Last year I provided a tip on sizing Vibram Five Fingers based on my own experience. I've now found another useful tip...

So how should they fit? I was told directly (in person) by a Vibram Five Fingers corporate rep to fit the toes just BEHIND THE TOE CAPS or right in that area—obviously with different toe lengths there is going to be some fudging here! That means there is a decent amount of room between the toes and the end (close to 1/2″) and there may be some bagginess in places depending on your foot volume. Keep in mind that your foot will swell while you are running so any snugness you feel in the store should be a red flag.

Of course this tip is only useful if you can find a shop that sells Vibrams before you shell out your cash or you have them in your hand. That said, my less-hands-on approach seems to have resulted in a similar fit as that suggested here.

Check out what's been spotted on the interweb...

A new pair of minimalist shoes to compete with Vibram Five Fingers. Unfortunately, you can't see much from the pictures but they look to be quite low profile with traditional lacing. One thing is for sure, the sole looks pretty cool.

Apparently these are due out in February (probably only in the US) with a remote possibility of a pre-Christmas release.

On the topic of Terra Plana shoes - has anyone had any experience with the Terra Plana Vivo Barefoot shoes? I'm seriously considering getting a pair of these as an "everyday" pair of shoes to replace my Merrills or possible a more formal looking pair to wear for work.

It's been a bit quiet round here over the past few weeks as I've been away from all computers, work and stressful stuff on a fantastic two week camping holiday in France.

We had a fantastic time, but more importantly, it was two whole weeks for me barefoot, or nearly barefoot, and it felt fantastic. I tried my hardest NOT to wear any shoes whenever possible and succeeded. In fact, today is the first day in 16 days in which I've had to put on a pair of shoes and socks (for work) and I must say I can't wait to get them off.

I spent most of the time barefoot whilst milling around the campsites and driving. I wore my Vibrams when out and about sight seeing (because barefoot isn't always appropriate) and cycling and I wore my cheap aging flipflops when the grass outside the tent was wet - my wife would go nuts if I even contemplated walking into the tent with muddy or wet feet/Vibrams .

All in all it was fantastic, and great fun to see the looks on people's faces as I wondered around barefoot or in my Vibrams. The French kids loved the Vibrams, though surprisingly the Dutch kids didn't seem to fussed.

Sorry about the lack of updates - work has been crazy and I've not really had much to write about in my little world of running, but now I do .

So far the running has been going well. I'm slowly building up the "time on my feet" to get my body and feet used to running. This is mainly an injury prevention measure. I'm also trying to stick to the old adage that you shouldn't increase your mileage by more than 10% a week.

At the moment I'm up to 2x 18-20 min gentle runs a week with one in Vibrams and one in shoes, and 2-3 weights sessions in the gym broken up into upper body and lower body workouts (this is actually a major cut in the amount of gym work I used to do so is also taking a fair amount of getting used to). The runs have been going really well and I've not felt the slightest bit of pain or discomfort in either my feet or calves.

That is until I tried something different on Monday. Foolishly, I thought I might see if I can start throwing some speed work in to the mix and to get things going, thought I'd determine my Billat pace (aka vVO2) (mistake 1), in my Vibrams (mistake 2).

I took a leisurely jog down to a nearby park which has a path around it that is about a mile long (mapmyrun.com route) with 100m markers all the way round. As is needed for calculating your Billat pace (I first mentioned it in the context of rowing before), I blasted my way round and managed to cover about 1570m in my six minutes (for those that are interested, that makes my Billat pace about 6:09/mile or 3:49/km). I stuck to the grass verge and actually really enjoyed running fast again, but sadly my legs and feet weren't too happy the next morning.

The muscles in my feet are feeling very tired and my calves very stiff. Based on this, I'd say my form goes to pot when I run fast (need more practice ) and I really need to concentrate on building my base a bit more, so no more grease-lightening runs for a while.

All in all, the gently-gently approach is working very well and I'm getting in a good mix of shod and Vibram-ed runs and will continue building up a good solid base before diving back into speed work.

I received a great comment on my previous post that I thought deserves a post of it's own in response.

Jason's comment was as follows:

What a great find regards V Billat. Some good stuff on that pponline site. Have read other V02 stuff on there but that was another level. Have been following your blog as I am experimenting with vibrams myself. Like all other blogs I have read, sore/stiff calf muscles are a right of passage as muscles that have been dormant re-awake. My own observation has been the distinct lack of joint pain following a run. Only doing 2 - 3 miles at a time. But when I go back to shoes my knees suffer for 3 - 4 days after.
1 question if I may. On your runs in the vibrams, how did your pace compare to running in shoes?
I ask as I seem to be clocking = or better than in shoes. I did not expect this or at least not yet.

