I'd read a couple of articles on barefoot running and was intrigued by the idea of going back to our primitive origins in terms of how we used to run and walk with minimal foot protection.
It hadn't occured to me that our foot was so crucial in terms of feeding information back to our brains about the terrain we're on and the idea that many of muscles, tendons etc were not being used properly and indeed could risk greater chance of injury by wearing a modern more cushioned shoe.
Then I did a bit of research on the shoes and barefoot running itself noting that this VivoBarefoot name or brand came up a few times. The shoes can be a little expensive so, conscious that barefoot running may not be for me as all the blurb on it says you do need to break yourself gently as the lack of cushioning in the shoe can be hard going at first, I didn't want to spend too much on them.
I spotted these VB Neo Airmesh were on offer for £40 instead of £75-80 I think it was so decided to give them a go.
My first run was a bit hard going as you really notice the non-cushioning! My calves were quite sore for several days after, particulalry when first getting out of bed and if I'd been sat for a bit and i couldn't run whilst they were like this.
However, I was determined to stay with them and in fairness, all the blurb did say to ease yourself in gently at first as you will notice and feel the difference. I've had a few runs since and am trying to concentrate on not using a heel-toe strike which puts greater emphasis on landing on the ball of your foot which in turns uses the calf muscle more but for me the shoes are great and I'm not going back to conventional shoes unless injury forces me to do so.
They're really light, flexible and actually comfortable. I was carrying a couple of injuries to a hip and a knee when training for a half marathon about 8 weeks ago. They haven't re-occured yet although i haven't ran that far in them yet.
Give them a go and see if they suit you and your style of running.
