Vibram Five Finger Komodosport LS (Those Crazy Monkey Shoes)

If you're new to running, and especially minimalist and barefoot running, well you're in for a treat. If you are an avid blog reader like myself, then you have read 100 of these posts. I'm not necessarily aiming to be like every other running blog and review shoes, but I'm passionate about and have spent a crazy amount of time thinking and reading about what goes or doesn't go on my feet. Besides, every well established running blog has some sort of VFF review.

So after some serious blog hopping, google searching, and in store viewing I made my first minimalist shoe purchase a few months ago. It was a close tie between a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves and The Komodosport from Vibram.  And then I discovered there was an LS version (lacing system) of the Vibram shoe I was sold, boooyah! I wanted to purchase locally from my running store, but they aren't conveniently located to me and they don't carry the LS model. I felt bad because I went in and tried on the regular velcro model and then didn't buy them, but whatever, I'm a consumer. If they read this then now they know, shoulda stocked the LS version.  I purchased mine online from REI.  At first I tried to purchase from a smaller company recommended by another blogger. This other unamed company had terrible customer service!  I wanted to purchase the shoes with two different gift cards to cover the total cost. Of course you can't do this over the internet, which I expected from the beginning. No big deal. So I call in, get an incredibly unprofessional greeting along the lines of "Hello, what do you want?" and was told I would have to call back another day to make it happen because the manager wasn't in. Wow, how dumb can a company be? I called in begging to give them money and they said no.  REI on the other hand apparently understands basic business principals. Someone comes to you with money, you do what they ask, they give you money. REI was accomodating and did it with a smile, which is why I highly recommend them now.

Gratuitous Link to REI website and shoes I bought

Hey REI, how about sponsoring my next race? I promise to deck out in REI gear =)

Now on to the shoe! The Komodosport is arguably the beefiest of the VFF product line and there still ain't much there between you and the terrain. It boasts a 4mm thick sole and a 2mm thick removable insole with a zero heel to toe drop. That's right folks, 6mm between your foot and the ground and not an ounce of padding to be found. Yet, I would brag they are the most comfortable shoes I own. Everyone ALWAYS asks, "Doesn't it get annoying to have material between your toes?" No. I was concerned with this before purchasing, but they are so well designed with a seamless interior, that I wear them without socks and forget their is anything on my feet at times. I certainly never even think about the material between my toes; it's a non-thought. I've never had a blister or hot spot on or around any of my toes.

Now the sole of this shoe was designed with the off-roader in mind as well as the cross training crossfit type. So it suites me perfectly. You can see they gave thought to the lateral movements of many cross training activities and designed the grip to support it, unlike previous VFF models. The toes are well protected with the sole extending over the front so that when you inevitable kick a tree root, rock, stump on the trail you might not rip your toe nail off or worse yet break a toe! However, this shouldn't be a concern if you pick your feet up.  I fall from not picking my feet up just about every other time I hit the trails. It gets hard to remember after a grueling hill climb or you're distracted by the gorgeous scenery.

This picture was taken on the highest point of my favorite trail run at Eagle Creek.

The shoes are designed to be worn sockless (or with toe socks if you must). I love wearing them sockless. I much prefer to run without socks on. Probably because I can never find the socks I want, or worse just one of them. The entire hassle is eliminated with a good sockless design. There is one slight drawback, these shoes have some serious stank!  I don't mind it, but EVERY one else does. So long as they stay on my feet, the smell stays locked up.  Thankfully, the dang things are machine washable. I threw them in after putting about 40 sweaty sockless miles in and they held up great.  The stench is mostly gone.  I don't think that kind of piercing foot stank smell can every be entirely eliminated and I make no apologies for it. I'm proud of my own brand of stenches in every variety.

The groundfeel is awesome with these shoes. Go outside right now. Take off your shoes. Run down the driveway and then maybe 50 feet down the street and back. Pay close attention to how the ground feels beneath your feet. Now do the same thing in the grass.  Be mindful of each step as you take it. You probably stepped on a pebble or two, it probably hurt, but all those other steps on the asphalt felt surprisingly pretty good and well, different that what you are used too. Now the grass and the soft damp earth, that just feels awesome. VFF shoes give you as much of that feeling as possible, and surprisingly a lot, but none of the pain when you hit a pebble. You feel the pebble underfoot; you know the pebble is there, but it doesn't hurt. This is gonna sound uber hippy, but it brings running to a whole new level when you feel a connection to the ground you stand on. When on the trails, I feel like an ancient Aztec zipping silently through the forest, stalking my prey. Running has never been so much fun as it is in the babies. They are stealth shoes, if it wasn't for all the fallen leaves right now, no one would ever hear me coming.

Foray into Barefoot Running (Born to Run)

So you may have picked up on this already, but I've adventured into the world of barefoot running. Well let me be more explicit now and then clarify later in the post, I've become a minimalist runner, which in this community is an important distinction, but for the majority of shod runners we're all considered the same.  In actuality I would say that mostly we are all in the same brother/sister hood community of running; the minimalists and barefooters that is.  Most barefooters utilize some minimalist shoes, and many minimalists enjoy barefoot running and certainly the philosophy and style of the purist barefooters.

