A overview of Vibram FiveFingers models I've used

 

This is the third blog in this series about Vibram FiveFingers, specifically my personal journey of over 4070km with these beautiful weird looking shoes. Here I would like to cover some points about the various VFF models available in India(specifically the ones I have used) and how they stack up with each other. The info would be based on my experience and research. My apologies to the models I have not got my feet into. They have found a mention later though :P 

 Origins:

As per the book Born to Run, the Vibram FiveFingers were designed as deck shoes for yacht racers to give them better grip on a slippery surface yet give the feeling of shoelessness. Like I had mentioned in my first post of this series, your feet can do a lot of micro-adjustments to get this grip. The ability of the FiveFingers to take any shape the foot wants it to take makes it quite unique and extremely versatile. These are among the very few (if not only) shoes which adjust to the feet as opposed to the feet adjusting to the shoes.

 

The V-run

For any runner to initially get used to the VFFs, the most logical option is the Vibram FiveFinger V-Run. Its predecessor was called the Bikila after the legendary Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila who won the marathon in the Olympics, setting a world record while running barefoot. These shoes are built for runners who run on any mix of surfaces and were my first pair of Vibram FiveFingers. The sole is thick enough to keep the stones, broken glass, needles etc away from your feet as you run. But like any minimalistic shoes, it hurts like hell if you step too hard on pebbles or stones. You need to run with lightening quick strides, staying light on your feet. The bottom of the shoe has a 4mm thin rubber sole which is flexible and extremely tough. There are some additional rubber pods are places where the bones of one’s feet normally contact the ground. That gives you improved grip even on slippery surfaces. The upper of the shoe is well ventilated with a lot of air pockets. Add to this a weight of 136 grams and you don’t feel like you’ve anything on your feet as you run

 

The first thing which I realized when I ran in Vibrams for the first time was that you can feel how your feet are landing. You need not depend on video recordings to see how your feet land. You can feel your forefoot/midfoot hit the ground and the rest of your foot come down to kiss the surface and the take off again. The only other way to experience this is to run barefoot.

 

These shoes can last very long. I have done over 2600km on my first pair of Vibram FiveFingers V-Run. I have recently bought its successor as it is nearing the end of its life. Mind you, it is still very much active and is being used on regular runs. For those who are thinking why I haven’t replaced it despite so many kilometres, it is still doing exactly what it is supposed to do, protect my feet from sharp debris and nothing else. In case of the bouncy cushiony shoes from most other companies, the bounce/cushion takes a beating over time and they no longer perform the same way. The “motion-correction” technologies of those shoes too don’t work after a few hundred kilometres. Thus, you need to replace them

Before the first kilometre

 

The KSO Evo

The second model which I added to my armoury was the KSO-Evo. The KSO-Evo is lighter and thinner than the V-run. It was designed as a cross training shoe, not as a running shoe. However, the ultra-tough, rubber sole makes it just as useful on the run. I did all my long runs leading up to my first full marathon and the marathon itself in these shoes. The ultra-thin sole without the rubber pods makes it more flexible gives an even better feel of the surface you are running on. This is amazing if you are used to running barefoot. But it can be a negative point for it if you are just making the transition into minimalistic running shoes.

 

The thinness of the sole gives best ground feel and makes it the easiest to carry in your luggage. I have run around 1300km in two pairs of these. The first one lasted around 750km

 

Unused models:

The two models available in India which I haven’t got my feet into are the Vibram V-Trail 2.0 and the Vibram V-train. The V-trail as the name suggests, is designed for trail running. It is heavier (185 gms) with a thicker mesh upper to protect your feet from throny undergrowth, stones, etc which may otherwise bruise your feet on trails. The sole is grippier to help when you run on wet or dry trails. The V-train is a cross training shoe similar to the KSO Evo. The tread design looks different based on the images online.

