Vibrams Continued
It’s been four months since I bought my Vibram Five Finger KSOs. It’s been a strange journey to say the least. And I still haven’t completely decided if I’m going to continue using them.
Prior, I was feeling some pain, but I was running and making good progress, and the pain seemed to be lessening over time. However, I was spotty about the runs, mostly due to end of summer concerns, vacation, and work projects coming due.
The last couple of months (most of September and October) I’ve been running more consistently in them. I am running between 3 and 5 miles each time, mostly on the treadmill, though I’ve put in a few outdoor runs too. The outdoor runs are mostly on concrete sidewalk, with some time running on asphalt. I do run in the grass when there is a stretch long enough to do so. The total mileage so far in them is a little more than 100.
And I’m still having ankle pain and some calf pain. The pain seemed to diminish for a while, but lately as I’ve been more consistent, it has come back. To be fair, the shin pain and knee tendon pain I had before are completely gone.
I’ve read that calf and ankle pain is pretty normal, but this seems like a long time for it to last. Also, the ankle pain feels like a twist. Both ankles are pretty sore, but the left ankle is sometimes accompanied by some swelling. I don’t know what to make of it.
I’m thinking the left shoe might be too tight, though it doesn’t feel so. It fits comfortably, but I’ve noticed that I pull the strap on the left foot further along the velcro than on the right foot. I doesn’t feel uncomfortable that way, but I’ll try a run or two with it a little looser, in exactly the same location as the right foot’s velcro position.
Also, I think I’m going to ratchet back how long I run in them. I was running 2-3 miles towards the end of August with very little pain. I’ll still run 5 miles, but I’ll run the second half in the Mizuno’s I was wearing before.
I really want to like these shoes, but if things don’t get better over time, I’m going to have to switch back to traditional running shoes (or maybe try the Nike Frees). I don’t know, maybe my ankles really are that weak.
EDIT: I spoke with a running friend of mine tonight and she mentioned that she has similar pains. Her trainer said that, based on the area that’s hurting, it’s the muscles building rather than real problems with the ankles. Thank heavens. That much said, I’m still going to slow down and start interweaving my runs with regular shoes and the VFFs.
