Barefoot.

At first, I really balked at the idea of running without any shoes but from the prescribed theories on efficient running gait, I was quite sure that my running style is not efficient and unsuitable while contributing to host of other problems. Instead of running shoeless, I took out my pair of ‘abandoned’ Diadora Mythos race flats and started to run in them. Armed with the newly learned knowledge on efficient running gait (which is to concentrate on running forefoot), I started out with a BANG and days later, ended like a flat tyre. My underutilised calves simply refused to co-operate and not to mention, it hurt like hell to run forefoot for the very first time.

From there, I came back everyday just to run forefoot and miraculously, my knee problems never surfaced again. With my new found knowledge, I further explored the net for information on shoes that mimic barefoot running and it was by chance I came to know upon a shoe named Vibram Five Fingers. These socks / shoes had been available in the United States for quite some time and was only recently being made available in Singapore. I was quite confident that I should be able to run in these shoes given that they are quite similar to race flats except, it had a very thin rubber sole.

I had a difficult first time in this shoe as it felt too awkward to run. It is awkward in the sense that your feet felt naked and there is no protection while not to mention, any pebbles larger than the size of your little finger’s nail could be felt under your soles. So imagine having to step onto a small stone the size of your thumb end, you’d be hobbling for the next 3 minutes or so with a contorted painful facial expression. However, one would need to remember that such shoes are meant to be a barefoot alternative and the ‘rubber soles’ were only meant to guard against abrasions. While it is very minimal in protection, it offered greatly in ‘feel’ where it was for the very first time, I could feel a full range of motion under my feet while running especially during landing phase where the feet could be felt rolling inwards dispersing all the shocks and the foot arches working in tandem with my Achilles while toeing off. Such feeling is difficult to describe because it ‘tastes’ bittersweet; bitter in the sense that your calves are screaming HELP! while it is so sweet that you could run like a kid without any shoes with all the freedom you’d ever wanted. One word of caution though, you’ve got to have a strong enough calf muscle to run in these shoes and all thoughts of ‘pain is gain’ should be fully erased from your mind because if you push yourself too far, you’re gonna have injuries.

There isn’t much to comment on this shoes with exception that it had great fit and it clamps on your foot without creating excessive pressure. It is good for those whom want to strengthen and to ‘remind’ the body on the correct running posture. As for racing using these shoes, it would definitely take some time and until now, whenever I use them for my 7 – 10k runs, my calves would be sore for at least a day or two but overall, it’s really fun.