Update on My Experience with Vibram Fivefingers

It has been a little more than six weeks since my last blog post about the Vibram Fivefingers--I had better remedy that!  The first thing is that I have not had any trouble with blisters since the blister I got on the back of each foot the first time I wore them.  Once those healed up my skin was toughened up enough not to get any more.  I do not wear the Injinji socks that can be purchased to help with blisters, although I have heard they can be very helpful.  My personal preference has been to keep this experience as simple as possible.  Special socks did not fit my criteria!  However, if I ever progress to become a runner instead of a walker, the socks will be a real possibility for me.

I have also been careful to go slow in my transition to bare-footing.  I wear the Vibrams twice a week, usually on weekends.  First I mastered covering distance on flat, paved surfaces.  Then I started on some simple mountain trails.  The big challenge with mountain trails where I am living right now is the rocks:  I definitely feel them!  The trick is learning how to manage those small, sharp rocks that really hurt, even with the Vibrams.  This is where building up the ability to wear these shoes is really important for me.  I am taking it slowly because I don't want to get injured, yet I like the experience of the rocky trail in these shoes.

For some walks I skipped the shoes altogether and really walked barefoot on the smooth driveway that surrounds the complex where I live.  That has been a valuable exercise, since what I am trying to do is toughen up the bottom of my feet.

I was not one of those people who grew up going barefoot all summer.  The only time I did not have shoes on my feet was when I was on a beach.  So this transition to a more barefoot life is something new for me!  My favorite hike so far in the Vibrams was a steep mountain climb.  The trail was short, maybe half a mile.  But it was like climbing a flight of stairs going up and down!  In fact, there are some places where both hands and feet are needed to make the climb.  The climb was a real pleasure in the Vibrams.  I felt like I had much more control over my feet than when I have hiked this trail in sneakers.  I had less trouble with slipping on smooth rocks.  However, there were still some slippery moments.  As an aside, I got stung by a bee on the top of the trail, and made my way down pretty quickly after that.  The Vibrams did not hinder my progress at all.  The picture here is from that hike, taken at the top of the trail.

My only trouble was at the end I had a small bruise on the bottom of my left foot.  It was a little tender, but did not cause a problem.  However, on a more recent hike I must have stepped on a rock in that same spot again.  This time I got a pretty serious bruise, which means taking some time off rocky trails in the Vibrams and letting it heal.  One thing I find very helpful after every hike on a rocky trail is to soak in Epsom salts in the evening: to maximize the benefits and relax any muscles that are not used so much ordinarily.  In summary, I really enjoy these shoes.  They are providing a wonderful way to strengthen my feet, ankles and calves.  I am glad I have continued to transition into them slowly.  I think my careful work is going to pay off.  

Sister Maximilian & the St. Charles Kids Step into Barefoot Running

It was an historical day last week when Sr. Maximilian and the kids from St. Charles officially started to experiment with barefoot running.  Not to worry:  they are proceeding slowly and carefully and they won't ever be seen running through the streets of Rochester without shoes, lest they get cut by broken glass somewhere along their route.  Except Sister Maximilian, that is.  She might find she likes this barefoot experience so much that she invests in Vibram Fivefingers the way I did.  Time will tell.  When I return to New Hampshire in a few weeks I fully intend to tantalize her with mine.

Here is how it all got started:  Sister has been as intrigued as I am about the barefoot running phenomenon in the running world.  Last week, she decided to try an experiment with the kids.  Our kids run 50 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week.  On this historic day she decided to shorten the run by 5 minutes, and then at the end give the kids an opportunity to run barefoot in the yard.  Kids who didn't want to try barefoot running were welcome to run their final 5 minutes around our driveway:  a track we often use in the winter when the sidewalks are not plowed.

No one chose that option, however.  Everyone wanted to take their shoes off and run in the grass.  The kids absolutely loved it, and Sister Maximilian admitted she enjoyed it too.  Our yard is a large rectangle.  One circle around the yard is roughly 1 tenth of a mile.  We have great turf in that yard because of the irrigation system that keeps it well watered.  As an aside, another group of athletes paid to renovate our yard about 10 years ago: a group of students from St. Anselm's College who walk 100 miles each year in a program called "Road for Hope" to raise money for various charities.

