Competitive Runner Trains in Vibram Five Fingers

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.

When the good weather started to come around at the end of March, I was quick to get the Vibrams back on and to buy myself a pair of Classics as well(now my favorite five fingers shoe). I started with just walking in them and then progressed into a bit of running, building up the distance gradually. It's now June and I can comfortably run 15-30 minutes in them. I am a competitive runner, competing in the 1500, 3000 and 5000 meters with PR’s of 3:52, 8:23 and 14:50. I'm pretty sure there are not too many people at my level who train in them. People on my track team think I'm crazy when I put them on to do the workout, but I have proved that I can go fast, if not faster in them than shoes. I just thought I would share my story with people because it really is possible to do very fast running in five fingers and I hope others at the recreational and competitive level try and run fast in them as well.

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.