So, like just about everybody else with feet, I decided to pick up a pair of those Vibram FiveFingers shoes so that I could give ‘barefoot’ running a try. I spent the weekend walking around in them and generally getting used to the feeling of having my toes in individual little pockets.
Then I decided to give the running a try. Used a forefoot strike, like you’re supposed to, and had a damn good run–my normal 3 miler, with my average middle-of-the-road 10 minute pace. Knees felt fine, and so did (most of) my feet. Heck, my calves didn’t even bother me. (The next day, though… oh, my ankles and lower calves. O.O) Only one problem.
Giant blisters on the bottoms of my big toes. (Also a little blister on one of my little toes, and a not-quite blister on a middle toe somewhere.) Ok, so I should’ve listened to that pain on my big toes and cut my run short, but being smart never got anyone anywhere, right? Anyway, I’m curious if any of you folks with these nifty shoes have had this problem, and what your answer has been. I picked up some Injinji toesocks, and they do seem to solve the problem–but they make the shoes really tight, and they seem to have durability issues–I’ve already got a hole on the big toe of one. (This after specially trimming my nails, which destroy socks no matter how hard I try to keep them short.) The guy at the store, who was actually wearing his KSOs behind the counter, suggested pulling the strap down extra tight when wearing them to run, which I’ve yet to try–need to wait for the blisters to heal 100%.
I’d start with making sure the shoes are fitting correctly. Otherwise, what I’ve read of injuries or blisters when switching to minimal shoes or barefoot, blisters can frequently be chalked up to your form. You also might have just done too much too soon.
Try landing more midfoot, rather than forefoot. Check out this video for a good example. He’s barefoot, but VFF are close enough.
I’m not entirely sure I understand what a ‘midfoot’ landing would be. The middle of my foot would seem to be the arch, and the only way I can figure out to land there would be to pronate in a really exaggerated way so that I landed on the side of my foot, or else to land completely flatfooted, which would really mean landing on… the ball and heel simultaneously? When I say forefoot, I just mean the balls of my feet, basically. Toes are naturally involved a bit too, since they live around there.
As to fitting–the dude at the running store seemed to approve of the fit. I’d measured my feet at home beforehand and used the conversion chart on Vibram’s site, and went in with that number; it’s also what I came out with. Seems quite snug–I believe the tip of my big toe just barely touches the inside of the toe, but I could be wrong.
Hmm. Video mentions that toe blisters might be due to pushing off with toes. I’ll make a point of trying to avoid that.
Yeah it’s something I’m working on, too. As for midfoot… it’s hard to explain what I mean, exactly, but I’ve heard it described like pedaling on a bike, then you pick your foot up rather than push off with your toes.
Landing with a heel strike will hurt, and trying to land on the ball of your foot (without your heel touching the ground at all - some folks try to run like that) isn’t great either. That’s why I linked the video since that guy runs with what would be considered a midfoot stride. I’m still trying to master this stuff too, so I might not be explaining it well.
Before I got my VFF (which I only use for cold weather or when there’s lots of sharp rocks) I’d just been running barefoot on cement or grass, so my feet are tough. I’ve never gotten blisters on the bottom of my feet, I start breaking them in slowly as soon as it’s not freezing outside. Usually it takes up to two months for the skin to thicken enough to do comfortable long runs on moderately comfy surfaces (no sharp stuff). If this is your first time running with a forefoot strike in anything but sneakers, can’t say I’m surprised you got blisters in 3 miles.
I prefer an extreme forefoot strike for running - it feels wonderful, like a massage almost for my whole foot and lower legs. I spread my toes out, push off and land with them along with the ball of my foot. Mid-foot striking in bare feet is painful (arch and heel come close enough to the ground that if the terrain isn’t perfectly even or there are rocks etc, you’re going to be hitting the sensitive bony parts of your feet, and it kills). I walk more mid-foot, sometimes even touch my heels. It’s just what has always felt natural to me, and I’ve been barefoot as much as possible (not enough) my whole life.
Playpus, are you really trying to touch your heels when you run (even lightly)? I’ve never heard that recommended for ‘minimalist’ running.
Most of what I’ve read (combination of running message boards, articles and blogs) recommend not being up on your toes all of the time. Your heel should touch (or “kiss”) the ground lightly before lifting your feet again. Like anything else, though, everyone’s natural form is going to be a bit different. The above feels the most natural and comfortable for me (my problem is I think about it too much and don’t just walk/run) and being up on my toes and balls of my feet the whole time just feels off.
