All through middle and high school, I was always a sprinter. My body adapted to it very well, but I was always plagued by injury. I also ran cross country in the off seasons to stay in shape. But once graduation came around, I converted to being a full-time distance runner. There was one major reason for my decision: there are distance races everywhere, but not sprints. Every organization and city seems to put on a 5k or 10k at some point, and there are thousands of major marathons and half marathons all over the country.
When I really started getting into running distance, I started hearing about minimalist running, Vibram Five Fingers, and even groups who did races completely barefoot. So naturally, since I like to be the first of my friends to try something new, I decided to try to work towards barefoot running. If you don't know much about minimalist running, check out Tim Ferriss' article, The Barefoot Alternative. The general idea is that your natural body and running form are actually more efficient and less prone to injury than you are when running in any sort of running shoes. The Vibram Five Fingers bridge the gap by protecting your feet from the terrain, without altering your form or providing any artificial modifications to your stride or form.
Beginning the Transition
I was immediately intrigued by the thought of being able to show off by running races barefoot, and still being injured less than other runners. I would be lying if I said I wasn't originally just looking for a way to impress fellow runners with my apparent toughness. So i bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, and started some barefoot training while I was waiting for them to come in the mail (which took several months on back order, due to the recent interest in them.)
If you are buying a pair, remember to consult the size chart on VibramFiveFingers.com in order to purchase the correct size. They are sold as European sizes only.
I soon realized that this was going to be a long and sometimes painful transition. The biggest sources of pain were the soles of my feet, and my calves. It seems that your feet, which are used to being in shoes, are actually designed to feel the ground and give you sensory feedback. So putting shoes on is like wearing dark sunglasses. Your feet try to adjust by turning up the volume on your nerves in order to still feel the surface you walk on. So when you take the shoes off and go run, your feet feel like you're walking on glass because they are so sensitive. This doesn't take too long to start to adjust back to normal. For me, it only took a few weeks of running short distance on rough surfaces such as asphalt or a high school track before the pain began to lessen considerably.
The other pain I mentioned was in my calves. Your body is designed to land on the balls of your feet when running. This is very difficult to do in any running shoes because the heel is always slightly taller than the forefoot area. Once you start running on the balls of your feet, your calves have to work twice as hard. But if you think about it, the same amount of force that your calves are feeling was going through your shins and heels before. This whole idea of "natural running" was beginning to make more and more sense to me.
Running in Vibrams
Once my Vibrams finally came, I had toughened my feet up quite a bit, and my calves were considerably stronger. I still wanted to take it slow with my Vibrams to avoid overworking the muscles in my feet and toes that literally did nothing when I was using traditional shoes. I began with very low mileage, no more than three at a shot, and would instantly stop running if anything began to feel pain. This was really the most important thing when transitioning. I had to listen to the signals my body was giving me and realize that pain was an indicator that something was wrong.
I have spent several months running in my Vibrams, and I will hopefully begin the next phase of my journey, which is to transition to running completely barefoot. I have already noticed some drastic changes in my body since my transition began. My calves have evened out in size, where my right calf had been noticeably larger before. I always pushed off harder with my right leg, but minimalist running has evened out my stride and my muscle tone. I have also noticed my toes spreading out a bit. They are no longer jammed in the end of my shoes while i run.
I found the KSO model (keep stuff out) is great for me because I run a lot of trails. I have a much more sure footing on the trails in my Five Fingers. Its much harder to roll my ankles when my feet are more flexible and not tied to a stiff sole. While there has been some pain along the way, I think the gains have certainly outweighed them. I have had no injuries for almost six months, or unusual pains of any kind. I look forward to the trails ahead, and enjoy running now more than I ever have. I hope I have inspired you to do the same.
Brian Carrigg - Brian is a 19 year old college student from Cleveland Ohio. He is studying to be a music major at Cincinnati Christian University, and has ...
