Vibram Five Finger Bikilas Update
November 28th, 2011 § 1 Comment
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a pair of Vibram Five Finger Bikilas. They are what are called minimalist running shoes. For a while I have been wanting to try barefoot or minimalist running.
So far the transition to VFF’s has gone pretty well. The Vibram website, has a recommended guide for transitioning to running in VFF’s. Their recommended transition guide is 13 weeks long!
When I teach running to people either one on one, or when I have taught a clinic, one of the things I tell people is that the hardest thing for runners to learn is patience. In fact, I have a post on that very topic from a running clinic I taught here.
Of course, it’s as hard for me to be patient as anyone else. The idea of 13 weeks just to make the transition is just way too long for me to comprehend. In spite of my better judgement, I have managed to almost complete the transition in a couple of weeks. (Note: this is not recommended, even by me!) I logged just under 20 miles this past week. Normally, I run about 20-30 per week. I am running shorter runs more often than I did previously though. I also have not tackled my normal weekly long run of 10-15 miles yet.
A couple of thoughts on running in VFF’s. One, the ground feel in these things is quite different than in regular running shoes. You can literally feel every crack in the pavement. This also has caused me to be very conscious of what is on the ground. A good sized stone is likely to leave you with a stone bruise should you land on it.
Mountain bike riders talk about “choosing your line” when you ride trails. This refers to picking the most navigable route when riding. You are constantly assessing the path in front of you and making adjustments to avoid obstacles. In VFF’s I am doing the same thing where in regular shoes I was a little more oblivious to gravel, stones or even acorns.
The other thing is that these things will cause your calves a bit of discomfort while they adjust to the new gait your will run in VFF’s. You have to be more conscious of over-striding and landing hard on your heels. I’ve always had a pretty bio-mechanically efficient gait so it wasn’t too much of a change but even so, my calves are complaining a bit the next day after a run. I’ve tried to make sure I stretch them every chance I get throughout the day to help ease the tightness.
I’ve been very pleased with my VFF’s and the transition so far. I think that they are going to make me a better runner. We’ll see how this goes long term.
[...] a month ago, I got a pair of Vibram Five Finger Bikilas. I’d always wanted to try the minimalist/barefoot running thing. I eased into running in them [...]