Well, I went out and bought a pair of Vibram 5 Fingers today at Half-Moon Outfitters, the only place in town that I know of that sells them. I took them out for a 3 mile run at Greenwich & Bonaventure cemeteries. It was quite a running experience.
It was like running in my bare feet but with a thin protective shield over them. I guess you could say its like wearing a condom for your feet, -its a snug fit. Is that an indecent comparison? I certainly do not mean to come off sounding crude. Let me think of another example to compare the way these shoes fit on your foot. Uhm…its like a real thick, one-size fits all, latex glove on your foot with the thickest part on the soles of the feet. Is that better? Its a snug fit, ok? Ok.
I picked my first run with the 5 fingers at the cemetery because, 1. its very near my home and, 2. I wanted to take Isabella for a walk at the dairy farm before it got dark and, 3. because at the cemetery I would have a chance to try these shoes out on pavement, unpaved trail and hard-packed gravel roads — 3 for the price of one! Can’t beat that.
Running on the street felt fine and, on a hard-packed dirt trail it felt good. On soft dirt and on grass my feet felt like they were in running in heaven. It was awesome. But, I will tell you that I definitely felt every rock I stepped on! The rubber bottom protects your feet from abrasion but not from the impact of your foot on a rock protruding from the ground. Note to self: avoid stepping on rocks when running on these shoes.
I think the 5 fingers may be a challenge for me at the rails because the ground there is so pebbly and sandy. I’ll try running out there tomorrow if I’m not too sore. That’s the other thing, – my feet and calves got tired quickly.
It puts a serious hurting on your calves. My calves are already sore and tomorrow, I bet, they will be worse. The muscles and tendons on my feet are just not accustomed to running without the constraints of a conventional running shoe.
Another thing to note, putting them on was a bit of a chore especially for my pinky toes. The only discomfort that I felt was in my pinky toes because it forces the toes apart and independent of each other. My pinky toes are just not accustomed to being apart from the toe next to it. That’s going to take some getting use to.
So far, I like them a lot and will continue to run in them and just wear them around to the gym and the dairy farm. I might wear them to church tomorrow and do a happy dance in front of the congregation with them on. I think I just might get a reaction from the stoical Baptists, eh;)? How dare you wear those shoes to church, the pastor growled. Jesus would never wear those shoes to church! Not only do you wear unholy shoes to church but you talk about condoms on your blog! You are going to hell! Nah, we Christians really aren’t that bad. I hope not.
Actually, I think Jesus would have worn these shoes back in the day if they had been around. I would dare to imagine that logging all of the miles that He did on the hot, rocky, uneven terrain of the Holy Land must of been murder on His Holy feet. Seriously! The Vibram 5 fingers would have protected Jesus’ feet from all kinds of abrasions from that rocky terrain. Scoff all you want. I bet I’m on to something.
If only I could make a time machine and go back to biblical times and sell these shoes! I’d be a rich man…if I were a rich man yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, ya! But I don’t have a time machine. Oh well. Life goes on.
I’m not giving up on the standard conventional shoe but i will definitely do most of my running on the five fingers for awhile. My run today was 3.01 miles at :24:37:29. That’s approximately an 8:10 pace. Next time I run in them I’ll go a little faster & a little longer but, I’m going to have to get used to running with these things. Running with the five fingers is certainly running on another level. And, I like it.
No wildlife inventory on this run, I’m afraid. I just didn’t pay too much attention to what was going on around me. Sorry about that.
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Thanks for taking the time to read my running blog. Its been quite a while since my last run! 12/13/2009, was the previous time that I had run outside (prior to today)! Wow! That’s like a record, I think! No wonder there’s an extra roll in my belly.
peace and running,
wait a second…I just had an epiphany…”peace in running” not, “peace and running”. That will be my new slogan, “peace in running”. Yeah, I like that.
peace in running,
dh
12/26/2009
Whoever you are: some evening take a step out of your house, which you know so well.
Enormous space is near.
Rilke 