Now wait a minute, you're throwing all kinds of terms out there you say. Well let me define a few basics, after all I did promise some clarification later =)

Barefoot Runner or Barefooter - person who runs barefoot / sans shoes / no zapatos / soles of feet touch the Earth

Minimalist Runner - person who runs with a barefoot style but chooses to wear a typically non padded shoe offering "minimal" protection to the foot. Most minimal shoes maintain a zero heel drop, meaning there is not a raised heel on the shoe. Traditional running shoes have an 18 mm difference between the heel and the forefoot padding with the heal being raised. What actually qualifies as a minimilist shoe is also a hotly debated topic among the community which is a lengthy post all of it's own.

Barefoot Running Style - a form of running characterized by a forefoot or midfoot strike (in opposition to the traditional heel strike running style), a quick and light running cadence (foot strikes per minute typically 180 for barefooter and closer to 140 for a traditional heel strike runner), a shortened stride such that the runner's foot lands beneath the body and not ahead, and finally a slight forward lean while running (think of falling forward and your next step keeps you from faceplanting and momentum going straight ahead). Now I don't expect anyone to read this brief description and then be able to go out and do it.  Just basic knowledge today my friends.

Thanks be to The Running Nut for this image =)

Shod Runner - Person who runs in normal running shoes

Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) - A brand of minimilist style running shoes that look like crazy monkey shoes because of the individualized toe pockets. The shoes fit like a glove for the feet, come in different styles for a variety of terrain and purposes, but all are intended to provide the user with a better "ground feel" or an as close to possible barefoot experience while still offering the individual protection from anything that might fall beneath the foot. These shoes were made highly popular by the National Bestseller book Born to Run by the legendary Christopher McDougall.

Born to Run - Yep, just read it and enjoy. Even if you have no desire to run; it's an adventure biography of sorts and a light fun read that just might change the way you think about running. It did for me.

So there is your intro. You will find some barefoot purists who will run in shoes under no circumstance and look down on us minimilist runners who do. You will find some minimilist runners that will never go barefoot. But what you will find is that the vast majority of the community, whom is super friendly and excited to share, does some form of both. It's simply practical to have some sort of foot protection when urban running around broken glass, pebbles and the like.  But if you honestly look where you're going, and you better, it isn't nearly so bad as one might think and lots of people successfully do it barefoot. Running rough trails and limestone paths is another tricky barefoot feat, and again there are people who do it and do it well. Me, I prefer some limited protection to my feet but have aspirations to be able to run some shorter races completely barefoot. So for now, I'm a minimilist shoe runner that embraces the barefoot philisophy. I don't think I will ever make the transition to being a purist barefoot runner (though if I did I would never look down on the minimilist), because it's not practical for me. It takes an incredible amount of time, patience, and dedication to run long distances barefoot.

I in no way look down on shod runners and am/will be feet down outrun, outrained, less injured than loads of traditional heel striking shoe wearers. There are similar running styles to barefoot that I consider to be pretty much the same. The main one I have run into, and took a great class on, is called Good Form Running. I essentially see it being the same as barefoot running style while wearing traditional padded running trainers. It promotes the same midfoot strike and cadence running as barefooting.  I in fact made the transition to barefoot style by first embracing Good Running Form.  From time to time I lace up my old Asics when I feel my weary feet may need a break. It can take a while to build up all those muscles in your feet that traditional shoes keep us from using and strengthening. Be sure to check the link to my friend Adam's Good Form Running Class at the end of this post,  it's FREE to take!!!!

It is widely thought that barefoot running (and similar styles) greatly reduce the injury rate for runners. My personal experience is that I have completely eliminated chronic shin splints that have plagued me as a runner. There is a lack of empirical study and time to support this, but opposingly, there is zero evidence that running shoes cut down on injury rates. Shoe companies have been challenged and cannot produce the results. If running shoes are so high tech, why do so many people both professional and a mature get so many injuries? Shouldn't we have cut that down to nearly zero? The fact remains that runners get running injuries no matter how they run. Think about how long man has been running and when Nike produced the first running shoe. Yeah, so sometime from the beggining of mankind until 1968 when Nike founder Phillip Knight first began selling shoes out of the back of his car.

I own two pairs of minimilist shoes as can be seen below. Look for reviews of each soon. I love them both, but they are very different shoes.

Vibram Five Fingers Komodsport LS

Merrell Trail Glove

Good Running Form Website:

You can sign up for the Runner's Forum class here through their homepage.  I believe the class is offered most Tuesday nights. It's a short information session followed by Adam filming each of the attendees running and then playing it back in super slow mo, one shod and once barefoot =) I plan on going back for another class just so I can see my progression. There is no more informative feedback than seeing your form in slow motion! It's enlightening and productive.