Well, my initial thoughts regarding my Vibram FiveFingers are that they’re good. No, better than that, they’re brilliant!
So far the only downside has been that my feet are cold. I’ve got some toe socks for them but they’re the little ankle type ones. Sitting still at my desk makes my ankles pretty cold.
I’m persisting without socks though today as I figure my feet will get used to it soon enough.
Putting them on has been pretty easy, although it makes you realise how little control you have over your toes (have you ever actually tried to move one of them other than your big toe?) and how squashed my toes are. I wear pretty loose fitting shoes and have nothing even remotely pointy but still they are squashed compared to the FiveFingers.
I’ve not run in them yet. I was planning on going out this morning but a parenting related bad mood made me stay at home. Having to get up at 5am doesn’t do much for your motivation. Perhaps I’ll go out later for a quick couple of miles.
I’ll be careful though as the shoe box warned me:
Attention: Walking barefoot is different than walking in shoes. Please read the instructions before use.
Also, I’m very self-conscious when outside in them. I’m sure that will go but at the moment I’m certain that everyone is looking at my feet (I’m sure they’re not really). At the same time though, I want to let everyone look at my ace new shoes! Strange.
I’ll just echo that it does take some time to get used to VFFs. Seems a bit counterintuitive — as in, surely you can function fine barefoot, so what gives? — but it really takes awhile to rebuild atrophied foot/ankle/calf muscles.
Just be patient and listen to your body.
And welcome to the VFF club!
Hi Justin, thanks for the comment. Out of curiosity, how did you come across my blog? Just searching for VFF? I have previously looked at your site. Good job.
Regarding the use of the shoes, the comment about being careful was a bit tongue in cheek to be honest. Perhaps it’s because I’ve deliberately chosen flat shoes in the past and prefer running in minimal shoes but switching to FiveFingers has been easy.
I’ve worn them solidly for three days now and have just completed my first run in them (4 miles – mixed pavement, roads and grass). I could easily have gone further. So far it’s all positive. Apart from having colder feet!