Tag: review

Categories
Fitness Health

Subjective VFF vs Sneakers 10k Run Review

This is in no way a completely fair comparison as many variables were not equal.  I’ll list the factors that I think affected the times between the two runs and let you come to your own conclusions.

10k with Vibrams (46:50, 7:27 pace)

Sleep: 7 hours
Eating Day Before: Faily Healthy, Stuck with Paleo
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs, with FSR Energy Drink
Wake Time: 8 am
Warmup: 1 lap
Weather: Sunny slightly cold
Fellow Runners: Around my level (Came in 2nd for Males)
Workouts: No workouts 2 days leading up to run
Motivation: Planned to run

10k with Sneakers (48:25, 7:51 pace)

Sleep: 6 hours
Eating Day Before: Somewhat Healthy, but had beers in the evening
Breakfast: None
Wake Time: 9 am
Warmup: None
Weather: Sunny slightly cold
Fellow Runners: Fast (Top finishers beat me by 1 mile, came in last for Males)
Workouts: Weights 2 days before, incline sprints day before
Motivation: Undecided about running

As you can see I was way more prepared mentally and physically for the first run.  I’m not sure how much of that accounts for the 1:35 difference between the runs.  A few seconds of that time was lost by me forgetting to use my inhaler.  I had to take a small detour and stop in the middle of the first mile to grab and use it from my backpack.

I’ll briefly describe the after run comparisons.  I can easily say I was tired after both runs.  With the Vibrams I felt soreness in the lower calfs while with the sneakers it was more draining on the legs overall.  I wore toe socks for both runs and I believe I might have a blister from running in the sneakers and no ill effects in the Vibrams.  I’m assuming this is caused by the slippage between the sock and the shoe so I believe energy transfer on the Vibrams might be more efficient.

From my subjective view, I felt better during the Vibram run, but given the prep and time differences it’s hard for me to say that I was faster with one vs the other.  The only conclusive thing I can say is that running in the Vibrams has not made me any slower than before.  I’ll also toss in that while I was disappointed with a slower time on the 2nd 10k, I don’t believe I’ve been able to keep this pace in a while.  I believe that the workout regimen I’m currently on is showing dividends.  I will continue to stick with it and will plan to have a better comparison in the future.

Categories
Fitness Health

Vibrams…to Sock or Not To Sock

In the past week I’ve had the chance to give the Injinji socks and their Asia knockoff counterparts a try with the Vibrams.  I also tried a short barefoot tabata run just to see.  So below are the pros and cons I see with the different combinations.

Just VFF
Cons: I have the problem of possibly getting blisters from rubbing on longer runs.  The shoes also tend to get the vibram funk much faster.
Pros: On the other hand it does feel more natural as far as barefoot feeling.  Also given time I imagine the foot toughens up more this way. It’s cheaper than getting socks.

VFF + Injinjis
Cons: As people say Injinjis do take a little bit longer to put on. They also cost a lot for socks…I mean $8 for a pair? I’ve heard of issues with durability, but so far so good.  Also…when it’s wet your socks get wet too which is not a great feeling.
Pros: Despite my worries they seem to fit pretty well with the Vibrams. The fit is a little tighter, but still reasonable. I’ve never gotten any of the normal blisters I might get when running w/o socks either.

VFF + China Toe Socks
Cons: It only comes in one length which isn’t horrible. Also…still not cheap @ $5 bux a pair.  Still have the wet sock issue when it’s wet.
Pros: Actually very similar to the Injinjis. They’re a bit thicker, but still fit. Also no blisters.

Barefoot
Cons: Blisters will form pretty fast. Your feet will get tired really fast.
Pros: Can’t get more real than this. I’m sure this will toughen up your feet in a hurry. No blisters from Vibram rubbing either. It’s also way cheaper…no pricy socks or pricy shoes.

In the end it seems like any of these options are really viable.  If you want to avoid some of the pricier addons it just requires a bit more patience and practice.