Had another run last night and avoided my toes a bit–maybe more of a midfoot strike, but who knows. What matters–no blisters. didn’t even irritate the existing blisters. Now I just need to get my calves and ankles up to speed with this whole project and I’ll be golden.
I’ve started seeing barefooters everywhere on Chicago running paths. Some KSOs, some are actually barefoot.
My first 3-miler was actually done in bare feet. I got a giant blood blister on the midsole of each foot (right behind the ball). I chalked that up to my feet interacting with the ground in a way they never had before – and overdoing it for a first run. I let the blisters heal, got the shoes and haven’t had a problem since.
I’m pretty solidly a midfoot striker. My forefoot may hit slightly before my heel does, but not by much. The initial impact is mainly on the outer edge of my foot, pronating toward the arch before I push off again.
I think I’m lucky because somehow my stride switched from a heel strike to midfoot sometime recently without my knowledge or consent, so switching from running shoes to barefooting was fairly simple. I suspect that it happened because my aerial circus instructor has us run around the gym to warm up, and shoes aren’t allowed in the gym. The gym floor is rigged with some sort of shock-absorbing system and is thickly carpeted, so I never really noticed my feet, but apparently my stride just changed automatically.
I don’t know what you’re doing to your injinji socks, because I’m not having problems with them; they’re not showing any premature signs of wear, nor do they make my shoes feel tight.
Vibram’s apparently having a lot of trouble meeting the demand for them–shops that stock them tend to sell out immediately. I was exaggerating, of course, but there’s definitely some excitement with these things.
In the wild, I’ve seen one pair, at a trail run I did a few weeks back–two if you count the guy at the shoe store who was wearing some. But I’m in a smaller market and I don’t do a lot of organized running events; I’m not surprised to hear they’re starting to become more common in a place like Chicago.
BTW, from what I’ve seen the new Vibram Bikilas sell out slightly less rapidly than KSOs, probably because they’re new and fewer people know about them. I ended up with Bikilas because the running store said that they couldn’t tell me when they’d have KSOs back in stock – the manufacturer was way behind.
I think the Bikilas are better for my purposes anyway – I didn’t want to buy a separate pair of shoes for winter running, and these have neoprene (not mesh) uppers, so will be somewhat warmer. I wasn’t able to compare in person, but my impression is that the sole is tougher, too, which I like since I run on the Lakefront path, and well, people are pigs. I didn’t want broken glass punching through the soles of my shoes.
Yeah, the soles for those are thicker, which could be one of the reasons they aren’t selling as many. I’ve heard from a few people that had problems with the Bikilas falling apart really quickly. How are yours holding up so far?
Question for you VFF fans: I am just about to start the Couch-to-5K program, and I’m wondering if I should get VFFs right from the get-go. Would you recommend them for a beginning runner/couch potato?
Sure. That’s how I started If anything it could help keep you from doing too much and getting hurt, since you’re starting out slow anyway. It’s pretty common for people that run a lot to switch to minimal shoes and get injured, since they tried to run the same distances they usually do. You’re using different muscles that need time to adjust to the extra work.
Well, I’ve had them for maybe two weeks, so they’re still holding up fine. I hope I don’t have issues later – I hadn’t heard anything about durability problems.
I saw a few good reviews for the Bikilas, but they seem to be drifting too far from the original idea of being as close to barefoot as you can, but getting a little bit of protection and added traction from the rubber sole. That’s why I went with the KSOs, aside from their being the model with the biggest running ‘track record.’
And I agree that C25K would probably make a nice way to get introduced to them. There’s not much doubt that I’ve overdone things a bit, mostly because I hate to fall out of my routine–I guess I could’ve done part of my miles in VFFs and part in regular shoes, but diving right in seemed to make so much more sense at the time. :smack:
Between actually running barefoot, and running in the Bikilas, I didn’t find a significant loss of tactile sensation between my foot and the ground. Nothing like regular running shoes, for sure.
If I were running someplace where there were very few other people throwing trash around, I might prefer a thinner sole (but were talking “thinner” on the order of 1 mm or so, in any case). But given that I’ll never know if or when someone decided to throw broken glass, rusty nails, etc. on the running path, and I can’t guarantee that I’ll always see it and be able to dodge far enough in advance, I’ll take a little added foot protection. Honestly, if that weren’t a concern I probably wouldn’t have looked at getting shoes until it got cold, anyway.
