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Barefoot running, VFFs, and why?
I tweeted about my progress with my barefoot running the other day and was asked, “why barefoot, why not sneakers?”
Well, this is a long-story. Ever since I was a young child I couldn’t walk for long distance or long periods without my feet “hurting”. I’ve been through a lot of different shoes, from sneakers with arch supports to clogs with no flexibility, to birkenstocks to stop my feet rolling inward, etc. I have not seen a podiatrist convinced that custom orthotics wouldn’t help enough to justify the cost.
Taking my shoes off has always been a huge relief that allowed me to walk again, still a bit uncomfortable from the “leftover ache”; but a huge, huge relief.
So why not simply go barefoot?
Well, I have sensitive skin, I can’t really walk on gravel without extreme pain. I didn’t want to step on glass or pebbles outside; plus stores require shoes.
That’s when “barefoot shoes” came up. There are more options than I had guessed for this. But what came up for me was Vibram Five Fingers (VFF). These have toes, they look damn odd, but I can walk in them for much, much longer than I could in any other shoe.
So, inspired by their comfort and inspired by some YouTube videos, I started to run barefoot on the treadmill. Running was always a painful proposition before but now I could run. Focusing on a forefoot strike and running barefoot has changed my entire view on running. It no longer hurts; sure I feel the muscle ache - and that’s welcome! But my feet don’ “hurt”.
Interestingly I have started to feel more parts of my feet, and a gentle aching in the muscles in my feet. Have a look at Podiatry Channel:
The foot and ankle contain:
- 26 bones (One-quarter of the bones in the human body are in the feet.);
- 33 joints;
- more than 100 muscles, tendons (fibrous tissues that connect muscles to bones), and ligaments (fibrous tissues that connect bones to other bones); and
- a network of blood vessels, nerves, skin, and soft tissue.
The foot is an incredible machine - very efficient and custom made for its job. But us humans we have to “improve” everything, so we take this incredible machine and stuff it into a shoe where it can’t actually perform most of its flexing and balancing that makes walking enjoyable. Those muscles (and some in the legs, iirc) start to atrophy. So when you start running barefoot or walking in VFFs, they recommend you take it slowly to adjust and let your muscles wake up and work properly.
This is why I can suddenly walk longer, and this is why I can suddenly find joy in running. I’m letting my feet do their job. In the mean-time the muscles are building and I feel fantastic. I ran .2 ish miles yesterday, 10 minutes at 4mph with a 3 minute warmup and 5 minute cooldown. Normally that would cripple my feet; but yesterday evening I walked the dogs for an hour and I still didn’t hurt. Today I can walk without any foot pain.
This is a miracle for me. I never thought it was possible.
For those interested in this, check out Birthday Shoes for great information, articles, links, and a VFF focused forum.
I also found this on YouTube and really enjoyed watching this lady run, and learned about the proper form: runBAREcompany on YouTube. There are a lot of other videos and information out there.
Personally, this has worked a miracle for me but there are, as always, people that feel passionately for and against barefoot running and VFFs and other ‘minimalist footwear”. For me, I likely will never wear anything other than minimalist footwear again, with a strong preference for VFFs or true barefoot wherever possible. Being able to walk and run is well worth it for me.
Edit to Add: Brandon sent this Barefoot Running article to me and I highly recommend it before you get started.
-Lisa, on June 14, 2010 at 10:14 am .::. Comment (4)
I have been wondering about this for some time now. I have another friend that went VFF and has raved about them. I suffer with bad knees and found that when I walk/run with a soccer shoe I can walk much further than with a running shoe. Soccer soles tend to be flat while running shoes tend to be angled forward. So the whole barefoot thing is interesting to me. I may try walking barefoot a few nights to see how it suits me. Glad to hear it is working for you though…
By Marcus Neto on June 14, 2010 at 10:27 am .::.
I’ve heard this kind of story from a few people since I started researching the VFFs and barefoot running. People with a variety of issues that had a lot of pain and that is gone when going closer to barefoot - or like you said - minimalist shoes, flat soles. Basically letting your foot handle the support.
And hey, it’s free to try. Just need your feet. Don’t even dirty socks to clean. Just take it slow, you can definitely injure yourself starting too fast or walking incorrectly. Like anything, eh?
Let me know what you think, Marcus. Curious if your experience echos mine.
By Lisa on June 14, 2010 at 11:01 am .::.
You’ve been a resident of my RSS feed since my EE days - and you caught my attention with the VFF posts this last week or two.
I’ve been wearing KSOs since March this year. I started running for the first time last year, and hurt my knee badly in October. Spent all winter at a chiropracter, and started with Vibrams in March - I’m back running again, with no knee pains (until I fell on some stairs recently) - my chiro has commented on how much my feet have strengthened since I started wearing them and he’s been quite amazed at their effects. He’s bought a pair himself to try out too :)
By Paul on June 14, 2010 at 11:17 am .::.
Hi Paul! That is awesome to hear! Usually chiros, in my experience, are the last to support “weird” footwear. It’s good to know there are some reasonable folks out there.
Thank you for posting your VFF experience. As you know this is new to me, but it’s been life-changing and I hope will continue to be.
(btw: I have the classics, but will have to get something with more cover come winter. I want the KSOs that have the kangaroo leather upper.)
By Lisa on June 14, 2010 at 11:50 am .::.
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