Triathlon Training Resources

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Triathlon Training and Vibram 5 Finger Shoes

If you have been reading my blog, you know the problems I have been dealing with and Plantar Fasciitis. I have been going to the chiropractor and podiatrist with improvement but it is limited improvement. I have had cortisone shots, physical therapy, laser, botox (yes, Botox in my calf and feet), and have tried every stretch imagineable. Ice and heat help some but not as much as I would like.

After taking 5 weeks off from running and having to withdraw from my Florida 70.3 race, I decided to give the less is more approach a shot. I just bought the Vibrams yesterday so I wore them around the house last night. They definitely are different than any other shoe you'll ever wear. My feet did not hurt as much as in regular shoes and after a while, they actually started to loosen up a bit. The hardest part is getting your feet into them. My first thought was that these would be cool for the sprints this summer with a beach run, but I think my transition in T2 would be horrific. You have to get used to having your toes separated, but it's not all that bad. I'm anxious to wear them outside. Maybe after work tonight, I'll throw them on for a few minutes during my short trail run with the wife.

I will slowly get used to them before trying to run in them too much but I hope to transition to using them as my running shoes in the future. I will keep posting updates on my progress with them. If you have any experience with these, please leave a comment and share with others.

5 comments:

  1. I am also training for summer triathlon season (mostly Olympic distance) and was concerned about the T2 transition time with my Vibram KSO's. A couple of thoughts and recommendations:

    1) you will get faster at putting them on with practice

    2) I've considered trying the classic model for racing in since the lower profile upper sole looks like it would be easier to get the toes in place

    3) Put the "shoe" on the ground when you're putting it on, it is much easier to get the toes in place if you can put your foot in the shoe while it's on the ground.

    Good luck with the training, and be sure to ease into running in the Vibrams, I've gotten up to 12 miles in them, but still experience very sore calves after my runs. And I've enjoyed many blisters, if you are blister prone I recommend the Injinji socks.

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  2. Thanks for the input and good luck with the races this season. I am getting over (hopefully) a bout with plantar fasciitis and hope the transition to the VFF will help in ridding myself of plantar problems for good.

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  3. Well I have been looking fingers shoes from some days, no doubt these a re interesting but I didn't use them, anyways your blog is relating to training so can you write about some good trainers shoes? Thanks.

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  4. really nice information.
    thanks for sharing it.

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