*Another* VFF Thread.

[AgilityPup]

So I have a pair of Speeds. I love them and wear them EVERYWHERE. They're great for agility and I enjoy them for hiking with the dogs and basically everything... except my walking/jogging my 5k. In fact, I've stopped doing the 5k because they're my only shoes that aren't boots or sandals, so yeah. Anyway. The area I walk/jog is chip seal. You know, this stuff:

It's horrible and I hate it, but it's all the option I have, besides doing laps around our back pasture, which is boring. The run I do is all hills, really. There's one spot where it's KINDA flat, but it's basically all hill. I have to walk up a hill to get to the top of my drive way, down a huge hill into a small little short flat, then up a giant hill, then there's a "flat" but in reality, it's just a long hill, so it's not as bad as all the shorter, steeper ones. Then turn around and do it all again, but in reverse. You see what I mean? Anyway, I love my Speeds for the up hill. It feels good and I'm comfortable using them, but on the downhill by the end of it there's a lot of pain. Now, I don't know if this is because of my shoes or because of how I walk, but I generally don't feel that pain with other shoes. I've done a steeper run with rubber boots (don't ask. lol) and with sneakers on and it didn't hurt me like going down these hills do.

So am *I* doing something wrong, or should I be looking for a different pair of VFFs? I don't want to get normal sneakers for this run, because I really like my VFFs and I feel clumsy in normal shoes, but never take a wrong step in my VFFs, and with my bad ankle, I really cherish that sure footedness I can get.

Was hoping some of you VFF freaks, I mean... experts could help.

 

[stardogs]

Where do you hurt? Knees, shins, arches?

 

[AgilityPup]

Whoops, should have included that. It's in my shins, which is what makes me think that maybe it's the way *I* move.

 

[stardogs]

Hmm. If you do run in the pasture (on the flat) do your shins hurt at all? It really sounds like something to do with your form on the downhill - downhills are rough on everyone really, but I usually will get sore in my knees regardless of shoe, if I do too many long downhills.

 

[AgilityPup]

When I use them in agility, there's no pain at all. It's only when I'm doing the downhill. Doing down hill on grass doesn't seem to hurt, but that said, I've never done nearly 5k and then gone down a steep hill on grass. I wouldn't be surprised if it's my form while going down hill. I honestly feel heavy on the downhill parts. Like I am slamming myself down, I try not to, but it's such a long hill that I usually end up just getting pulled down. I'll try my 5k in the other direction next time where there are still hills but only one long downhill. I've been avoiding that route because there are so many more dogs that way, that are generally loose. As it is, I don't take the bigger dogs with me cause I'm worried they'll get in a fight, or get attacked, and I can't carry them as easy as I can Zoey, so she's been my jogging buddy.

 

[AgilityPup]

And you know, maybe I've pushed myself too far, too quickly. I walked one day before doing my whole 5k where I did less than 5k, then went straight to 5k, 5 days a week... so I'm looking into the C25K thing and maybe I'll try that....

 

[SizzleDog]

Yeah, I'd recommend slowing down, especially at first with VFFs. Your body has to re-learn how to run so it doesn't hurt itself.

I run in Spyridons... LOVE them. Technically made for trail running, but they're fine on road as well. I like their versatility.

 

[Beanie]

I would say it's probably an issue of too much too fast, and it could also be an issue with your stride. Shorter strides tend to be better for your shins, and the best way to adjust your stride length is to increase your stride rate. There's a lot of blog posts on the subject, "cadence" is the other word for it, so you might want to google around some and see what you can find.
Since it's only downhill, I'm wondering. Do you know if your strides get shorter or longer when you go downhill? For me, they get shorter when I'm downhill... for a friend of mine, her strides get longer when she goes downhill. If yours get shorter already, I think the first thing I would do is work on increasing my cadence/shortening my stride on the flat and build up my strength with that just on the flat. I honestly think a lot of it may just be your body isn't used to it yet. Also I would be careful and make sure you're mid or forefoot striking. Just switching to barefoot shoes doesn't automatically make people stop heelstriking. People can train themselves to forefoot strike in "normal" running shoes, so a lot of it is just re-training your body. But since you don't have the support of the more heavy running shoes, if you're still heelstriking, it could be causing you some pretty big problems.

To be honest, if I had to run on that, I would probably buy something like just minimal shoes... New Balance Minimas are the ones I've been eyeing, but those were too minimal so I've got something more in between my ASICS Kayanos and the Minimas to start. (Well, I don't have them yet, they are for my birthday so not for a few weeks yet!) It may be that you will want to look more towards something like that. So much of my running is on pavement I doubt I will ever go to something as minimal as the VFFs tend to be. Just something else to consider as you progress!

 

[Shai]

Beanie -- for what it's worth my Minimas are so light I never run on pavement with them. I tried once or twice even after I was acclimated and running with better form and ended up with sore feet. I run exclusively on dirt trails now...and am lucky enough to have that option in my location.

The Minimas are really no thicker than VFFs. I have Minimas and KOSs which are one of the thinner VFFs and honestly the KSOs almost feel thicker to me.

 

[Beanie]

Which ones do you have, Shai? The 10s and Zeros are rated for the road but the Zeros don't have very good reviews...

 

[Shai]

Which ones do you have, Shai? The 10s and Zeros are rated for the road but the Zeros don't have very good reviews...

I have 10s according to the label inside my shoe