1st 5 km with Vibram 5 fingers

This is not a post about personal finance but about some of my other budgeted expense.   Hence you may not want to read through this post.  It fits here as I ran quite a few marathons and consider life as a marathon and applies the same philosophy to personal finance and investments like wise.

Blessed day!

I have been running quite a few marathons and since picking up mid foot running (from books by Danny Dreyer), I have using techniques close to mid foot.  Clocking my current shoe for over more than 1000 kms,  I have been thinking of getting a pair of shoes when I bump into a colleague who used 5 fingers for his ultra and marathons.

Hence I decided to try 'barefoot' running to further improve my running posture.  I got my Vibram 5 Fingers through Outdoor Life  (for other sources,  please contact Innovatez). 

Review of my 1st 5 km

Reading some other runners reviews and feedback from my colleague,  I brought my current Asics and left it in the car in the event that if I suffered from calf muscle aches after 2 km,  I can change to my Asics. 

1 km into the run affirms that I already switched from 'heel striking' to 'mid feet' technique and hence I continued the rest of the distance with the Vibram.  Completed the 5 km  with almost the same timing and with a slight calve tightness.  For me,  it was good and enjoyable run with thanksgiving to Abba Father.

Some pointers that I think attributed to today's run as I transit from the Asics 2140 to the Vibram:

1.  Switching over of running posture from 'Heel Striking' to 'Mid foot'
Don't wait till you get the 5 fingers.  Start now with the current running shoes.  (I got my info from Danny Dreyer and you get borrow the book from the NLB to learn about the techniques).  Pros from this - no more knee aches and a very fast recovery.

2.  Cadence and stride
Maintain a cadence of 85 to 90 and start with a shorter stride.  Feel the feet's landing position.

3.  Calf training
While I did not specifically did any Calf training,  I did some skipping (4 cycles intervals of 50 steps,  which I find it acceptable as cycles with 100 steps causes my knee pain to recur).  I believe this is the main reason that helps.  I have read reviews runners transiting over with calf solidification - it's no fun considering that I have actually torn a calf muscle before.

Apart from a blister that was due to a new 'shoe',  I am happy with this Vibram 5 fingers and will try to give another review sometime later. 

One thing am sure is there won't be any cushioning liquid leakage (don't worry, it's not Asics) or dynamic fatigue of the foam in cushioned shoes - there is none.  It's like wearing a toughen skin over your sole. Bare foot running.  Feels like the days' of the fabled Marathon.

Giving thanks and have a blessed day!




Other related sources of information
1. Bare foot running in SGrunners forum
2. Krisandro's Experience on Vibram
3. Barefoot Pua's blog and his review