Sixteen Miles in Photos + Vibrams Review

More than one year ago I got myself out of the house and on a three mile run by taking photos along the course and later blogging about it. I lived in Tampa, had shin splints three miles seemed quite far back then, but I still enjoy photographing where I run.

Fast forward 15 months and I'm living in Orlando and running 16 miles in preparation for an Ironman!

I had fun, but, honestly, the run was rough. About a month ago I was in a car accident that forced me to scale my training way back. I'm still working to overcome that loss of fitness.

Check out my new lululemon running bonnet! It was basically made for me and definitely made the run more fun :-)

VIBRAMS!!!

I don't yet do my long runs in the Vibrams as I've only worked up to about five miles int hem, but I did want to share some differences between the KSO and the Sprint models as I've now run in both.

KSO:

SPRINT:

They say the KSO and Sprint models are the same, expect the KSO's have a covered top to Keep Stuff Out. Here are user differences I noticed:

1. The KSO's are more covered so my feet got way more sweaty. There's no sock between my foot and the shoe, so I felt the sweat much more.

2. I did feel slightly more secure in the KSO's.

3. The KSO's are a pain to get on! The Sprints slip on much more easily. This could matter more if I was using them in a triathlon.

Other than those three minor differences they did perform the same. I'm planning on running in the black KSO's and using the pink Sprints for everyday use (just because the Sprints are much cuter in my opinion :).

While we're at it, here are some common Q+A's I get... well, just about every day ;)

Are they comfortable?

YES! They are all I want to wear anymore, hands down. It's like walking barefoot but BETTER.

Does it hurt when you step on rocks?

In the Vibrams I feel everything I walk on, but nothing hurts. The thin layer separating the foot from the ground is surprisingly protective.

Do you run in them?

Getting to the point where running in Vibrams is a process. It's a big change for the feet and leg muscles. Over the past few months I've been building up milage in them. I can currently run five miles in them comfortably. Basically the only "side effects" to breaking them in is sore calf muscles and my feet hurting a little. The Vibrams use so many different muscles compared to "supportive" running shoes.

Summary: I LOVE my Vibrams. I've never met a Vibram owner who didn't love theirs and stop to tell you all the cool features and research findings behind them. I wear them every single day, including out at night!

Do you own Vibrams? Would you ever consider them?