Peter and I were talking about the whole Marie Kondo Kon Mari concept and messing around with ways to evaluate our various ‘stuff’ the other day, and one of the ways we wanted to do it was forcing ourselves to wear every article of clothing in our closet/drawers, before repeating anything. I laughed about it, but then said that there needed to be a caveat: I needed to be able to recycle through a few of my staples: certain tights, shorts, sweatshirts that I wear A LOT. This didn’t fly with his concept, apparently, but it got me thinking about starting to do a monthly post about just a couple of things that I’m reaching for constantly. Maybe clothes, maybe other stuff—just whatever I find myself using nearly everyday. So, let me know in the comments if this is at all interesting / enjoyable, and if so, I’ll keep going with it! This month, I kind of ended up with an accidental theme: Feet. So maybe I’ll stick to a theme, maybe not. We’ll see! But for now, let’s talk foot gear.
VivoBarefoot Stealth II Sneakers
I had to replace my VivoBarefoot SwimRun sneakers after 2.5 years of heavy, heavy use, and the Stealth II is the closest alternative. LOVE that the women’s come in dark blue, black, maroon and pink. Lots of options for whatever you’re into! I actually ended up with the navy blue because the black was out in my size at the time, but it’s been restocked so I may just have to get that color as well, because I’m me.
READ ABOUT GETTING STARTED BAREFOOT RUNNING HERE
DryGuy Force Shoe Dryer
April showers can BITE ME. I’ve been back to running almost every day, which means I need my shoes to be dry because it’s F-ing cold out. But it’s been raining, snow has been melting, and I haven’t made it through one run in the last two weeks without soaking my feet. The Dry Guy shoe dryer is really efficient for drying my shoes out in just a few minutes though. It also folds down so I can stash it under our shelf, and it runs quietly and hasn’t made our electric bill skyrocket. This thing is AMAZING.
CEP Women’s Compression Socks
I never used to care about what socks I wore running, but lately, my feet have been a total freaking mess unless I wear nicer socks, not the cheap $5/10-pair thin black ones I used to get at Target. I still wear them for the rest of the day, but now when I run, I’m almost always wearing a pair of CEP Compression Socks because they STAY IN PLACE. No blisters, no foot swelling, and they’re pretty decently warm in the cold weather (they have super thin ones that I’ll switch to on hot days too).
READ ABOUT OPTIMIZING RECOVERY HERE
OPI Onyx Nail Polish
I stopped getting pedicures a while ago because while I love them, I find that the more I run, the less my feet can handle getting pumiced and scrubbed (at least, not at the super cheap places I would go to). So, I got a pumice stone and try to lightly keep my feet callus-free (night-time lotion + socks also helps). And, of course, black nailpolish is both sooooo goth + hides black toenails and/or dirt under toenails from running on trails. OPI is my go-to, in Onyx or Lincoln Park After Dark.
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