vibram 5 fingers

[lovesadirtylie]

does anyone use these? do you like them?
I have a couple pairs and think they are great, they do look a little comical though

I adore mine. had to stop running in them eventually as I over did it and buggered my knee up. I can't run in normal shoes though, so now i can't run.
They are ace though aren't they?

ace, but tricky to get the fit right..will your knee not mend Bigb?

all I know is that I want a pair. I can't stand wearing shoes

lol, me too :) I used to go barefoot all the time when I was in my late teens / early 20's..seems a bit risky now!

I don't think it will heal, I'm getting a bit long in the tooth tbh. What I did was struggle to run in trainers. When I was running for my school as a teenager it was always on grass and i always ran bare foot, couldn't aide trainers. Then i grew up and forgot, well running on pavements in London barefoot isn't really an option! Then I moved to sussex had loads of kids and stopped running.
i started to run a bit but in trainers and hated it, then I heard about vff's, got a pair and I was off.............. I live at the foot of the south downs so was running up and down steep hills for miles and miles with gay abandon(sigh) then I noticed a twinge on the side of my right knee every now and again. I ignored it but it got worse and worse, only on the down hill but I had to stop eventually.
In desperation I paid a fortune for feet/osteo treatments, seemed to help for a while but not really.
I've got a dodgy illiotibial band thing going on, I've read up and tried everything.
I mean in trainers 6 miles was a horrendous chore, in my vibrams I was doing an easy 8 over the downs.
Bugger
I hate running on the flat though, so that's me buggered. I shall have to try fast walking with them!!
Sorry for the essay, I think I needed to get that out of my system!

damn, thats a real shame bigb:(
I've heard that running down hill can be tough on your knee's..I live in Sussex and sometimes go over the downs (walking not running)
perhaps you could one day get to grips with running on the flat?

Sorry to hear that Bigb . I did something funny to my knee recently when I got a little carried away with the hills. It's so easy to overdo running because it's "easy" and I think it's very common to fall into the "too much-too soon trap"...a couple of years ago I ignored an almost painless twinge and ended up fracturing my pelvis so you should never run through pain of any kind...very sensible to back off for a while or try something different.

Have you tried any kind of corrective insole in your trainers? Mixing up the running with other activities (cycling, swimming, walking)? Taking enough rest days?

Hope you get it sorted soon .

Thanks peanut, i've backed off for a least a year now
Still love my vvf's but have found Jillian Michaels and am now in better shape than I have ever been .
I miss roaming the downs but there's not much that can beat a punishing 20 min routine that that tones everything and quickly!!
If ever you can't run I really really recommend her