The kids are now running barefoot for 5 minutes twice a week.  Sister Maximilian will assess whether and when they are ready to increase the barefoot time.  In the meantime, those 10 minutes a week sound like a lot of fun.

5 Mile Walk around Lake Miramar in Vibram Fivefingers

I decided to take my Vibrams on a longer walk today.  I chose Lake Miramar because it is a paved trail, but also has a dirt trail closer to the water that walkers may choose to use.  The loop around the lake is 5 miles.  I was going to bring a backpack with an alternative pair of shoes if things were to get rough with the Vibrams, but then I decided I would tough it out . . . I am glad I did.  The walk went well, but I did learn a few things.

1.  I was concerned about the blisters I got on the back of each foot from my first walk earlier in the week.  I did some internet searching and found someone who used duct tape to protect his feet from blisters in the Vibrams.  This idea is right up my alley:  much cheaper than band aids.  So I tried it today.  I cut the tape about 3 inches long, and then put a rectangle of paper towel in the middle so the adhesive would not stick to the sensitive part of my foot where the blisters are.  This worked like a charm!  The tape stuck fine, and gave real protection from the chafing from the shoes.  After the walk, it came off easily.  The blisters did not get aggravated at all in the 5 mile walk.  I am hoping I can build my feet up not to need this kind of intervention, but for now this is great.  I am also resisting the idea of wearing Injinji socks for the time being.  I really want to see if I can manage the blisters and become able to wear these without socks.  We'll see.

2.  So I conquered the blister problem, but by the end of 5 miles I found my heels were chaffed.  They actually were burning at the end of my walk!  I don't know what to make of that yet.  As this week proceeds I will come back and add comments to this post to report on how long the chafing lasted.  Hmmm.  I hope I don't wake up tomorrow walking on two blisters on the bottom of each heel!  The article I cited in my last post says "Let your skin be your guide" because when you protect your skin, you protect everything underneath. My chaffed heels give me a sense of that today.

3. Lake Miramar has a dirt trail closer to the water.  I walked about a mile on the dirt trail today.  It is pretty rocky in places, so this gave me a good idea of what trail hiking in my Vibrams will be like.  I was amazed at how much more taxing this was for my legs.  When I take these on my first real mountain trail, I will definitely be taking an alternative pair of shoes and will not attempt more than a mile on the trail to start.  I have to build myself up to this!

In conclusion, I got the Vibrams as part of my long term program to become a runner once again.  Since I cannot do any aerobic exercise at this point, I am working on building my strength.  I love walking and hiking anyway, and the Vibrams seem like a great way to get more out of my walks and hikes.  I am not disappointed, even with the blisters and chafing.  After all, if I had attempted to walk this 5 miles in literal bare feet today, I probably would not have made it more than 100 yards.

Will the Runningnuns Ever Run Barefoot?

The short answer is, I don't know yet.  Sister Maximilian brought up the topic about a year ago.  At the time I had never heard of barefoot running and thought she was joking.  Never wanting to miss an opportunity, I teased her about the running barefoot idea before I returned to Southern California to continue my studies.  

Now Sister Maximilian can tell me, "I told you so."  I have come across many good articles about running barefoot and now I know the idea is worth further investigation.  What intrigues me is the fact that apparently the human foot was made for running long before all kinds of cushioned running shoes were invented.  If I understand the theory correctly, running shoes with a heel cushion actually cause the foot to strike heel first, and that can cause injuries.  Left to itself, the front of the foot hits the ground first and absorbs the shock of the foot strike.  I have only just begun to learn about this but plan to research more.  One blog post that particularly intrigued me was by Peter Larson when he took videos of a runner on a treadmill with different shoes & barefoot.  It was very interesting: check it out here.

So, back to the original question:  will the sisters ever run barefoot?  We will continue to do the research.  If we are on a beach, you might just catch us running barefoot.  If we adopt the practice at other times, however, you will probably see us in minimalist shoes or Vibram Five Fingers.  One thing I have heard is that the transition is hard for experienced runners:  they need to break into barefoot mode slowly, because all kinds of different muscles are used.  This is where I might just have an edge.  Since I am not able to run yet and will have to start from scratch when I do begin running, I might just be able to escape the re-training woes.  Who knows?  I will probably never beat Sister Maximilian in a race, but I might just be able to beat her to barefoot.