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Martin’s Flows and Spider-bites on the Inka Trail

In the mailbag comes the above photo from Martin, who recently took his VFF Flows to Machu Picchu &m

In the mailbag comes the above photo from Martin, who recently took his VFF Flows to Machu Picchu — no minor feat as it took convincing the guides that he’d be okay without ankle support*. It’s not often we see the elusive fivefinger Flows. And if you’re wondering why Martin’s right ankle looks so swollen, well wonder no further:

I bring your attention to my right foot, which if you haven’t noticed got a lot bigger than my left on the final day’s trek into Machu Picchu. They think I got bitten by a spider. Tourists were so enthralled by my Vibram Five Fingers they didn’t even notice my grotesquely, morbidly obese right ankle as they snapped away in glee at my shoes, even at one point making me stand on one foot so they could take pictures of the bottom of my feet. The ankle got a few inches bigger than this before the swelling started to go down. The Inka Trail itself was pretty fun wearing the FiveFinger Flows. My tour guide was actually not going to let me do the hike thinking I would sprain my ankle or something. I told him to give me a chance, and ended up being one of the fastest people. The porters were also highly intrigued by my footwear and I had a lot of curious people ask me how they felt on the hike. Everything was awesome, except downhill in the rain was very tricky. I had to slow down considerably for that so I wouldn’t slip, as my feet became quite slippery!

Glad your foot and ankle have recovered. That must have been quite a bite to cause that sort of inflammation! And who would have thought you could camouflage it just by wearing fivefingers! Just one more use for VFFs!

Thanks Martin!

* The more I hear about needing “ankle support” and “arch support,” the more I just laugh at how silly people can be. It’s as though we’d all be incapable of doing anything but for fancy, constricting and “supportive” shoes or boots! And of course, “studies” need to be done to prove that barefoot running/walking/hiking is safe. Just silly.

By Justin

Justin Owings is a deadlifting dad of three, working from Atlanta. When he's not chasing his three kids around, you'll find him trying to understand systems, risk, and human behavior.

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