First 5k Wearing Vibram Five Fingers
gdunn55
Posts: 363
So I had a 5k this weekend. I have a pair of Vibrams I've been training in for almost 5 years and at the beginning of the year I bought a pair of New Balance Minimus shoes with the Vibram sole. The idea was I'd weight train in the five fingers and any distance running I'd use the NBs. Well the weather didn't cooperate with me and it rained like a cow peeing on a flat rock Saturday. I figured I'd prepare well seeing how I was just getting over being sick. I wore my UA shirt like I normally do running, a pair of shorts, and then I put on a pair of windsuit pants and a windbreaker over that and strapped on my 5 fingers because I didn't want the NBs to get water logged.
I was 3 minutes slower running this race than my last 5k. But take into account I was getting over a cold, it raining, and I'm wearing extra clothing, not a bad race. Matter of fact in a few weeks I got another 5k, and if conditions are good, I'll wear the five fingers again to see what would happen when I'm not sick, been keeping up with my running, and wearing my normal run gear.
Now I had a guy tell me he hurt himself doing a race in them, however, he bought them the day before the race and tried to run in them without prior use of any barefoot running shoe.
I was 3 minutes slower running this race than my last 5k. But take into account I was getting over a cold, it raining, and I'm wearing extra clothing, not a bad race. Matter of fact in a few weeks I got another 5k, and if conditions are good, I'll wear the five fingers again to see what would happen when I'm not sick, been keeping up with my running, and wearing my normal run gear.
Now I had a guy tell me he hurt himself doing a race in them, however, he bought them the day before the race and tried to run in them without prior use of any barefoot running shoe.
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Hm. Thanks for sharing. I'm new to running but don't want to put myself in a situation that I'll get hurt in and am trying to decide if five fingers or running shoes is the way to go. Having trouble finding unbiased studies, though, for research. So I appreciate the comparison! Do you notice any extra pain with one or the other?0
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I'll tell you my experiences and you can take from what I say and think on it.
When I first started running again it was about 3 years ago and I wore a pair of Under Armor training shoes. Not bad shoes, but after awhile of running more than a mile or so I noticed my ankles and knees hurt. Several people told me that it's because I'm a big guy and big guys are not supposed to run.. Runnning is bad for you.
One night in the gym I saw a guy wearing the five fingers and we talked about them and I asked him about them and he told me his experience with ankle injuries and how it helped build his ankles up. So for months I researched and researched. I finally broke down and bought a pair. I experienced pain the first few times I tried to run in them, however it's because I wasn't used to running with little shock absorption, again I'm a big guy.
I ran my first 5k in my Under Armor shoes and my first 10k in a pair of Nike Pegasus II's. Both times my ankles hurt and my knees hurt. Again I heard it from friends that I'm not supposed to run. I'd drop a good deal of weight but maybe I need to stop before I tear my body up worse than anything. I wasn't 18 anymore and I was going on 30.
My fiancee's brother introduced me to a book that he read after he found out I was a five finger owner for me to read. It was called Born to Run. It's a good read when you get time. While reading it I began running in my five fingers more and more, building myself up to being able to run at least 5 miles before I broke a rib and layed out for some time from running. I'll admit the first few times I was sore afterwards, but it was soreness in muscles. Not pain in my ankles. No pain in my knees. Saturday was the first official race. I felt great Saturday evening. Yesterday I experienced soreness in my quads and calves, but I think it was due to the hills I ran, and again 3 weeks being sick and not running or lifting can cause your muscles to lax a bit in my opinion.
My advice is this and I believe Vibram even explains it in the tags on the shoes, if you buy a pair of Five Fingers, go ahead and have other shoes you are comfortable with until you work up to using them. You might experience some pain, but as soon as you do, change shoes. Now I've ran distances in both the five fingers and NB Minumus, and if I had bought the NBs first I'd never ran a 5k or 10k in anything but them. They have the Vibram sole and they are a great introduction to barefoot running.
