My Journey with Foot Health

Starting from the very beginning, one of the childhood memories that sticks out the most was my mom always yelling at me to not walk around the house barefoot, in Latin culture this is known as “pata sucia” (or dirty feet), which is totally a condescending term.

Then when I try to go even further back in my memory, I remember having a fixation with the seams on socks at a very early age, the seams would get under my toes and bug the life out of me! I’d cry on for hours “BUT IT BOTHERS.” And of course family members would start to mock me...lol...

It was so distracting to my nervous system that as I got older, I became a very peculiar sock connoisseur. And then these fuzzy memories of always preferring wider shoes when available popped up too.

So since I was very young, I have always preferred to be barefoot, and to have more ergonomic feeling socks and shoes. 

But like any story about change and development, my journey with foot health wasn’t always linear. 

Up into high school I remember always preferring minimalist shoes that had a zero-drop. I was a huge fan of converse and vans, but always felt that my toes were getting squished. 

Then when I got into college, I started running A LOT. So I got some good running shoes, and over time I came to prefer New Balance Running shoes with a somewhat supportive sole for running. 

Circa 2012.

While in college I started learning about the benefits of running in minimalist shoes and how it improved running mechanics. So I started becoming more interested in changing my running sneakers. While doing research I had come across a lot of literature citing studies where many runners who had transitioned from traditional running shoes to minimalist shoes had accumulated stress injuries over time. I figured that they hadn’t slowly transitioned into the lighter shoes, not giving their bodies enough time to adapt, eventually causing injury.

Tough Mudder 2013.

So when I started running in minimalist shoes, I decided to go for a lighter New Balance Vibram shoe that still had a little but of support. 

Trying to be wise, and learn from the literature that I had been reading, I thought it was a good idea to start running on grass to reduce some of the impact on my joints and feet (this would be my transitioning phase). At first I thought, “WOW Fran, you’re onto something, this is amazing!” And it was! 

Once I started adding on more distance over time, I quickly started realizing that there were a lot of holes in the grass, and I started frequently twisting my ankles a bit. 

Over time, I’d avoid areas that I knew had a lot of holes, and started running on both pavement and grass. Over several months, I had transitioned into running mostly on pavement, and I had noticed the increased stress and impact on my joints, but I just kept pushing threw... Which was the exact opposite of wise....

Flash forward  a couple of months, I started getting really intense heel pain that would not go away. At first I thought rest and recovery would be enough to make it go away, then I realized had to have a stress fracture with how bad the pain had gotten.

I took a break from running, and started to transition into cycling which was easier on my feet. As far as daily training shoes go, kept on wearing the minimalist New Balance Vibram shoes that I had been running in since they felt good to train in, and I would frequently switch back to the more supportive New Balance Running shoes that I had previously worn. 

Eventually both pairs of shoes reached their final stretch and had to be retired. 

I naturally wanted to try something new and stylish.

The two shoes that made everything even worse were Adidas Stella McCartney’s that I thought were absolutely stunning, which they were. But unfortunately they were also the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever worn in my life. I kept wearing them because I am stubborn and really thought that if I spent more time in them that I would properly be able to “break them in.” But my feet kept slipping out of the shoes regardless of how tight I would tie them.

2016.

I would wear these shoes all day to teach, and would take them off to train. But over a couple of weeks of wearing them to teach, my achilles started to flare up with crippling pain. I had to change out these shoes ASAP. And unfortunately at this point I had gotten rid of all my sneakers! 

So I made a drastic change based on some advice that I had received from self-proclaimed foot health enthusiasts. They suggested that I needed a shoe with a bigger heal for added support. Going completely out of my comfort zone, I started using some extremely cushioned New Balance Trail Running Shoes 

2016.

The Trail Running Sneakers did help relieve the achilles pain since they fit a lot more snug around the ankle. But over a couple of weeks I felt like my gait (walking mechanics) was getting thrown off. All of a sudden I started experiencing different issues related to my hips and knees. 

What the heck?!

Why couldn’t I find a pair of shoes that I could just walk in without causing some weird side effects?!

By now, I had been exclusively training barefoot, but still needed sneakers for working and just walking around.... 

So I went to a pair of flat lace up High-Top Vans that I had in my closet and felt a lot more comfortable in a zero-drop shoe (the heel is the same height as the ball of the foot). All of the weird gait issues went away and I thought I had found something that I could stick with long term...until I started having different foot issues!!!

After wearing the Vans on a daily basis, I started realizing that the toe box was a little too constrictive, and my toes were constantly getting smushed.

From constantly having my toes smushed together whenever I was not barefoot, blister-like calluses began to form in between my toes, commonly called “corns.”

I was at the end of my rope with all of these issues with feet and sneakers….

Thankfully at this point in my career I was able to spend most of my day in sandals, and whenever I could I’d be barefoot.

The only issue I ever had with training barefoot was getting my big toe caught in the treadmill, once. 

That experience scared me into thinking that perhaps I should invest in a good pair of shoes for when being barefoot is too risky. It became apparent that I needed some type of footwear for whenever we would use the treadmill, run outside, or use the rower. 

The next pair of shoes that I tried out were minimalist shoes specifically designed for movement enthusiasts. They are very flexible, have minimal support, and were comfortable. After several months of trying these out, I still wasn’t 100% satisfied. 

My ankles are so thin, that over time the shoe began to give, and my heel started to slightly slip out of the shoe, and my toes still felt like they could use some extra breathing room… I was also experiencing the same thing with my beloved Onitsuka Tiger shoes (I still wear these regularly).

So the search continued…

Through Instagram I had come across the brand VivoBarefoot, and always was curious as to how they felt on. Many of my friends had been raving about how these shoes had changed their life, but for some reason or another I remained a skeptic... After months of burning curiosity I tried out my first pair of Vivo’s. Initially I went for one of their everyday shoes just to see how it felt walking around, and I was pleasantly surprised with how liberating they felt. 

I used the first part of Vivo’s regularly for about 30 days before ordering more. Next step was to test out their training shoes to see if these were the shoes for me. 

After wearing their training shoes for a week, I started to feel new muscles working in my calves and feet. Although I still prefer to train barefoot, I absolutely love these shoes for daily wear and training as well. 

Through researching the brand more, it became obvious as to how VivoBarefoot was differentiating themselves from all other footwear brands in the industry, including other minimalist shoe brands.

This new approach to minimalist shoes takes into account how feet are naturally designed. Our feet have 26 bones, allowing our feet to move in dynamic and sophisticated ways throughout the day. Whereas many modern-day shoes actually constrict your feet and restrict their movement. 

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The soles of the sneakers also have a unique honeycomb design to allow you to get more feedback from your environment through your feet, which plays a huge role in body and spatial awareness, and of course foot health. 

Lastly, my favorite feature of these shoes is the wide toe box, which allows your toes to naturally span out, not compromising the structure of the big toe in particular (which causes a plethora of issues for a lot of people). 

Long story short, the journey is nowhere close to done. Every single day I continue to learn and adapt, and I am constantly checking myself to make sure that I don’t push myself too far out of my comfort zone, where I can subject myself to an increased risk of injury. 

I still try to listen to my body, and if my feet and calves are feeling overworked, I make sure to get some bodywork, extra recovery sessions, foam-rolling, and even just switching back to shoes with a little bit more cushion when my feet are feeling fatigued (my Onitsuka Tigers). 

Hope this story provided some context or relatability to you all! 

Happy feet! 

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