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Army PT Heel-Toe Running and Running in 5-Fingers: A VFF Story

From Lou:Hey Justin,I want to start off by saying that I think you are running a great site. I

From Lou:

Hey Justin,

I want to start off by saying that I think you are running a great site. I enjoy submitting photos of my VFF adventures and reading other’s experiences in them. I love these shoes. My KSOs and my iPhone. If I could wear them everywhere I would and I never part from my phone LOL. Now on to my story.

Ever since my buddy showed up to a bbq at my house wearing his khaki VFF Classics I became interested in them. I wanted to buy a pair for our tubing trip we were planning. I eventually found a pair of KSOs. During my hunt for VFFs I read Vibrams blurb about the health benefits of their minimalist style shoes. So I began doing research out of curiosity. As I researched and read, it made sense to me. I remembered what I as told by my Drill Sergeant about running. Heel – Toe. I wondered about that because when hurrying from one side of my house to the other while barefoot, I never let my heel hit the floor because it would hurt. So it didn’t make sense that we would do that with shoes. But, me being a young Private with no formal training in running prior to joining, I followed orders. I was good to go as long as my running shoes still had cushioning. Once that was worn down I began developing shin splints. Painful shin splints. To the point I couldn’t walk. So ever since, running has been something I wasn’t crazy about. I also found that as I put on weight I was more susceptible to shin splints. To summarize it, I don’t like running in the Army. They don’t give you enough recovery time and their remedy for shin splints is, keep running. Deployments have been good for my legs. I can run at my own pace and distance and give myself the recovery time I need.

After reading and watching videos about running barefoot and how we were designed to run, it really made a lot of sense. Cavemen weren’t running after the Wooly Mammoth in a pair of Jordan’s or New Balance. It really sparked my interest. I wanted to run in my VFFs but was afraid to just jump into it. I had to balance out running every other morning with the Army and running in VFFs. So I decided to try and adjust and improve my form during our morning runs. At first it felt good. My shin pain wasn’t flaring up. The only problem was we ran 4 miles and my calves were not ready for that. I found my legs fatiguing and I eventually fell behind the formation. Once we finished my calves were screaming. I kept at it though. I noticed improvement.

Last week my buddy and I got our soldiers out of doing PT (physical training for those non-military) with the unit and took them out to do PT on our own. I chose to wear my KSOs and brought my regular running shoes, just in case. They all looked at me weird and told me I was crazy. We started off with some sprints on asphalt. I took off, stopped, turned around and bolted back. I was amazed at the fact that it didn’t hurt my feet. It was surprisingly cushioned. The grip was amazing too. It was a great feeling. We did multiple sprints and still no pain. Then we ran around the park. We ran on concrete, asphalt, grass, through mud, over picnic tables, jumped on boulders and ran down a gravel path. My feet held up the whole way. After a while of running on the road and sidewalk my feet began to get a little tender, but that was after a total of two miles of running. To summarize my experience running in VFFs I would have to say it was great. I loved it and plan on doing it more often. I now have a schedule where I don’t do PT with the unit but I have time to do it on my own. This will allow me to run in my KSOs more often. Man I love these shoes. I wish I could wear them more often.

Thanks for sharing, Lou. Many of us can relate to the joy of running with VFFs (or barefoot) — and it comes without pain (aside from muscle soreness from rebuilding your foot, ankle, and calf muscles from years of atrophy!) just makes it all the better.

By Justin

Justin Owings is a deadlifting dad of three, working from Atlanta. When he's not chasing his three kids around, you'll find him trying to understand systems, risk, and human behavior.

5 replies on “Army PT Heel-Toe Running and Running in 5-Fingers: A VFF Story”

Just got a pair of VFFs this weekend and went for a couple runs. I used to run track and was plagued terribly by shin splints, so I’m glad to hear that you’ve had no problems. Maybe this is the cure!

Also – they don’t mention this on the VFF website – but to anyone trying VFFs/barefoot running out for the first time – prepare for your calves to get destroyed! I’m having a rough time with stairs today, but each step is a reminder that my calves will soon be stronger than they’ve ever been. Love it!

I saw this not too long ago. I had decided to try it out during PT. Thats why my legs were so beat up. My calves were not ready for that much running while trying out that technique. I kept at it though. It payed off. I don’t get shin splints anymore. Now i don’t mind running. I still don’t like running in the army though. I prefer to do it on my own.

I know how you feel about military PT. I am in the Air Force and have pretty much always failed my run portion due to shin splints/my knees (cuz I have osgood-schlatters)/compartment syndrome in my calves (my legs from my calves down to my toes. In fact I have an appt up in ABQ, NM at the University of NM with a podiatrist to actually check for compartment syndrome. I bought my first pair of Vibram Five Fingers this past Sunday up in Santa Fe. I had been doing research on them and my wife and I happened to take a trip up to Santa Fe and ended up in a casino for some lunch and took out $40 ($20 for the each of us) and hit the slot machines. Well, within 5 spins I got $909 and a few mins. later my wife got $116, SO I said I am gonna buy me a pair TODAY. I’ve been doing P90X and I put them on and it changed it up in a good way for me, then went to the gym after for PT before work and decided to start off on the treadmill for a mile. (I am on a profile right now b/c of my calves) and the mile went smooth. Tomorrow I plan to take it out on the track and run a mile out there to start with but all my stabilizer muscles around my claves and ankle were screaming this morning when I woke up in a good way and it feels great.

Hey,

Active Duty NCO, and been living in my VFF for nearly everything. Been wearing them for PT with the unit, and both my BDE and BN CDRs were cool with them. Just had a letter forwarded to me yesterday about how the CSM of the Army was about to send a letter to General Casey trying to get the VFFs outlawed while in Army PTs. I wear the socks and everything. In fact, my leg and foot problems have nearly disappeared since I started wearing them. I guess if you can’t understand something or don’t like how they look amke a AR up.Oh yeah, knocked almost 2 minutes of my 2 mile run with them.

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