Never wear high heels – wedges or not – three nights before you’re supposed to run a 10-mile race.
I have given much thought to this, and my final conclusion? High heels suck.
They are HORRIBLE for you! Yeah, they might look cute, but they deform your feet, hurt your back and posture, and contribute to osteoporosis and abnormal musculature development. Yet women wear them all the time, sometimes for hours and days on end.
Why is it that we do this to ourselves?
I almost feel like high heels are even worse for you than high fructose corn syrup. Most people see a red stop sign when they read “high fructose corn syrup” on the nutrition labels, but very few women think DEATH when they see a pair of heels in a store’s window.
Why is it that we love footwear that is uncomfortable, painful, and can deform our feet?
I am guilty of this. Whenever I walk past a shoe store, I glance in and immediately think Oh, cute! and very rarely do I think about how painful it would be to walk a mile in those shoes.
I honestly believe that high heels are completely created for vanity purposes, so that women can look good but be rendered useless. I’ve never seen or heard of somebody running a full marathon in heels.
And I sure as hell hope that day will never come.
After I tortured my poor feet for four hours on Thursday night, I decided to go back to what I knew was completely comfortable, natural, and nourishing for my feet: Vibram FiveFingers.
Walking around DC fully barefoot would render even more awkward looks, so I decided to settle for the next best thing. So far, my FiveFingers (aka gorilla feet) have yet to fail me.
I enjoyed the lovely weather last night as I walked a few miles around town, soaking in the scenery.
And I learned that a few hours of vanity is not worth a few days of pain.
Never again.
I leave you with this: Few women resist buying heels, and most don’t even consider the detrimental effects high heels have on our bodies, yet MANY people – men and women alike – question how “safe” barefoot and minimalist running is.
Barefoot running is completely natural. It’s what our bodies were meant to do.
Heels, on the other hand, are designed with only vanity in mind.
Are you an avid heel-wearer?
Or are you a barefoot supporter?
What questions/concerns do you have about barefoot running?
RELATED POSTS:
Female. 25 years old. Chinese. Cook. Foodie. UCLA grad. Traveler. Musician. Scuba diver. GWU Law. Runner.
I HATE heels! I wear sneakers and flip-flops (unfortunately, they are terrible for your feet too) most of the time, and am exclusively barefoot in my apt
I’ve got to give VFFs another try; I tried the Vibrams you have but got frustrated with how long it took to get them on! Maybe I’ll try a different model…
Kara (@ Kara’s Marathon)´s latest post: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good
I hate high heels, too! I wear my running shoes as much as I possibly can. I don’t care how un-cute they look. I am comfortable.
Heels WERE created for vanity purposes (and to keep fancy dresses out of the muck when crossing the street back in the days of the horse and buggy, but that’s another story).
I LONG to have an office job again just so that I can wear heels. Because this is how I wear heels – Go to work in comfy shoes. Change into the killer sexy 4 inch stilettos. Sit at desk. Walk all sexy like to the coffee machine. Stare down at you male coworkers (4inch heels puts me at 6’1″). Go back and sit at desk. Wear comfy shoes home.
If I have to walk more than 50 feet at a time, or stand for more than an hour, there is NO way I’m wearing heels. My mom jokes that she can’t wait to be a really old lady so she can wear heels again, cause it doesn’t matter what’s on your feet when someone is pushing you around in a wheel chair.
The whole concept of barefoot running and Vibrams intrigues me, but I’m concerned about hurting my feels. What if you step on something ouchie like glass or gravel? They are a touch on the pricey side just to buy for an experiment. More thought will have to go into this….
I’m not a heel person normally, but last fall I fell in love with boots. I wore a high heeled pair on New Years Eve and my toes were numb for DAYS afterwards. It was actually kind of scary.
Most of the time I wear flats/flip flops/running shoes. Shoe stores stress me out for some reason, so even though I appreciate cute shoes on other people, I usually stick to boring ones i have.
So I totally agree with you.. and I also LOVE FatGirlsCanRun’s comment.. I love to look at heels.. and even own a few pairs.. but they never stay on for long, and I will never walk any length greater than 50 ft with them on.. My mother says that heels make me look like an amazon, so I tend to stay away from wearing them, and they really do hurt..
My feet will stay barefoot until I step on something harmful enough to hurt me longer than a few minutes (aka a stubbed toe)..
Oh gosh, I LOOOOVE high heels. Now I feel guilty, haha. I actually own so few shoes that aren’t heels or flip flops that I had to BUY new shoes for the bar exam as both were forbidden.
As for those shoes, a guy in my class at law school wore them every day. The rest of us were kind of confused by them. I bet they are more comfy than some of the shoes I own, though!
