garygnu, Brown Eyed Girl, Mama Zappaet al., I hope you’ll keep this thread going. I am curious about these shoes. I read a review of them about a year ago on the Runner’s World website. The review, once he got used to them, found them comfortable - until he stepped on a pebble. Ouchie! Pain ensued.
And that’s my question about them - do they give adequate protection against the kind of surfaces a road runner encounters? I mean, I don’t just wear running shoes to support my feet - I’m also wearing them to protect against gravel and dog poop and railroad tracks and broken glass. How do the Vibrams stand up against those hazards?
After hearing a story on NPR about barefoot-style running, I have begun to run that way - striking with my arch rather than my heel - and I am running with less stress and less foot pain - so I am definitely interested in the Vibrams.
Not as painfully as if you stepped on it barefoot, mind you, but you’ll feel it.
Dog poop: sure, they’ll protect your feet… unless you step in a big enough blob that it oozes up the side of the foot then all bets are off.
Railroad tracks: Haven’t run into any of those yet but I would think that walking over the track, they’d be better than regular shoes - with the flexibility they’d grip better as you stepped up on the rail, and would be less likely to slip off. Of course I’m just speculating, knowing my own propensity to stumble over any sort of obstacle.
Broken glass: Well, the sole is rubber (or something of the sort) and certainly a sharp shard of glass might slice through it, but such a shard would make a pretty big gouge in a regular shoe as well. I suspect routine small bits of glass wouldn’t be an issue.
They will certainly be better, protection-wise, than true bare feet.
You’ll feel the pebbles; particularly if you land hard on them. The rubber soles are only 3.5 mm thick with only a 2 mm thick midsole. A typical road running shoe is going to have at least 20 mm thick EVA at the heel and 10+ mm at midfoot. A racing flat will have around 8-10 mm thickness at the heel and around 5 mm EVA midfoot. The midsole is less dense than the outsole in order to provide shock absorption. It will also reduce your feeling debris under your feet to a certain extent, the thicker the EVA, the less you generally will feel, but really large debris can push through the softer EVA. Trail and hiking shoes, constructed to reduce debris impact, add a stiff plastic (usu. thermoplastic urethane or ‘TPU’) shank (midfoot) and/or plate (forefoot).
However, it should be looked at as a positive aspect of the shoes because it trains the wearer to be more aware of his environment and respond accordingly which is surely the body’s natural way of reducing injury. That’s what pain is intended to be: a signal to the brain that the body is subject to injury. When you walk barefoot or with less protection, you naturally tend to be more careful to avoid the pain and, therefore, injury.
Once you’ve become accustomed to wearing them, this avoidance of debris and care in stepping becomes second nature (you won’t even be aware that you are walking differently) and your brain will process your path well in advance of your footfalls. At that point, you’ll find pebbles and other debris aren’t so much of a problem.
I took mine out for their first trail run this morning (in the rain, naturally) and they’re fantastic! The start of the trail is kind of gravelly, but that got easier to maneuver as I got used to it. I’m still new at running and way out of shape and running was a lot easier with these. I stopped running at one point simply because I’d reached my goal (a specific trail marker), whereas I would have stopped sooner with my other shoes. It was just… easier. Movement was lighter and the way you have to run just makes it easier to go.
I really wanted to go out again this afternoon, but my shoes are still wet and my calves and feet definitely feel the difference made by the change in stride. I can see how it’d be really easy to overdo it.
Some people just can’t wear them comfortably. My wife’s toes aren’t webbed, but they are rather tightly packed. Her pinky toe is almost tucked under the next one.
Another thing I noticed is that they’re designed for people whose big toe is longest.
I didn’t expect them to fit. My second and third toes are slightly webbed, the second toe is a little longer than the big toe and my little one is abnormally small. I guess they weren’t TOO far from normal overall, but the webbing + small toe do make it interesting trying to get them all in, and I do have extra room in the toes for a couple of them. The important thing is the shoes fit fairly well, are comfortable, nothing is loose enough to rub and cause blisters and nothing is pinched or crammed in anywhere. So, I don’t have an ideal fit, but it’s good enough. Hopefully my local REI will get more in stock so I can try other styles/sizes and see if I can find a combination that’s more snug.
My advice is to go try on a pair anyway. The material is reasonably stretchy and you might get lucky.
Not really relevant to the OP, but whatever. Silly T10L: persistently barefoot and fungus-infested feet are truly the worst, along with those of young boys who lack hygiene and wear filthy, cheap cotton socks. Generally, though, healthy feet don’t bother me.
One thing to consider with the socks, however, is these shoes are not waterproof at all. If you live in a damp area like I do, you should weigh wet socks against wet naked feet. I’d rather have wet feet by themselves than wet socks.
Well, if you’re replacing running shoes, they aren’t waterproof either. In any case, don’t wear cotton socks. Cotton is hydrophilic (absorbs moisture) and as such really is a crappy fiber for socks because they’ll keep your feet damp, which is, as you have correctly surmised, bad. However, synthetic and merino wool fibers are hydrophobic and do not absorb moisture, so if you get them wet, they don’t trap the water and will, hence, dry faster than a cotton sock. Further, synthetic and merino wool socks wick moisture away from your skin thereby keeping your feet dryer.
I work with a few people who kayak regularly and will often wear merino wool socks with their sandals or under neoprene booties for additional warmth. It’s okay to wear the right socks in wet conditions and it can actually be a good choice. Just stay away from cotton.
I’ll join you and Gary’s wife in the mutant ghetto. I can’t imagine how these would fit me–my little toes are bent over on top of the ones next to them. I leave 4-toed tracks. It’s kind of a shame, since I actually tend to run (or, since I very rarely run, walk) with the sort of gait they are designed to promote. I suspect I would find them comfortable.
Now, an important question–do they come in flesh tones?
My husband has this same issue (both of his fifth metatarsals overlap his fourth metatarsals) and I’d love to convince him to try them because I’m very curious to know if they’d correct this problem. Granted, it would probably not be that comfortable and it’d be a PITA to put them on, but I bet it would fix overlap over a period of time. I guess it would depend on whether the issue was congenital and if there were tendon damage or underdevelopment. It’s interesting, nonetheless.
If you’re wondering about these shoes and have access to a treadmill, try running on the treadmill in bare feet or socks. You’ll get a sense of how much different it feels to run barefoot.
That was my first intro into barefoot running. I went to the gym but forgot my shoes. I had read about barefoot running and decided to try it on the treadmills. It felt so much better than using shoes. Now if I run with shoes it feels like I have a board strapped to my foot.
Not quite the Five Fingers, but I’ve recently started running in Asics Piranhas. They are minimalist shoes - very light, no raised heel, and a thin sole. Aesthetics were my main reason for choosing them over the Vibrams.
I enjoy running in them and feel very unencumbered. They do require a stride modification (for me at least) and I am still developing my calves, which feel very tired after ~3 miles now.
My conclusion is that the Piranhas offer many of the benefits of the Five Fingers without the potential sizing problems and appearance issues.
I just got back from the 5k run I bought the shoes for. I tallied 32 minutes and seven comments about the shoes.
My feet feel fine, it’s my knee that’s killing me right now. It didn’t start hurting until the walk back to the car. Go figure. Overall, I’m quite pleased with them.
My SO got a pair the other day (the ugly camo), and since I started doing couch to 5k I have been thinking about getting a pair myself. I don’t have running shoes; I’m jogging (what I do cannot be called running) in some lighter Merrell hikers since I stick to unpaved trails. Do you think the regular KSOs are OK for trail running? The Treks would be better but no place local has them in stock.
