Latest Vibram Five Fingers Reviews 2/07/10

Below are this past week’s latest reviews (and boy were there a lot!):

• Gloves for your feet at the edible perspective [Sprint]:
  

  I started running in the 5 fingers again about 1 month ago. My plan was to not push it as hard this time, and it’s working! I started by running .5 – 1 mile every other day for a week or so and felt great. I amped it up to 1.5 miles and now am up to about 2.5m after 4 weeks. I have felt a few twinges of pain/soreness in the tops of my feet but then they’re fine in the morning. [I should start icing to be extra careful!] The only frustrating thing is not getting in my normal mileage for so many weeks. It’s a bit frustrating to start so slow and take so long to work up to my typical 4 mile runs throughout the week.

• Five Fingered Footwear at Running Over Mountains and Around the World [Sprint]:
  

  Another amazing discovery with the Vibrams was how light my feet felt. I didn’t have a few hundred grams of gel and fabric laced to my foot like when I’d be wearing my normal running shoes. Instead I felt like I a kid again running barefoot, only this time the thin soles taking away my adult fear of hurting myself underfoot.

  Thanks for the shoutout!

• Gear Review: Vibram Five Fingers KSO Trek at Josh Snellink’s Running Blog [KSO Trek]:
  

  While the KSO’s do not offer anything spectacularly new beyond the whole-foot fit, the Treks offer a whole new tread design. The kangaroo leather is cool, and the new tread is a real bonus on bad terrain. Trundling over snow, mud, and ice is not always the best experience with the basic tread design. The lugged out bottoms give excellent traction, and even provide a bit of cushion from stone-bruising. With the added thickness, they feel almost too similar to regular shoes, but they are meant for extreme trail situations not walks on the beach. Some times the ground is punishing enough that I’m happy to have the ‘volume turned down’ so-to-speak on the sensory input coming in from my feet. Adding traction and protection requires thicker soles, and the trade-off has to be made somewhere. Hopefully they will remain the thickest soles in the VFF lineup. I’m very happy to use them for their intended purpose, and will happily keep them on standby during all the runs I do not need them for.

  And glad you liked my KSO Trek review — yours is quite informative, as well!

• Vibram FiveFingers: Lessons Learned on the Nearly-barefoot Trail at Rise Up Runners [Flow], [KSO]:
  

  There are some practical matters worth thinking about before making the FiveFinger KSO a primary pair of shoes. They get soaked very easily in a puddle and take a long time to dry out while wearing them. They aren’t nearly as comfortable in wet weather. This is less of a problem with the Flows, but they never feel quite as comfortable to me wet or dry.

  Thoughts on acclimating to VFFs, Flows, and KSOs; the joy of toe shoes at work as a pediatrician; and persevering despite a fractured toe on the trail!

• Product review: Vibram Five Fingers KSO at The Normans in North Africa! [KSO]:
  

  My initial results have been positive. I’ve only run about a dozen times, each between 2 and 4 miles, but my joints feel great. The change from shod running means that different muscles are being exercised — specifically the calves. If you decide to try these out, expect your calves to be in some major pain until your body adjusts. Which reminds me — if you’re going to make the switch, do it gently. Don’t run 10 miles your first day running barefoot. Take it easy and you’ll find the transition much more enjoyable. Also, stretch your calves a lot.

• Vibram FiveFingers — The Runs at RoadBunner [Sprint]:
  

  Right now I view the VFF’s as cross-training. They are a way to use muscles I have obviously not been using when wearing running shoes. I can also try to get a feel for a more forefoot strike stride. I do not foresee myself running in them much farther than a mile or so in the future. I don’t see myself converting to minimalist shoe runner. But I do hope to try to run in them at least once a week for a quick spin.

Go here for last week’s latest Vibram Five Fingers reviews.