I love how heels look… if only I could walk in them! I always look like I’m teetering instead of gliding like a normal person. Sadly my most gorgeous shoe (and the one I spent the most ever on!) is still parked inside my closet without a scratch on it because I’m hoping there’ll come a day when I can actually balance myself on a 4” stiletto! =(
Hey Jess – here’s the shocker – the running in heels has been done! July 2008 in NYC: http://www.runningwithheels.com/index.php/2008/07/the-high-heel-a-thon-in-nyc/
Craziness! Check out those runners at the starting line in their heels – I wonder how they all felt the next day.
Have you read the study about leg muscles actually reshaping according to to repeated heel wearing? Interesting stuff: http://www.livescience.com/health/high-heel-calf-muscle-changes-100715.html
But they only ran 200 yards in them! That’s nothing even remotely CLOSE to a marathon distance.
I’m currently waging a war against high heels too. I used to work at home and spent my day in running shoes and yoga pants, typing away from my little office. A year ago I took a very corporate job that has me in suits and heels from 8-5…. my poor feet were SO not used to that (I never had issues with heels before, but that’s because I wasn’t wearing them daily). The desk job resulted in a 30 lb weight gain, which makes the heel problems even worse. I have damaged my right foot so badly that I have been “Off” of heels for months now, and I can’t even run right now. So sad.
Anyway, I agree that they are terrible for you, but damn do they make my ass look good. Ha.
In a past life I worked in an office in the “big city” and I wore heels everyday. I walked a mile and a half to and from the commuter train and I lived in agony. But I looked damn good! Little consolation. I now wear heels about once a year and they sure aren’t the 4 or 5″ monsters of my past life. I lost feeling in 2 toes for 2 years from wearing heels for 3 hours to a wedding once. It’s not worth it.
I’m dying to try barefoot running and get some Vibrams but the trouble is they are almost impossible to find around here. I’ve been all over the place! Hoping my visit to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks will prove more productive and I’ll be enjoying barefoot livin’ in the very near future. If not, I’ll just live vicariously through you and Tara.
High heels do suck and sometimes hurt, but I totally want to wear them! They look so pretty! I want to wear heels AND vibrams. LOL.
I can’t remember the last time I wore heels! Maybe the last pair of steel toe boots had the biggest heel I guess
Sorry I haven’t been around for awhile. Been in a bit of a funk lately. I’m here to check in and let you know I won! I won the Bigstridea contest I entered. Thanks a lot for voting for me and blogging about it!
I couldn’t have done it without your support. Thank you!
Trying to regain my focus and previous attitude so hopefully you’ll see me stalking you again!
I only wear heels if I’m going out on a date and the guy’s really cute, oh wait…
I can’t even imagine the torture that is wearing heels, I’m glad that’s one of those things I don’t have to worry about as a guy! And I just got my VFF’s in the mail yesterday. Been wearing them around the house so far and really like them, looking forward to my first run in them!
Brandon´s latest post: The “What About Bob” Guide to Health & Fitness
I’ve never been into heels. I dress my feet for comfort.
I don’t have any Fivefingers, but my husband is totally into them. He sells them in his store and he thinks they are the bees knees for running and daily footwear.
I can’t quite get over the look of them (not really very ‘hot’ are they?), and with a history of plantar fascitis, I’m too nervous to give them a go. Bare foot running has become so popular though hey!
I can’t go past my Salomon’s for running.
I’m a flats girl through and through. Heels mess up my feet and my running. Screw that.
Hi Jess,
Found you today when I was blog surfing. Congrats on your journey to being healthy!
I love this post, especially this line – “most don’t even consider the detrimental effects high heels have on our bodies, yet MANY people – men and women alike – question how “safe” barefoot and minimalist running is.” I will now use that logic when people question me about my Vibrams.
I totally agree with you – heels are not worth the pain. I was never a big heel wearer, but then 6 yrs ago, my legs and feet was severely injured in an accident. I’ve recovered well, considering all my injuries – but now I stick to flats and recently began walking/running in Vibrams and love them! I wear my flats when I’m on trails and wear Nike Free sneakers when I run on roads.
I also like TOMS shoes, because they are almost like walking barefooted and they look cool and give a pair of shoes to needy children for each pair they sell.
i have fallen arches and troublesome knees… and i have found that a little bit of a heel or wedge actually makes me feel better than dress flats do! sure sneakers are best, but when i have to look nice i prefer to have a small heel/wedge. i live in NYC and do a ton of walking (at least a mile a day) so i have high standards for my dress shoes. if i can’t walk at least a mile free of pain, they aren’t worth my time. but comfy dress wedges rule!
Heels are super sexy but I can`t walk in them I look more like a gorilla in heels than I do barefoot.
I`m dying to try vibrams