Living in Vibram Five Fingers

I'm not sure if they are the "new thing," or not but, I've been wearing Vibram Five Fingers for over a year and am absolutely in love with them.  It is difficult to describe the feeling of wearing Vibrams, I'm so accustomed to having them on it's un-natural to wear actual shoes.  I was never a barefoot kid growing up and was even more reliant on shoes in the years beyond being a carefree child.  I didn't even know what minimalism was until after I started wearing Vibrams.  Now I don't like not wearing them.

It all began when I started looking to loose weight.  My career had sat me behind a desk for a number of years and the hours increased, my single life style was replaced with a wife and two children and my time spent in the gym became extinct.  I was a regular at the gym, six days a week, it was my religion.  As happens to many priorities change and life gets restructured and our days of fitness are pushed aside.  The result for me was gaining about 50 lbs.  I went from a solid 185 lbs. to 235 lbs. at my heaviest.  I hadn't even realized it until after my position was eliminated in 2008 and I found myself at home, unemployed and running after a 2 & 3 year old. They kicked my butt.  I had never been one for endurance but, had never had problems being unable to "keep up."  Then there was the full length mirror my wife brought home one day and I saw what I had become.  I was shocked to say the least.

The weeks to come saw me lifting weights and changing my diet but, deep down I knew cardio was the only way I was going to actually loose what I had.  Well, being unemployed kept me from buying any fancy cardio equipment.  It was just me and my Nike's.  I realized running was my last choice.  I could do it whenever and where ever.  I wasn't bound by anything except my own body.  There was the tricky part.  I had ACL surgery in 2005 and had gone over 10 years on a torn ACL, actively gone.  My knees were pretty tore up because of the abuse I put them through so, I knew I was going to have to be very careful running.

I started slow, 1 mile here, 2 miles there, 5K around the block and found my wall.  5K was about as much as I run without actually having to put some TLC to my knees for a couple of days.  It was time to research.  I went through the internet with gusto and came upon Christopher McDougall's Born to Run and barefoot running.  I was intrigued, so much so that I had the book read within days.  I was hooked, I wanted to try this strange way of running that helped minimize injuries.  Soon after that I recieved my first pair of VFF's.  I went with the KSO's and haven't looked back since.

Today, they are my go to shoe.  I run in them, of course, but, also wear them much like one would wear their sneakers.  I have actually grown so accustomed to wearing them that wearing a regular shoe, even worse a boot, is uncomfortable.  It doesn't feel natural.  Lately, I've been wearing them on hikes.  It's been a struggle because I tend to choose some of the more difficult trails or just go off trail which tends to be a little hard on the feet.  But, like getting used to running in them I'm confident that I'll grow accustomed to the terrain.

Overall, I look forward to a long relationship with Vibram Five Fingers.  There are some downsides, I can't paint a perfect picture of the shoes.  I've had a huge problem of them coming apart.  It takes about 6 months of using them strictly for running before they begin to show signs of wear.  I've never gotten much of an answer from Vibram regarding the problem but, I've also never seen a shoe that stands up to the quality or feel of the Vibram's.  They are like wearing a second skin and am unsure that a competitor will trump their Ace's anytime soon.  Though I've only ever had one pair at any given time I know that soon I'll be purchasing a new pair and I'm having a difficult time determining just what to go with.  I just am keeping my fingers crossed on the structural integrity.