Since my last post I’ve knocked out some longer runs in the Five Fingers and I’ve learned a few things. As a recap, it’s been a few months now since I started my slow and careful migration from being a heel striker to landing on the mid-foot. The VFF have played a substantial role in that too and now that it’s been about a full month since I started running in these weekly I thought I’d provide a quick update of what I’ve learned about them (and me) to date:
· Running on a dirt path or trail is really great. Running on pavement is hard. In fact, I avoid running on hard surfaces altogether.
· My calves are getting stronger – there’s no question about it. Note the picture of my calves below. Come to think of it, my quads look a little stronger too.
· Rocks hurt. I have to pay more attention to where my feet land when wearing the VFF. You feel everything in these things, which isn’t a problem most of the time. I “found” a partially exposed rock on Thursday that almost brought me to my knees.
· It’s forced me to run more naturally. Mechanically speaking, you can’t heel strike with the VFF – your body just won’t let you run that way. Each run seems to help my muscles remember this more natural and fluid movement (not yet totally natural for me). I attempt to follow the same movement on all my other runs, even when I’m not wearing the VFF.
· The biggest benefit so far is my plantar fasciitis has disappeared. Perhaps it’s because wearing these is supposed to strengthen the muscles in the feet. Perhaps not. But, the VFF have been a big part of my effort, since January, to land mid-foot, and I’m not going to change anything about my training. From now on I’m running in these at least once per week…until I step on a broken bottle or something.
It would be interesting to run in these every day to see if I could be the type to put on 30, 40, or 50+ miles per week on the Five Fingers. Maybe that’s in my future. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the benefits I get from running in them once a week.
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11 comments:
What kind of running show had you been running in? Was it a neutral? Or more support than that? I plan on getting a VFF's at some point but have been slowly going from a shoe (3 years ago) with too much support to now minimal support with a pair of racing flats.
The real question, "Are you a faster runner because of you VFF's?"
Jumper, I was and still am a wearing a neutral shoe but it had to be heavily cushioned due to my heel striking. I think my need for a super-cushioned shoe is changing however. Today, I pulled out a pair of Saucony Grid Sinisters I was unable to run in after purchasing them two years ago. Today I ran 6 comfortable miles in them without any discomfort whatsoever. I attribute this to a stronger foot and the fact I no longer land so hard (or at all) on my heels. I hope this is a step in the direction of being able to run in a lighter shoe! It sounds like you're already a mid-foot striker if you are essentially running in flats, right?
Chad, I think about this ALL the time! Time will tell. Actually, a race will tell and I have a few coming up. Hopefully, the increased strength I've gained will continue and I'll be able to put it to good use!
My question is, all the conventional wisdom says that when you get plantar fasciitis you are supposed to stop doing anything barefoot. But you are saying you think running barefoot got rid of yours? BTW, I still have mine from last Feb.
Crossn81, you raise a great point. My own foot doctor, whose injected me with cortisone twice now, has also recommended never walking barefoot or even in flip flops, especially when I feel the pangs of plantar fascia problems. In the book Born to Run there were a few intriguing quotes from Vin Lananna (ex Stanford Track Coach - now with Oregon) that got me thinking, specifically this one, "If you strengthen the foot by going barefoot I think you reduce the risk of Achilles and knees and plantar fascia problems." So, he had his teams run barefoot as part of their weekly workouts. Combine this with the fact that there are NO studies that demonstrate running shoes make you less prone to injuries, which is essentially what I was trying to do - I tried new shoes, new insoles, and ANYTHING that would let me run pain free. Lastly, and most interestingly, studies show that impact forces are lightest when you run in bare feet and hardest in well-cushioned shoes - it's like your body knows you have a cushion and then jams down hardest of all. This seems to indicate I'd only exacerbate the problem by wearing well-cushioned shoes.
There's lots of provocative reading on this topic in the book and since I personally suffered all last year with fasciitis (for the first time) I thought I'd try something completely different and...natural. It just seemed logical.
Sine then I tried it myself and it is working. So far. I've only been running in the VFF for one month and attempting mid-foot landing since Jan, but for me, the results are encouraging to say the least. I'm pain free and it's a relief. Hopefully, I can keep it going.
Sorry for the long-winded response!
You came to the same conclusion that I did after reading that part in Born to Run. After reading that I've stopped wearing shoes around the house. Sadly, I haven't been able to run due to other (knee) issues since the revelation but I might try it out soon.
Crossn81, hopefully you'll recover quickly from the knee thing and let me know when you try the VFF. I'd be interested to hear what your experience is like!
and for bunyons? you comment about plant. fasc. but what about funky bones?!
Brianna, the advice I can offer you on that is somewhere between slim and none. I don't have bunions! However, if the VFF are flexible enough to accommodate Morton's Toe, then I'd have to guess they'd be flexible enough to have room for a bunion or two.
Wear VFF shoes, let us run farther and more long more healthy.
www.vibramfivefingers.cc
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