I have the KSOs, and they’re “OK” for trail running, but the Treks would provide just a little more protection for little jabby stuff of the ground. The KSO Treks don’t come in Women’s, though.
It’s great to hear some positive comments about the shoes here.
Yesterday, I had a spirited discussion with the shoe salesperson at REI. She thought they were a fad and that they don’t help with heel pain or problem arches at all. When I told her that I had plantar fasciitis, she discouraged me from getting them.
Just coincidentally, two customers came in who had worn them; one was wearing them at the time. Both of them raved about how great they were and how they did great things for their back, knees and feet.
I tried one side on in the store and thought it felt really interesting. It didn’t feel like I was walking barefoot. If I had walked barefoot on carpet, my heel would hurt instantly, but with the shoe on, it didn’t. I walked around for a few steps and my heel wasn’t aching last night like it normally does when I walk around barefoot on carpet.
I had e-mailed the company (Vibram) a while ago, asking if the shoes worked for people with plantar fasciitis, and I got a bit of a non-committal answer:
which is good, I guess, since the person answering really can’t know my specific problems.
I’ll be interested to hear more stories of other people’s experiences, especially those with existing foot problems. My experience yesterday has me more interested in these shoes.
Thanks! I was thinking about getting men’s Treks since they go by measurement. I’d really need to try them on, and no one has them in yet.
If you can’t use the ones with the toes, Vivo Barefoot has a new running shoe out that my Pilates instructor swears by (although my gym trainer doesn’t like them). I have a pair but broke my foot (unrelated) shortly after buying them and haven’t had a chance to try them out. They’re very lightweight and very comfortable tho.
As a birthday present to myself, I bought a pair today (after calling a half dozen stores to see if they had the Classics in stock).
Love them.
I wasn’t sure how well they would fit, as my pinkie toes are weird looking, but after wrestling with them for a few minutes, got them on and got moving. I am not a runner, or even particularly active, but I am a klutz in shoes. I hate shoes.
As an added bonus, TheKid said she will refuse to be in public with me if I am wearing them.
I have two pair and I adore mine. I’m not a runner, but I walk in them a lot. Last year I walked 5 miles on a trail with more sure-footedness and less foot pain than I had with hiking boots.
You do need to adapt to them though. You need to change your stride a little (no heel-strikes).
I call them my gorilla feet. They get a lot of attention when I’m out in public, which bothers me not at all.
There were official photographers at the run I was at. In one of the pictures of me, one of the path-side volunteers is pointing at my feet.
I’m a member of the club, too. I just bought mine last night, and went for a 4-mile run this morning. I run pretty often, so I wasn’t too concerned about having to ease into it very much. So far, I’m happy with them. I didn’t get them to alleviate foot pain, leg pain, or anything else, really. I just wanted to start working different muscle groups and see if it’s true that you can feel better after running.
There are a few differences I noticed this morning (I rarely run in the morning, because it always ends up feeling like a chore rather than something I actually like). It felt like I was almost sprinting for the first half-mile, and I was worried I’d get winded long before I normally would. But eventually, I settled into a nice rhythm. I believe the shoes are supposed to cause you to take shorter strides, and I’m guessing that wasn’t happening right away, causing the sprinting feeling. I was definitely feeling my calves working more than usual after a mile, but it’s the good kind of muscular pain (stairs have been a bitch since I got to work, though). My pace actually seemed to be just a bit better than usual. I’m positive it wasn’t due to adrenaline, because I wasn’t super-duper excited for running in the morning, as usual. But by the end of my run, my body felt more normal, not exhausted from a morning run. There is a definite lack of jolting on my body wearing these, and if I hadn’t had to go to work this morning, nor had the calf pain, I think I could have comfortably run much, much farther. Two very minor “injuries” (besides the sore calves) are a blister that’s just forming on the ball of my left foot, and a tiny cut on the top of my right foot due to rubbing against the shoe. I’ll have to work out those kinks.
I’ll be interested to see how they work out in a month or so on a weekend run, where time isn’t an issue, and the pain has subsided. In the meantime, I’ll still do runs with my regular shoes, just to avoid overdoing it early with the Vibrams.
Yep, I’ve had mine for about 4 years now. Love 'em.