Vibram Five Fingers Help with Plantar Fasciitis

John sent us the following story about how Vibram Five Fingers have helped him solve his plantar fasciitis problems:

Listen up kiddos.  I have major feet problems, plantar fasciitis and the Army gave me inserts, which gave me stress fractures.  Told me I was limited to 1/2 mile runs.  You never know how much you miss running till you can't do it any longer.

A good friend and workout buddy had some Sprints on, and yeah I made fun of him.  He told me to check them out, so I went on the web and hit up this site along with reading the pros and cons of barefoot running techniques.  Started with the Classics, broke my feet in slowly, worked my way up to a pair of Treks, did some trail running in them out in AZ up in the mountains (Coronado), and felt like a kid again.  Had to not really teach myself how to run, but to remind my body and feet to do forefoot strikes.  Came back home and went crazy and bought the Bikilas and Sports.

I was having to do a walking PT test, and it sucked. Now that I am running again, I freakin' crushed the other guys in my unit out of no where on our last test. I do 8 miles about once a week and then do regular short runs of 3 miles about 3 days a week, and try to do a 5K every weekend. Get this, I've actually been placing in the top 3 sometimes and always the top 10 in my age group (40).  This time last year I wasn't going more then 1 mile without pain.  These shoes have made such a difference in my physical condition it's crazy.

John's hints for newbies:

• read reviews
• get one pair to work into and get your feet use to them slowly
• get your second pair and rotate them out daily,  I never wear regular shoes any longer except my work boots
• get some foot powder/spray and powder your feet daily and spray the shoes
• throw them in the washer every so often otherwise they will get funky, but don't machine dry them, hang them out
• be prepared for questions from people you don't even know. If we all work together, this might just change the world!

I'm doing 5K races like crazy, starting to do 10Ks this month, and I feel like a teenager running from 5-10k in the Vibrams.

Much Love and Happiness
John

Thanks for the testimonial John! Sounds like you've had great results eliminating your plantar fasciitis pain and are running some really fast times.