Five Fingers Update

So, four weeks on, I thought I would update you with my Vibram Five Fingers experience.

I wore the five fingers for the first two weeks and haven't worn them since. The simple reason for this is that I don't own enough toe socks to wear them every day, yet. Once I buy some more toe socks, I will revert to wearing the five fingers every day, which I suppose gives you an indication of how much I like them.

There are some problems, though:

• The drawstring digs into my feet, just above my toes, and actually caused them to scab a little. That's quite unpleasant and I will need to find a remedy.
• The toes on my right foot are very, very slightly longer than those on my left. This means that they are a little squashed into the five fingers and I start to experience discomfort after walking around in them all day. I need to find a way to stretch the toes a little - any suggestions are welcome!
• Bounding down stairs two at a time (as I ordinarily do) is near-impossible as a result of the lack of padding afforded by the Five Fingers. There is no way to correct this other than taking stairs one at a time. At least I will be less likely to fall down them, I suppose.

Some of the most notable benefits that I have noticed are:

• My gait, when wearing the Five Fingers, is completely neutral.
• Driving in the Five Fingers is fantastic as it allows me to feel the pedals and make smaller, more precise adjustments than I could with normal shoes on, whilst still protecting my feet adequately.
• Balance and posture both seem to be aided by the Five Fingers.
• Other people love them. A number of people have asked questions, professed a desire to buy a pair and taken surreptitious photographs of my feet. Many think that they look 'weird', but the comments have never been any more derogatory.

So, I am going to continue wearing the Five Fingers... check back in the coming months for more updates about them.