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You doubt they work.

You can’t believe they’d be comfortable.

You reluctantly give them a try.

You hate them, throw them in the box, and swear you were right.

You cool off and give them another try.

You realize these are pretty comfortable once you get used to them.

You start wearing them more and more.

You start evangelizing about them to your friends.

I’m guessing that’s about the train of thought most people go through when confronted with the Vibram FiveFingers shoes. I skipped Step 1, having thought they were pretty cool looking from the get go, but I had a hard time believing in them.  I finally bit the bullet and ordered the pair of Vibram FiveFingers Sprint pictured.

Not just in looks, but performance.  Zero padding, yet strangely comfortable. The weirdest thing about them is the toes obviously. It took me a few days to adjust to the sensation of having something between every toe.

After getting over the odd toe sensation, it’s like walking. Profound eh? Walking and running in them remind me of running around a pool or at the beach when you were little. We’ve all done that without pain, right? These shoes force you to change your gait and mechanics. No longer will you pound your heel, or you’ll feel it resonate through your bones.  In just a few steps, they force you to walk more upright with a more neutral foot fall, or else you won’t get very far.

I have high arches, which I’ve heard more easily adapt to the FiveFingers than flatter feet.  The only negative sensations I’ve felt so far are chafing in some toes, and a little arch soreness. The toes are understandable, and it has lessened as they’ve broken in.  The arch discomfort has slowly lessened as I’ve built up longer walks and runs.  I’ve only had a week in these shoes, I imagine that discomfort would disappear as I full adjust over a few weeks or months.  I should note the soreness went away immediately after resting.

So what does it feel like to frolic in the park, shod with Five Fingers?

You feel like you have all-terrain barefeet. The lack of padding means you feel every stick, stone, and crack on the ground, which does cause you to watch where you’re going. But knowing your feet are protected means you feel like you can go anywhere.  There is an amazing amount of grip in the soles as well. I find them strangely energizing. I don’t have much patience for running, I should admit. It seems laborious, monotonous, and uncomfortable.  Yet, doing a mile here or there in the FiveFingers is invigorating. I’ve had to go slow and short to adjust, it’s sort of re-learning to run all over again. There’s a fresh novelty factor involved I’m sure, but I have a feeling it may go deeper than that.

Which brings me to a vague, spirituality about running barefoot. I find running on soft surfaces like grass, dirt, leaves, etc to be an incredible experience.  Concrete and asphalt seem foreign and unnatural.  ”Duh”, you say; obviously natural surfaces are easier on your body than man-made.  It’s deeper than that. It makes you realize man wasn’t made to run on concrete.  It pushes you to seek out natural running surfaces. We evolved to run across the grassland and through the forests. There is a connectedness when running on natural ground in the FiveFingers that is very fulfilling and invigorating. I do believe this is real, not just novelty.

That’s enough crazy new age talk for the pragmatic types out there. Are they worth the 80 bucks? Hard to say. The cost is pretty steep, I think they’re worth closer to $60.  If it gets you running more, outside more, exercising more, it’s a legitimate price to pay in my eyes. If you think you just want to try them and throw them on the shelf, I’d pass. It’ll take patience and time to adjust. I’d recommend finding a local store to try them on first.  I normally wear a 42 shoe and wear a 40 in FiveFingers.

I hope to report back periodically as I get more adjusted to them…stay tuned! Leave any questions about the shoes you have, I’ll try to answer as best I can.