As I stated back in January, around mid-November, I decided to take the plunge and try out a pair of VFFs. As someone with a history of bad ankle and shin injuries (plus a bad back and knee), I was willing to at least give it a go with something that could help me with my running. It didn’t hurt that after some research, the logic behind the design of the shoes just made sense to me. So what began as a basic trial turned into a way of life, so to speak.

As the winter months turned to spring, I turned my attention from skiing and climbing to prepping for the Ragnar road relay. My first year, my goal had been to just complete the race and not die. (I succeeded in not dying, but I gave myself some really bad shin splints) Last year, it was all about running farther without doing major damage to myself. This year, I wanted to increase my speed and rock times that were lower than 10 minutes per mile, which I felt was a very doable goal.

The other thing I decided was that I was going to train up and run Ragnar in my Vibrams. This was a conscious decision I had made after I stopped working out in my brooks beasts in December. I reasoned that if it was causing me pain to work out in the shoes, I shouldn’t try running long distance in them anymore, either.

So, thus, I began my running training in my Vibram Sprints. It was a slow build up as it always was, but running in Vibrams just felt better. I felt closer to the road and my form came to me much more naturally than when I was running in my old running shoes. I also noticed, that as I was training, my times were all better and I wasn’t icing my legs down as much as I had to as I did when I was training in my regular shoes. Overall, I was feeling very confident about my chances for the relay. Especially after I transitioned to a pair of Bakilas that I picked up in late May from city sports.

So fast forward to race day. I met up with the other people I would be running with and within a few minutes, a bunch of people noticed that I was wearing my sprints. Now I was expecting to be the only person running Vibrams, but as it turned out, multiple people on my team had pairs, although I was the only person who didn’t bring a backup pair of regular shoes with me. It was definitely fun to smile back with a hardy yes to the question, “are you planning on running ALL of your legs in those?”

So how did I do? Well, here are my results. And the best part is that, while I was sore for a couple of days following the race; I didn’t have any lingering injuries or pain.

As for my old Brooks Beasts? Well, I can happily say that I haven’t worked out or run in them since December. Additionally, the one time I have worn them in the past six months (playing football at a picnic), I woke up the next morning to a sore knee. It’s pretty safe to say that I have a barely used pair of traditional motion-control level running shoes I should get rid of. (I need the space on my shoe rack for more Five Fingers ^_^)

First, I want to just say that, I have a pair of Brooks Beasts. They were what I ran this past years Ragnar in. I used them in tandem with a pair of custom orthotics. That should tell you had badly my feet used to pronate. When running season was done, I would lift in them. They were, my athletic shoe of choice.

Note the key usage of the past tense. In case you hadn’t picked up on it, I haven’t put on my beats in about two months.

Just before Thanksgiving of this year, I decided to get a pair of the Vibram Five Finger KSOs. My friends Lowell and Cailyn had been living in them for a couple of months and wouldn’t stop going on about them. After doing some research I decided I’d give them a try. Given how my feet are, I figured at worst, I’d just be sore for a bit, give up and call it a day.

Well, after easing my way into them (seriously, give yourself time to adjust), I discovered that I really really loved wearing them. It started off as me wearing them to work and around the house. Then I started wearing them pretty much full time, accept for the gym. Then, after a weak of wondering why my knees were bothering me after working out, I realized I wasn’t handling being in the Beasts for working out and walking anymore. So I ditched them and it was my KSO’s all the time.

When I got back from vacation, I decided that I actually wanted a couple more pairs of 5 Fingers. I decided I wanted a pair of Sprints to work out/run in, and I wanted a pair of brown KSO Treks that I could wear with dressier ensembles, as well as to work when I was drying my regular KSOs. Thankfully, Lowell was able to hook me up, so I didn’t ave to wait to get them. I can honestly say that I love my Treks and Sprints as much as my original pair of KSOs.

I’ll probably write up more of the experience next month when I’ve started up my initial change in training from Skiing/Climbing to Running/Convention. (Yes, I actually have to train a bit for the Con. I’m on my feet for most of 4 days.) For now, however, I cannot stress how awesome the shoes are. They are super comfortable and I’ve reduced the amount of pain I’ve felt in my legs and back since picking them up. I whole heartedly recommend them.

Well, over the course of 2009, a bunch of my friends changed their diets to be more like the paleolithic. They ate no starches, no processed carbs and generally upped their meat intake. Now, being a very skeptical person, I thought this was kind of crazy. I’d heard of this before, or so I thought. To me, my friends had just discovered the new Atkins. Congrats, guys, you’ll be done with this in 2 months and back to where you were. Except they never got there. In fact, they were all dropping rate for a prolonged period of time and in very large quantities. I’m talking guys going from 230 to 160. (Apparently 70 lbs is the current average) Over the summer, when they were only a few months in, I was with 3 people who had, in total, lost my body weight of 170. I was in shock.

So fast forward to the end of October. At this point, I’ve been hanging out/living with people who didn’t eat carbs, starches, etc for a while. At this point, my diet is beginning to mirror theirs, as we just eat together a bunch. As this is going on, I begin to find that I’m having fewer and fewer episodes with my own blood sugar. I’m feeling better and I’m less sick. Needless to say, I’m a much happier person. After having given it some thought, I start to consciously make changes to my diet, and I’ve been eating this way ever since.

So what are the benefits? Well, the biggest is that I’m not having the crazy blood sugar crashes I used to. I’m able to go for extended periods of time without eating and I’m not getting headachy or becoming a complete dick. The other major advantage I’ve had has been that I’ve actually lost a little bit a weight. While I’ve only lost about 7 lbs or so, that’s pretty significant, as I really didn’t have a lot of excess weight to lose.

So that’s kind of my story. I now go around eating as few starches and processed carbs as possible. I’ve gone as far as to bring paleo foods to pot lucks and managed to have people really like the stuff, even though it lacked all the carbs. (I found a recipe for jambalaya that was quite the hit). I still get some weird looks from people, and a lot of people are skeptical when I explain it, but well, the results kind of speak for themselves.

If you’re interested, I’ll point you to my friend Lowell’s (he started all this) intro letter on the subject. It’s worth a read if you want to get healthy.

Also, I listened to this today, and well, given my druthers, I’ll take the beer: