Barefoot Running

[HillSlugger]

My VFF's came!

I ordered the classics and the KSOs in two sizes each. I've been wanding about the house in the classics since around 6pm. Takes some getting used to but I like them so far.

[JH-NV]

I'm curious as to the arches of the majority of the women posting here who wear the VFF.
Also, I feel discouraged when I go barefoot outside, because it really is painful. I feel like I'm encouraging my feet to be Pre-diabetic! (normal glucose)
I will keep reading the posts to see everyone's results. And, I will suck it up outside in the yard and force myself to walk on gravel, etc.

[Jolt]

I'm curious as to the arches of the majority of the women posting here who wear the VFF.
Also, I feel discouraged when I go barefoot outside, because it really is painful. I feel like I'm encouraging my feet to be Pre-diabetic! (normal glucose)
I will keep reading the posts to see everyone's results. And, I will suck it up outside in the yard and force myself to walk on gravel, etc.

To answer your question, I'd say my arches are medium. It will be interesting to see if there's the whole range with those of us using the VFF.

[mayanorange]

These are pretty cool. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr Lieberman from Harvard give a fascinating speech at ACSM last week on the evolution of humans as endurance runners and he's very interested in the effects of shoes on our feet- looks like he's recruiting FF wearers in addition to his barefooters. Between him and Hugh Herr, who's working on understanding feet to create prosthetics and exoskeletons (assisting impairments), I think we're going to see some huge changes in the understanding of what our feet can do and how much our current shoes inhibit them. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to work with one of them- they're truly the rockstars of biomechanics.

[Jolt]

Mayanorange, I heard about Lieberman's barefoot/VFF study and it sounds really interesting. Hopefully things like this will improve the understanding of what constitutes good biomechanics and decrease the ridiculous injury rate among runners. I would have liked to participate in his study but am not eligible b/c I haven't been running in VFFs long enough and my IT band injury was too recent.

[OakLeaf]

Do any of you barefooters have Morton's Foot (i.e., the second metatarsal is the longest one)?

I don't have a good sense of whether it's strength, flexibility or bone structure that prevents me from getting my first MTP joint down without pronating my ankles.

[Selkie]

I've thought about getting a pair of Vibrams after hearing rave reviews from several folks at work. However, I am in the early stages of bunion development in both feet and I over pronate. A couple years ago, I ended up with a persistent bout with achilles tendonitis after wearing Nike Free sneakers (I didn't run in them, I was wearing them on walks). I, therefore, am leery of trying anything that might result in a foot/heel issue.

[canonsue]

I just bought a pair of Fivefingers KSOs. I am going to give it a try. One thing, is that when I measured my feet using the method on the five fingers website, I was two sizes away from what I really needed after trying several pairs on.

So if you do have a store you can go to, then that is much better. I had to travel an hour to a store that carried them. Strange that no one in Denver carried them, I had to go to Loveland or Boulder.

I experience foot pain whenever I walk or run consistently. So now that I am down 17 lbs, I wanted to start walking first and then get back into light jogging.

-Sue

[GLC1968]

I'm curious as to the arches of the majority of the women posting here who wear the VFF.
Also, I feel discouraged when I go barefoot outside, because it really is painful. I feel like I'm encouraging my feet to be Pre-diabetic! (normal glucose)
I will keep reading the posts to see everyone's results. And, I will suck it up outside in the yard and force myself to walk on gravel, etc.

I don't have VFF's yet, but I'm thinking about ordering a pair. I am starting out truly barefoot and if I have to, I'll run on the treadmill for the first few short runs (right now, I'm only being barefoot and doing as many chores and gardening that way that I can). I have very, very flat feet.

[Biciclista]

I guess I have Morton's foot. Never been diagnosed but my second toe is the tallest on one foot but not the other. Never thought of it as a problem either!
I have a medium to high arch.

[OakLeaf]

Apparently the toe can be longer even though the second metatarsal is shorter than the first. When you scrunch your toes so that the heads of the foot bones stick out, is the second one still longer? Do you have trouble getting the pad of your foot, behind your big toe, on the ground without pronating your ankles?

Apparently it's a very common variation, but it causes all sorts of problems.

[Biciclista]

You're referring to lifting the toes into the air? yeah, the balls of my feet can sit on the ground with my toes sticking up in the air without pronating.
(I think I understand what you are saying?)

[OakLeaf]

no... I think it's easier if I explain what happens with my feet.

The "four corners of my feet" that naturally contact the ground are the two corners of my heel, the head of my fifth metatarsal, and the head of my SECOND metatarsal, not the first. Because the big toe is so important for balance, my ankle rolls inward to get the big toe onto the ground. If I place my ankles in neutral, then the pad of my first metatarsal is not bearing weight.

There's the problem. It's not just "overpronation" per se, it's all the imbalances in the calf and foot muscles that my body does to try to compensate.

I think what I might try (street shoes first) is ditching the orthotics and only padding the head of the first metatarsal, as the trigger point book suggests. That should help strengthen my feet because I'd be using my muscles, not arch supports, to support my arches; but I'd be using the muscles that ought to be supporting them, not trying to pull them sideways with the peroneus, etc.