New Kicks in Waikiki: Fivefinger Sprints and Classics

By Justin Owings on Sep 25, 2009 | In User Stories | 1 comment »

The jury is in: Vibram fivefingers are the perfect compliment to Hawaii.

Above, we see Jennifer photoed in her pink Sprint fivefingers and her husband in a black and white shot of the blue camo KSOs. I asked Jennifer how they liked their VFFs in Hawaii (and elsewhere) and here is what she said:

Hi Justin,

We actually bought them near Honolulu. We met a professional fighter and his brother/trainer wearing them up the 1100 railroad tie stairs that ascend KoKo Head crater. They were running it and doing sprints wearing them. And it is a HARD HIKE. We were so curious about the silly shoes allowing these two to blow past us up the climb.

They told us about all the weak foot injuries they had once had. Plantar fasciitis, bone spurs, tendon problems. They told me that after 2 months of wearing them, no more bone spurs. No more fasciitis and one even said he had gone from being flat footed to having a natural arch. My husband and I were sold. Because it makes sense. If you let your body do what it was created to do, it will function better. I have been suffering from bursitis, Achilles tendonitis and mixed injuries from a broken toe that just won’t get better. I told my husband the day before that I had accepted that I was never going to run again. So we went immediately after the climb and got fitted.

In Waikiki everyone was friendly, interested and wanted to know about the kooky shoes. They were a great conversation piece. My sprint classics weren’t great in the sand, but VERY nice protection from the rocky beaches. So far, I am wearing them everyday, not to dinner, but walking dogs and to the gym and that kind of stuff. In LA everyone looks, but nobody has the courage to ask about them, yet. My feet and ankles are feeling stronger everyday and when I start running again, people aren’t going to have to ask, I’ am just going to tell them about the miracle shoe!

jennifer

If your experience is like most VFFers, no doubt you will find healing in forgoing thickly padded heels! Just remember: rehabbing your feet and ankles from the atrophied life of modern footwear takes time (and patience!).

I hope you find you can run again soon!

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
Justin Owings+ has written 754 articles and 302 comments.