I fixed something! I put needled and thread to my torn Vibram FiveFingers and violà:

VFF Stitched

Not the prettiest piece of work, but it keeps the rocks out. Feet are as sensitive as hands and can feel those little peddles rolling around in the sole.

From a couple of weeks ago, my bull riding costume for Halloween:

Bull Riders at Work

Sarah (on the right) discovered the costume at Party City. I wasn’t going to dress up this year but that costume is so great.

Last but not least, a sampling of pleasing piggy pictures:

Upper left corner: Flashbang Fatbottom kept trying to move the pigloos into the carrot cube.

Benito loves his dandelion greens!

Flashbang barely fits in the tent. Later he tried chewing the lace around the enterance off.

Benito, Edgeworth, Flashbang Fatbottom, Guinea Pig, Running halloween, Vibram FiveFingers

After around 450 miles of pavement running, my Vibram FiveFingers have taken a beating! Here’s the current list of damages:

Hole in VFF

The neopene rubber has completely worn away on the ball of my right foot. It’s very thin around the hole as well, although my left foot’s rubber sole is fine. I plan on adding some pads called Sure Foot. It’s what skaters add to the bottoms of their shoes so they don’t get ripped up by the street when braking.

Mesh tearing

This picture is a few days old and the mesh tear has gotten a little bigger.  I plan on taking needle and thread to it to see if that’ll hold it.

You can see the duct tape wrapped around the strap to prevent the eyelet from chewing through the strap. The duct tape was worn through and needed to be replaced.

I picked up some Injinji NuWool socks to help keep my tootsies warm while running. They’re a little expensive – $16 per pair – but so very nice and warm. I noticed that my two smaller toes barely fill the sock. Do I have super small toes, I wonder?

This is how far my toes go. Look at all that room!

I’m still looking for a cold weather solution to Vibram FiveFingers, because as much fun as these shoes are, they won’t cut it in the snow.

Running Vibram FiveFingers

Back in August, the straps on my Vibram FiveFingers ripped through and had to be replaced. It’s been about a month, so these straps seem to last around 250 miles. A couple of days ago I noticed the straps on my current VFF were getting worn through so I busted out the duct tape.

Outside of VFF eyelet

Inside of VFF eyelet

The inside of the shoe  strap was noticeably more worn, but I figured I should wrap up both eyelets to keep the friction away from cutting through either strap, especially since I’m racing this Sunday!

The race is the Big House Big Heart race in Ann Arbor. There will be 10,000 people! Wow! That’s a total for the 5K and the 10k races, of which I’m doing the latter. The biggest race I’ve ever done was 2,500 people so there’s a good chance this’ll be my biggest race yet. The finish line is on the 50 yard of Michigan Stadium with the finishers being projected on the big screen. I’m awfully excited about it!

Benito plots in the background.

10K, Ann Arbor, Edgeworth, Guinea Pig, Race, Running Ann Arbor, Edgeworth, Race, Vibram FiveFingers

The piggy Benito is no longer allowed to play with Edgeworth.  A few days ago I noticed a fleck of what I thought was bedding in Edgeworth’s coat, only to discover it was a bit of a scab and Benito had clawed poor fat Edgeworth. Now the piggy arena is split so that Benito is unable to get at the popover piggy. I checked up on Edgeworth’s rump this evening and it’s healing, but still not a pretty sight.

Split Piggy Arena

Not sure what to do with about the cage situation. I’m thinking about expanding it, but at the very least Edgeworth is safe and is getting fresh basil directly from the plant. He really likes that.

This morning I did a 11 mile run sponsored by the running store Tortoise and Hare. Before the race I met another person who was also wearing Vibram FiveFingers! Turns out he runs barefoot, too. We were both stumped as to what to do when winter comes around as the FiveFingers are not meant for cold weather.  I have to figure out what to do about that fairly soon, but for the moment I’m enjoying the lovely weather.

