I've had Five Finger Sprints for about a year now, and have been heavily evangelising them to my friends. Running barefoot really does feel liberating, especially going off-road through parks, fields and trails. It's like being a kid again and definitely bought the fun back into running for me.
It took me about a month of a few runs per week (20-30 mins) to adjust -- so not long at all. One of the mistakes I made at the start was going too far, too fast: I tried to do my usual 1h+ runs straight away in the Vibrams and was pushing-off from the ground, concentrating on staying on the balls of my feet. Bad idea.
Anyway, here's some tips from someone who has been through it:
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- Relax, relax, relax.
- Don't push off from the ground, rather, concentrate on lifting your thighs.
- Don't aim to balance on the balls of your feet. You're not running on tip-toes, and that's going to put insane strain on your calves. Instead, get the general area of the top half of your foot to land first, almost flat-footed is fine.
- Aim to tap the ground with your feet about 2-3 times a second, as if your feet are going in a circular motion, and passing by the ground. It's like you're incidentally propelling yourself along with gentle touches to the ground.
- Keep hips relatively low, legs relaxed, leaning slightly forward. If your calves start to hurt, then relax more.
- You will get sore calves as your feet and leg muscles get used to the new style of running. Stick with it, and don't overdo it.
Those are great tips! As a 2+ year fan of the FiveFingers I don't think I could have put it better myself, although I would add that you should always maintain good posture as well (shoulders back, head up, back in neutral alignment, hips in line with shoulders).
The soles are really thin but very tough. I've never had anything puncture through it including broken glass, although I wouldn't want to step on a nail sticking up! The wired article linked to a Tim Ferris (I think) blog post. That post had a video which will help you get a better idea of what the shoe is made from.
YMMV - but I've had small sharp things hurt a little, like sharp bits of gravel, and never had anything pierce the sole. I've also ran over small amounts of broken glass by the side of the road before, no problem.
The soles are really strong, but I wouldn't rule out a perfectly aligned spike or blade (scalpel tip or something?) going through -- but to be quite honest, something like that would probably damage a traditional running shoe; protection isn't a substitute for looking where you are going.
It took me about a month of a few runs per week (20-30 mins) to adjust -- so not long at all. One of the mistakes I made at the start was going too far, too fast: I tried to do my usual 1h+ runs straight away in the Vibrams and was pushing-off from the ground, concentrating on staying on the balls of my feet. Bad idea.
Anyway, here's some tips from someone who has been through it:
---------------------------------
- Relax, relax, relax.
- Don't push off from the ground, rather, concentrate on lifting your thighs.
- Don't aim to balance on the balls of your feet. You're not running on tip-toes, and that's going to put insane strain on your calves. Instead, get the general area of the top half of your foot to land first, almost flat-footed is fine.
- Aim to tap the ground with your feet about 2-3 times a second, as if your feet are going in a circular motion, and passing by the ground. It's like you're incidentally propelling yourself along with gentle touches to the ground.
- Keep hips relatively low, legs relaxed, leaning slightly forward. If your calves start to hurt, then relax more.
- You will get sore calves as your feet and leg muscles get used to the new style of running. Stick with it, and don't overdo it.