SUPPORT DISCUSSIONS

I've been wearing the KSO's for about a month now, I was/am a underpronating heel striker, the first day with the new toy was great until about the 5th km then my calves said stop!! for four days after my calves where rebelling but perseverance won and my calves have adjusted somewhat. I find while getting use to them I can't run as fast I believe I'm thinking about landing mid foot too much. It takes time I guess!! a guy I spoke to said it took him a couple of months before fully adjusting. I have a 5km race this weekend and was debating wearing them but I think I'll wear my running flats and keep taking my time breaking in my body to the new running method.

Would I recommend them, YES but take your time don't think you'll be trotting off for a long run right away take your time.

I started using FF last summer (after reading Born to Run, like many other people I suspect). What other posters have said about needing to go slow is correct. I was a heel striker, and usually used heavy stability shoes like Kayanos. There is no way you can be a heel striker in FF's, and as a result, I worked at changing my footstrike to forefoot or midfoot.

It is only now, 9 or 10 months later, that I am truly feeling comfortable with the rebuilt stride, but I am very pleased. In fact, ran a 10K today with a PR. Nothing spectacular, just 42:00, but it has got me thinking that moving my marathon PR from 3:27 to somewhere under 3:15 is easily in reach.

But it wasn't a smooth ride. I live in Canada, and with winter temps going below -30C, FF are not a winter option unless I am on the treadmill. As well, running on icy and uneven terrain this winter with the new stride caused extensor tendonitis on the top of one foot. It took a lot of time off to get that under control, and in fact, I ran the 10K to gauge whether I could handle a training load again. Seems I can, because I have no issues right now, and am starting to use the FF again during recovery runs.

There is of course a lot of controversy over whether barefoot/minimalist running is good or bad. I suspect it depends on the individual instead of one size (or shoe) fitting all. It seems to be working for me for now, but I'm going to continue with it slow, and I doubt whether it will ever be my primary running shoe. More likely it will be my everyday walking around shoe, and while running, a way of ensuring I keep away from bad habits.

ymmv.

caz

I was all set to jump to barefoot running and looking closely at the vibrams. I currently wear Brooks Addiction (for over-pronating). When I went to a local running store, the owner said that he has seen a tremendous number of people wanting to switch to these or something like the Nike Free. Apparently the majority of people that switch do so too quickly and end up back again with an injury (some end up having to go to a higher level of MC shoe than they started with). If you are wearing a neutral shoe now, then you can probably make the adjustment without too much trouble. But if you are in any sort of MC shoe, you should consider stepping down on level at a time to get to a neutral shoe first. Just ask yourself if it is worth the risk of being side-lined for a month...

On a side note, I was told that some companies like Brooks, view the increase in interest in barefoot running as a fad and they don't have plans to make a Nike Free-like shoe. Nike on the other hand, as well as a few others, plan to introduce more products with very thin soles and flexible shoes. Nike says they can't keep the Nike Free stocked in many areas. So, perhaps there will be more offerings soon. All of this from an store owner, so take that for what it is.

The vibrams are very neat, and I doubt anyone will make anything quite like them soon, but I have been told that runners report that they tend to wear out 2-3 times faster than a typical pair of running shoes.

Hope that helps.

I agree with several of the responses that a racing flat serves the same purpose.

One friend of mine who just turned 70 wears a raciing flat for Marathons.

The  shoe he wears adiZero adios. He claims the midsole allows his foot move naturally like bare feet.

He states the material of the under the ball of his foot gives him a bouncy feeling - "energy return".

Abi Bikila ran barefoot all his life and won an Olympic gold medal iin barefeet.

Most mortal runners have been wearing shoes all of our lives so a little extra support is safer and serves the same purpose .

I really like them, but as others have recommended you have to take it slowly.  It is like starting to run all over again.  My calves screamed for days after my first run in them.  I went three miles.  I had to readjust my training.

I tried switching to mid foot strikes and used VFF in my shorter runs.

My experience was this:....  My calves were sore, but the dealbreaker was my achilles tendon was painful.  It was painful enough to make me stop running.  Went to a sports doctor and he said, mid-foot striking is still relatively new and although it worked for some it might not work for all.  There is not enough data for a consensus, so he said.

Anyway, after that I went back to heel striking and no more sharp pains.  But i still do midfoot strikes on slower/shorter runs.

But during my time doing fore foot running, I did run faster but with VFFs, but I get a huge blisters as all the surfaces i run on is either concrete or asphalt.