My advice is read up, research, and go to running shoe stores and talk to them and try on shoes and find what's comfortable for you. I wouldn't just go to a D*ck's Sporting Goods or JC Penny's and buy a pair until you consult someone at a running shoe store and see what they advise and then see if you can find a cheaper pair elsewhere.0 -
Thanks! I was definitely planning on a running store for assessment and I like the idea of the vibram sole for stretch. Do you have any issues with pronation? My ankles roll a lot
I run in my Nike Airmax 2011's right now and I'll be sore after a run. I work 12 hours on my feet and they work great for that but I'm not sure how designed they are for running. I tried my five fingers once at work and my legs hurt so bad after the first shift that I was unable to wear them the next day. That was after wearing them all day for awhile and being used to them. I definitely like the idea of running in a barefoot or close to fashion, though. Do you wear socks with your five fingers? Mine don't seem to fit real comfortably with socks...
Thanks for all the feedback!0 -
Thanks! I was definitely planning on a running store for assessment and I like the idea of the vibram sole for stretch. Do you have any issues with pronation? My ankles roll a lot
I run in my Nike Airmax 2011's right now and I'll be sore after a run. I work 12 hours on my feet and they work great for that but I'm not sure how designed they are for running. I tried my five fingers once at work and my legs hurt so bad after the first shift that I was unable to wear them the next day. That was after wearing them all day for awhile and being used to them. I definitely like the idea of running in a barefoot or close to fashion, though. Do you wear socks with your five fingers? Mine don't seem to fit real comfortably with socks...
Thanks for all the feedback!0 -
Bump - I don't run yet, but I do all my workouts in my VFFs and also do light day hiking in them as well. I have found that since I consciously changed from a heel strike to a midfoot strike, I have less issues and no ankle rolling at all. When I first started using them on the treadmill, the smaller muscles in the tops of my feet and over my ankles were sore - but got better as time wore on and they got stronger....
I wish I could wear them to work, but somehow I think someone will say they are against our hospital dress code, though many people wear regular tennis shoes.....0 -
Bump - I don't run yet, but I do all my workouts in my VFFs and also do light day hiking in them as well. I have found that since I consciously changed from a heel strike to a midfoot strike, I have less issues and no ankle rolling at all. When I first started using them on the treadmill, the smaller muscles in the tops of my feet and over my ankles were sore - but got better as time wore on and they got stronger....
I wish I could wear them to work, but somehow I think someone will say they are against our hospital dress code, though many people wear regular tennis shoes.....
One of our paramedics wear them all the time. If you have the ones that are completely enclosed, I don't know how they can argue because plenty of tennis shoes are simply mesh covering on top and on sides and a needle can still go through that! I think the trick is to just try it and see if they say anything... then let me know your comfort level with them in the hospital!0 -
Now I had a guy tell me he hurt himself doing a race in them, however, he bought them the day before the race and tried to run in them without prior use of any barefoot running shoe.
Sigh. I mean no disrespect to this man. Truly. But of course he was injured. You have to transition into them.
I'm dabbling in the barefoot running, although I don't have strong feelings toward it one way or the other. I really started into it just to entertain myself. I have the 'speed' variety that lace up and look like a normal shoe on top. I started off by running 400 meters on the GRASS at a time. I spent a few weeks with this distance and terrain before slowly increasing my distance, and after a month and a half moving to the limestone path and three months later I did start to run on black top.
I plan on doing an 8K in them next month, however if I have any reservations by the time it comes around I'll just run in my normal shoes. I don't really have a desire to run farther than that in them, and I'm not sure I'll do another race in them after this. (I do plan on using them for beach runs this summer though - sand running is a great workout.
"Should you run barefoot? It depends" - I haven't read this yet, but I saw it posted today.
http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/2012/02/should-you-run-barefoot-it-depends/0 -
If you build up your time and mileage in Vibrams gradually you will eventually get to where you cand do whatever you want in them.
I started using them at the beginning of last year and built up too fast. After two calf pulls and a broken metatarsal I had to take a month off. (my too fast build up was from ramping from no running at all to 60 miles per week in a little over three months). After the month off I had to build gradually because my foot still hurt. Eventually, by the end of Sep, the pain faded and I was able to again increase mileage using a combination of Vibrams and inov8 minimalists.
Now, I run up to 90 miles a week on asphalt almost exclusively in Vibrams. Throughout this time I had absolutely no knee pain or shin splints. My calves and ankles are still sore often, but I think that is as much due to mileage and run intensity as it is due to the shoes. That soreness also always goes away a few minutes into the next run.
The caveat to all this is that if one is going to run in Vibrams or other minimalist shoes they have to pay very close attention to developing very good running form.0
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