The Marathoner's New Shoes

My current line-up: Vibram Spyridon LS, Vibram SeeYa, Vivobarefoot Ultra

After tripping over twice in the last month with my up-to-now trusty Soft Star Run Amocs, I found that I had lost confidence in them. I feel a bit sad about it because Soft Star has the best costumer service of any company that I have experienced recently, especially one that is prepared to deal with overseas customers and I have been using their shoes for almost a year and a half (getting through quite a few pairs). I felt that they were wearing down too quickly and tried out a slightly wider sole but perhaps that has made my already oversized feet that much more clumsy.

I bought my first Vibram Five Fingers in April 2009 after attending a POSE Method running class in Denmark which convinced me of the benefits of running with minimalist footwear. Certainly it made the pain in my knees go away but I tried to make the transition while training for a Marathon and ended up seriously injuring myself, ultimately getting a stress fracture in my foot the summer of that year. In spite of the fact that my wife would probably have killed me if I had repeated the same mistake, over the next two years I found myself buying ever more minimalist shoes every time a pair wore out until I found the balance that was right for me: training with Soft Star Run Amocs and competing (even in Marathons) in the Vivobarefoot Ultras.

So I have finally come full circle. I started to use the Vibram SeeYas for speed training in competitions towards the end of last year and last night I bought myself some Vibram Spyridons for trail running so that I'll now be using Vibram Five Fingers for practically all my running. I'll still use the Vivobarefoot Ultras but probably only for triathlons where I don't want to lose time trying to fit each toe in a separate toe pocket!

Once I have had some quality time with my Spyridons I'll post a review...