Vibram Five Fingers fan, Sean, is a competitive runner from Canada. He runs for the Phoenix Athletics track club and has competed in the Canadian Championships. Read what Sean had to say about discovering and later training in Vibram Five Fingers:
I first read about Vibram Five Fingers when reading Born To Run. I was so fascinated by the whole barefoot thing with the Taramuhara Indians that I just had to try barefoot running myself. I got a pair of sprints and there was only one navy/camo in my size left. I thought they were pretty ugly at first. For the first month I was just walking in them. I built up some tolerance two months in and only went for a few casual runs in them til I had to put them away for the winter.
Thanks, Sean! It is great to see that Five Fingers work well at very competitive levels of running and even though we may never run these kinds of times, it is possible to run fast in them.
About the Author — Hailing from College Station, Texas (Home to Texas A&M!), I grew up running cross country. Believe it or not, I gave Justin the name for this site back in early 2009 but I didn't jump on the toe shoes bandwagon until a year later. I am also really into quadcopters and drones and have a blog called OddCopter.com.Britt has written 161 articles and 67 comments.
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Now Vibram needs to offer something that he [and we] can train in during the Winter. 
When did he start actually running in them? What else does he train in? 
“…I just had to try barefoot running myself. I got a pair of sprints"
Way to go Sean! Thanks for sharing the story of your success training and running in Vibram FiveFingers! 
This is my soap box!! If you are running barefoot or in minimalist vibrams they are essentially the same. The average running show has a heal height of 12-15 mm. With the sprint at 2mm and the KSO treks at 4mm we can say that although not barefoot we are running with a much smaller overall height and therefore can easily make the transition to barefoot at a faster and smoother rate than trying to do it from the shod shoe platform. Take a look at my gf's website Kristenwestlake.net and you can follow a very highly trained runner make a comeback from her doldrum running to a shear joy runner! That's for the opportunity to share our story! 
My son started running in FiveFingers to see if he could overcome chronic shin splints and stress fractures. It has worked, and he is also noticeably faster after training in them over the winter.
So what shoes does he race in then? I have done my last 3100 miles in three pairs of Vibrams and am looking to possibly race in something with a bit more cushioning/protection. 
@Michael Jones
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