I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to rush things and ease myself into them. Well…rushed or not, I’m in my Vibram Five Fingers for good now and there’s no looking back.

To update those who haven’t followed my transition, here’s the Cliff Notes version.

In May of this year after the Fargo Marathon, I purchased a pair of Nike Free’s. My plan was to slowly ween myself out of motion control shoes and my custom orthodics. It was time to simplify my running style and go back to the basics. I concentrated on shortening my stride and striking the ground with my midfoot. After five months of injury free running, I jumped into the VFF’s looking to complete my transition to minimalist running. The initial plan was to start the new year running my prized Bikilas after the Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon. After some disappointing long runs in my Free’s I ditched them this Saturday and set off for my 20 miles in the VFF’s (even though my longest run in them was only 8 miles). On Sunday, after the soreness had subsided in my calves and feet, I’ve made the decision to run the marathon in them.

For those of you contemplating the move to minimalist shoes, I’d advise you to take it slow. It’s going to take awhile to develop your stride and longer yet to build the muscles in your feet and ankles.

With nearly 80 miles in my VFF’s, I don’t consider myself an expert by any means but I’d like to pass along some things I’ve learned along the way.

• First things first. Change your stride. Really focus on your stride and if you’re striking your heal…stop. Work on shortening your stride and landing on your forefoot and letting your heel fall as you shift your weight. This is the hardest habit to break and will need the most work.
• Start with a less cushioned shoe like the Nike Free or something similar. These are the only ones I can testify to and would suggest going to your local running store for some advice.
• If you wear orthodics, keep wearing them at first. Then, pick one day a week to run without them. As you get more comfortable, add days without them.
• Once you’ve left your “crutches” behind, it’s time to practice running barefoot. And by barefoot, I mean NO SHOES. Again, pick one day a week and go to a park with lots of grass. I’d pick shorter recovery run days since you may be doing a bunch of laps. Pay attention to how you run without shoes. It’s completely different.
• It’s time to get your minimalist shoes. Vibram started the tread but now there are a bunch of options available. I get a lot of crap for my “finger shoes” but I’ve never worn something more comfortable. Once you get used to getting your toes in, you don’t even notice they’re not squished together in a normal shoe.
• You’re well on your way to running “barefoot” but now is the time for restraint. WALK, DON’T RUN. For the first couple of weeks, wear your minimalist shoes for your everyday tasks. Get used to walking in them before trying to run in them.
• Just like the other steps in this process, start running in your minimalist shoes once a week. I’d recommend your shortest easy run of the week. This way you’re not focusing on pace or distance and can really focus on how to run. You need to learn how to run “light.” This doesn’t mean staying on your toes the whole time. Trust me, I tried and my calves were in knots for a week.
• Slowly build your miles in your minimalist shoes. You’ll find that when you go back to other running shoes, you’re dragging dead weight. Your stride is as bouncy and your form will suffer. You need to really take what you’ve learned and apply that to every run.

You’ll know when you’re ready. It’s like riding a bike. Once you have your balance, you’ll take off. I hope this helps and please feel free to shoot me any questions you may have.

RMFR

During all 5 years of my running career, I’ve been a stickler about my mileage. If I missed a day, I found a way to tack the miles on to another run or ran on an off day to make them up. During my training for the Fargo Marathon Weekend (I’m running the 5K and 1/2 Marathon), I’ve made some changes.

Coming of a series of injuries, I started this training cycle on the cautious side – afraid that another injury would pop up and I would end up with periods of recovery. So I haven’t been as anal about my mileage and started focusing on my pace. I never have been and never will be a fast runner. I can’t overcome my genetics and body type and I’m OK with that. What I wanted to see is if a 9:30 – 10:00/mile runner transform towards a 8:00 – 9:00/mile runner. The obvious answer is yes. The not so obvious answer is how.

There are thousands of opinions on the how so I thought I’d tell you how I did it.

First was changing my running stride – more for my own durability than anything else. I had experimented with a shorter stride a while back and increasing my stride rate (the amount of times your foot hits the ground in a set amount of time). A shorter stride forces you to land more on the balls of your feet and underneath your body providing you more support and keeping the stresses on your joints to a minimum. The quicker stride rate naturally increases your speed. One your speed increases we move to step two.

Practice running at goal pace for longer periods. Once I was able to bring my pace down to 8:30 and below, it’s just a matter of running that pace for longer periods. I started out at an easy pace and would target one mile at goal pace. The next time out I’d shoot for two. Soon, you’ll find that your easy pace will increase and your goal pace will naturally get lower. It’s all about pushing yourself a little more than you usually do if you want to improve. While I run alone, I don’t have others to help me push myself like I would if I was in a group. This means you really have to dedicate yourself to stick to your goals.

While I’m not setting PR goals for my next race (I have too much stress in my life to add any others), I am expecting better results. While my goal was to pace out at 8:30/miles, my natural easy running pace is now 8:30/mile and my goal paces are sub 8:00/mile. Proof positive that if you push yourself a little, you can produce results – even a big oaf like me!!!

RMFR

I’ve been a little behind in reading my running magazines. I finally opened up the March 2009 Running Times this week and I wish I would have read it last month!!! Brian Metzler’s article, “Run Softly, Naturally” may have just made my running life a whole lot easier.

I’m a big guy and I’ve really struggled with shin splits and pain in my knees and ankles. I’ve always attributed these pains with my “shoe alarm clock” going off and getting to Red Rock Running Company as soon as possible. After reading this article, I’m taking a different direction.

Basically, the article talks about changing your stride so you hit the ground with your midfoot instead of your heal. This isn’t a new fad and has actually been studied with a bunch of books on the topic. In fact, there are a bunch of new shoes on the market with smaller heel crash pads to encourage midfoot strides (yes, I will be going to RRRC to check them out soon).

Now, I haven’t mastered this new stride. In fact, I only tried it for the first time on Saturday on my 9-mile run, but it made a big enough difference for me to investigate further. After my run, I felt no shin pain and the brutal down hills had to effect on my knees or ankles. My biggest surprise came on Sunday when I still felt no pain. Yes, this is a big deal for me.

It will take a while to get used to. The shorter stride requires a quicker stride rate – and when your going down hill, you think you’re going to start levitating. I had to stop a couple of times just to slow down. I found going uphill is the easiest way to practice since your strides are easier to keep short. The focus needs to be where you actually put your foot down. Try to concentrate on striking the ground underneath your hips. I noticed that if I stretched my toes skyward, it help bring my foot down near the balls of my feet, letting my heal settle correctly.

This is going to take a lot of research, practice and some proper footwear, but I think I’ve found a way to make running that much more enjoyable.

RMFR