed on my feet and by holding weight in my stomach muscles (or “core,” if you will).
But my feet are problematic in shoes. I have high arches. I have wide toes. And most shoes restrict the full motion of my foot and ankle. When I move in bare feet, I push my weight through my entire foot. Most shoes constrict that movement, and I end up walking a bit flat.
Anyway, after stuggling with Dr. Scholl’s inserts for my arches, and waking up every morning to pain in my right heel and going to bed after working out with throbbing pain in my right heel, I invested in some Earth Shoes sneakers.
I broke them in a few hours at a time for a couple nights. The morning after wearing them, my right heel wouldn’t hurt. I can actually get up in the morning and stand on my feet.
My posture, while I wear the shoes, is much better. I don’t feel my feet falling inward anymore from lack of arch support. Of course, walking up hills is about ten times harder in the shoes. Seriously.
I get that Earth Shoes don’t work for some people - especially if you have leg or knee problems, they might not work. And they’re expensive. But I’m happy to walk in them, and it’s been a long time since I could say that.
Kara,
I like your story alot. I was turned onto Earth shoes because of my lower back and toe pain. The shoes really helped relieve my back pain. The construction of the shoe is excellent, but the design is down-right ugly.
So fed up of having my shoes being called ugly and that I could only wear casual clothes with them, I recently submitted designs for a men’s dress shoe. My designs have the traditional narrow shape, but are stylish and fresh. My designs also incorporate the negative heel technology.
If you’d like to support my cause for Earth to design a pair of elegant mens dress shoe please go to (http://www.earth.us/display_forums.aspx) and reply to NEED DRESS SHOES by Andy Schultz at 10/21/2008 9:57:57 PM ( 0 replies ). Anything you can add is greatly appreciated and thanks!