Running With Vibram FiveFingers, Three Years Later
Or how and why I became a full-time barefoot-style runner
I purchased my first pair of Vibram FiveFingers (or VFF for short) back in 2007. They were a pair of blue/gray “Sprint” I bought from the official website while visiting the USA. They had been recently featured on Time Magazine as one of the Best Inventions of 2007, in the Health category. It was also my first mistake related to the VFFs, that is, to buy my first pair online. The site suggested a way to find your right size and as it turns out, the ones I’ve got were slightly too tight on my feet, which a year later or so meant that I was not using them as much as I liked and ended up discontinuing them.
They were an interesting product, geeky for sure, but a perfect accessory for my upcoming sabbatical in Japan. Comfortable to wear, small and flexible enough to be packed in a bag without adding much weight and ideal for light treks, city ramblings or as a substitute for summer shoes.
A couple of years later, in early 2009 I believe, I bought a pair of black/orange VFF KSO (“keep stuff out”), which seemed more appropriate for my intended use. This time I went to Vibram’s flagship store in Milan (the place didn’t live up to the name but it was an official store which sold almost exclusively VFFs and carried the full collection). I began using these more and more but the turning point came sometime in late 2009 or early 2010. I’ve always had “sensitive” knees, which some research several years prior had shown was caused because the femur exerted uneven pressure on the tibia when I kneelled down, something that happend often while practicing martial arts (Aikido, if you ask). To make matters worse, I developed a lower back problem sometime in 2008 — or at least it manifested then — which I initially dismissed but with time became more intense and lasted for weeks even after the excercise was over (in fact I couldn’t go on practicing Aikido). A careful analysis at the end of my sabbatical showed that the cushion between my lower vertebrae was dehydrated so the bones sort of rubbed each other. It was not serious enought to have an operation (I thought I had developed a hernia) and the doctor suggested I reinforced my core muscles (glutes, abs) to release some effort from the lower back, and quit any activity that applied a disproportionate or unbalanced pressure to it(like carrying a messenger back or a heavy DSLR camera — photography is one of my hobbies — on one of my shoulders).
I had been running/jogging on and off for the last few years as a way to stay in shape. As a world nomad (technomad some might say) I travelled quite a lot (still do) and running was the only sport I could practice frequently without worrying about finding a club, subscribing to a course or risking to piss off my sensei by not attending the lessons as often as I should. I just packed my shoes and looked for a nice park or not to crowded road and off I went.
Now, it was 2009 and while living in Amsterdam (my running usually took place at the beautiful Vondelpark), I started to feel knee pain after just a few kilometers. The pain grew more persistent and showed up practically after every run. It seems I had hit the point of no return and stopped running for a few months.
Doing some web research showed that my running shoes could have been an important factor in accelerating this process, specifically the tall heel, or as people in the know say, the difference in drop between the heel and the toe. My research was all but scientifical, though some of the sources I’ve found were clearly making a point. I’m not sure if it was at this time when I came across Daniel Lieberman’s study from Harvard on barefoot running but somehow I did discover that several people with similar symptoms to mine had found a solution in barefoot or minimalist running. The Vibram FiveFingers were often cited as the ideal shoe for that kind of practice, as at the time the “barefoot trend” currently in act had yet to start.
I gave my KSO’s a try in my next run, making another rookie mistake by going for a full 10km run with them (it’s advised to ease into barefoot style running with parsimonia, to avoid excessive calf and foot soreness). The run was not bad, was faster than usual and the soreness for the following days was not something I was unprepared for.
Excited by being able to run again with no pain and by the fact that even if running is not the ideal excercise for someone suffering from lower back pain (it was better than nothing and by running often and keeping the right posture my back pain gradually diminished) I did some further research and bought another pair of VFF (the Trek, made of kangaroo leather which were better suited for colder weather and with a sole that offered more traction, suitable for running on grass and other surfaces). By this time, the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (disclaimer: affiliate link) was published and my excitement about running, especially barefoot style running, hit the coulds.
While organizing one of my tech conferences, I somehow met the chief of the tester team at Vibram and I was offered a pair of VFF Bikila to try out. These shoes were specifically built for runners (the shoes were named after Abebe Bikila, an Ethiopian famous for winning the gold medal in Rome’s 1960 Summer Olympics while running barefoot). At the same time I bought a pair of VFF Speed which were the first model to offer laces instead of a velcro strap. The Speed became my main leisure sneakers, a sort of Converse Chuck’s for geeks (I often used all of my VFFs for work too).
