My running has been phenomenal since my first run in my Vibram fivefingers sprints. I had my first run (in Vibrams) on the Kettle Moraine Blue Loop on June 25. Today I repeated that run in Vibram
Sport Treks, which my sponsor Clearwater Outoor has provided me.
Benefits that I’ve discovered in my experience (less than 2 months) of running in Minimalist Footgear and Barefoot:
Knee crunching GONE
Higher Arch
Reflexology In feet
Sense of Play
Faster
Feel the Earth!
Get close to animals
Feet Feel strong
Better sense Of well being
Uses more Muscles / better balance
Body alignment Better/ feels good
Great legs and Gluttes!
.. In just less than 2 months these things have been notably noticeable! …
So, back to getting running back … at age 15 I adored running. I got into Cross – country my Jr and Sr Year of High School and took it by storm. I couldn’t get enough of running. I ate it. I slept it. I loved it. … and I competed very well in it.
then I went on to Iowa State to run CC and Track. But something started to go sour. I was injured a lot and running didn’t FEEL good anymore. I felt cloddy and I didn’t have the playfulness that running in my first two years gave to me. I contributed it to the change from High School to the big leagues of Division 1 training.
… and until I ran in my Vibrams I kept thinking that running had just gotten harder or more stale. For 26 years I’ve held this notion … I’d have 1 good run a week and then 1 a month , etc… it seemed all backwards and I began to think that maybe hiking looked like a better option than going out and just being “flat”.
… on a side note, I did love a pair of Nikes that came out 7 years or so ago that zipped up. I bought a few pairs because I KNEW they wouldn’t keep making them. Anytime a shoe fit my narrow foot and fit the way I loved to land on my forefoot, they stopped making it. … Sure enough, once I wore those two pair of shoes that felt much more like my feet, with less material under my heel, they stopped making them. .
. back to clod hopping shoes that I’d trip over roots with on trails, have to watch every step I took because I couldn’t feel anything.
… enter Vibrams … like a cat’s whiskers my feet can finally feel the earth .. I can feel the things that I used to trip over. Now I might step on a root or on a rock but I’d rather feel that than trip over it and fall ..
My Run today … Kettle Moraine Blue Loop 8.66 miles – want to give this run a shot? … I have a trail guide for you!
I felt slower ( but i wasnt!) but good in Vibrams, .. Thought my pace was slower than the first time out in the Vibrams but I was faster by an ave of 30 sec per mile!
I’ve been feeling a slight tenderness in lower Achilles tendon on left foot so I kept tabs on it and after the first mile eased into a nice pace …
Also bloodied right foot in a few places where my vibram sports rub. I tried to stop to change my band aid but the mosquitos were in full force and there was no way … they had me for breakfast within 30 seconds of my stopping … so I went on … the wet and humid conditions allowed for the friction in that tender spot to change so it really didn’t bother me too much until the last mile of the run … when I got home I nursed my wounds with salt – OUCH! But salt in the wound cleanses and dries .. and now its looking pretty good .. A better bandage will be a must in the next run until that heals up.
I hot to cold treatments on my Achilles tendons. No tendinitis but taking preventive measures.
Noticing higher arches from wearing Vibrams! Stepped barefoot in water and when I saw my footprint my arch was so high! .. I had high arches when I first started running at age 15 … but running in just a few years flattened my feet from a size 8 to a size 9 shoe! .. Let’s see if my foot size goes back to an 8!
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