So I am learning to run barefoot in Vibram Fivefinger shoes…
The simplicity, indeed the packability of the Fivefingers appealed to me from the outset and, they are unashamedly cool.
But I’ve had injuries from running in bad shoes. I know that footwear is not something to be taken lightly. So, I did some reading. Many, many things have been written about barefoot running both strongly positive and strongly negative, and little in between.
I felt that the pro barefooting literature seemed to be convincing and seemed to be cautious and at least trying for balance. A lot of the anti barefooting literature seemed, frankly, emotional.
The overall message though of one hundred plus thousand years of human evolution having the jump on running shoe designers seemed to me inherently, well, likely.
So I got myself a pair of Fivefingers – which protect the soles of your feet while trying to be otherwise as un-shoe-like as possible.
Now I love my running shoes (thanks Mum) and unless global warming kicks in big style I’m going to continue to run much of the time in them.
I have however begun the process of getting my feet used to barefooting. I’ve not, thus far, actually run more than a couple of hundred metres in them but I’ve now been out all day hiking in them a few times. Step by step, I’m told, as my feet have been mollycoddled by more than thirty years of shoes.
Hiking in them has been fantastic. The grip is amazing and the fivefingers really are pretty much as comfortable as no shoes at all. The best bit though is that you have another sense involved in your enjoyment of the trip. You are not just seeing, smelling and hearing your walk you are feeling it too.
If you want more information on barefoot running then Zenhabits’ – The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Barefoot Running is a great place to start.
Update: How lax of me, photo credit: @evickask.
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