I believe I had been running barefoot-style for more than a year already when the opportunity came to review several minimalist shoes for a test for Wired UK magazine. They brought me a bunch of new shoes to try in a park next to their offices in central London and after a test run with each pair we went to a sports clinic for a Gait Analysis. This consists on filming your stride while running on a treadmill, and it was here that I discovered my third mistake in barefoot running. The video showed that I was not using a proper running technique. While I had been consciously keeping a straight position, as if I was a puppet held upright by a string being pulled from my head (which means not leaning my back to the front while running and making shorter strides than usual) I was not striking the treadmill with my forefoot, or at least not completely. Often my heel came first into contact with the floor. On my defense, I’ve always had a hard time finding the right balance while running on the steady and fixed surface of a treadmill, something about my senses not getting over the fact that I’m running but not moving forward. Also the bars to the side of the treadmill made me somehow uncomfortable (this is to say, maybe I was often striking with my heels because of the weird sensation of running under those conditions). What the reason was is unimportant now. After that session I became conscious on the importance of hitting the ground with my forefoot to avoid injury, which in most healthy runners might only manifest after years of practice while for someone with weak knees like mine it could take just a few weeks or months.
Since then I believe I’ve improved my foot strike to a proper one, becoming mindful of the moment my forefoot touches the ground.
In 2011 I acquired a pair of VFF Komodo (the Speed got lost or were stolen in the meanwhile) which were perfect for running, training or actually whatever, as the dress code at work allowed them (being in tech in creative environments in Amsterdam, Milan or Madrid was a plus factor towards this).
My collection of VFFs was recently updated with the VFF Spyridon LS, which offers a sole that has been optimized for trail running (more grip, extra protection in the mid-sole). These are now my main running shoes for all surfaces while I use the Komodo mostly for asphalt/street.
It’s now been more than three years since I started running with the Vibram FiveFingers, evend did a couple of races in them, and I don’t see any reason to going back to “regular” shoes, or at least those with a big drop between heel and toe. I usually run 3 times a week (on a good month I’ll cover 100 km or more in total) and feel no pain whatsoever, my back is relatively happy and I can pack two of them when travelling without any problem. The market has evolved since 2009 and you can now find several minimalist shoes by almost all big brands. Adidas offers a very similar model an even sports behemoth Nike seems to be moving towards minimalist shoes with their Nike Free line (I’ve tried the Free 3.0 but found them a bit tight so decided not to purchase them).
Tips
As mentioned before, I suggest you buy your first pair of VFF at a shop, so you can find the right size. I even recommend to buy any new model with a different sole or upper at a shop, as they might be tighter or loser by design. Also, if you wear them with toe socks, try them on with wearing those, to make sure you find the right fit.
I use toe-socks 90% of the times I wear a VFF. In my case, this prevents blisters, absorbs sweat and reduces the chance of developing “VFF funk”, short for bad smell.
I’ve been using different kinds of toe socks, and had the best results with those made by Injinji (several kinds), Uniqlo (ideal for casual wear not sports), Nike (yes, they make running toe socks!!) and Vibram’s. I’ve came across brands like Onitsuka Tiger and others but haven’t tried them.
I rarely had my VFF stink and when it happens, or when I need to wash away mud or dirt (like after a trail run), I’ll just toss them in the washing machine with my other sports clothes. I pay attention not to exceed a water temperature of 30 or 40 degrees celsius and you should NEVER put them in the dryer. Just let them dry out in the shadow in a place with a good air flow.
They are small and light, which makes them the perfect travel shoe both for wearing during a long-haul flight but also as a running shoe what won’t add much bulk to your bag.
An added value from wearing VFF is that they are a great conversation starter in different situations, even during races! I wear them often during my public speaking duties, unless the context is not appropriate.
Curios
The Vibram brand is Italian (not Japanese, as many people that see them for the first time) and it derives from the name of the founder, Vitale Bramani.
They were originally ideated by Robert Fliri and later developed together with Marco Bramani, grandson of the founder and at the time the company’s CEO.
Formally speaking, the extremities of your feet are called “toes” not “fingers”. I think that might have been a mistake by the Italian team that named the product :-)
Since I started with VFFs, I had peaks of wearing them almost 70% of the time (for whatever use). I believe that that has allowed my toes to spread wider. As a consequence, I cannot really bear tight shoes anymore (like the Converse Chuck Taylors) and I now practically only wear wide(er) shoes, with a preference for Camper’s when I need a formal or business-like shoe.
I also regained the ability to wiggle my toes, which I had partially lost due to wearing rigid formal shoes.
