Advertisement

 

 

 

 

 

• Home
• Where to run
  Running courses Hotel running maps GPS tracks Running calendars Running challenges
• Sections
  Running articles Running Top 10 Running in cold weather Running in hot weather Running with your dog Safety for runners Running nutrition Running shoes Running news True running stories Running fiction Running software Running books Running illustrations Running history Products reviews Hiking articles
• Humor
  Funny articles The Perfect Bunion Skewed Running Running cartoons Running jokes Funny videoclips
• Community
  Running in different cultures Running communities Worldwide Runners Disaster Response Team
• Wiki
  Running Wiki Disclaimer for user-generated content
• About
  Customer service Subscribe Job opportunities Join our network
• More...

 

Vibram FiveFingers

Ever since 2005, when Nike introduced the shoe called the Free, more and more runners have considered the concept of minimalist footwear to strengthen the feet and legs, potentially improving performance. The notion has led to a modest increase in media coverage of barefoot runners, if not also the number of people who actually run shoeless.

That number would be hard to quantify, but there must be a market because the movement has led Vibram, the company synonymous with shoe outsoles, to make what is essentially an outsole that fits like a toe-sock. It is called the FiveFingers (yes, that's one word), and one Cincinnati runner who not only sells, but also wears them, says they can be a useful tool - for the right person and with a big dose of caution.

Just walk into Roncker's Running Room in O'Bryanville and chances are you'll notice something different about Adam Schmidt, who has worked at the store for three years. Look down, and you'll figure it out. He's not barefoot, but it sort of looks as though he is. Hes wearing FiveFingers, which he does very often.

"I wear them like a flip flop all the time", he says.

To be sure, it's an unusal looking thing. It looks like a heavy-duty gardening glove made to fit the foot. The camouflage-influenced mix of colors of some models lends to the unusual looks. The purpose is to allow the wearer to walk the way Nature intended.

"We're not designed to need shoes," Schmidt says of human beings. "We're not designed to spend our time on paved roads, either," he adds, noting that since that's what mankind has surrounded himself with, it stands to reason that perhaps people who intend to run au naturel from the ankles down do something to protect their feet while they're at it.

For most of us, the idea of running without anything on our feet is just asking for injury. And, if a new FiveFingers wearer, or any barefoot newbie for that matter, isn't careful, that's just what Schmidt suggests could happen.

"Some people come in, they have no experience with minimalist footwear," Schmidt says, "and they wanna go from a Kayano to barefoot or a racing flat. I try to caution people not to take these extremes, but I think there's something to using it as a training tool."

That's what Schmidt, who's worn FiveFingers for about a year-and-a-half, does. In fact, he never actually runs in FiveFingers at all.

Many times I'll go on grass and do drills in 'em," he says. "I dont wear 'em running, I believe in balance."

For Schmidt that means using the FiveFingers only for drills or as a replacement for the shoes he would normally just wear around during the day to the bank, the grocery store or even flyfishing (he says they help him feel the river bottoms, which prevents falls).

Why bother then? Schmidt says FiveFingers help do what Nike claimed its Frees would do when they first hit the market, namely, strengthen the foot and the lower leg muscles that stabilize runners through their gait cycle.

"You get a little more balance. You an actually feel what's going on," he says. The direction of running shoes has gone to more cushion and more support. That can lull you into bad biomechanics.

To imagine what it's like to run in the FiveFingers, Schmidt says to consider what you'd do if you tried to run barefoot on asphalt for the first time. "You'd probably land more on your forefoot rather than your heel," he proffers, "because heel striking on a hard surface would hurt."

He says FiveFingers spread the toes just a tad, providing a better platform for forefoot striking and toe-off. And that's it.

"The idea is to take you away from anything sort of artificial, but give you a tough skin," he says.

More natural biomechanics. Stronger feet and lower leg muscles. That must mean FiveFingers will produce better race times, right? You can slap them on and run your best 10K, right?

"Well, not necessarily," says Schmidt.

"It's not gonna make you do anything you couldn't do before," he says.

So, again, why bother? Especially when the price tag of $80-$85 would buy a pair of trainers or a racing flat? Because FiveFingers might help reduce or prevent injury. And an injured runner probably isn't as fast as she'd be if she weren't hurt.

Schmidt notes that many runners complain of hammer toes, bunions, pulled calf muscles, Achilles tendonitis and other maladies due to running in a way that unnaturally constricts the calf instead of letting it have that same dynamic action all the way to the ground that it would have if people ran barefoot the way they did when they first evolved in prehistoric times.

He says, "I can't say I used to have all these problems, but I think it [wearing FiveFingers] helps. There's no miracle tonic, it's just that I'm not getting hurt."

So, as long as a potential FiveFingers buyer accepts that the shoe is not intended to let you do anything you wouldn't do barefoot, except with more protection, it can help.

"I think there's something to running in as minimal footwear as you can in shoes," Schmidt says. "I'm still always gonna run in a running shoe, even if it's a racing flat."

There are some things to expect if you try FiveFingers, chiefly an unusual feeling surrounding your foot, if not outright pain. "If your second toe is longer than your big toe," Schmidt says, "you'll definitely require a few days of wearing them before they stretch out to fit your foot. After they break in," he says, "they don't hurt at all."

They don't require socks, but if you prefer socks, you need toe socks like the Injinji brand that were originally designed to help prevent blisters. They lining is antimicrobial and Schmidt says he hasn't noticed a problem with odor.

And you are wise to try them on in person, rather than attempting to order them online for two reasons. First, Schmidt warns that sizing is very different from running shoe sizing, due to the need to let them stretch out to accommodate your foot. Second, there are four models designed for activities ranging from yoga to water sports. Order the wrong one model or size and your FiveFingers could fall off in the midst of your activity.

You should also expect some funny looks from strangers.

Schmidt recounts an encounter with a customer at the companys store in Glendale where an older womans upper lip snarled and she practically picked a fight with him because she seemed so offended by the appearance of his footwear. Even after he explained what he was wearing, he recalled her saying: "Well, I just don't... I just don't get it!"

"You definitely get raised eyebrows," he says.

And maybe that type of visceral reaction is exactly part of the point the primal aspect of the act of running might make the FiveFingers a perfect complement. "And just like running is a primal, natural activity for people," he says, "this brings everything back to basics."

Credits - WorldwideRunning.com would like to thank Frank Field for the permission to reprint the article "Vibram FiveFingers". Frank Field writes for the Running Club of Greater Cincinnati.

More running shoes reviews...