Benito, Edgeworth, Flashbang Fatbottom, Guinea Pig, Running Ann Arbor, Benito, Edgeworth, Flashbang Fatbottom, Guinea Pig, Vibram FiveFingers

Saturday was a trip out to Westland and Hines Park for a 10K run called Run Like The Wind. I was impressed of how well the race director ran things. The man was literally running from place to place to keep things running smoothly. I overhead him telling the people at the finish line “not to be dainty” when ripping off the bottom tag of the bib. (That bottom tag keeps the order of whom finished before whom.)

It was a combined road race of 5K and 10K runners, with the 5K runners tootling down the road until they hit the 1.55 mile mark and turned around. The 10Kers kept going until they hit the 3.1 mark before turned back down the road. I don’t know what it was – maybe the heat, it heated up surprisingly quickly – but it felt like an awfully long race. I was ready to turn around at the 1.55 mark with the 5K runners. Happily the last three miles were much faster than the first three.

I finished with a 10K personal best of 45:58 with a 7:25 mile split. Pretty happy with those results! I finished second in my age division and fifth overall for women.

Biker: What's that soun-OH!

That’s the lead biker to guide the 10Kers to their turn around point.

5K and 10K runners

It was a good turnout! I’m in the middle with the pink shorts and pink top.

Here I come!

The 10K runners were well spread out in my time group. There are two people behind me in that shot.

Coming in for the Finish!

Hooray I'm done! Now to eat post-race bananas!

10K, Race, Running Race, Vibram FiveFingers, westland

Every evening the piggies get a snack, usually involving green pepper (Flashbang Fatbottom’s favorite.)  After placing the veggies on the floor of the piggy arena, I plopped down in front of the TV for a bit.  During a commercial I checked on the piggies and saw this:

How'd he do that?

Maybe he was saving the veggie piece for later.

Justin at birthdayshoes.com, a site about all things related to Vibram FiveFingers, kindly posted my email about my last 5k race.

5K, Flashbang Fatbottom, Guinea Pig, Race, Running Ann Arbor, Vibram FiveFingers

I ran in the Book It 5K race in Gallup Park this morning and ended up with a new personal record of 21:30! I didn’t feel like I was going that fast; on the contary, I felt like my time was going be in the 24 minute range.

The person taking my tag at the finish knew what my shoes were – she pointed out to the person writing down times that I was wearing FiveFingers. They are a rather curious shoe wear and I credit my speedy times to them!

Half mile in.

Around the 1.5 mile mark.

Vrooooom!

Finish!

5K, Ann Arbor, Race, Running Ann Arbor, Race, Vibram FiveFingers

I returned the broken strap FiveFingers to the local outdoors store Bivouac a few days ago. I was wondering how much trouble it would be without having a receipt and being past the store’s 30-day warranty, but it was awfully easy. All they wanted was the defective shoes.

They were out of women’s sizes, so I tried out a men’s size.

The newest pair of FiveFingers!

The strap overhangs, but that’s okay, it doesn’t interfere with my running. My second-to-last and pinkie toes still barely fit the shoe pocket.

While I was trying on the FiveFingers, I ran into the race director for an Ann Arbor race that I ran earlier this year.  People ask questions about these foot gloves and I’m always happy to chatter on about how great they’ve worked out for me! The piggies, however,  are not as receptive to the shoes:

Flashbang Fatbottom is taken back by the shoe.

Running Guinea Pig, Vibram FiveFingers

After between 200-220 miles and about 30 days of mostly pavement running in my Vibram FiveFingers, the strap on my right shoe ripped!

VFF Broken Strap

They’re still usable, but a little loose. Vibram has a 90 day warranty, hopefully they’ll send a replacement. 200 miles sounds  like awfully low milage for things to be breaking.

Running Vibram FiveFingers

I’ve been running a lot lately in my crazy foot gloves. Ever since I’ve been using the VFF, my knee problems have gone away! Yay!

First 5K in Vibram FiveFingers in Saline

Race, Running Vibram FiveFingers