So I managed to drag myself to FTX yesterday, despite feeling ill after my visa appointment with the French Embassy. I was feeling so bad that I only did two super scaled-down sets of Gladiator’s Zone.
I’m not sure what it was. Maybe the combination of a highly emotionally-charged day, running around in the rain, freezing in an air-conditioned room, the lack of sleep and poor nutrition. (Since my uncle died, I’ve been eating whatever is on hand when I’m hungry, which means a lot of stuff that I am not supposed to have.) So energy levels were very low and I was almost sure I was going to pass out.
Just as I was about to hit the locker room, I asked about the strange-looking boots I’d been seeing around the gym. They look like some droids in a Star Wars movie might be missing some footwear.
They’re “rebound shoes” called “Kangoo Jumps”, I was told. Developed by a Swiss engineer, they’re designed to cushion the impact running has on the body’s joints, especially the knees. (They supposedly absorb 80% of the shock on the joints.)
(Internet file photo.)
Reijo, one of FTX’s master instructors, got me into the shoes. They felt like ski boots around the ankles so I definitely needed his help getting up. Holding onto him, we walked around the gym a little. When I was comfortable, he let go and I could jog in them, but I found them too heavy to do the side-to-side kicks he wanted me to do. He said I was too light for that pair, so he got me into another one (a pink one – yikes!) and, this one, I could run in. But instead of landing with the ball of the foot first and then the heel, he wanted me to run with the full foot hitting the floor. It was pretty cool. I liked the spring on them. I tried it out for a while and worked up a good sweat.
Reijo said he ran 10 k. in them.
Kangoo Jumps are only available at FTX. They’re P14,000 a pair. If I ran, and if I had the cash to spare, I’d buy them. Hell, I’d buy them even if I don’t run.
They’re pretty cool. I’d probably wear them at concerts or anywhere where I’d need more than five-inch heels to see above people’s heads.
(Uh, please shoot me if you ever see me wearing shorts like those.)