Vibram 5 Fingers

After the busy summer of work at NCOBS I am hoping to get on here more frequently and post thoughts. I just got back from a short vacation at the beach this past weekend. It was wonderful spending time doing...not doing actually. In the last 10 years I don't think I have been to the beach on vacation and it was definately needed and worth the drive to get to Wrightsville Beach. Glenn and I spent the weekend relaxing with an old friend, Bryan, who was visiting from Hawaii. Like I said we didn't do much of anything, we had no agenda but to relax. I was proud of myself for not cracking into my school books (which I foolishly brought with me) and studying. Okay so knowing me you may know that I couldn't do nothing completely, truth be told.

We swam in the ocean both days, even on sunday when it was overcast and 70 with biting wind. It was so refreshing to be in the ocean. It makes me feel so alive and at the same time so small and insignificant. I also got a great run in on the beach to the south point of Wrightsville Beach overlooking Masonboro Inlet, which brings me to the title of this post: Vibram 5 Fingers. I have been using a pair of Vibram Classics all summer for walking around and to do crossfit and they have been great. My goal was to actually run a distance of more than 1 mile in them but the classics just feel too flimsy for me. About a month ago I became the owner of a pair of Vibram Treksports, which have more padding and a outsole built for traction. I thought a run at the beach would be the best way to test them out and get some distance in them. I ran (as fast as I could on sand) about 4 miles in them on the beach and THEY WERE AMAZING. I love the feel of being barefoot on the beach but sometimes the shells and broken pieces can rip up your feet. The Treksports were perfect - it felt like I was barefoot but I had protection against broken shells on the beach. At the south end of Wrightsville Beach there are a lot of shells and broken jagged pieces - I was able to just run right over them no problem. Toward the end of the run the balls of my feet did begin to feel a bit bruised from running on the hard sand (the strip that is wet and begins to dry out closest to the waves). I ended the last mile or so higher up on the beach in the dry sand where my foot sank a lot more and received less impact. Another thing that makes them great for beach running specifically is that when my feet got wet from waves crashing into the beach they are light weight enough not to absorb and hold water like a pair of running shoes - so I had not problem running with them wet! My ankles were a bit sore so I stretched well and massaged the balls of my feet and had no pain or issues the next day - not bad for weening my body off of overly padded running shoes all these years! I don't think that I will ever be able to run on pavement for more than 1 or 2 miles though with them. As long as I can sprint in them on pavement at crossfit and do longer distances on trails I am happy!

Also pose running technique rocks too by the way! That's another reason I think my transition into "barefoot" sprinting and running has gone so well. Thanks to the coaches at CFA for that. Perhaps a later post on this technique because it has really helped me with not having joint pain after running.

Disclaimer- When the 5 fingers first came out I was skeptical and wrote them off as another footwear fad. I thought they were the dorkiest things ever and they are really dorky looking I don't deny that. I tried them on about a year ago and DID NOT like them at all - they felt bad and my feet felt too sensitive in them. I went back to try them on again after about 6 months of running in some Onitsuka Tiger track shoes, which have very little padding compared to modern day running shoes, and they felt so much better. I decided to give them a try and I love them. I am lucky for the time being, because my workplace is casual enough that I can wear my classics at work and now I mostly use the Treksports for crossfit and running (now!). I think that the 6 month period with less padded shoes made my feet, ankles and legs stronger so that I can wear the 5 fingers now and not feel "sensitive". My transition into them has taken a little while and that's what my body was telling me to do. I also have friends who got a pair and took them out of the box and started running on them - listen to your body if you decide to try them out. Not sure whether I will be able to wear them into the fall and winter, probably not entirely, but I'll try!