A Passion for Running

I will preface this post by saying I’m what many would call a minimalist runner. I wear extremely light, low on structure shoes and have enjoyed doing some barefoot running as well. I’m not into wearing shoes that are full of structure and support. I believe in strengthening my feet – not buying shoes that do the work for me. The shoe I’m about to talk about fits right into my kind of running.

I just tried the vibram fivefingers shoe I’ve been talking about here and here. I ran 30 minutes in them today during my lunch break.

Wow. I’m beyond impressed. I’m even considering not starting barefoot running again and running in the fivefingers instead.

See, the unfortunate thing for me here in Canada is that our long cold winter makes barefoot running pretty much impossible for about six months of the year and that means during those six months I lose all the conditioning (i.e. toughening up) on the soles of my feet and I have to start all over again in the spring. (holy runon sentence Batman!).

Enter the vibram fivefingers. Oh. My. God. Today was wonderful. The shoe is so close to barefoot running. I get 90% of the sensation of barefooting with virtually no pain or discomfort when stepping on rocks and twigs and stuff.

Get this, I did about 15 minutes on pavement and 15 minutes on dirt, gravel and mud trails. During the trail run, I could feel the ground – I could even feel the texture of sand. And nothing hurt. I was almost barefooting on trails without conditioning my feet. It was awesome!

The only discomfort I ever felt was when I’d run over a sharp piece of gravel. I’d feel a slight jab, let my reflexes take action and it would be over quickly with no harm done.

I did get a couple small blisters on each of my big toes. What’s interesting about that was that they were in the same place as the blisters I got at the beginning of barefoot running last year. So, it may be a bit of lazy form. I’ll keep an eye on that.

But I already love these shoes. They might end up replacing my loyal Puma H-Streets.

Oh, and good news for Canadians – the Vibram FiveFingers will soon be available at one of my favorite stores – Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC).

Edit: My website partner has some pics of his vibrams for you to see.

In response to several comments left on my runningskirts.com post, check this out – Running Kilts for men.

Funny coincidence. Just the other day, I found myself over at NYFlyGirl’s place perv’n out over running skirts.

Today, I got a comment from runningskirts.com asking if I’d put a link to their site on my blog.

So, my dilemna is that if I don’t put the link up, it might be seen as a sign of opposition toward running skirts…

I can’t do that!

Hey runningskirts.com – while I won’t put your link in my sidebar, I wholeheartedly endorse your product and I hope and pray that women runners everywhere buy them.

Well, the vibram fivefingers shoe continues to create a buzz. Even Dr. Romanov – founder of the Pose Method of Running has endorsed it!

Vibram: Are you listening? I can’t get your shoes in Canada!