25th Run: A change of form and all my problems went away!

Today I ran 6.5 miles in the Vibrams, all on the sidewalk, without my feet cramping up and without my shins hurting! Blisters still formed but that's to be expected. Not sure when that will end. Anyway, what did I do differently?

I changed my stride. I have heard over and over that you should be taking light quick steps, which is what I thought I was doing, but I guess I was doing it wrong. I was forcing it in a way. I was still running like I had normal running shoes on, I just hit my toe first, but I was still reaching with my foot and pushing off it once it was behind me. Bearfoot runners will tell you this is the wrong way to run barefoot, I just didn't pay attention to this advice for some reason. Your feet should stay under you and gravity should do most the work. It's very much like the Pose method. Anyway, I leaned forward a little bit and man did it make a difference. My feet were landing almost right under my hips, and once they went back far enough I just picked them up and put them back under my hips, one after the other. When you run this way, it's almost like you're not running, but just falling and catching yourself before you tip over, a few thousand times.

Not only did this allow me to run 6.5 miles without pain, but it allowed me to run it fast! Average pace of 7:30. When I ran 2 days prior I was struggling to keep up an 8:10 pace. Today my body did not feel like I was going that fast. I kept looking at my GPS watch and thinking that can't be right. I unfortunately didn't wear my heart rate monitor on the long run a few days ago, but I looked at some of my previous runs going at a slower pace, and my heart rate was about 164, the same as it was today. So this seemingly minor adjustment to my stride allowed me to go much faster, without using any more oxygen. Freaking amazing!

Anyway, this is very exciting. I think the Grand Rapids River run shouldn't be a problem. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to run that at a 7:30 pace. We will see.

I will still continue to track my progress on this blog, but my posts will be more spread out because I have essentially adjusted to these shoes sans the blisters. Those can be avoided by running on the grass though, I just wanted to see what would happen.

Full Run Details Here
Happy running!

24th Run: Ok I lied.. 7 miles in the old shoes

Had to pull out the old shoes for a distance run. My foot issues were preventing me from going far in the vibrams. Still having issues with my shins too, we'll see if I can do anything about that.

21-23rd Run: Retiring the old shoes.

Well, my skin has finally gotten tough enough to withstand the shoes. Although I have been running on the grass more, which may have something to do with it.

I ran an easy 2 mile run the other day at a slower pace (8:40 miles) and it felt pretty good. Today or tomorrow I will see if I can run really far at that pace. My foot arches didn't seem to get as tired, and I felt like they could have gone forever at this pace. It is going to take awhile for my arches to get stronger and be able to support me running long distances at a decent pace, but I'm willing to work at it.

For now, the plan is to run 2 days on, 1 day off, until my feet and shins can handle running 6 days a week. I am still can feel my shin splints, but they don't seem to be getting any worse, which is a good thing. I might have to get more aggressive with treatment (icing, slowing my pace, and ibuprofen) without having to stop running.

I will let you know how my long run goes. I'm hoping I will be able to go 10-12 miles. So far the longest I have run in the Vibrams is 6.5, so it will be interesting to see how big of a difference a slower pace makes.

20th Run: Tip. Run on the grass

Distance in VFF 5.5

I ran on the grass about 90% of this run. This allowed me to run the entire distance without my left foot cramping up, and without pain where my blisters are healing.

If you want to run long distances when you first get these shoes, I recommend running on soft surfaces. It does wonders.

19th Run: Distance in the vibrams, sore feet, sore achilles

Distance in VFF: 6.0


My feet were really sore after this, and I think the only thing that got me through it was running on the grass as much as I could. This is seriously taking forever and I start to wonder if it's even worth it. The reason I started running in these shoes was so I could run farther, without getting injured. The method of running allowed me to do that, the shoes do not seem to have much of an added benefit at the moment. I have noticed that when I put on my old shoes now, my arches ache from the padding. I'm not sure how to explain that one.

I also felt a pull on my Achilles this time around. I read that because I have been walking in normal shoes with higher up heels, my Achilles is likely shorter and not used to the full extension of my ankle when running.

I will continue to get my feet used to the vibrams, but I think I will do longer runs in my old shoes for the time being.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27268341

18th Run: Vibrams, broke an eating rule

I ate too much pizza. It was over 3 hours before I went for a run, but a mile into it I got a sideache like nobodies business. Had to quit early, will throw on the vibrams and try again tomorrow.

Went 2 miles.

15th- 18th Run

I've taken a break from the Vibrams and have been running every other day in my old shoes. Seems to work. I'll throw the vibrams on for my next run to see how my feet feel.

full run details

14th Run: in the old shoes.

Total Distance: 3.5
Distance in VFF: 0

Just giving the feet a chance to heal. Nothing noteworthy about the run.

13th run: Vibrams 2nd day in a row.. Blisters..

Distance in VFF: 3.5
View my run details here

Tomorrow I will be taking a break. The blood blister that seemed to be going away on my foot just got a little bigger.

In better news, I think my distance pace right now is about 7:45 miles. I gauge this pretty much just by how my body feels. For long distances, you should not be gasping for air. If you run at a pace, that while you're running, you're not sure you will be able to keep it up the entire run, you're going too fast. You should feel like you could run 100 miles at that pace. My heart rate at this pace is about 162-164, I'm 24 years old if that helps you for a reference.

12th run: short run in the vibrams

Distance in VFF: 2.0
Average pace: 7:38

Shorter run in vibrams was fine. I put my pace on here because I didn't feel like I was going that fast. I don't think it's the shoes, but it's worth noting that it appears my body is adjusting to the running and becoming more efficient, so I can ran faster, longer. We'll see how the next few runs go.

At this point my feet feel 90% recovered, but still look pretty torn up. I am going to see how running every day, shorter runs in the vibrams and longer runs in my old shoes goes. If my shins can take it, it shouldn't be a problem.

Also a weird thing I noticed on my last few runs. I feel a mild tendonitis on the top of my left foot. Not sure if it's serious yet. Seems like a weird place to get tendonitis.

11th run: old shoes again.

Total Distance: 4.5
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25993660

I wanted to run a little farther so I stayed away from the Vibrams, I am going to see how my shins handle running everyday, so tomorrow I'll throw on the Vibrams and go a short distnace. Hopefully I will be able to keep this pattern up 6 days a week, where I do my long runs in my old running shoes and my short runs in the vibrams. Then when my feet get accustomed, I will switch, and run the long runs in the vibrams and the short runs in my old shoes. We'll see how it goes.