Virbram five finger reviews? opinions?

I tend to think you are trolling, because you mention specifically that you want to RACE in these shoes, which is not the intention that I get from most barefooters/minimalists. The main purported advantage of these shoes is that they help reduce injury allowing you to train more effectively, NOT improve race performance directly.

So I guess I'll just give you that, wearing Vibrams in a race will NOT make you run any faster than wearing your standard road flats. That is not their intention either.

Go kill yourself.

speaking of which wrote:

Go kill yourself.

they are first on the list of your douche bag starter kit

well, i am certainly not trolling. I have MUCH better things to do then to write up a fake post in hopes of getting responses from people like "junky food junky". I'm not an idiot, i don't think that I'm going to slash a minute off of my 5k because i started to wear minimalist footwear. However, if you can strengthen your lower leg muscles and develop a more efficient stride and foot strike, it will most certainly result in more efficient running, therefore resulting in better times. I DO intend on racing in them, and i didn't pull the example of my buddy in that road 10k outta my ass. Hes been training in them an building up in them for months now and he actually raced in them today. I should have expected a bunch of responses like this from a thread on letsrun... Thanks for the advice, assholes.

It sounds to me like you made up your mind before you wrote this thread.

lunar lover 89 wrote:

I DO intend on racing in them, and i didn't pull the example of my buddy in that road 10k outta my ass. Hes been training in them an building up in them for months now and he actually raced in them today.

What was your "friend's" 10k time?

Have fun and be careful. You'll likely run much slower in the VFFs, even after you acclimate them. Use them as one of many training tools, not the only one. You will ALWAYS be faster in a racing flat than you will in a VFF in a short roadrace like that. The faster you run, the more force you hit the ground with and your feet can only put up with so much.

Also note that some Vibrams are actually HEAVIER than most racing flats. The original 5 Fingers was 11 oz while most flats are from 5 to 8 oz.

Also the intended use of the 5 Fingers was for water sports like surfing, kayaking, etc., hence a very similar design to the old Nike Aquasock and generic "reef shoes".

But hey, don't let FACTS deter you from the latest running fad.

A more conventional way to go is to train and race in some spikeless spikes like the Waffle Racer. They're usually thin, flimsy and unsupportive enough to allow for foot strengthening. Or take a box cutter to them and cut out a bunch of flex grooves in the sole (like making your own Nike Free).

Your PT will thank you. No 1 complaint of VFFs? Stress fractures. They are not meant for running they were originally boat shoes some loon decided to run in and Vibram got lu cky and capitalized on it. What you seek is to do your training exclusively in racing flats.

lunar lover 89 wrote:if you can strengthen your lower leg muscles and develop a more efficient stride and foot strike, it will most certainly result in more efficient running, therefore resulting in better times.

Don't believe everything you read on message boards posted by anonymous users. There is no scientific evidence out there to support that V5F's will strengthen your lower leg muscles or develop a more efficient stride or foot strike or that by doing these things you will become a more efficient runner resulting in better times.

Correct !

It's a fad , nice peak in sales for a one time purchase for most as a unique interesting product to try.

Its generated interesting dialog on over built running shoes and hopefully will un-clutter some of what has happened to running footwear.

Brands jumped in with all kinds of "low profile " on the band wagon shoes as to generate sales , not give the consumer a better running shoe.

Bottom line is that runners still need something between their feet and the ground as protection beyond what V5F offers. Most running stores worth their salt would tell you this is not changing what they sell daily to keep runners running.

Thanks guys, this is the type of feedback i was hoping to get. I actually did a little more reading up on them and i found that there was a rather large amount of injuries associated with them, with stress fractures being most prevalent. They don't seem like they offer too much cushion, so i imagine that they would be "perfect" for getting yourself a stress fracture. Training in flats would most likely be the best way to go about it if you were looking to "go minimal" in terms of footwear... As for virbram capitalizing off of something that popped up as a fad, that also makes perfect sense. Thanks for the input!

Lip Kitton - my friend ran 35:12 in the virbrams, a PR for him at the 10k distance.

For my experience i've learn to do the reverse: training easy using MAF method all of time with VFF KSO EVO. And when i'll be ready to do speedwork and race i'll do it in racing flats. I alternate 1 week mid volume (40k-50k) and 1 week (60-70k). All at 135 bpm because it's 180-45 to train without lactic acid and staying in the fat burning zone. Right now my maf is 5:40/km and i want to improved up to 4:59/km before begining speed work. If you intend to do speed work you're better to do it progression /week. Like week #1 2 x 400 week#2 3 x 400 etc. Doing speedwork on the track with VFF is very hard on the achille tendon because of the constant turn around. That's why i will do speed with racing flats.

Thanks rip van Winkle.

By the way, Obams got reelected, Donald Trump is probably going to be President, and Rupp won a silver in London.

This is LetsRun NOT let's crossfit. You're about 6 years too late.

Don't be this guy

OP here. Thanks Bob for bumping this thread all these years later.

As for an update: I no longer wear Crocs after a friend astutely pointed out that they are the Crocs of the running world.

I only run on the Hoka Stinson now. Haven't PRed yet but my legs feel great and that is ultimately more important to me.

Oops, meant to say that Vibrams were the Crocs of the running world.

Carry on.

lunar lover 89 wrote:

OP here. Thanks Bob for bumping this thread all these years later.

As for an update: I no longer wear Crocs after a friend astutely pointed out that they are the Crocs of the running world.

I only run on the Hoka Stinson now. Haven't PRed yet but my legs feel great and that is ultimately more important to me.

Hoka shoes are todays fad. In the long run they will weaken your feet.