This is part 3 in a mini-series by Steve Shipowitz (@stevenship) on his endeavor to lose weight, which led him to discovering ‘Born to Run‘ and Vibram FiveFingers.  You can read part 1 of the series here, and part 2 of the series here.

So, let’s fast-forward just a bit. At this point I have had the Bikila VFFs for almost three weeks now. I have worn them all around the house, to work and to the store. While at first they felt “funny” to say the least, I am starting to get used to them. It has taken every bit of self-control not to go for a run, but I promise you I did not. Ok, maybe I lightly jogged down the hall in my office. And speaking of my office, needless to say, my “funky” shoes were the talk of not only my office, but it appeared to be every office in our building and many of our clients. VFFs are more than just feet coverings, they are conversation starters. If you are going to wear them, be prepared to talk to about them to everyone, and I mean everyone. I had strangers just walk up to me and ask about them. It is a bit off-putting at first, but you get used to it. The strangest question I get, and I think I get this question every time, is, “Are they comfortable?’ My answer has evolved into, “if you like walking barefoot, then yes, they are comfortable.” Remember, there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity, and these people are just ignorant.

By now it is late September and I am ready for the first run in my VFFs. At this point, I am comfortably running a half of mile in my conventional running shoes. My feet and calves already feel stronger just by walking in the VFFs. So, here we go. I head out on my first run very slowly, and yes, you do feel the rocks on the road, but I am determined. I make it around the block without stopping and I am just grinning ear to ear. Ok, I will admit that my left achilles and my right calf were a bit sore, but not enough to deter me from going out again.

If you remember back to my last post, I told you about my competitive nature. I figured, if I was going to do all of this running and lose weight, I might as well enter some races. I decided a 5K would be a good goal. I figured, I am working my way to 1 mile now; I can be ready for 3 miles by spring time. The VFFs are now becoming a part of my normal running gear. I am running upwards of a mile at a time and it is getting easier and easier. Let’s not forget why I was doing all of this running…. for weight loss, and I had now lost almost 14 pounds.

One day a few weeks later I was doing my normal run around the block and an excruciating pain went shooting up through my leg. I thought for sure that I had just broken my leg, possibly a horrible stress facture or something. I immediately stopped and fell to the ground. The pain was at the center of my heel. I could hear my wife now, “I told you were pushing yourself too hard. Why do you have to run on “those shoes”? Put on some real shoes.” Yeah I know, the things we think of as we are lying on the ground in extreme pain. Shouldn’t I have been thinking, how am I going to get home? I don’t carry a cell phone with me when I run. I see running as an escape from the everyday world and I cut the chord.

Next post… Almost ready to race….