First 5k Wearing Vibram Five Fingers

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.

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!

My ankles used to. My problem was when I ran I'd land on my heel. After changing to Five Fingers I found that I land about the front of my foot. I had to change.