If you could be best friends with shoes... alright, that was shamefully corny.

Unpacked my Vibram Five Finger Shoes on Sunday. I've been waiting for these for a while. REI has an annual 20% off coupon that comes out every October, and I felt it was only responsible for me to wait til I received it to splurge on these rad shoes.

I wasted barely a day after getting the coupon to go online and buy them.

I wore them a bit here and there on Sunday, but today was my first full day in them, including a 1.8 mile run about 45 minutes ago.

Thing started out a bit rough- for the better part of the day, I couldn't help but notice my big toe crammed in the shoe. The rest of my toes felt fine. I expected this, given the large number of reviews online with the same gist. Supposedly this lessens over time. Overall, not uncomfortable today, but they didn't exactly disappear on my feet.

Now for the exciting news. My run in them tonight was nothing short of fantastic. First, I had the best run I've had since I started running again. I ran 75% farther and still wasn't out of gas. Purely anecdotal of course and obviously placebo, but nonetheless worked in the VFF's favor.

The first thing I noticed was that the VFF's made my calves extremely fatigued- almost to the point of cramping when I slowed to a cool-down walk at the end of the run. I'm going to have some serious beach calves before long.

Secondly, running in VFF's is very different from regular shoes. It feels more raw, a little jolting at first as you figure out your stride and foot strike. It feels like I'm having to relearn how to run- but in a good way. It's not jarring, but you definitely have to be conscious not to heal-strike and land more intentionally on your mid and fore-foot. (hence the extreme calf workout)

The last thing I noticed-my big toes didn't hurt at all during or since the run. These things stretch out and break in pretty quickly. They just feel dang good now (still have them on as I type) There's no driving need to get them off after your done running.

My experience my change, but first impressions are quite good. Infatuated you might say.

Do you have VFF's? Tell me about your experience...

Labels: Five Fingers, review, run, shoes, unboxing, Vibram