First off, it's great hear there's someone else trying to run in the Vibrams, but more importantly, great news about the lack of joint pain after running in them. Sounds like nature may be telling you something there Jason.

The question itself is why I thought it best to provide a post of it's own.

I've not had a chance to do much in the way of distance as I was silly enough to switch to the Vibrams full time whilst I still had the remnants of an old injury, but for those runs I did get in, I found my Vibram times were mostly quicker than my shoe runs and with less effort too. I believe it's the way they encourage you to run, rather than the lack of weight, that is responsible for this.

I've found running in the the Vibrams seems to encourage a lighter and more fluid running style. I'm a forefoot striker so never really thought my running style was being affected by the braking effect commonly seen with heel striking, but switching to the Vibrams soon let me know I was experiencing some sort of braking effect (which may explain the shin splints and knee injuries I used to get in shoes) - running in my usual style just didn't feel 100% right - it felt quite jarring, so I had to adapt. It was this jarring and need for change that made me look into my running style and is what got me onto the POSE technique.

Running in the Vibrams provides instant feedback via your feet and you soon learn to adapt. I think it's this adaption that leads to more efficient and graceful running, which in turn leads to the quicker times with less effort.

Aaaahhhh... all this talk of running is killing me. I'm so eager to get running again, but I have to be patient: I want to be 100% sure all injuries have healed - I don't want to be stuck on this rower any longer than I need to be. The rower does have one advantage though: it's a great opportunity to shed the Christmas weight

If you're running barefoot, or in Vibrams, let me know your experiences. It'll be great to see what other people's experiences are.

I've just got back from a nice run back on the road in my Vibrams and what a feeling. It's sooooo good to be back on the road instead of running on the treadmill in the gym.

Yes, I don't quite have as much control over my pace and the distance I run, but who cares. The feeling of freedom far out weighs the metrics. Anyway, mapmyrun.com does a good job of measuring the distance.

Today's run: about 2.92km in 13:43 which works out at about 4:41/km. Not bad.

Well, last week was another low mileage week with only 2 sessions of 6mins @ 2% @ 6mph on the treadmill and in shoes as I said they would be.

The runs were good and my right foot felt good without any niggles, so I think I'll be back to barefoot this week.

Well, sort of. I'm getting fed up of running on a treadmill already and am itching to get outside and run a bit further, however it's turned a tad chilly and I don't think my feet are tough enough yet to cope with the rough tarmac AND the cold and wet, so this week I'm venturing outside in my Vibrams - it's just as good as barefoot.

I think I'll run in my Vibrams until the spring.

Welcome to the start of what will hopefully turn out to be a great success. This is my little challenge to see if I can go from running in shoes to running the way nature intended: BAREFOOT.

Now this isn't just a whim, it's something I've been considering quite seriously for quite some time and I'm set to begin my journey on...

Monday 13 October 2008

Just a little short of 10 years ago, I moved over to the UK from South Africa to see how life in Europe is. It was essentially a new start for me. At the time, I was running a lot in South Africa, and actually ran my last 10k road race the week before I flew out. That was the last time I officially ran a race.

On arriving in the UK, the whole prospect of finding a place to live, a job and generally settling in took priority, and as a result, running took a backseat. Actually, backseat is the wrong word: it was left out of my life entirely. I did try keeping up the running, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get myself to run with any sort of regularity with the weather being the biggest deterrent. Instead I opted for joining the gym, only after a few too many beers and far too much food .

Joining gym had the right effect and soon I was losing fat and gaining muscle, and lots of it. As part of my gym program I tried to get back into running again, and well, let me just say running on a treadmill has got to be the most boring form of running in the world. On sunny days I ventured out into the woods or on the road, but my aspirations were short lived: I went too far, too fast and too soon and ended up injured. Time and time again I tried getting back into running, and each time I spent more on running shoes and still ended up injured. My heart could take the challenge, just my knees and bones couldn't.

I then turned to correcting my running style, after all I'm a lot heavier now and "fixing" the shoes wasn't having any effect and that's when I discovered the POSE method and so far, I've been pretty injury free since I started using this method of running.

I've also now got myself a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and absolutely love the natural feel of running in them. This is pretty much where my desire to move to running barefoot has come from, and the thought that thousands of African runners can't be wrong.

So, I've set myself the goal of moving from running in shoes to running barefoot and running my first 10K race in the UK barefoot. My current goal is for the middle of summer 2009 and I hope to document my progress and training as I go along.

At the moment things are hectic at work and home as I prepare to go away on my honeymoon, but things are all set to get going when I return. My first step to running completely barefoot will begin on Monday 13 October 2008.

Until then, I'm not running one step. I want to be sure all my joints and bones are ready for the start of my new running career.