Posts Tagged ‘Vibram Fivefingers’
A visit to Kettle Cave
The Kettle Cave video was filmed in early April of 2010. It was a cold day and the snow had just melted. If you look carefully at the barefoot walking scenes around 0:55 you can see ice and frost on the ground still.
My goal was to find this cave known as “Kettle Cave” located in Niagara-on-the-lake. I filmed a good percentage of this video barefoot, but if you look closely around 1:38 of the video, you will see me descend the rock face wearing black Vibram Fivefingers. The reason I was wearing them was because there were ice deposits in the leaves still from winter. The Fiverfingers did not last long before I threw them in my back and went the rest of the day barefoot.
Bare Feet v. ‘Barefoot’ Shoes: The BIG Difference
I’ve got a bone to pick with some people. When barefoot running, Vibram Fivefingers (VFF) and other minimalist shoes became so popular, the lexicon used to describe how we cover — or don’t cover — our feet became muddied. Search Twitter or read news articles about the phenomenon, and you hear people talking about “barefoot shoes” or how they are loving running “barefoot” with their VFFs.
As confusing as it is to call something barefoot when it’s obviously not, the issue gets even worse when people tell their friends, “Wearing (fill in the blank minimalist footwear) is just like being barefoot.” Those of us who subscribe to fully bare feet are often asked, “Why not just wear flip flops? Isn’t it the same?” My answer to both of those questions: “No, it’s not the same.”And let me give an example why…
My Take on Minimalist Footwear
From left to right: Hand-made Huaraches, Vibram FiveFingers Sprint, Vivo Barefoot Runners.
In recent years, there has been quite a bit of development of the so-called “minimalist footwear”. While the definition of minimalist footwear tends to vary from user to user and from manufacturer to manufacturer, basically, any type of footwear that is designed to simulate, as close as possible, the experience of going barefooted by still providing an acceptable amount of insulation and protection from the environment (at least part, usually the soles) can fall into the category of “minimalist”.
Shoddies simply don’t care…
I recently had a very interesting, and somewhat disturbing exchange with a friend of my partner’s, who happens to be a nurse and has also been training for a running competition. While I have always known this person has never been supportive of my barefooting lifestyle, I never thought she would be so closed to new information.
My first jog completely barefoot
Well, it’s been exactly a month since I started power walking and jogging and today I managed to do my first ever jog fully barefoot (so far, I’d been wearing either my Vibram FiveFingers Sprints or my Nike Free runners).
The day has been beautiful here in Toronto. We reached temperatures of 14°C, the sun is shining and there is a nice breeze. When I went for my workout, the temperature was about 8°C, so I decided I was going to wear my gym shorts, a t-shirt and a spring jacket – I thought I was going to get a bit chilly but I was perfectly fine throughout the whole time.
