five toed shoes

I started in VFF KSOs as well. I got them a couple of weeks before I started C25K do I've never run in anything but VFFs.

In April I bought a pair of VFF SeeYas... they have an even more minimal sole than the Sprints/Speeds/KSOs.

The great thing about the SeeYas is that they upper is SO soft and supple... there is absolutely no rubbing or hot spots from the shoes now.. including the Achilles at the heel. The SeeYas feel more like socks with rubber soles.

I'm now up to a 10 mile long run and have my first half marathon in just over 3 weeks... all in VFFs.

Now, before I found VFF shoes, I was never a runner. I was 320 pounds, had heel spurs in both feet and have had several bouts of plantar fasciitis in my right foot over the past three years.

I firmly believe that the mid-foot to fore-foot strike that barefoot running (and minimal shoe running) requires is the reason I can now run. I'd never be able to take the pounding in my feet/heels/knees if I was heel striking the way that traditional cushioned running shoes tend to promote.

So it is possible that minimal shoes are the thing for you, but they are not for everyone. The only way to know for sure is to try them.

One word of warning, though... I agree with everyone else who has cautioned to work them in to your routine gradually. It is VERY different and it took several months of running and slowly extending the length of the runs before my feet really felt like they had caught up to the amount of stamina that my legs, heart and lungs achieved pretty quickly.

Wombat, you've never had any metatarsal-phalangeal issues with the combo of VFF's, your foot strike & distance running?

Now, you've got me curious about how builds & bio-mechanics play a role with the success &/or failure of VFF's. High arch, low arch, regular? Pronator, supinator, neutral? What surfaces are you running on & why the heck can't I do that?

I have a pair of the Fila minimalist shoes. They're cheaper than Vibram's ($45) and have a thin hard sole so no rock/heat on the soles. I LOVE them. I have a weak lower back and these have been amazing.

Wombat, you've never had any metatarsal-phalangeal issues with the combo of VFF's, your foot strike & distance running?

Now, you've got me curious about how builds & bio-mechanics play a role with the success &/or failure of VFF's. High arch, low arch, regular? Pronator, supinator, neutral? What surfaces are you running on & why the heck can't I do that?

Kasya,

I haven't had any problems to speak of in running with VFFs. I can't speak too technically about my foot/gait but I believe that I am pretty close to neutral in all respects. I've never noticed any unusual wear on any of my footwear in my adult life (other than excessive wear from being well over 300 pounds for most of that time).

I would say I have a pretty normal arch... maybe on the higher end of normal, but definitely not a typical "high arch" foot. Definitely not low arch. I have a pretty neutral gait.

Early on as my muscles/bones/ligaments were strengthening in response to running, I did have occasional mild Top of Foot Pain... though it was mild enough that I wouldn't call it pain really... discomfort is all. As I read about minimalist running I found that that was pretty normal... and the best thing to do was to back off and ease up a bit for a few days, which I did and it never developed into serious pain. As I kept at it, the distances that I could run and total weekly mileage that I could cover and not have that pain kept growing, so I believe that it was normal discomfort as the ligaments and bones of the foot were getting their workout and building strength.

The only other issue I had was that at first, when I was approaching the 3 mile/5k distance, I would occasionally get some numbness in my second and third toes on both feet. I experimented a bit with my form and found that if I increased my turnover and reduced my stride length a bit, it would not be nearly as bad... I think I was landing too far onto the balls of my feet instead of the forefoot. That change in form mostly eliminated the problem, but not entirely. It wasn't until I switched from the KSOs to the SeeYas that it appears to have gone away completely. I think ultimately a part of the problem was that my KSOs were a bit too small... they fit great for walking, but with the swelling that goes with longer distance running, they were one size too small. I went up a size in the SeeYas, and I've been fine since then. No problems at all.

Almost all of my running is on asphalt surfaces... either local roads or paved jogging/running/biking trails. I do try to minimize running on concrete and that is just jarring no matter what I do to try to improve my form. Even that is not as much of a problem as I have gained in strength though... last weekend I had an 8 mile run where nearly 3 miles of it was on concrete sidewalks and I made it through just fine, though my feet were more sore than they had been recently afterward. The next day they felt fine.

I wish I could offer you more on why/how I can do this. In part, I run this way because I don't know any better. I've never been in pain from running (:::knock on wood:::) so I just keep doing what I'm doing and cautiously extend my runs and slowly increase my pace.

If you are an established runner, I think a big part of it is that you don't try to transition to minimal running too quickly. I built from nothing, so it was two months before I was running 3 miles at a time, and it's been another 4 months of base building and training to get me to 10 miles.

Vibram has a transition guide, and it really emphasizes taking it slowly when you start out with minimal shoes. If you stick with it, eventually your feet will gain strength and you should be able to run longer distances in VFFs.

Good luck.

Ted