While reading the book "Born to Run," by Christopher MacDougall, I decided to head to my local shoe store to try on a pair of Vibram Fivefingers. For those of you who don't know, they are, as the title of this post suggests, basically gloves for your feet. They have separated toes, with a sole of Vibram rubber. The basic idea is to give you a barefoot feel for the ground while still giving a good grip and mild protection.
Upon first donning these "shoes," I liked the feel. I was tempted to give them a shot. But I wasn't sold just yet.
I went home and proceeded to research barefoot running, using Google Scholar searches and my access to the CU library to see what was out there. I found peer-reviewed journal articles about the increase in running injuries with the advent of more supportive, and restrictive, and cushioning, running shoes (which began with Nike). I read articles about the benefits of minimalist and barefoot running. I read Alan Webb's story about his barefoot training.
In the face of mounting evidence, and my own experience in my reduced injury rate having switched to a forefoot strike, I decided to go back and buy a pair.
I was surprised to find that everywhere I looked was out of most models. I ended up buying three different pairs, and ending up with the Sprint model. And so begins my barefoot experiment.
At the moment, I'm fairly limited in my use of them. I run short distances in them each day, starting with a quarter mile and increasing to the point where I'm now running half a mile in them. So far I have noticed a few different sore muscles, which is only to be expected when changing running form. Other than that, I notice less of a difference than I may have expected.
I do, however, like the feel of them. They give me more of a sense of what my foot is actually doing then my other shoes.
As I said, we shall see how these work.
