1000km in Vibram Five Fingers
It’s been 16 months since I first shared shared my experience in Vibram Five Fingers (VFFs) and since I just passed the 1,000km mark 2 weeks ago in these strange looking minimalist shoes (I refuse to call them “barefoot shoes”. You are either barefoot or in various kinds of footwear.), I’d like to share again on my journey thus far.
The two ailments I had in regular shoes prior to switching to VFFs were plantar fasciitis and knee aches/pains. Knee aches have been non-existent so far. As for plantar fasciitis, the only times when I will feel slight pain is when I haven’t been running for a period and I MIGHT feel a little pull under the left foot during the 1st to 2nd run. So I can safely say that I am rid of these two problems for good every since switching to VFFs
Besides the period of time last year when I went got top of the foot pain (suspected tendinitis), probably from switching to VFFs much too soon without a transition plan, I was completely free of any injuries. Apart from a good, progressive training plan, the most important thing for any runner is to be injury free. An injury can set you back for weeks, months & even years of progress in fitness and being free from that ensures that you can constantly improve even if you are just inching forward.
I wish I had found some way to measure my feet before switching to Vibram Five Fingers; especially the bridge of my feet because I can almost swear that the arches of my feet have risen slightly over time and they feel more muscular as well. I remember being identified by a “shoe specialist” that I am leaning towards being flat footed and I have not encountered any problems from “the lack of arch support”.
I have 3 pairs of Vibram Five Fingers now. One pair of Classics that I use to walk in on an almost daily basis and 2 pairs of Bikila that I rotate for runs. Note that I don’t rotate them because of cushioning; I rotate em so that they have time to be dry from sweat and wet weather.
How long do these thin shoes last? I run mostly on cement and tarmac and manage to clock 600km in my VFFs KSO. I could have continued to run in them but I don’t want holes in my socks when a section of my socks started showing through the bottom of my KSO. I read of others like this dude who clocked over 1,200km in a pair and still going strong!
I really don’t see myself running in anything else but minimalist shoes and will recommend it to anyone. But along my journey, I have also came to a bigger understanding that the saying of “If it ain’t broke, do not fix it!” applies to shoes as well. If you never had a problem running in shoes or even landing on your heels, I’d say that you are a lucky man/woman.
Else, if you are willing to forgo the concept of cushioning and structured shoes or have been getting injured, I will highly recommend you to give minimalist shoes a try and run like how we humans are engineered to. Remember to transition slowly!
Here’s a screen-shot of a recent barefooting article by My Paper where I gave a short blurb on running with minimalist shoes.
Lawrence Lin, the dude in the pic, plans to run the Sundown 2011 100km BAREFOOTED. I salute the man!
Link to article (Page A16)
Feel free to contact me to discuss about VFFs or running! I always love to make another friend who enjoys this misunderstood sport. I can be reached via my contact form, on Twitter and through Facebook.
Possibly related posts:
June 6th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
[...] (6 June 2011): 1,000km in Vibram Five Fingers Possibly related posts:Running with [...]
June 7th, 2011 at 7:57 am
Very nice! I wish I knew how many miles/kilometers I have run in my Vibrams since I got them, but alas I did not keep track. However I have run a full marathon and a half marathon with them since I started training using them last fall. I know that with myself I could never run past about 5 miles without injuring my knees or ankles, I was also quite flat footed as well. After moving over to the Vibrams I was able to train up to the point of running a full marathon without injury! I couldn’t agree more with your statement about taking it slow though, there is years of weakened muscles and tendons that need to catch up before you can really build on the distance.
Marcus recently posted..Cleveland Marathon- The Summary
July 5th, 2011 at 11:03 am
HI kris,
Similarly i have knee pain after switching to Bikila, it has not surface any more.
Just a question, how many mileage are on your bikila? Mine doing ard 250km+ the toe area look pretty wear out, wonder if it can last to 500km.
July 5th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
@Retrooldboy: Great to hear that you solved your knee pains with the VFFs! I have 330km on one pair of Bikilas and 146km on the other. The pads on the 1st pair looks quite worn out but it will definitely take sometime before it’s a hole through the base.
I try to spread my mileage btn the 2 pairs I have now so maybe I still have another 3-4 months to see if it can outlast my KSO’s lifespan.
Do let me know how much mileage you can squeeze into your Bikila before it’s unusable!
July 5th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
sure will do, prbly next shoe would be Bikila LS.
July 17th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
hey..really like ur reviews alot..but i got a qn..do you get ur vffs from a local retail shop or from a foreign online shop.? im trying to source for better deals..haha..=x
July 21st, 2011 at 11:51 am
Hey Daren! I got mine from a local store in SG (official retailer). I read of a lot of counterfeits online and I rather not risk getting a pair of fakes.
August 5th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Interesting review on how VFF have completed some journeys with you!
I’ve tried them on at Taka and there’s probably some getting used to that’s required, with its almost “feet-kissing ground” concept
Thumbs up to the runs!
August 21st, 2011 at 4:10 pm
hahahh that is hilarious, I never seen shoes like those.
It’s strange, I mean all guys have different size toes, how can you find a shoe with the right toe length.
It can’t be one size fits all
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:34 pm
I just read Born to Run and want to try the monkey’s shoes
Where do you buy the vibram?
December 20th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Hey ady, you can buy them at various outlets listed here in SG. http://www.innovatez.com/vff_retailers.html
February 10th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
It seems that you have a great activities, Is in it? Its great to have like these.
Wenz28 recently posted..Surgical Gloves
February 17th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Whoah the shoes looks so funny, but i think it’s so artistically made. I want to try it.
John recently posted..More Information on How to Stop Eczema Itching Fast