 

I hope this post gives an idea about the various models of the Vibram FiveFingers which one can get in India. In case you have any questions,  please leave them in the comments section and I will definitely answer them to the best of my abilities. As I mentioned in the first post of this series, it is great to run in minimals, for me. It is a great idea to use them as a tool to get the benefits. However a conscious call needs to be taken on making the switch like I did in 2018

 

The switch story

It has been a while since my last post where I talked about my experience with Vibram FiveFingers, including all the benefits. I had concluded my previous post saying that an account on why I made the switch will come soon. After a lot of procrastination which led to further delays in other ideas coming out as blog posts, I have finally gotten down to writing this post. I hope the next one comes out without such a delay

As a newbie runner, it is always fascinating to be a part of a group of runners. The "Running community" is large and yet it accepts people quite easily. I had joined a group close to home, which gave me the some added motivation to get ready and go out for a run three days a week. It had become quite a social activity for me. The group contained a huge variety of people of different ages, different running credentials etc. I was a little over half a year into running. My shoes were getting bald and I realised that I needed to replace them soon

I happened to get into a discussion with a seasoned runner from the group who confessed to having a shoe fetish. "You need to spend at least 10-15k on shoes in order to run well", she said. "And you should change these shoes every 500km". I was in a bit of a daze once I got off her car. I was doing the mathematics of my monthly expenditure going up for shoes. It was silly since I started running in the first place because it was simple and inexpensive. Not paying heed to her advice, I bought a pair of Kalenji Kiprun SD shoes from Decathlon. They were a fantastic pair of shoes which had all the features I had read. The had "arch support", "cushioning", "bounce", etc. I was able to run quite nicely in them. They tore after some months of regular usage, well past the "recommended 500km" mark. I got myself another pair of the same shoes and things were going on as usual.

In this period, I had become friends with a guy who was running in some weird looking shoes called "Vibram FiveFingers". He said that he had been using them for almost 3 years which made me realise that these shoes are durable! Meaning they will last way longer than the 10-15k shoes which people happily use, thus reducing the regular expense factor in running. In retrospect, I think it left a mark in my unconscious mind which made me want to try running in those shoes some time or the other.

 

Nike footwear of a friend who went down the same path as me

I had read quite a lot of articles which flood the internet about barefoot/minimalistic running and they kept adding to the urge to try running in them. I knew that I would get a beating from folks at home if I suddenly said that I won't be using shoes. So to stay safe, I would regularly jog barefoot for short distances post a run workout. I had met another runner who was using some funny looking snorkelling shoes for running(from Decathlon again). He said that they served the same purpose as his Vibram FiveFingers, zero heel to toe drop, no cushioning and sufficient protection from the abrasive ground. And they came at the fraction of the price. I thought I could use them for a while to try and get the benefits of running with minimal foot protection. 

I finally decided to buy the snorkelling shoes and train in them for a few months and use my conventional shoes for races. Since I was not running very long distances(just around 2-3km daily as a part of the 100 days of running challenge), I didn't experience any aches and pains on this transition. I had a race in the form of the "Stadium run". As planned, I started the run in my Kalenji Kiprun SD shoes. It was raining as it does only in Mumbai. As a result my shoes were drenched from almost the start of the run. After a while, I realised that my hamstrings were hurting quite badly and I had more than an hour to run round and round. I felt the urge to change to drier, faster drying snorkelling shoes. I took a break as the clock went past the 1 hour mark, totally drained, with intense pain in my hamstrings. I changed to the snorkellers and resumed running. The pain magically vanished!!!

The last run in conventional looking shoes

The next one hour went by a lot faster and in my head I was clear that running in minimals was the way forward for me. In the next few days, I ordered a pair of Vibram FiveFingers from the USA(It was very hard to get them in India back then). I continued training in the snorkelling shoes and even ran the Satara Hill Half Marathon in those funny shoes. When I reached Mumbai after this race, my Vibram FiveFingers had arrived! I got down to do my first 7k run after a rest day and then the rest is history!! 

My latest VFF with the Nike shoe guy from above

Over the last 2 years, I have run almost 4000km in different models of Vibram FiveFingers and I am a happier healthier runner today than ever before!!!