I run in a pair of Vibram Five Fingers; the KSOs, to be specific.

Vibram Five Fingers KSO

When I started running last year, I looked into real running shoes. I picked up a couple issues of Runner’s World, surfed around on the net, and decided that I needed to check in to a running store and figure out if I pronate or supinate, and what kind of shoe would be best. I found a nice, expensive pair of Nikes and two months later… my ankles hurt so much when I ran that I couldn’t make it more than a couple hundred yards.

At some point I ran across a couple posts on Richard’s blog, then read through the New York Magazine article on “You Walk Wrong“, and started finding a whole bunch of related posts and news articles. I also picked up Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run — I loved it. I’ve read a handful of books that made me go “wow, I want to do that!” and Born to Run definitely inspired me to run more. It made me want to be an ultramarathoner! I picked up a pair of KSOs and set out running again.

I don’t really like wearing shoes. But yet I don’t like roomy shoes; I prefer shoes that are snug but not binding. Wearing the KSOs is like wearing socks. They’re different because they fit between the toes (like toe socks), yet still comfortable. They don’t feel like they’re crushing my foot, or blocking off circulation anywhere. After wearing them for a while, I’m much more socially comfortable kicking off my shoes at work.

Naysayers might suggest that science can do better than nature — and I agree, but only if science first understands nature. Big, padded heals in running shoes is a response to seeing people run in less-padded shoes. Look at how people run barefoot, and compare that to people running in sneakers. The biomechanics aren’t the same at all. Science should look not just at the heal, but how impact pressure is transmitted up the leg, and at studies that compare fancy shoes to bare feet. Although researchers have concluded that there’s no scientific evidence that fancy shoes help, and that the cost of shoes is correlated with injury (supposedly this study but the abstract doesn’t confirm), there’s no prospective, randomized study that’s shown that barefoot is better. But this is one of those cases where there’s tons of evidence suggesting that barefoot is better; do you want to risk it? Or would you rather just do what the TV tells you?

I’d really like to blog about why running barefoot is good for your feet, but really I learned that from the sources I read above. Lots of great stuff!