five toes

When I was in the Bay Area this weekend I happened to walk in to a shoe store that carries Vibram FiveFingers. I’ve been looking for a store that carries these for a while, since seeing them on friends’ feet intrigued me, and took the opportunity to try them on. I decided to buy a pair of Sprints (the version with a strap system but an open upper) and have been breaking them in — or really, breaking my feet into them.

I’ve always liked going barefoot, to the extent that I’m (in)famous at my office for not wearing shoes in the office. I mostly wear sandals (for years, Tevas; these days, my Keen Newports) unless it’s cold outside. So the VFFs are a natural choice for me, especially since everyone I knew who had them raved about them. My only reservation was that I do not like toe socks (or flip flops), because I don’t like the “things between my toes” feeling. I worried that the Vibrams would be like toe socks in creating that feeling, and I also wanted to be sure they would fit well.

However, it turns out that for me at least, the VFFs don’t activate the “things between my toes” feeling, perhaps because I feel more like each toe is occupying its own space, rather than “something is preventing my toes from occupying the same space”. Trying them on at the store, they did feel like being barefoot, or wearing socks. So light and comfortable. But able to be worn anywhere! So I was persuaded.

So far I’ve climbed Telegraph Hill in them, worn them on the BART and in Oakland, driven in them, worn them hiking, and worn them to work in Portland. I haven’t worn them for longer than two or three hours at a time yet, following the suggestion given by the box insert.

I felt tiredness and some soreness after the Telegraph Hill experience, but was very impressed with the traction and the ease of climbing and descending the steep SF sidewalks (I never felt worried about slipping as I sometimes do with regular shoes) and transitioning between surfaces (sidewalks, grass, stairways, dirt). After the hike (two miles on packed, gravelly dirt), my feet felt tired and beaten up, with a few sore spots. The inner sides of my big toes seem to be rubbing a bit on a seam that’s in that area; I think it’ll go away once I’m used to it, but it’s not ideal, and it seems to be worse on the right because the seam is less smooth in that shoe. My heels also felt a little rubbed, which is a common problem for me with new shoes. I think my heels are shaped a bit oddly because I can’t wear some shoes at all because they rub my heels. The Sprints have a little ridge made of strap fabric with a pull tab back there that supports the heel, so I’m hoping I’ll get used to that as well.

I’ve really enjoyed wearing them so far, but they do take getting used to. I’ve had to pay a lot more attention to where I was putting my feet, especially on the hike, and the gravel on the trail felt painful. My feet also felt hot when we paused on some exposed, sunny ground to take in a view. Some grit got caught in the shoes, and I had to take them off to remove it, which was a challenge on the trail with no place to sit down.

I really have to walk differently in them, particularly on flat concrete which I find to be the hardest surface for me to walk on comfortably. I tend to be a heel-striker, and if I do that in the VFFs my heels hurt right away, which is good because it provides immediate negative feedback. My strides are shorter, and my hips move more. It seems to help if I think of the distribution of weight as following my “footprint pattern” — heels, outsides of the foot, forefoot, toes. Any soft, uneven ground is much more fun to walk on, and I can feel my feet adjusting as if I were barefoot, but without the worry of stepping on something painful.

I’m excited to see how I feel as I get more used to them.

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