One of the factors that's contributing to this feeling, is that amount of attention the Vibram Five Finger shoes are getting. This is absolutely amazing, because it's great to see a company just take off after I've been following them and using their product for a few years.
My five finger story starts about 2-3 years ago if not longer. I probably bought my first pair back in 2006 when the company was just starting up. When I bought my first pair of five fingers I had NO intention of EVER running in them!! I got my first pair in the mail after ordering them the Vibram website. Once they arrived I tried them on and ended up sending them back for a different size because the first didn't fit just right. Once my second pair came they fit like a glove!
I used that first pair on and off when I first got them. I'd wear them to class... around town... while driving, but then I wouldn't use them for a month or so, if not longer. After awhile I started using them again and was really starting to love them. They had become super comfortable and just left me feeling less restricted as I do with regular shoes.
One day in early 2009 I was at school working out in our activities center. When I work out there I always wear my five fingers. In early 2009 I was really getting into indoor rowing, and my five fingers worked perfectly for this machine. Well one day, I glanced over to see a friend that was trying to get back into running on a treadmill. I went over to say hi, and just for fun got onto the treadmill next to her at a walking pace. After a minute or so I found myself pushing the pace a bit, till all the sudden I was running! I'd heard of people running in these shoes, but up until this point I thought they were all lunatics!! Next thing I knew I had run an entire mile on the treadmill at less than an 8:00/mile pace.
Over the next few weeks/months I started using a 1 mile run on the treadmill in my five fingers as a warm up and warm down for my gym workouts. Over time this progressed to the outdoors where I was doing a lot more running on the trails (which I'll touch on tomorrow). The trail running in the five fingers was one of the most liberating experiences EVER. It was AMAZING how good it felt. It was AMAZING at how wrong it felt!! I couldn't believe I was doing what I was doing. I mean.... people have been wearing shoes for hundreds of years. We've been adding more and more padding to our shoes, when we should have been taking it away! After those first few trail runs in my five fingers I was hooked. I'm currently doing almost ALL my trail runs in my five fingers. Anything over 12-13 miles I still do in my Newton running shoes.
Speaking of my Newton running shoes, I'll be writing a post later that covers my transformation to a mid-forefoot runner that saved my running career.
But back to my five fingers for now. Like I was mentioning earlier it's incredible how popular five fingers have gotten recently. In some ways it almost makes me mad that they're becoming so popular! I hate to see something so awesome become more of a fad. I want people to buy the shoes for the wonderful power they possess. Not just for the funny looks they'll get while wearing them! I hate to say it, but in some ways I feel like i've become a Vibram Five Finger elitist. I mean... I was running 10-12 miles in my five finger CLASSICS on trails, plus on of the shoes didn't even have a strap anymore! I mean... I've gotta be someone special RIGHT!!?!?
Well no. I'm just someone else that's realized how we were meant to run. The vibrams set us free and let us experience something that I never imagined I could experience. We've spent SO long in running shoes that it seems SO wrong to not be in them. We've HAVE to change our thinking. People are running 100s of miles in just Vibram five fingers!! Someone finished the Leadville 100 (one of the TOUGHEST 100 mile trail runs in the world!) in Vibram Five Fingers!
So... What am I ranting about here? What does all this mean? Honestly I just want to share how liberating it is to not depend on $160 running shoes that have to be replaced every 300 miles.
So here's my challenge to you! TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF. Find some soft ground and run. Not hard. Not long. Now slowly work your way up to longer distances. Discover what it's like.
What's next for me you ask? Well I'm planning on doing my first 50K in my five fingers in December, followed by a road marathon (in my Newton shoes) the next weekend. Of course as soon as I'm don with the 50K i'll report back and let you guys know how it goes!
I know that a lot of you guys are going to stay skeptics, but at the least check out some of the research out there. You can always go to Vibram Five Fingers website for some good information, or just google barefoot running and you'll find some great sites.
As always, I hope everyone is taking care and "training" hard!
_Jacob_
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