Just got my VFF KSO’s today when we went to Solano Stroll in Albany, Ca. Great place to test them too…It’s a huge street fair that closes down the streets from San Pablo to Montgomery??(will correct later) it’s long and it goes uphill! Lots of food vendors, restaurants, local shops, artists, performances, activists, you name it, it’s there!! Anyways, I got them at Transports, which was about halfway up the hill, slapped them on and loaded Olivia in the Kid Carrier, with SLR, 3 Diapers, wipes, 3 waterbottles, two baby bottles, her coat, beanie and a stuffed bear. Basically, a pretty decent load for the first out.

At the end of the 2.5 hours trek up to end and back down…approximately 3 miles, I felt pretty good!!! Surprisingly not any worse than I would with regular shoes on. It really felt natural walking around in my KSO’s! It was a good first time experience to say the least.

I’ve researched these shoes a ton, which all recommendations pointed to: START SLOW!!! This may have been too much, but I said what the hell, it’s just a stroll ;)

Results: No foot pain, a little back pain, but no more than usual with the child carrier, maybe less actually. Wlaing uphill and downhill was a great test…every step felt natural. Although I was a bit more mindful of how I was walking for sure. I tried not to heel strike as much, which going uphill initially was a good test.

Next day, I felt no pain, except for my big toes…so I cut nails, which I usually have to do for climbing, since my shoes are 3 sizes smaller than my regular shoes, and so were these. Euro size 41, US Mens 8!